Random Reflections

Lots of energy from my new diet today and 6-7 hours sleep. (Feeling a little overfed if anything, but I trust my calorie calculations).

The workout:

Dumbbell Press: Warm-up 40lbs x 20 (not to failure)

80lbs X 2, 65lbs X 6, 65lbs X 5, 60lbs X 5, (55lbs X 6 + 35lbs X 3)

Seated bent-over rear-delt dumbbell flys: 15lbs X 13, 20lbs X 9, 20lbs X 9, 20lbs X 9, 15lbs X 12, (15lbs X 9 + 10lbs X 4)

Standing bent-over rear-delt cable flys: 30lbs X 6, 30lbs X 6, (30lbs X 7 + 20lbs X 5), (30lbs X 8 + 20lbs X 5)

Side Delt lateral raises: 20lbs X 8, 20lbs X 8, 20lbs X 7, 20lbs X 6, 15lbs X 8

Upright rows on smith machine: 135lbs X 5, 135lbs X 5, 111lbs X 8, 111lbs X 8, (111lbs X 8 + 60lbs X 6 free wieght)

Abs: Roman Chair straight leg raises: 25, 16, 16, 15, 15,

Rope pulldown crunches: 160lbs X 20, (160lbs X 20 + 115lbs X 10)

Flat sit ups: 20 + 5 crunches

Medicine ball twist for obliques: 50 X 12lbs

High delcine situps: 20

So I’ve decided as of this weekend (April 21st, 2007) to control precisely the number of calories I eat each day at (maintenance + 20%) Maintenance was calculated based on the Katch-McArdl equation which account for lean body mass rather than total mass. Then I use a correction factor of 1.7 to get my total daily energy expenditure based on 6 days of strenuous exercise per week. Then I add 20% to this value to allow for muscle growth.

I have carefully tailored this diet to exactly match my lean body mass and will have to adjust the calories every week to account for lean mass gains.

The total calories are divided into 9 meals, each meal containing exactly 45g protein, 45g carbohydrates, 10g fat (nearly 100% of the fat is unsaturated from fish, nuts, flax oil, and avocados.

Here is a typical workout day meal schedule (I will be alternating at least 7 variations with different foods, but all variations will contain exact number of calories and exact ratio of protein/carbs/fat split evenly X 9.

Daily food option A (Workout Day)
(Recalculate Every Saturday)
(Each meal exactly 45g protein, 45g carbohydrate, 10g fat)
 

Finished in ~1.5hr including abs. (April 20th, 07)

Flat Barbell Press: 135lbs X 25 (warm-up not to failure)

225lbs X 12, 225lbs X 7, 225lbs X 5, 225lbs X 7, (225lbs X 7 + 135lbs X 5)

Decline Barbell Press: 267 X 8, 313 X 2, 225 X 13, 225 X 9, (225 X 8 + 135 X 4)

Incline Dumbbell Press: 80lbs X 5, 70lbs X 5, 70lbs X 5, 65lbs X 7, (65lbs X 7 + 50lbs X 4 + 35lbs X 4).

Cable cross overs: 50lbs X 8-9, 50lbs X 8-9, (50lbs X 8-9 + 30lbs X , (50lbs X 8-9 + 30lbs X

Abs: Roman Chair Straight leg raises 20, 19, 18, 14, (13 + 10 bent knee), (12 + 10 bent knee)

Medicine Ball throw sit-ups/crunches (on balance ball) 12lbs X 100

High decline sit up: 20, 15

So pretty good sleep last night and been on aplodan for nearly two weeks now.

Morning. 3 creakic, 1 vitamin B 100 complex, 1g vitamin C, 40g whey isolate, 2 raw eggs, 1 granola bars.

Pre-Workout Supps: 5 naNOx9, 6 leukic, 3g branched chain amino acids, 3g creatine monohydrate, 1 aplodan, 8 gakic

Workout Supps: 20g high grade hydrolyzed whey isolate ( in 500ml water with 5g glutamine). Tastes like bitter, stale toast!! But it’s worth it!

