Diary of a Madman vol. 1: PowerFull + Symmetry X

**madman911** · 04-04-2006, 02:23 AM

Let the insanity begin. 25 days of USPLabs PowerFull + Symmetry X.:crazy1: :boink1:

My goals while on this cycle: Lose fat while maintaining or gaining mass/strength.:fingersxd

When does it start: First dose tomorrow morning

Dosing scheme:

2 PowerFull upon waking
2 Symmetry upon waking, 2 midday, 2 before bed
4 PowerFull pre-workout

On non-lifting days I'll spread the PowerFull out evenly in 3 2 cap doses

Diet: I'm not going to log everything I eat, because I find that way too tedious to even consider. But what kinds of things do I eat you ask. That much I can tell you:

Pre-workout shake: 30 g dextrose + 40 g whey

Post-workout shake: 30 g dextrose + 40 g NOW carbo gain + 40 g whey + 1 cup 2% milk

Usually two meals similar to this per day: 6 oz of lean beef, fish, or chicken + 100 g brown rice or 1 sweet potato + 1 cup of veggies

Every day I have one meal of: 40 g whey + 50 g oats + 1 cup 2% milk

Before bed I eat 226 g of 2% cottage cheese and 1 tbsp peanut butter

Additionally, I eat things like tuna sandwiches on whole wheat pita, bannanas, apples, salads

I do sometimes cheat on the weekends and indulge in something naughty in moderation, but not every weekend.

Total daily cals right now are around 2300-2500, will decrease when fat loss stalls

Other supps:

Fish oil 6 caps/day
CEE 3 g/day
GMS 3 g/day
Cissus 4 g/day
Glucosamine + MSM
Multivitamin
BCAA (5 g before and after every cardio and lifting workout)

More personal info:

Age: 32
Sex: Yes please
Weight: 188
Height: 5' 7"
Bodyfat: ~19%
Arms: 16"
Legs: 23.5"
Gut: way too big

The arms and legs measurements will be important for me as I monitor my lean body mass during the cut. Any significant decrease in these measurements will indicate unwanted catabolism. I don't have a lot of fat on these bodyparts, they're pretty lean.

Pics:

Soon I will have more pics than you can shake a stick at uploaded. I'll be entering the IMPC novice competition. I'll link the pics when they're up.

Info about my workouts will be posted as I do them. I won't list weights, as I'm not expecting any strength gains per se, but I will list reps/sets and any changes from week to week. Of course, how the workouts feel stamina wise... all that good stuff will be reported.

As an aside, can I just say that I hate living in an apartment style condo. I swear to god my neighbors must be watching a movie about avalanches or something. All I can hear right now is this low, incessant rumbling coming through my living room wall. Well, I'm going to show those bastards and blast some "Metallica ...And Justice for All" through my 400 watt subwoofer. They want a piece of me.... They've got it!!!! :evil:

:mgfight:

If you want to post any random thoughts or whatever, feel free. I don't want this to be all about me...

Until tomorrow... madman, out.

**madman911** · 04-04-2006, 02:25 AM

Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that I'm starting EC stack tomorrow as well. 200 mg C + 25 mg E 3X per day. Woo hoo! I can hardly wait, I miss being on stims. :hyper2:

**Grunt76** · 04-04-2006, 02:34 AM

Looking forward to that bro. I also have that in my plans for PCT so I'll be paying a special attention to your log.

**madman911** · 04-04-2006, 02:52 PM

Hey Grunt, good to have you checking in. I'm really hoping for good things from this stack.

This morning I did cardio. I don't do fasted cardio as I think that is a fast road to catabolism. I take 30 g of dextrose + 40 g whey + 5 g BCAA before cardio. I am experimenting with lower intensity cardio this cut, so right now I'm walking on the treadmill at 4 mph at an incline of 4 for 40 minutes. I will increase the incline as my body adapts to the exercise and I need some more intensity to raise my heart rate sufficiently.

EC stack has me hopping like a bunny today. I feel great.... hooray for stims!!!

