geoffsherman

First off, thanks to Uhockey and Designer Supplements for the opportunity to test the Activate product.
Background Info:
Here is an overview:
Age: 28

Sex: Male

Height: 5-10

Weight: 179

Bodytype: Ecto

Training experience (a summary is fine...): Started out as a skinny bastard, weighing 145 lbs before I started trainig and barely able to bench press a wet sock. Overall, I have been training for 9 years. Personal trainer for 3 years and started going through the NSCA certification, ut abandoned it after getting a full-time job that sucked the life out of me. I had been doing Max-OT for about 8 months and switched over to westside training methods starting in June.

Current Training Schedule / Protocol: I train 4 days a week, Max Effort Upper Body, Max Effort Lower Body, Repetition Effort Upper, Repetition Effort Lower

Cardio Schedule/Protocol: I run 3 times a week for about 1-2 miles. Once a week I do GPP involving stadium runs, sled pulls, and dynamic mountain mans.

Current supplements (With exact brand/product name):
Get Diesel Ready 4 War
Kirkland Fish Oil
Kirkland Multi-Vitamin
Muscle Milk -- Yes I am bulking
Syntrax Nectar
Omega Sports Cre-Ethyl Thunder
HP CEE

Current Diet:
I am taking in around 4000 calories a day as I am bulking. My macro breakdowns are roughly 40-40-20. I allow myself one cheat day a week.

Short Term Goal:
My short-term goal is to bulk up to 193-196, then cut down to around 182.

Long Term Goal:
Try out for local semi-pro football team as a safety and hopefully make it.

Current Prescription/Recreational drugs:
None

Supplement history (summary is fine..):
Creatine
SAN V12
VNS Jacked
EAS HP
Omega Thunder
NOS Ether
Green Bulge

Protein
GF-PRO
Syntrax
ON
Dymatize

NO
ON
MRI
BSN Nitrix
White Blood

Other
Animal Stak
Twinlab Crap

geoffsherman

Here is a typical day for me in terms of diet, I will not be recording my exact diet each day, but this should give you a sense for what I eat. Please also note that I am bulking right now.

Breakfast (6:30 AM)
6-9 egg whites, 8 oz skim milk, Kashi Go Lean Cereal

SNack (8:30)
Fat Free Danon Yogurt w/cup oats

Snack (10:30)
Labrada Lean Body Bar & banana

Lunch (12:30)
Turkey sandwich with FF swiss cheese on whole grain, TJ's Flaxseed Chips, apricots

Snack (2:00)
Kashi Bar

Snack (3:30)
Muscle Milk w/skim milk, banana

Pre-Workout (4:30)
Creatine

Pre-Workout (5:00)
NO, 45g of Syntrax Whey, 20g Gatorade

Post-Workout (6:45)
23g of Syntrax Whey, 20 g gatorade)

Dinner (7:45)
Grilled Chicken, Green Beans, Brown Rice, Salad

Snack (10:00)
muscle milk with skim milk

Here are the supps I will be taking:
Fish Oil
Multi
Omega Thunder
Whey Isolate

geoffsherman

Monday ME Upper
2 board Press to 3 RM
Bradford Press 3 x 6
Superset T-Bar Rows with Purple Band Scarecrows
Overhead Extentions 3 x 8
Russian Twists 3 x 12
Ab Pulldown 3 x 12

Tuesday RE Lower
SS Bar Squats 225 for 3 sets of max reps
Barbell Step Ups 3 x 10
Plyo Hack Squats
Cambered Bar Back Extentions 3 x 12
Seated Calf Raises 4 x 10

Wed Off/GPP

Thursday RE Upper
Incline Bench 185 for 3 sets of max reps
Cambered Bar Flat Bench 3 x 12
Superset Weighted Chinups with Purple Band Face Pulls 3 x 12
Superset Hammer Curls with JM Press 3 x 12
Weighted leg pullups 3 x 12
Hanging Leg Raises

Friday ME Lower
Deadlift off 4" Platform to 3 RM
Split Squats 3 x 6
Reverse Hypers 3 x 10
GHR 3 x max reps
Superset Trap Bar Shrugs and Thor's Hammer 3 x 8

Sat and Sun Off/GPP

geoffsherman

Tuesday Max-Effort Upper Body

I just took my first dose before going to the gym so I don'tthink there is much to say, however I did want t o record my workout as a baseline going into things:

2-board press
3 RM to 275

Bradford Press
6 x 135
5 x 135
2 x 135

SS T-Bar Row/Mini Band Scarecrows
3 sets at 6x160/10 reps

JM Press

3 x 8 x 90 lbs

Ab Work

Please let me know what you folks would like me to track as I go through this log and I will do my best to make sure I cover that in this log.

geoffsherman

Whoops, my weight is actually 184.25 right now, made a mistake....working on getting a camera this week so that I can get some pictures posted.

uhockey

Great start, awaiting the pics. Dump that muscle milk, stuff will only get you fat. Ultrapeptide and Lecithin or ENOVA is FAR superior!

