EMISGOD’s BodyBlog

Here’s a look at some recent entries into the energizer category and a less-worthy product. Energizers first:
Upshot Energy drink claims to be X% more powerful than the canned versions and allegedly was designed for the US Military. The taste is awful (Kola), but it was somewhat effective in terms of concentration, likely due to stupid amounts of caffeine. The cost does not justify the results and this, while amusing to try once, will not likely be repeated.

ABB Speed Stack — I could not find the Extreme version, which came recommended by Deserusan. The regular version gives a very mild energy charge. It also has the same sort of taste that all the ABB plastic bottled products have, which is not generally distasteful. It is basically just not strong enough.

Biotest’s Spike Shooter is an interesting entry. Given the contents, this should not be sold in convenience markets, but for the bodybuilding community, it does have some uses. The first time I tried it, it worked well, not quite up to the level of the old VPX Redline RTDs in the metal cans, but very well nevertheless. I was insanely thirsty post workout, though. The second time, it took longer to kick in and did not give nearly the energy charge nor did I have the accompanying thirst from the time before. While this is an interesting product, it is far from anything I’m going to be looking at for a staple. The taste of the original formula is solid. I’ve also tried the ‘Quila Lime, which, while at least decent at masking the taste of the sweetening agent, is not as good as the original. The Orange Gold, however, is considerably better than either of the other flavors and is one of the better tasting supplements out there in general. The response lately has settled into a "spike" consistent with the name, followed by a tapering effect. As expected, the "spike" seems to be dependent on how many other stims are present at the time it’s taken in addition to the food level of the stomach. Still somewhat overpriced, but this is a consistently entertaining drink.

Premier Nutrition’s Rocket Shot is similar in theme to the Upshot, which is a more or less concentrated blast of "energy-inducing" agents. The Orange Mango really tastes terrific, but this does not work particularly well, probably due to fairly low amounts of the various agents. It might work with 4 or 5 of the little bottles, but that would be prohibitively expensive…

8-Ball Nutrition Black Betas — This is nice, capped beta-alanine. The problem is that these are both underdosed and its actions, compared to other products with beta-alanine, leads me to suspect that they may be impure or not up to label claims.  In any event, I wound up getting the bottle for about $7, after shipping. Buying from bb.com puts this at double the cost of getting 100g beta-alanine elsewhere. The total yield here is about 72g per bottle, assuming the contents of the capsules meet label claims. Not a good deal and not worth bothering with. There are better sources for beta-alanine elsewhere.

Well, it’s been a long, strange trip. When I originally started the bulk on October 01 of 2006, I was at 225 lbs. I did not have any measurements, aside from trying to use a metal tape measure to deduce approximate numbers, a decidedly unscientific practice. I did not have a scale to use, aside from the one at the gym and did not have a calipers. Along the way, I got very specific about things and found my best guesses, while not on the money, were in the correct range.

I originally wanted to add a point a week. Over 6 months, that equates to about 24 lbs, though I wanted to finish at or over 250 ultimately. That did not happen. I came in at 248, but a remarkable thing also happened along the way. Despite me piling a lot of that weight on initially in November (thank you Thanksgiving!), I lose 5% bf in the intervening 4 months to the end of the bulk, which was a very welcome development, despite nearly all of that bf% hanging around my middle. This leaves me needing to lose about half of my current bf% to meet my goal of 7%, though once I get to 10 and down, it’s going to be very rough going.

The bulk started very poorly, with me having to half-ass a few workouts due to recovery being an issue. Recovery stayed an issue for most of the time, except when I was using Designer Supplements Replenish or Xtreme Formulations Relentless + 1 scoop whey. Towards the end of the bulk, the same thing started happening, which was rather frustrating, all in all. I also was getting very tired of bulking towards the end and was rather relieved that it was ending. Working as hard on the movie (see Projekt post) as I was the last 6 weeks of it probably did not help things either.

The bulk did end on a positive note, with a very solid workout to close it down and me being easily the strongest of my entire life. I really wanted to bring up Back a great deal and I feel that goal was accomplished, even though I still think I probably need to spend the next bulk again focusing more on Back as my Lats are still in need of further development. I have a few cut lines here and there, but no real definition, being that I was on a bulk, no real surprise there.

This was my first real intentional bulk in a long while and it was interesting noting how differently my body reacted. I learned that me taking thermogenics while on a bulk is a bad, bad idea. I learned that supplement companies are going apeshit with the creatine sprinkles, to my perpetual annoyance. I learned that if I dirty bulk, it’s very bad news. I learned that my cardio was too far in the toilet for me to do a lot of things I wanted to do during the bulk and I should have not only not let it ever get to that level, but I should also have probably gotten it into better condition before attempting the Bulk. I learned that I am still, more now than ever, an artist first before all things, including a bodybuilder.