Tonight I'll be in the gym again to annihilate my back. Not expecting any immediate results from the USPLabs stack, but my energy should be through the roof with the EC in my system.

**madman911** · 04-04-2006, 02:53 PM

I forgot to mention that I'm also using Scivation's Sesamin at 3 caps per day.

**madman911** · 04-04-2006, 05:18 PM

Here are a couple of pics taken a few weeks ago. I may be a couple of pounds leaner by now. Hard to tell because my weight jumps around somewhat erratically when I first start cutting. At the time these pics were taken, I was weighing 190-191 and now I weigh anywhere from 186-189, depending on the day.

I figured I'd get these up to show where I was at after my bulk. As I said, I estimate my bf to be around 19%.

**madman911** · 04-04-2006, 08:35 PM

I'm doing some research into the actives in PowerFull and Symmetry X to see what I can learn about them. I'll share what I find out as I uncover things.

Let's start with PowerFull, which has as its active ingredient Muria Puama which is an herb that has long been used by Native Amazon tribes in Brazil and Venezuela as an aphrodisiac. The label states that PowerFull is a proprietary blend of 1200mg Saponis from Muira Puama. This labeling infers that USPLabs has isolated or concentrated what they consider to be the truly active ingredient in Muria - what they refer to as 100% PureSap (saponis). I'm letting you know right now that there is not a whole lot of published science out there on Muria Puama and absolutely nothing I could find on something called "saponis" within Muria Puama. However, saponins are an actual type of chemical found in many herbs and some are steroidal. Now, being steroidal does not mean they are anabolic androgenic steroids used to build muscle mass. A steroid is defined by a basic chemical structure, containing 17 carbon atoms in four rings, they are fat soluble as they are themselves lipids, and many have important physiological functions totally unrelated to building muscle; for instance, the cholesterol in blood is a steroid, as are the acids in bile. From a marketing standpoint, it never hurts for a company producing an anabolic substance to draw some parallel to steroids, so the term "saponis" and its closeness to saponins, which are steroidal, may be more about good business than science.

If anyone can post any references to literature that specifically explains what the "saponis" in Muira Puama is, please do so. I sure couldn't find it and I mine scientific data as part of my profession.

There were a couple of clinical studies done on Muira Puama to treat men with sexual dysfunction and the results were great. Muira definitely has the effect of increasing ibido and sexual performance (reason enough to take it). However, there was no research done on its mechanism of action in the body. It is speculated that it acts by binding up SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin) - the pesky protein that binds to testosterone and keeps it inactive - but this is just a hypothesis with no hard data to support it. If this is the MOA, it would explain why Muira would have anabolic properties.

Despite the lack of scientific exploration into the anabolic properties attributed to PowerFull, one cannot ignore the anecdotal evidence that it works as touted by the manufacturer. I'm of course keeping an open mind and hoping for great results. The bottom line is, if it works, it works.

**madman911** · 04-05-2006, 01:06 AM

Day 1: Back Workout

Felt pretty good overall, I'm not expecting any effects of the stack to hit me for at least a few days, maybe not until next week.

Workout consisted of:

Wide-grip pull ups: bodyweight x8, x5, x3 - this was good because my pull-up strength went down the tubes as I gained weight on my bulk. I got to the point where I couldn't do more than 4 good pull ups. It was weird because my pull down strength increased nicely. I actually hadn't tried any pull ups for about 3 weeks until tonight. As I lose weight, I'm sure my rep numbers will continue to go up.

Wide-grip pull downs: 3 x 8 (maintained strength)

Seated cable rows: 3 x 10 (maintained strength)

Seated cable rows using a bar that I don't know the technical name of, but it it is straight with a wider grip and I pull the bar towards my chest to hit the upper back: 3 x 10 (maintained strength)

Close-grip pull downs: 3 x 10 (maintained strength)

One arm low pulley rows: 3 x 8 (maintained strength)

**madman911** · 04-05-2006, 02:26 PM

Day 2: Arms Workout

I lift in the AM on Wednesday's because I have a class in the evenings. Normally, I do cardio in the AM and lift in the PM when cutting.

