Hawaii Don’s BodyBlog

Had a great workout last night. I have recently switched from 3 days/wk to 4 days/wk. Last night was legs and for the last three weeks I have hit PR’s on Squats, SLDL and Leg extensions! I feel really strong lately and I am not sure if it is due to the fact that I have my diet 120% dialed in at ~4000 cals/day 40/40/20 or if it is because I added SizeOn to my supplements. It could just be a combination of both but regardless, I feel great! Sore as hell but in a good way. I will be switching up to 20’s in about a month!
Tonight is chest and tri’s and I plan to work the crap out of them! I want to get my bench back to over 200 lbs. I am slooooowly working my way back there. The back surgery really kicked my ass and it has taken a long time to be able to recover my strength from it. The back is feeling solid now and I feel like this latest round of growth will get me to where i want to be. Bottom line is YOU HAVE GOT TO BELIEVE IN YOURSELF!

Don

Yeah I just had to get rid of that almost 3 year old picture! Looks like I am making progress along the way here. I’ll switching up my routine next week going from a 3 days/wk to a 4 days/wk program. My diet has been really solid as of late and clean as a whistle! 4000+ cals/day. I’ll be posting more soon as I have time.

Don

These are the final measurements of my 42 days on Halodrol Liquigels. Not bad!

Final Measurements

Weight:
Starting: 168.8
Finish: 180.8  (+12 lbs)

Calf
Start: 15″
Finish 15.5″ (+ 1/2″)

I’ll add bodyfat measurements later today. But I think it went up. Maybe time for a recomp.

Don

I finished my HLG blister pack last night. So far I have gained 10 lbs on this cycle!  The gains have been solid from sight but I will take measurements tomorrow to get a good idea of just what was gained. I would venture a guess of about 1-2″ on my chest and shoulders, probably 1/2″ on my biceps, Maybe 1/2″ on my thighs and close to 1″ on my calf’s.

In the beginning I experienced pretty crazy lethargy. After a couple of weeks that seemed to drop off. Didn’t really see any increase in intensity in the gym until about 3 weeks into my Novedex XT cycle which I started about 3 weeks into the HLG cycle. I am taking the new formula HLG’s and I had some nipple swelling and sensitivity but it went away pretty quickly.

I added 50# to my squats!  I don’t max out so i have no idea what my 1 RM is so don’t ask! I had major lumbar back surgery 6 months ago so I am reasonably paranoid about maxing out at this point. I added 30# to my bench press and 20# to my preacher curls. I also added 15# to my tricep pressdowns.

Overall I would give the whole stack, HLG’s + Novedex XT an 8 out of 10. I think that there needs to be some improvement with the joint pain at the end of the cycle. My knees, shoulders, elbows and wrists have been in constant pain (nagging dull ache) for about 2 weeks. It hasn’t affected my workouts but it’s always there in the background.

Novedex XT: I like this stuff! I haven’t slept this well in years! I haven’t woken up with this much wood in years too, the ol’ lady was stoked! The best contribution from adding this supplement to the mix was the hardening of the muscles. My legs are like rock hard now. I also noticed that my biceps, triceps and back got considerably more defined in the last 8 weeks. I’ve got less than two weeks to go on Novedex XT but I would most definitely use this product again, without hesitation.

I added in SizeON at the end of the HLG cycle and I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised at the lack of DOMS from Wednesday’s squat, SLDL, Leg Ext, Calf raises assault on my legs. Usually after two days I can barely walk. One suggestion for the sizeON is to improve the mixability in water. I have to constantly shake the mixer before drinking and getting a mouthfull of SizeON sludge at the bottom of the cup really sucks! I usually mix in more water about 3/4 of the way through. The Lemon Ice tastes good and as I stated, it works well too.

I will probably look for something a little stronger than HLG’s for my next cycle but I think it is a good starting point for a foray into more harsh ph’s and such. I’ll post measurements this weekend.

Thanks Gaspari for making high quality products in a world of shady ones!
Don

Man, it’s funny, I get sore after each and every workout! My friends tell me that there is no way I can get sore after each one but I do. I think it affects each person differently and has to do with how fast the body can metabolize out lactic acid. I guess mine is a slow buggah!

Last night was legs:

Squats
Squat Press
SLDL
Calf raises

Today I am starting to feel the stiffness although, this morning it was more lethargy in my legs. They were like 2 ton bricks when I got out of bed. Tomorrow they will be sore!

