DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

I have this posted on bb.com, might as well post it here as well since I spend an inordinately high amount of time here anyhow.

Over the course of the next 16 weeks (or longer), I am going to be recording my progress on completing what I would personally consider to be a successful recomposition.. I am going to post updates weekly along with pictures to get pointers and see how everything is progressing.

HISTORY
While I have been lifting on-and-off for several years, I have spent the past 2 years with an ardent focus on finally doing things RIGHT. I have included a picture on the bottom detailing the progress made in the past 14 months, and this has been through the use of FOOD, DIET, and EXERCISE. In spite of my efforts, I have kind of been stalled over the course of the past 6 weeks, so it's time to break some plateaus and continue to learn more during my time here. Genetically, my metabolism bites in a major way and I'm predispositioned to gain weight easily. To boot, I work 55 - 65hrs weekly, but I'm here to prove to ANYONE you can still achieve your goals even for the career-minded workaholics with crappy genetics! I'm 29.

GOALS
Week 1-8
Complete my ECA/Clen/Benadryl/Alpha T2 cycle and try to slam the balance of my fat off at a controlled rate while minimizing muscle loss
Week 9-16
Run Andro-Rx (800mg/daily) and destroy every last ounce of doubt I ever had about myself

DIET
I eat just about the same thing ALL WEEK and do all my cooking on Sundays. I've been tracking my weekly macronutrient intake for I forget how long, maybe all of the past 2 years?

My diet is not 100% perfect compared to some of you here, but it's pretty solid. I'll be posting my weekly food breakdown similar to what you see here. I will be running at no more than 1.8x Body Weight daily, with all carb intake stopping after 18:00.

I typically have 1-2 cheat meals on the weekend only, typically a nice dinner with the wife and perhaps a small dessert on Sundays. I drink maybe once a month.

This is a pretty consistent shot of my kitchen on Sunday!


Weekly Intake


SUPPLEMENTS
Nothing major here. Having been stuck for some period time, I was tinkering on the idea of running a Prop/Var/T3 cycle, but holy hell is that expensive. SO, after much searching I found 1-Andro RX and believe this will be the next best thing! My current supps other than those listed above are as follows:
Flax Seed Oil
Fish Oil
Liver Tabs
Super Greens
Protein w/ Glycomaize
BCAA during workout
MT-II (weekly maintenance)


ROUTINE
I'll be hitting the gym 4 days a week and hitting arms/traps twice a week. Why? These parts seem to be lagging in spite of my best efforts so I will be doubling my efforts assuming I don't detect any signs of overtraining. I'll be updating the numbers weekly. I'll be changing the routine at week 9 to include a massive onslaught of compound lifts whilst cycling the 1-Andro Rx. My routine focuses on FORM, FORM, FREAKING FORM. A typical pull-up for me will involve a full hold for 1s above the bar, and a full, dead hang before the next rep, for instance. I don't cheat moves one iota and take my sweet-ass time when performing movements. NO COMPROMISE.

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

WEEK 21 UPDATE
Weight - 190lbs

Motivation was pretty strong most days was my strength and overall endurance, however I still remain exceedingly displeased with my overall appearance. Hitting arms, traps 2x a week doesn't seem as though it's going to be overly taxing on my muscles, HOWEVER, I feel a cold coming on, clearly indicating that I need to add some additional anti-oxidants to the mix, stat! I am going to play with the workout tracker here on the site and see if it's simple enough as compared to an Excel sheet so I can better track workout progress.

Tinkering with the idea of doing cardio during the morning on non-lifting days. Anyway, this week's pics! (flat, flexed)

I wish any fellow dieters GOOD LUCK over the holiday weekend!!!

MyTL09

iTrader: (4)

Omg thats a great right up, keep up the great work

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

Fucking awesome!..Congratulations on all your hard work..Very inspiring..I am looking at gym's right now and i'm ready..Looking forward to your updates..

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

WEEK 22 KICK-OFF

Alright, well, this weekend was somewhat disappointing in that I had some beer and dessert on Sunday night, but it was somewhat needed. Also had a burger on a bun w/ mayo and a small bowl of ice cream on Sunday, but save those aspects the weekend was clean. Worst case scenario is I'll call this a refeed in my head.