Felt good strength and stamina wise. The EC stack has me a little jittery first thing in the morning and I felt a little nauseas between sets. Could be the EC or the USPLabs stack or a little of both. I was having some herb flavored burps between sets.

Biceps:

Barbell curls - strength was up, added 5 lbs to what I ususally lift for my heaviest set, then did drop sets taking off 5 lbs until I was only curling an olympic bar

Dumbbell preachers - 3 x 10, added 2.5 lbs

Machine preachers - 3 x 8, maintained strength

Triceps:

Dumbbell french press - 2 x 10, 1 x 12, used 5 lbs less than usual, because I was having some forearm splints from the Barbell curls. The splints are a recurring problem that occassionally require me to stop doing bb curls for a month or so... looks like its time to stop the bb curls for a while.

Close-grip bench: 3 x 8, maintained strength

Rope pull downs: 3 x 10, maintained strength

Noticed a really good pump in my biceps today. In the shower I was staring at my pumped bi's while shampooing my hair, they looked killer. Hopefully, I'm not the only post-workout narcissist out there who does that.

**madman911** · 04-05-2006, 02:27 PM

I want to add that I have some nice DOMS in my upper back and lats from yesterday's workout. I love that feeling.:nosthumbs

**madman911** · 04-06-2006, 01:46 PM

Good DOMs in my arms from yesterday's workout. I don't usually feel DOMs in my biceps, but they are barking a bit today.

I slept very poorly last night... maybe from the EC. I've haven't taken any stims for a while. I probably fell asleep at 2am and was up at 6:30, so 4.5 hrs of sleep. That sucks. When I woke up I was: :sleepy: , then I popped the EC and now I'm: :hyper2:

So, no AM cardio today because I couldn't get my act together on the low sleep. Tonight I'll hit the shoulders and do some cardio after my lifts.

**madman911** · 04-10-2006, 05:05 PM

After a few days of not finding the time to update, I'm back on track.

My shoulder workout on 4/6 was good:

Db presses 5 x 5 (strength maintained)

Standing military press on smith machine 3 X 5 (strength maintained)

Then, I tried a couple of exercise I've never done before, because people were in the way of me getting to my usual equipment:

Upright rows using low pulley and rope, which felt really cool actually, I found the range of motion to put more stress on the side delts than bb uprights, I did 3 x 8

Then I hit rear delts using the rope and adjusting the pulley to just below chest height, that also felt awesome, really pumped up and burned the rear delts for 3 x 8

Finished off with shrugs using the deadlift machine: 4 x 15

Then, capped off with 35 minutes on the elliptical

I intended to hit legs on Friday, but became swamped with work and my gym closes at 8 on friday night, so I was SOL.

Saturday, I didn't end up working out either; my kids had soccer games in the morning, then my niece had a birthday party... and that's where my training/diet for the weekend took a nosedive... I had intended to have only a couple of beers at the party. I think I had 5 or 6 beers, but I didn't have any cake and primarily I ate deli turkey and roast beef. Then, my wife and I were invited to hang-out at a friends house later that evening and that entailed drinking a few more beers and eating some pizza for dinner. Honestly, I don't go out very often, so this isn't a normal weekend for me by any means. Still, it seems everyone I know likes drinking, as do I, so I really consider it my achilles heel. I find it so hard to just have 2 or 3 beers and leave it at that. I didn't get totally s-faced, though... I drank maybe 8 or 9 beers over the stretch of 12 hours, and I pounded waters too. Still, I woke up the next morning feeling less than energetic, so I didn't hit the gym on Sunday either.