One thing I have noticed with the Halodrol Liquigels and Novedex XT is that my muscles are getting harder to the touch. My legs, back, shoulders, arms and chest are feeling really solid. That is why I go to the gym… It is really motivating me to get back there. I can’t wait til Friday when I hit chest and arms!

Don

Well it’s been an exciting 24 hours. Hurricane Flossie is bearing down on the Big Island and there was a mild (5.4) earthquake last night. Looks like the volcano is getting ready for some major action again… I was at the gym when the earthquake happened and didn’t even notice it. Guess I was more intensely into my workout than I thought? Anyways…

Day 32 on Halodrol liquigels and I have made some pretty impressive gains. I have put on 8.7 pounds and gone up in almost all the lifts I do. The shoulders have gotten bigger but the strength is still the same.   Bench has gone up dramatically as has my squats. I have switched to a 5×5 type workout on leg night which has really helped. I have seen solid gains in muscularity and vascularity. This is a really good product. I stacked it with Novedex XT which I feel has helped maintain my leanness while pounding down 3500-4000 calories a day. As a former fatty it’s hard to eat that much and not be worried about packing on some love handles and belly fat.

The workout last night didn’t seem to have the intensity I am used to having in the gym. I guess with the stress of worrying about the hurricane and whether or not the data at work will be safe took away from the intensity in the end. I plan on doing legs Wednesday night and look forward to that workout as always. I think legs are my favorite.  I have also seen my muscles harden up quite a bit. I plan to keep bulking through the winter and hope to put on about 20 lbs of LBM with a clean bulking diet. Then I’ll cut around February or March for the summer.

Aloha,
Don

and starting to gear up for leg night! I always seem to get jacked for legs. I don’t know why, but legs are my favorite nights. I only do 4 exercises and I am usually done in 45 minutes. Sometimes i do some cardio after but my legs are totally toasted usually so cardio isn’t possible! Tonight will be later than usual since the ol’ lady is sick and i will need to deal with the kids and homework and such before I get to the gym. i’ll let the wife sleep since she got my cold and I know how bad it sucked. It literally drained my energy form my body. I think I went to bed at 7:00ish three nights last week. That’s cool though, the gym is less crowded after 8:00 pm.

Last night I was at my daughter’s soccer practice and I saw this dude that looked familiar. Turns out he works out at the gym at the same time as I do and his daughter is on the team too. This dude has some massive shoulders. Sheesh!  Someday I’ll have some nice shoulders too. Heh, hard work and discipline.

Aloha,
Don

Woohoo! Felt so good to be back in the gym after a week of sickness. The pump was again outrageous! I had a killer one going on my lats and shoulders tonight. Everything is looking good and the pump is a super motivator!
Back and Shoulders

BW Pullups x 36 (nearly 9 straight. I was about 2" short of getting 9)
Lat pulls (straight bar with stirrup ends) 5×10 120×1 130×4
Upright Rows 3×10 70 lbs
Bent Rows 3×10 115lbs
Seated Military Press 3×10 95 lbs
Seated Side raises 3×10 20lbs
Rear raises on incline bench 3×10 20 lbs
Ab Curls on decline bench 2×20

No cardio since the cold is still pretty deep in my lungs and the treadmills and elipticals and stairmills were all taken and I didn’t feel like waiting around. I’ll probably start back at the cardio on Friday night anyways. Looking forward to legs on Wednesday night.

Aloha,
Don

Well, after a week of being sick I am ready to resume workouts. I am not quite 100% but I am feeling way better! I will resume my workouts tonight beginning with back and shoulders. I am so ready to take out a week of frustrations for not working out on my poor back and shoulders. The diet has been going well and i have several extra calories to burn off after not working out last week so I will attempt to get those too on the treadmill after the workout. Happy Monday!

So I finally got home on Tuesday afternoon from my trip to San Diego. Overall, the trip was a great one. The kids had a blast swimming everyday and I even got hit on by this 18 y/o chick. That was a great ego booster! The only downfall was that I brought home this chest and head cold. I haven’t been sleeping much due to the coughing and congestion and I haven’t been able to work out cuz i just don’t have the energy. Add to all that, I am back at work…

I hate being sick! I am just hoping I can get back into the gym tomorrow for my chest and arms workout. I probably won’t do cardio after but I need to get back to working out. I hate missing workouts. I feel like my body is wasting away if I am not in the gym. I know it isn’t and I need the rest but that doesn’t help my mental focus. Plus I feel like Sh*t and that doesn’t help either. Sorta like being run over by a bus I suppose. Well, I’ll just crawl back under the covers and try to get better.

Aloha,
Don