The workout: Quads:

Squats: Warmup 225lbs X 20 (not to failure)

            315lbs X 6, 293lbs X 8, 245lbs X 10, 245lbs X 10 (my lower back was just screaming today….went too hard on the deadlifts last week and still not recovered)

Leg Press: 630lbs X 8, 540lbs X 10, 630lbs X 8, Quadruple drop set: [720lbs X 4 + 630lbs X 4 + 540lbs X 4 + 450lbs X 4….no longer than 10 seconds in between each],

Triple drop set: [630lbs X 6, 540lbs X 3, 450 X 3]

Leg extensions: 180 X 8, 165 X6 + 135 X 2, 150 X 8, 135 X 9, 120 X 10

Avoided deadlifts today because I was having major lower back problems today. Will be better by next week.

Leg curls: (120lbs X 3 + 100 X 2), 100 X 9, (100 X 7 + 4 X 60), (90 X 9 + 60 X 6), (80 X 11), 80lbs X 10.

Standing Calf Raises: (600lbs X 4 + 380 X 6), (500 X 6 + 380 X , (500 X 6 + 380 X , (500 X 6 + 380 X .

Post workout: 35g high grades whey hydrosylate, 35 grams whey isolate, 35g gatorade, 10g glutamine, 3 creakic, 3g branched chain amino acids, 3g creatine monohydrate.

So finally my shipment came in. 10lbs of 100% pure high grade hydrolyzed whey isolate. High grade refers to the fact that they digest the whey isolate even longer to ensure you have a high percentage of di- and tri-peptides. I’ll take 20g of this WHILE I workout and 35g post workout mixed with an additional 35g of normal whey isolate (ion-exchange purified, not lower grade “cold-filtered.” 

I found credible sources based on blood testing fasting athletes. That hydrosylate combined with a high gylcemic index carb and phenylalanine gives a 100% higher insulin spike. Since insulin is a hormone and initiates signaling cascades this means you could conceivably have 1000X or greater better transport of amino acids into muscle cells with a 100% greater insulin spike. Plus 80% of hydrolyzed whey isolate bypasses the stomach and goes directly to the small intestine. Which mean closing that critical post-workout window when your muscles are starving, eager to grow, but more likely to become catabolic unless your blood is spiked with insulin and chalk full of amino acids. 

Anator p70 is a crappy overpriced version of this same principle. You will see what I mean if you look at their formula. 

So in summary, this is my first time trying this stuff since I’ve never before been able to find a reliable source. I’m expecting my growth rate to double. I guess the graphs will tell! 

Good 10hr sleep last night….at last! Still a little wrecked from my savage chest training last night.

The workout:

Warmup cycle 7.91km (15:00min)

Bent over barbell row: Warm-up 125lbs X 13 (not to failure)

                      
          220lbs X 2 (cheating a bit …..hard!) drop setting to 112lbs X10,

                      
          Chinups (regular grip with my full body weight): 6, 5, 3, 3, 3, 3

Bent over barbell rows: 160lbs X 4 drop setting to 112lbs X3, 135lbs X 8, 135lbs X 7 drop setting to 112lbs X 2, 135lbs X 6, 115lbs X 9

Dumbbell rows: 70lbs X 9, 70lbs X 9, 70lbs X 8, 70lbs X 8, 70lbs X 8

Summary: 2hr sleep and still 7% increase in bench press in one week and 30lb increase in incline press.  

So same old story as Wednesday. Just a bad week for sleep. I had to have all my marking for the term submitted by Friday and I also had to invigilate final exams all day today starting 8am sharp. Short story is I was marking till 4:30am and was up to go invigilate at 7am. Overall, no more than two hours sleep. 

So I still don’t know the full effect of Aplodan stacked with naNOx9 and gakic, but I will keep posting my progress. Next week I will get all the sleep I need. Go summer! 

The workout: (Keep in mind that I give every workout everything I got. So a 30lb increase on my Incline press and 7% on Bench is substantial. Actually I’ve never experienced anything like it. Now considering I only slept for two hours (what the hell am I still doing up?) it mind blowing. I’m totally convinced about the effect of Aplodan now. And the pump from the naNOx9 and the stamina from creatine and gakic all combined is outstanding. 

Flat Barbell Bench Press: Warm-Up set 120lbs X 30 (not to failure) All remaining sets to failure) 

280lbs X 2, 240lbs X 3, 230lbs X 6, 200lbs X 12, 220lbs X 9. 