But, I'm back on track this morning with a good chest workout:

Flat bb bench: 5 x 5, strength actually up - I usually drop the weight by 20 lbs for the last two sets, and today I didn't have to

Db incline bench: x 8, x 8, x 6 - I lost strength on the last set, but I think it has to do with the increased exertion on the flat bb bench

Decline bb bench: x 7, x 6, x 7 - Lost a little strength, but likely due to increased intensity of previous exercises

High pulley crossovers: 3 x 8 (maintained strength)

How is the stack feeling. Well, there is no obvious "feeling" I can attribute to the stack, but my strength is at least maintaining, as is my stamina and I've been in caloric deficity for about a month now. On my previous cut, I had already lost considerable stamina and had to drop some poundage on my lifts at this point. I am definitely noticing an increase in libido. Pumps are very good, but I am very leery of placebo effect when taking supps and claims like "increased pumps" and "vascularity" can't really be measured, so I stick to things like strength, stamina, and mass increases or lack of decreases to gauge a supps worth.

If you want to see more pics of me, I'm competing in the IMPC novice division and my entry pics, taken last week, can be found here:

madman911 - April Picture Update - Novice Bodybuilding

**madman911** · 04-14-2006, 01:25 PM

Update:

I'm a little frustrated with my training right now. I'm taking two classes in the evenings at Harvard this semester and it is stressing me out. One class has three mid-term exams and the other has two; studying for all of these tests while working 50 hours a week, trying to lead a decent family life, and then training on top of if all... :crazy1:

I skipped legs last week, so this morning I was looking to pummel them hard. Last night I felt a little tweak in my lower back after doing some heavy dumbbell shrugs. It was weird because I didn't feel it for a few minutes after I'd finished my last set. But, the tweak was there all last night. This morning I was feeling okay and my first warm up set of 135 lbs squats didn't give me any problems, so I loaded another 50 lbs on the bar... got out two good reps and on the third the lower back tweak came back. Not bad... nothing debilitating but enough to warn me against pushing it any further. So, I decided to do a low intensity leg day consisting of leg extensions, the leg press machine, standing leg curls, and some standing calf raises. I am pissed that my legs didn't get the thrashing they deserved.

I'm not getting in as much cardio as I'd like. Once classes over in a month, it'll get better.

On the brightside, I weighed in at 184 lbs this morning, so I'm down at least 2 lbs from when I started this log.

Powerfull and Symmetry do have me feeling strong and energetic. I am noticing increased skin oil production and my upper back is mildly breaking out in small patches, which means there is some increased androgenic activity going on. That's a sign that something hormonal is taking place.

I'm really thinking about trying an ATD + Powerfull + Symmetry stack next time I bulk. I predict that it will rock.

**madman911** · 04-16-2006, 11:20 PM

Well, I hate to do this, but I think it's time to take a week off of all upperbody work. I am getting some slight tendonitis in my elbows, which recurs from time to time. I actually haven't taken a week off in probably 4 months or so, so I'm overdue for a break. Whenever I take a break while cutting, I always get paranoid that all of my muscle will just fall off of me. I know that won't happen, but the thought is in the back of my mind. Hopefully, the Powerfull and Symmetry will do a good job at keeping catabolism at bay. I'll let you know.

The lower back tweak hasn't bothered me at all since my last attempt at squats. I think it's nothing to be overly concerned about, I think it was a mild pinched nerve or something non-muscular, and I'll be in the squat rack this Friday to check it out.

This week I have two mid-term exams, so I need to spend some time studying, but I'll definitely get in some much needed cardio. Today I got in some good cardio playing soccer with my kids, my brothers in-law, and my nephew. I needed it because I did have a couple of cookies... they were shaped like bunnies; I couldn't resist.

On the brightside, my waist measurment has gone down an inch. It usually takes about 3 to 4 weeks of being on a cutting diet before my waist starts to shrink, but once it does, my fat loss becomes very consistent. It's weird because most people drop weight and waist size quickly when they start dieting down (mostly water weight), but I stay stable for 3 to 4 weeks and then my body suddenly gives in and decides to start shedding fat and water. My 36" pants are starting to fall off of me, which is good because the last time I cut, they didn't start falling off of me until I was in the low 170s; I'm currently in the mid-180s and I can't keep my ass covered. More proof that my last bulk put about 15 lbs of LBM on me, which rocks. I'm already looking forward to my next bulk and I just started cutting.