__________________
Dosis sola facit venenum
"All things are toxic; only the dose determines the poison"

uhockey@designersupps.com
www.designersupps.com

geoffsherman

Muscle Milk hasn't gotten me fat at all, but it also hasn't had any of the desired effects at all. I am experimenting with different ON flavors and will eventually just use two scoops of ON Whey, 3/4 cup oats and 12 oz of skim milk as my weight gainer.

geoffsherman

Day 2

Haven't noticed much of an effect at this point except to say that the first two days I was on Activate, I have had very little DOMS. Usually at the beginning of a micro cycle, I am sore for the first week as my body getsused to the new exercises, not so far though. Fingers are crossed. On to the workout:

RE Squats
225 lbs over 3 sets at 23 total reps, 1" below parallel box (deepest I have ever squatted)

Low Box Step Ups
3 x 8 x 135 lbs

GHR -- Done with someone on my calves
3 x 5 x BW (these burn like hell)

Reverse Hypers
3 x 10 x Miniband

Seated Calf Raises
3 x 10 x 60lbs

Overall: Still adjusting to the new gym, but I like all of the fun accessories. I thought about doing my squats on the SS Bar, but it is pretty different than the Olympic Bar.

geoffsherman

Day 3

Max Reps Incline Bench
23 reps x 3 sets x 185 lbs

Cambered Bar Bench Press
3 x 12 x 155

SS Weighted Pullups with Mini Band Face Pulls
3 x (8 x BW+45) (12 reps)

SS Hammer Curls with Short Bar Overhead Extentions
3 x (10 x 50 lbs) (10 x 75 lbs)

Ab Work

Overall
I am definitely starting to sleep much more deeply than I have before. I have had some whacked out dreams, similar to what you have when on ZMA. Also, I am always hot throughout the day. So far, I am not feeling much from the Activate, but it took me a week to feel the effects to kick in when I was on andro so I am not real surprised. Also, my DOMS is much less than I would have expected.

geoffsherman

Day 4

ME Lower Body Day
Deadlift to 3 RM *see below
Split Squat 3 x 6 x 55 dbs (new PR)
Seated Good Mornings 3 x 6 x 135
Miniband Leg Curls
Superset Neck Harness w/Thor's Hammer 3 x 8 x 30 lbs (front and back) / 3 x 6 x 5lbs

Synopsis
I asked one of the powerlifters in the gym to check out my deadlift form as it has been feeling off. He said that going down I am good, but when I come up, I am using too much back. We spent a number of sets working on keeping my chin high and pushing back. I could have easily pulled 375 today with my old form, but I am going to focus on the 3 next weeks getting my form tight because (a) I don't want injuries as I go up higher (b) the PL 'er said that once I correct my form, I should be able to jump to 405 . What I am going to do I think is work on my 5 RM rather than my 3 RM which should enable me to go lighter and work on form, but still increase my strength. He also showed me seated GMs which he said should help me out.

Maybe it's placebo, but I was feeling great in the gym in terms of strength. I was rearin and ready to go. Sleep last night was crap because the dog was crazy, but I am looking forward to some crazy dreams tonight.

The cam is a no go, can't find one to borrow that works. Instead, I am going to measure myself tomorrow and then at the end of the 4 weeks. I am going to measure:

Chest
Arms
Waist
Thighs
Hips
Calves

All unflexed, let me know if there are any other parts you would like me to measure. Wow, I just opened myself up on that one.

DarkFalcon

Great log so far! :nosthumbs I'll be watching your progress since we are similar sizes.

uhockey

No problem with the lack of pics, no one changes THAT much in 30 days anyhow, the best increases for me were strength and sleep.

__________________
Dosis sola facit venenum
"All things are toxic; only the dose determines the poison"

uhockey@designersupps.com
www.designersupps.com

geoffsherman

I am going to do a little cardio in a few minutes, but I am definitely starting to feel the Activate kick in. If nothing else, my libido is through the roof. I will save you all the gory details, but my girlfriend has been a happy camper this weekend. I am looking forward to hitting the weights this week as I am hoping to see some nice gains.

geoffsherman

Day 7

Yesterday I did about 40 minutes of cardio just o get my GPP up a bit as I felt like it was lagging behind. I also weighed myself and I am up 3 lbs to 197 in about 6 days. I would bet I am actually above that because this weekend I was unable to get my full 7 meals in, I avergaed around 5 1/2 or so, and I wasn't consuming as much water.