WORKOUT ADJUSTMENT
Arms/traps twice per week is not going to be an issue, so we'll run with that for the next 8 weeks. I have also changed up a number of exercises to feature 'odd' grip positions to tax the forearms and grip all the while (i.e. doing rope cable crunches while holding the rope in between my middle and ring fingers only).

Additionally, I'll be doing cardio 3x weekly using a Vacufit on W, Sat, and Sun.

SUPPLEMENT ADJUSTMENT
Done with ECA, and thank friggin' God. Running Clen (+Taurine/Potassium) for the next 2 weeks (which, IMHO, is mild when compared to ECA), then followed by a 6-week cycle of Cyanostane Rx. I will be changing my supplementation of SUPER GREENS to PWO and adding MIRACLE REDS while cutting.

FOOD ADJUSTMENT
Changing my only carb meal to POST workout. Workout was a living hell today and nearly had me vomiting/passing out after decline bench. I'll let the mirror tell me if this is working to my advantage.

Here's the WK22 breakdown. 7.5lbs Kung Pao Chicken, assloads of chiles and broccoli. Dude, this meal STINKS. But it's tasty!

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, guys! It's taken what feels like a lifetime to get to this point, I appreciate the kind words! I don't know how next Saturday's pics will look, I messed up on Sunday night, and a little bit on Monday night. The nonavailability of the gym on Monday didn't help, so I'll be hitting cardio for an hour per day on Saturday AND Sunday. SO, I don't know if the WK22 pics will be better, but WK23 should be killer. More to come!

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

F*ck it, just make it easy

SUPERSET 1 w/ CABLE CRUNCHES
FLAT BENCH
175 x 10
235 x 6
285 x 3

WIDE-GRIP PULLUPS W/ 1s HOLD 1s DEAD HANG
12 x BW
8x BW
6x BW

SUPERSET 2 w/ OBLIQUE CABLE CRUNCHES
INCLINE BENCH
175 x 8
195 x 6
225 x 6

BENT-OVER ROWS
135 x 8
135 x 7
155 x 6

SUPERSET 3 w/ LEG RAISES
DECLINE BENCH
175 x 7
175 x 6
195 x 7

CABLE ROWS
160 x 8
180 x 6
200 x 7

SUPERSET 4
MACHINE PRESS
160 x 7
160 x 6
160 x 5

PRONE ALTERNATING LEG/ARM RAISES
6
6
5

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

So..even though I haven't joined a gym yet I've decided to start putting in some work..I've been working on my diet for the past week. I've pretty much done a 180 in terms of what I eat and drink. My main problem will be cutting down on beer. I know the beer is my main problem. I have a beer belly....Besides my beer gut I'm in decent shape. 6'1" @195lbs..I'm not really going for a body builder look but I do want definition..

*My main goal is set a positive example for my 2 daughters (ages 2 and 8 months)..A personal goal of mine is to run a marathon and perhaps get into tri's in the future..

I know my diet still needs a lot of work but this is a typical day for me..

Breakfast- Bran flakes with skim milk.

Lunch- Turkey and cheese samich..dry.

Dinner (Were I probably need the most work)- boneless skinless chicken.. cheese burger with A1 (93/7).. steak.. homemade tacos (93/7) with reduced fat cheese and reduced fat soft shells..sometimes hamburger helper meals..usually have salad as a side..

Throughout the day I snack on peanuts..I have cut out all soda, except for a coke zero every now and then. I have one cup of coffee every morning...I mainly just drink water..

As far as supplements go I take a multi vitamin and fish oil every morning..Sometimes I have a whey protein shake as a breakfast replacement..

I know i need to eat more vegetables and fruits and I'm open to any all suggestions..

So until I join a gym (money is the main factor holding me back) I plan on running every day.. I have some dumbbells and will try to get some sort of routine going. Also I will do push ups and sits ups until exhaustion every day..I will take my before picture tonight..

I would appreciate all the advice you could give me DM..It could be like an online training partner and I could really use the motivation..

Ps..( My intention is not to jam up your thread so I may make my own in the future)

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

Death metal, you are very dedicated.
Awesome!

at one period of time, I had dedication, but now meh.
Please keep this thread going as it will give motivation.
thanks.

Shalooby

DM - awesome progress. Congrats!