04-04-2006, 02:23 AM	#1
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	Diary of a Madman vol. 1: PowerFull + Symmetry X Let the insanity begin. 25 days of USPLabs PowerFull + Symmetry X.:crazy1: :boink1: My goals while on this cycle: Lose fat while maintaining or gaining mass/strength.:fingersxd When does it start: First dose tomorrow morning Dosing scheme: 2 PowerFull upon waking 2 Symmetry upon waking, 2 midday, 2 before bed 4 PowerFull pre-workout On non-lifting days I'll spread the PowerFull out evenly in 3 2 cap doses Diet: I'm not going to log everything I eat, because I find that way too tedious to even consider. But what kinds of things do I eat you ask. That much I can tell you: Pre-workout shake: 30 g dextrose + 40 g whey Post-workout shake: 30 g dextrose + 40 g NOW carbo gain + 40 g whey + 1 cup 2% milk Usually two meals similar to this per day: 6 oz of lean beef, fish, or chicken + 100 g brown rice or 1 sweet potato + 1 cup of veggies Every day I have one meal of: 40 g whey + 50 g oats + 1 cup 2% milk Before bed I eat 226 g of 2% cottage cheese and 1 tbsp peanut butter Additionally, I eat things like tuna sandwiches on whole wheat pita, bannanas, apples, salads I do sometimes cheat on the weekends and indulge in something naughty in moderation, but not every weekend. Total daily cals right now are around 2300-2500, will decrease when fat loss stalls Other supps: Fish oil 6 caps/day CEE 3 g/day GMS 3 g/day Cissus 4 g/day Glucosamine + MSM Multivitamin BCAA (5 g before and after every cardio and lifting workout) More personal info: Age: 32 Sex: Yes please Weight: 188 Height: 5' 7" Bodyfat: ~19% Arms: 16" Legs: 23.5" Gut: way too big The arms and legs measurements will be important for me as I monitor my lean body mass during the cut. Any significant decrease in these measurements will indicate unwanted catabolism. I don't have a lot of fat on these bodyparts, they're pretty lean. Pics: Soon I will have more pics than you can shake a stick at uploaded. I'll be entering the IMPC novice competition. I'll link the pics when they're up. Info about my workouts will be posted as I do them. I won't list weights, as I'm not expecting any strength gains per se, but I will list reps/sets and any changes from week to week. Of course, how the workouts feel stamina wise... all that good stuff will be reported. As an aside, can I just say that I hate living in an apartment style condo. I swear to god my neighbors must be watching a movie about avalanches or something. All I can hear right now is this low, incessant rumbling coming through my living room wall. Well, I'm going to show those bastards and blast some "Metallica ...And Justice for All" through my 400 watt subwoofer. They want a piece of me.... They've got it!!!! :evil: :mgfight: If you want to post any random thoughts or whatever, feel free. I don't want this to be all about me... Until tomorrow... madman, out.