Today was Upper Body ME day and here are the results:

2-board press to 3 RM
3 RM up to 285 which I hit twice. Then with some prodding from the boys in the gym, I tried 315 for the first time in my life. It was heavy, but not as bad as I thought. My spotter said he didn't help much at all except to get it past my sticking point.

Bradford Press
3 x 5 x 135

Super Set T-Bar Row with Miniband Scarecrows
3 x (8 x 16)/ 10 reps (Next week I am going to choke the band more)

JM Press
3 x 8 x 135

Ab Work

Overall Impressions
Now this is definitely starting to kick in. My strength numbers are going up, I definitely want to see how my repetition strength looks tomorrow and later in the week. My libido is noticeably improved, I feel like I am 16 again . It is too early to tell the effects on sleep, I will be cognizant of that this week though and report a little later on. I love the increase in bodyweight as I have really been stuck. In terms of length of time to take effect, this is similar to some of the PHs I have taken in the past in that it really takes 5-6 days to start seeing it kick in. That said, I am excited to see if I can get up to 190 by the end of my 4 week test.

uhockey

Awesome detail, nicely done.

__________________
Dosis sola facit venenum
"All things are toxic; only the dose determines the poison"

uhockey@designersupps.com
www.designersupps.com

geoffsherman

Last night was Lower Body Repetition Day. Here are the results:

Box Squats Max Reps @ 225lbs
27 reps over 3 sets (+4 over last week)

Low Box Barbell Step Up
3 x 8 x 135

Pullthroughs
3 x 10 x 80

Reverse Hyper
3 x 15

Seated Raises
3 x 10 x 90

Overall I am starting to feel stronger and more motivated to push myself in my workouts. What I have also noticed is how tired I am and how much I can sleep. When I fall asleep, I am lights out and pretty groggy in the morning. Once i get going, I feel fine, but getting out of bed is not fun. Not that it ever is, but there is a noticeable difference since I started on Activate.

uhockey

I may be the only person I've ever met who hates sleeping/laying around in bed.

__________________
Dosis sola facit venenum
"All things are toxic; only the dose determines the poison"

uhockey@designersupps.com
www.designersupps.com

geoffsherman

I can never sleep enough, of course that might be because I have to get up and go to work

geoffsherman

Day 9

At least, I think this is Day 9, upper body repetition effort day. First, the workout:

Max Reps 3 sets of Incline Bench at 185: 24

Cambered Bar Bench Press
3 x 10 x 155

Pullups Superset with Face Pulls
3 x (9 x 45)/(10 x 70)

Thick Bar Curls Superset with Overhead Extentions
3 x (10 x 45)/(10 x 85 lbs)

Ab Work

Summary
My strength is definitely starting to go up in a noticeable way. Hard to describe, but the lactic acid doesn't build up as fast and I feel like I am engaging the muscle more. Definitely noticing a much deeper and longer sleep, I have gone from being fine after 8 hours to really needing closer to 9. ALso, my hunger is through the roof, I feel like I could easily be eating 8 meals a day.

uhockey

The comment about sleep makes no sense to me.....

__________________
Dosis sola facit venenum
"All things are toxic; only the dose determines the poison"

uhockey@designersupps.com
www.designersupps.com

geoffsherman

Before using Activate I was fine with 8 hours of sleep and I was good to go. Now I find myself needing closer to 9 to really feel refreshed. However, the quality of sleep that I am getting is much better.

geoffsherman

Day 10 & 11

Day 10 was a day off. Today was lower body ME day. Or I should say was supposed to be, but again my form is way off on deadlifts. I did, kid you not, probably close to 25 sets of deadlifts working on my form. The good news for those following the log is that there is no chance I could have done that many before I used activate. I remember 6 months ago when I was doing much higher volume, I could do maybe 10 sets. I could have kept going, but my legs and lower back were getting a little more sore and I didn't want to push it. I am going to be redoing my leg work for the next few weeks to try and focus on getting my form down on deadlifts while I work on adding strength to my squats. My strength on forearm and trap work was markedly better. I don't have the exact stats since I tried a couple of different things, but I was wrist rolling 25 lbs for 3 sets up and down. A few weeks back, I was doing 10 lbs for 3 sets. I will publish an updated lower body routine later this weekend when I am not so pissed at myself for not corrctly deadlifting

uhockey