I decided to change as well after seeing a picture of myself last Thanksgiving. I'm not nearly as organized as you are with regard to the charts, plans, etc. I run every day and cross-train a few times a week as well. So far I'm down about 20 pounds.

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

Let me start off by saying I’m no pro on this, I’m just a guy who’s done assloads of research and is fairly dedicated. I have a RIDICULOUSLY SLOW METABOLISM, so my diet/training is focusing on thwarting my piss-poor genetics. I’m going to give you a CONDENSED version here, fire up a thread and let’s go from there.

BUT, if I could offer any advice it’d be to have a CLEAR goal, first and foremost. If your goal is clearly to run a marathon, your training objectives will be a far cry from what I’m doing. Your strength training would more periodization (so you’d be training differently during running season as opposed to before and after), roughly 2 to 3x per week focusing on antagonist and agonist groups.

Your advantage? You don’t need a gym if you want to run a marathon, you’ll need minimal equipment. Bulk will kill you in a run, not help, so you can lean out, but no bulk here. You’d want to work all muscle groups in each session, about 3 sets per and 6 – 8 reps. So you’d work UPPER BACK, LOWER BACK, BI, TRI, SHOULDERS, HAMS, LEGS. Legs should be a major core exercise like squats or deads. All you need is a bar and some weights, dude. Then assloads of running, of course

As far as food is concerned, to cut shoot for BW x 1.3 – 1.8, in calories and consume 1g protein per lb bodyweight, dial up as needed. You can run the macro split of carbs/pro/fat as you see necessary, your body should tell you what is or isn’t working. As a runner, you’ll obviously need more carbs to prevent catabolism (muscle breakdown) Protein shakes should only be consumed pre/post workout, the rest should come from food. Add dextrose with the PWO shake. Carbs from clean sources such a sweet potatoes, brown rice, etc, and veggies should be the fibrous, not the starchy kind. SUPPLEMENT ONLY AS NEEDED….DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY ON ALL THIS GIMMICKY SHIT YOU SEE ALL OVER THE PLACE. As you can see, I supplement fats and antioxidats. That’s is, save the fat burners/prohormones I am/will be running.

Sorry if this was long winded, but I hope this helps and start your thread, brother!

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

Thanks DM..I'm going to start researching and see what will work best for me.

Majofo

badass DM!

great discipline. I've been staying pretty disciplined but not to your extent.. very impressive! Thanks for sharing.. but please.. no banana hammocks.

Majofo

Also, does your girl know you're taking pictures of your shirtless self in the bathroom and posting them on the internet?

cM3go

Love your progress. So you cook a week's worth of chicken and eat that everyday?

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, dude. Hell no banana hammocks. Hell, I worked out in a tank-top at the gym yesterday and nearly had a full-ought panic attack due to self-inflicted insecurities.


She doesn't care, my mistress is getting a little concerned, though.

Thanks! Yes, I eat the same meal 3x a day, 7 days a week. Well, The same 5 meals, counting the protein shakes and cottage cheese before bed.

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

WEEK 22 SUMMARY
WEIGHT = 188.6lbs (-1.4lbs from WK22)

All said and told it was a pretty good week. Nothing noteable other than I'm FINALLY done with the ECA/Clen cycling, and thank goodness for that. FIRST WEEK BELOW 190LBS IN GOD KNOWS HOW MANY YEARS!!!!

WORKOUT ADJUSTMENT
Ok, this week was tough because everything was thrown off by a full day due to the holiday. SO, not only did I get cardio in on Wednesday, BUT I also lost a recovery day which led to missing arms on Friday...just couldn't recover in time.

SUPPLEMENT ADJUSTMENT
None.


Now for the results...

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

WEEK 23 KICK-OFF

Well, should be an interesting week. While I KILLED it with cardio this weekend, I went to my good buddy's graduation on Sunday and HOOOOOOOLY SHIT did I pig out. Well, not all THAT bad, but relative to my other weekends? Oh God, what a mess.

WORKOUT ADJUSTMENT
F*CK YES, BACK TO COMPOUND LIFTS. I'll post the more detailed lifting regimen this weekend when I summarize the week, but my beloved deadlifts and squats are now back in rotation. On Monday I benched 285x3 and superset with a 405-lb x 2 raw DL, which I was DAMN happy about. More to come on that.