04-10-2006, 05:05 PM	#12
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	After a few days of not finding the time to update, I'm back on track. My shoulder workout on 4/6 was good: Db presses 5 x 5 (strength maintained) Standing military press on smith machine 3 X 5 (strength maintained) Then, I tried a couple of exercise I've never done before, because people were in the way of me getting to my usual equipment: Upright rows using low pulley and rope, which felt really cool actually, I found the range of motion to put more stress on the side delts than bb uprights, I did 3 x 8 Then I hit rear delts using the rope and adjusting the pulley to just below chest height, that also felt awesome, really pumped up and burned the rear delts for 3 x 8 Finished off with shrugs using the deadlift machine: 4 x 15 Then, capped off with 35 minutes on the elliptical I intended to hit legs on Friday, but became swamped with work and my gym closes at 8 on friday night, so I was SOL. Saturday, I didn't end up working out either; my kids had soccer games in the morning, then my niece had a birthday party... and that's where my training/diet for the weekend took a nosedive... I had intended to have only a couple of beers at the party. I think I had 5 or 6 beers, but I didn't have any cake and primarily I ate deli turkey and roast beef. Then, my wife and I were invited to hang-out at a friends house later that evening and that entailed drinking a few more beers and eating some pizza for dinner. Honestly, I don't go out very often, so this isn't a normal weekend for me by any means. Still, it seems everyone I know likes drinking, as do I, so I really consider it my achilles heel. I find it so hard to just have 2 or 3 beers and leave it at that. I didn't get totally s-faced, though... I drank maybe 8 or 9 beers over the stretch of 12 hours, and I pounded waters too. Still, I woke up the next morning feeling less than energetic, so I didn't hit the gym on Sunday either. But, I'm back on track this morning with a good chest workout: Flat bb bench: 5 x 5, strength actually up - I usually drop the weight by 20 lbs for the last two sets, and today I didn't have to Db incline bench: x 8, x 8, x 6 - I lost strength on the last set, but I think it has to do with the increased exertion on the flat bb bench Decline bb bench: x 7, x 6, x 7 - Lost a little strength, but likely due to increased intensity of previous exercises High pulley crossovers: 3 x 8 (maintained strength) How is the stack feeling. Well, there is no obvious "feeling" I can attribute to the stack, but my strength is at least maintaining, as is my stamina and I've been in caloric deficity for about a month now. On my previous cut, I had already lost considerable stamina and had to drop some poundage on my lifts at this point. I am definitely noticing an increase in libido. Pumps are very good, but I am very leery of placebo effect when taking supps and claims like "increased pumps" and "vascularity" can't really be measured, so I stick to things like strength, stamina, and mass increases or lack of decreases to gauge a supps worth. If you want to see more pics of me, I'm competing in the IMPC novice division and my entry pics, taken last week, can be found here: madman911 - April Picture Update - Novice Bodybuilding __________________ Millennium Sport Technologies Sponsored Athlete http://www.millenniumsport.net IMPC 2006 Novice Division Champ IMPC 2007 Open Division Champ Never underestimate the power of the bandana.

04-14-2006, 01:25 PM	#13
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	Update: I'm a little frustrated with my training right now. I'm taking two classes in the evenings at Harvard this semester and it is stressing me out. One class has three mid-term exams and the other has two; studying for all of these tests while working 50 hours a week, trying to lead a decent family life, and then training on top of if all... :crazy1: I skipped legs last week, so this morning I was looking to pummel them hard. Last night I felt a little tweak in my lower back after doing some heavy dumbbell shrugs. It was weird because I didn't feel it for a few minutes after I'd finished my last set. But, the tweak was there all last night. This morning I was feeling okay and my first warm up set of 135 lbs squats didn't give me any problems, so I loaded another 50 lbs on the bar... got out two good reps and on the third the lower back tweak came back. Not bad... nothing debilitating but enough to warn me against pushing it any further. So, I decided to do a low intensity leg day consisting of leg extensions, the leg press machine, standing leg curls, and some standing calf raises. I am pissed that my legs didn't get the thrashing they deserved. I'm not getting in as much cardio as I'd like. Once classes over in a month, it'll get better. On the brightside, I weighed in at 184 lbs this morning, so I'm down at least 2 lbs from when I started this log. Powerfull and Symmetry do have me feeling strong and energetic. I am noticing increased skin oil production and my upper back is mildly breaking out in small patches, which means there is some increased androgenic activity going on. That's a sign that something hormonal is taking place. I'm really thinking about trying an ATD + Powerfull + Symmetry stack next time I bulk. I predict that it will rock. __________________ Millennium Sport Technologies Sponsored Athlete http://www.millenniumsport.net IMPC 2006 Novice Division Champ IMPC 2007 Open Division Champ Never underestimate the power of the bandana.