SUPPLEMENT ADJUSTMENT
Running Cyanostane-Rx. Also running as little carbs as I can tolerate, mostly from the black bean hummus, waxy maize, and my treasured morning cup of java

Fuds for the week.

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

[IMG][/IMG]

eccjak

Mirin progress.........

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

TUESDAY - ARMS, TRAPS (WK23)

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

WEDNESDAY - FASTED CARDIO (WK23)

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

THURSDAY - LEGS, SHOULDERS (WK23)
Note: Why no squats, dude?! Simply put, I don't think it'll factor well in to this routine. The cardio done thrice weekly is taking a toll on my legs, moreso than I anticipated, and forcing squats is just BEGGING for shit form / injury. I'll forgo the squats so I can hammer cardio for this go-around.

Another thing, the majority of the exercises I do on this day are done SLOWLY. I prefer not to jerk anything and follow through with concentrated movements. I can't help but be somewhat disgusted when I see guys bounding 180lbs of calf raises, there isn't an iota of contraction in the movement...but that's just me. I'm pretty happy with my delt development thus far, so I am going to run with what works...for now!

Shit energy and motivation for today...it happens (it's been a long week outside of the gym)

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Dude...you make me seem like the most disorganized and least motivated person ever...
Nicely done, Dan...

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

Jer - I know. I really gotta work on that


Weigh-in tomorrow morning for WK23...my Thursday weight might have been a fluke, but holy hell

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

FRIDAY - ARMS/TRAPS (WK23)
Note - this is an AM workout due to my work schedule, and my CNS isn't exactly firing on all cylinders, so I did the best I could!

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

WK23 SUMMARY / WK24 KICK-OFF

WEIGHT - 188.0* (-0.6 from WK23)
*This is bullsh*t. Friday night I worked on the car and the yard and consumed, much to my err, almost 2 ENTIRE liters of diet soda. Suffice to say, the weight is not accurate due to a mass amount sodium in my system, AND associated water retention. I'm leaner this week. Period. My daily fixation in the mirror is telling me so.

WORKOUT CHANGES
None thus far. Looking forward to bumping up the weight next week and hoping Cyanostane will provide me with a nice edge on weight. I'm HOPING I can slap 3 45s on each side of the bench at reduced BW and kill the deads.

DIET CHANGES
WHOOF, running low carb / no carb sucks a fat one. It's exhausting, suffice to say, MUCH harder than I thought it would be.

GENERAL
No changes in libido, all systems normal. My appetite has been THROUGH THE ROOF. Moreso then when on clen OR ECA. So, I'm already looking forward to a DMZ/Cyano stack on a Ripptoe 5x5 after this cycle. So, here's the results, and even if the pics don't depict so, seriously, I AM leaner!!!









Holy hell, look at the size of these jalapenos!!! FYI: I have a HUGE hard-on for spicy food, and my diet will reflect that!!!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Keep up the good work...I'm enjoying your weekly deviant and precisely orchestrated grin in every picture.

PS...I'm done 37 pounds in 6 months, myself...just from incorporating basketball in my regimen and watching calories. Love teh spicy also...

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

WK24 SUMMARY / WK25 KICK-OFF

WEIGHT - 188.6* (+0.6 from WK24)
*I expected this. My cousin's birthday was last night, and in case my face does not reflect it, yeah, I had a few drinks and was hella tired in the morning. Although only plus 0.6? I'll deal with it.

WORKOUT CHANGES
BACK: Wide-grip pulls changes to Full-range pullups w/ pause
LEGS: Leg extensions changed to leg press
LEGS: Seated calf raises changed to calf extensions on sled
ARMS: Barbell curl on Friday changed to open-grip reverse pulls


DIET CHANGES
FUCK THIS CKD SHIT. Seriuosly. Kudos to those of you who can do it, but I need some goddamn carbs stations about my workout if I am going to be human once again. Running cyanostane on CKD is NOT recommended!!!!

GENERAL
This was an AWFUL, AWFUL week. Work was BEYOND demanding and had me drained like no other week to date. As promised, I remained committed to my workout. Next week WILL be better...I hope. No feeling anything special from the 'stane, yet...vascularity is indeed slightly up...OH, and the pumps from the gym are NOTICEABLY up.