04-16-2006, 11:20 PM	#14
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	Well, I hate to do this, but I think it's time to take a week off of all upperbody work. I am getting some slight tendonitis in my elbows, which recurs from time to time. I actually haven't taken a week off in probably 4 months or so, so I'm overdue for a break. Whenever I take a break while cutting, I always get paranoid that all of my muscle will just fall off of me. I know that won't happen, but the thought is in the back of my mind. Hopefully, the Powerfull and Symmetry will do a good job at keeping catabolism at bay. I'll let you know. The lower back tweak hasn't bothered me at all since my last attempt at squats. I think it's nothing to be overly concerned about, I think it was a mild pinched nerve or something non-muscular, and I'll be in the squat rack this Friday to check it out. This week I have two mid-term exams, so I need to spend some time studying, but I'll definitely get in some much needed cardio. Today I got in some good cardio playing soccer with my kids, my brothers in-law, and my nephew. I needed it because I did have a couple of cookies... they were shaped like bunnies; I couldn't resist. On the brightside, my waist measurment has gone down an inch. It usually takes about 3 to 4 weeks of being on a cutting diet before my waist starts to shrink, but once it does, my fat loss becomes very consistent. It's weird because most people drop weight and waist size quickly when they start dieting down (mostly water weight), but I stay stable for 3 to 4 weeks and then my body suddenly gives in and decides to start shedding fat and water. My 36" pants are starting to fall off of me, which is good because the last time I cut, they didn't start falling off of me until I was in the low 170s; I'm currently in the mid-180s and I can't keep my ass covered. More proof that my last bulk put about 15 lbs of LBM on me, which rocks. I'm already looking forward to my next bulk and I just started cutting. __________________ Millennium Sport Technologies Sponsored Athlete http://www.millenniumsport.net IMPC 2006 Novice Division Champ IMPC 2007 Open Division Champ Never underestimate the power of the bandana.

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04-04-2006, 02:25 AM	#2
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that I'm starting EC stack tomorrow as well. 200 mg C + 25 mg E 3X per day. Woo hoo! I can hardly wait, I miss being on stims. :hyper2:

04-04-2006, 02:52 PM	#4
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	Hey Grunt, good to have you checking in. I'm really hoping for good things from this stack. This morning I did cardio. I don't do fasted cardio as I think that is a fast road to catabolism. I take 30 g of dextrose + 40 g whey + 5 g BCAA before cardio. I am experimenting with lower intensity cardio this cut, so right now I'm walking on the treadmill at 4 mph at an incline of 4 for 40 minutes. I will increase the incline as my body adapts to the exercise and I need some more intensity to raise my heart rate sufficiently. EC stack has me hopping like a bunny today. I feel great.... hooray for stims!!! Tonight I'll be in the gym again to annihilate my back. Not expecting any immediate results from the USPLabs stack, but my energy should be through the roof with the EC in my system.

04-04-2006, 02:53 PM	#5
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	I forgot to mention that I'm also using Scivation's Sesamin at 3 caps per day.

04-04-2006, 08:35 PM	#7
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	I'm doing some research into the actives in PowerFull and Symmetry X to see what I can learn about them. I'll share what I find out as I uncover things. Let's start with PowerFull, which has as its active ingredient Muria Puama which is an herb that has long been used by Native Amazon tribes in Brazil and Venezuela as an aphrodisiac. The label states that PowerFull is a proprietary blend of 1200mg Saponis from Muira Puama. This labeling infers that USPLabs has isolated or concentrated what they consider to be the truly active ingredient in Muria - what they refer to as 100% PureSap (saponis). I'm letting you know right now that there is not a whole lot of published science out there on Muria Puama and absolutely nothing I could find on something called "saponis" within Muria Puama. However, saponins are an actual type of chemical found in many herbs and some are steroidal. Now, being steroidal does not mean they are anabolic androgenic steroids used to build muscle mass. A steroid is defined by a basic chemical structure, containing 17 carbon atoms in four rings, they are fat soluble as they are themselves lipids, and many have important physiological functions totally unrelated to building muscle; for instance, the cholesterol in blood is a steroid, as are the acids in bile. From a marketing standpoint, it never hurts for a company producing an anabolic substance to draw some parallel to steroids, so the term "saponis" and its closeness to saponins, which are steroidal, may be more about good business than science. If anyone can post any references to literature that specifically explains what the "saponis" in Muira Puama is, please do so. I sure couldn't find it and I mine scientific data as part of my profession. There were a couple of clinical studies done on Muira Puama to treat men with sexual dysfunction and the results were great. Muira definitely has the effect of increasing ibido and sexual performance (reason enough to take it). However, there was no research done on its mechanism of action in the body. It is speculated that it acts by binding up SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin) - the pesky protein that binds to testosterone and keeps it inactive - but this is just a hypothesis with no hard data to support it. If this is the MOA, it would explain why Muira would have anabolic properties. Despite the lack of scientific exploration into the anabolic properties attributed to PowerFull, one cannot ignore the anecdotal evidence that it works as touted by the manufacturer. I'm of course keeping an open mind and hoping for great results. The bottom line is, if it works, it works.

04-05-2006, 01:06 AM	#8
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	Day 1: Back Workout Felt pretty good overall, I'm not expecting any effects of the stack to hit me for at least a few days, maybe not until next week. Workout consisted of: Wide-grip pull ups: bodyweight x8, x5, x3 - this was good because my pull-up strength went down the tubes as I gained weight on my bulk. I got to the point where I couldn't do more than 4 good pull ups. It was weird because my pull down strength increased nicely. I actually hadn't tried any pull ups for about 3 weeks until tonight. As I lose weight, I'm sure my rep numbers will continue to go up. Wide-grip pull downs: 3 x 8 (maintained strength) Seated cable rows: 3 x 10 (maintained strength) Seated cable rows using a bar that I don't know the technical name of, but it it is straight with a wider grip and I pull the bar towards my chest to hit the upper back: 3 x 10 (maintained strength) Close-grip pull downs: 3 x 10 (maintained strength) One arm low pulley rows: 3 x 8 (maintained strength)

04-05-2006, 02:26 PM	#9
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	Day 2: Arms Workout I lift in the AM on Wednesday's because I have a class in the evenings. Normally, I do cardio in the AM and lift in the PM when cutting. Felt good strength and stamina wise. The EC stack has me a little jittery first thing in the morning and I felt a little nauseas between sets. Could be the EC or the USPLabs stack or a little of both. I was having some herb flavored burps between sets. Biceps: Barbell curls - strength was up, added 5 lbs to what I ususally lift for my heaviest set, then did drop sets taking off 5 lbs until I was only curling an olympic bar Dumbbell preachers - 3 x 10, added 2.5 lbs Machine preachers - 3 x 8, maintained strength Triceps: Dumbbell french press - 2 x 10, 1 x 12, used 5 lbs less than usual, because I was having some forearm splints from the Barbell curls. The splints are a recurring problem that occassionally require me to stop doing bb curls for a month or so... looks like its time to stop the bb curls for a while. Close-grip bench: 3 x 8, maintained strength Rope pull downs: 3 x 10, maintained strength Noticed a really good pump in my biceps today. In the shower I was staring at my pumped bi's while shampooing my hair, they looked killer. Hopefully, I'm not the only post-workout narcissist out there who does that.

04-05-2006, 02:27 PM	#10
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	I want to add that I have some nice DOMS in my upper back and lats from yesterday's workout. I love that feeling.:nosthumbs

04-06-2006, 01:46 PM	#11
madman911 Metamorphosizing Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Boston Area Posts: 1,525 Recipes: 0 Rep Power: 60	Good DOMs in my arms from yesterday's workout. I don't usually feel DOMs in my biceps, but they are barking a bit today. I slept very poorly last night... maybe from the EC. I've haven't taken any stims for a while. I probably fell asleep at 2am and was up at 6:30, so 4.5 hrs of sleep. That sucks. When I woke up I was: :sleepy: , then I popped the EC and now I'm: :hyper2: So, no AM cardio today because I couldn't get my act together on the low sleep. Tonight I'll hit the shoulders and do some cardio after my lifts.