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

MONDAY - CHEST/BACK


WEDNESDAY - CARDIO / ARMS / TRAPS


THURSDAY - LEGS / DELTS


FRIDAY - ARMS / TRAPS

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

WK24 SUMMARY / WK25 KICK-OFF

WEIGHT - 189.4* (+0.6 from WK25)
Well, the weight is up, BUT, and I think you'll agree, the fat is NOT!

WORKOUT CHANGES
Made a stupid jump in weight on DL and couldn't pull it off, no pun intended.


DIET CHANGES
I've started adding a little bit of "dirty" calories here and there. Nothing you'd consider horrific, but the occasional cup of coffee w/ cream and sugar are finding their way in to the mix

GENERAL
WOW, MAAAAAAN DOES THIS STUFF KICK INTO HIGH GEAR AFTER TWO WEEKS!!!
-Vasculartiy? Up. WAY up.
-Post work-out pump is just STUPID. It puts ANY NO product I've tried to shame and then some.
-Recovery anymore is limited by sleep, I swear the only thing stopping me from doing my Monday routine two or three times is the reduced calories.
-Strength is freaking great. I'm lighter than I've ever been and hitting 315lbs and REPPING it on bench.

Overall, I'M LOVING THIS STACK. Not done with the cycle yet, but already, two massive thumbs up on this product. Unless some wicked sides kick in, this product is a real winner.

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

MONDAY - CHEST (WK25)

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

TUESDAY - ARMS, TRAPS

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

THURSDAY - LEGS, DELTS (WK25)

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

FRIDAY - ARMS, TRAPS

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

your underpants are looking tighter and tighter every week, I think I'm going to start this routine too.

and damn you...I thouht I was being "good" with my spinach and chicken breast...but if you're just now adding a little coffee and cream into your diet here and there...then I'm still not very disciplined!

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

Thanks, Jer! I don't think it's the routine, really, maybe just the approach and the diet more than anything. And the Cyanostane I am taking right now really is the most ridiculous supplement I've EVER taken.

Note that I don't really go in to details about my weekend activities, lol. It's summertime, which is going to be HELLA hard to behave on weekends, particularly this next month. Key thing is to hit your protein macros, keep it at a caloric deficit, and play with the leftover space as one needs to keep their sanity!!!

If you need any other pointers or such, you can always shoot me a PM!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Thanks Dan...you're the...errr...MAN?!?!
I know...believe it or not, the caloric deficit thing finally hit me this go around. Calories in vs calories burned = what the fuck you're going to look like in the mirror. No tricks, no gimicks, no shortcuts. Basic math is all that keeps the population from turning a fat bastard victim of genetics...to a hot person that other hot people want to fuck.

That said, this last round over the last 6 months have netted me a loss of 244-211lbs=33lbs. Well, that and the fact that I've picked up basketball for 3 hours 2 to 3 times a week, still rockin my mountain biking once a week and jogging the other 2 days. Calisthenics mixed in as needed...in the form of pushups pullups dips and planks.

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

You and me BOTH, brother. I think my first pic in this log is testament to that.

Which...IMHO...is freaking EPIC. It's taken me more than TWICE that time frame to lose that much weight, so make sure you take full well advantage to that metabolism of yours and your body's great response to all of your hard work!!!

DeathMetal

iTrader: (2)

WK26 SUMMARY / WK27 KICK-OFF

WEIGHT - N/A
THIS WEEK = TRAGEDY. Around 1pm on Saturday, I felt a nagging pain that grew progressivley worse of the course of the weekend coming from my lower left jaw. I simply thought it was just the result of some nocturnal tooth grind, but BOY was I ever wrong. Seems as though those many times in which I should have had my wisdom teeth removed, but didn't, cam back to haunt me.

SO, the pictures this week will reflect a rather exhausted, grumpy dude, with a bloody piece of gauze in my mouth. While I remembered to take the pics, I forgot to weigh myself, and we'll blame that on the percocet.

WORKOUT CHANGES
KILLER WEEK. LOVING THE 'STANE!!!

DIET CHANGES
None.

GENERAL
WK27 is gonna kinda be a loss, I'll be deloading as best as I can because, well, I'll be in the Bahamas and working out will not be at the forefront of my concerns. After that we're on the final week, so next round of pics may not be looking so good.