Incline Barbell Press: 200lb X 8, 200lbs X 7, 200lbs X 5, 180lbs X 5, 200lbs X 6 (drop set to 120lbs X 5 ….total failure) 

Decline Dumbbell press: 80lbs X 6, 80lbs X 4, 70lbs X7, 70lbs X 6, 60lbs X 8 

Flat Dumbbell flys: 40lbs X 5, 40lbs X 3, 30lbs X 8, 30lbs X7 (wanted to do 5 but at this pint finally completed destroyed my chest!!!). I can’t wait for next chest day with a good nights sleep!!! 

With reference to my response to a question on my M-T anator post (shown below). I will just add an important point. The effect of D-phenylalanine in the body (dulling pain ect) is because enzymes that act on L-phenylalanine at first confuse D-phenylalanine with the L-stereoisomer. So they bind temporarily. This is called reversible inhibition, because when the D-phenylalanine is bound temporarily the enzyme can not bind its natural substrate (the L-isomer). However for this very reason it is ridiculous to mix the two. Why inhibit enzymes that act on L-isomer when the effect users of Anator p70 want is only from L. Bottom line. Buy only L-isomers. 

“I get it from an online company I just found called True Protein (all one word). This site will blank out company names in blogs. Beware however that they are tricky about their phenylalanine. They sell it as a DL-Mix. D and L are stereoisomers. This is like the difference between your left hand and your right hand in three dimensions. Mirror images of each other but non-superimposable. Out bodies can only use L-amino acids. D does not fit the precise 3-D shape of enzymes that metabolize it. They claim on the site that D is very similar to L and complements it. They are full of BS. I would buy everything but phenylalanine from this company. The phenylalanine I will get from GNC. They sell 500mg tablets of pure L-phenylalanine. Two of those in your post-workout mix would do the trick to get your insulin boost maximal.”

Well these products will be effective and have science behind them, so if you have money to waste go for it. 

However, they are easy to make yourself! Furthermore, for example as I will show below with my Anator p70 formulation, your home-made formulation can be 2X better quality and 1/10 the price! 

My home made Anator p70: (I’m actually still waiting for my high grade hydrolyzed whey isolate and waxy maize to come shipped ground from the U.S.) But the results of my home made Anator p70 will be visible in a few months by progress pics. 

So the recipe: 40-60g of High grade whey protein hydrosylate, 40-60g of high glycemic index carbohydrate (e.g. gatorade, pure dextrose or maltodextrin, or the best…waxy maize), 6 capsules Leukic (and/or take a branched chain amino acid powder or a butt load of BCAA pills). Phenylalanine 1-2 grams, 5 grams creatine MONOHYDRATE. 

The major advantages: (1) YOU CONTROL THE QUALITY. By the way. The reason the combine, leucine, phenylalanine, hydrosylate, and high glycemic index carbs is this specific combo has been shown by blood tests of lean people to spike insulin levels by 100% greater compared to other combos. Insulin is required to transport amino acids into recovering muscle cells. 

(A) Its quite funny the hype by M-T. They spray dry some maltodextrin, just a cheap source of carbs, throw in some hydrosylate of whey protein and call it “ANA-DRIVE”. Actually waxy maize is a much better source of high glycemic index carbs. Furthermore they refuse to list how much of the protein in anator p70 is actually hydrolyzed di-, tri-peptides and other short oligomers. It could be 10% or less and the rest slow digesting concentrate. You can order your own 100% high grade hydrosylate. Just google true protein (as one word). Now YOU control the protein quality. Furthermore they hydrolyze a concentrate not and isolate. High grade hydrolyzed isolate is only 11.39/lb ordered online. This is cheaper than many whey isolates. 

(B) Their “Phenylgene” is just four different sources of phenylalanine. So do they know which source has the best pharmacology or not?!! Why not just use the one that works. I’m sure a good dose of just pure L-phenylalanine which you can buy yourself in bulk will be more than enough. 

(C) The exact same reasoning goes for their “Leucigene” and “GENEtor.” Why through all those ethyl ester derivatives in there? My guess is it makes their product look more fancy. 

In summary. You will notice I like M-T product, I take quite a few of them. But keep in mind that M-T is the king of hype, like that certain razor company with commercials of fighter Jets that always has some new vibrating model. So just try to be educated about what it is you are actually buying and why. 

The bottom line. To buy all the ingredients I list in bulk will take an initial investment greater than an $80 bottle of Anator p70. However instead of a 1-month supply you will have a 3-month supply for the same price. Furthermore your mix will be far better quality. 

First I will make my brief argument. But for those who are still not convinced I have pasted an e-mail conversation with a professor whose research group actually did test the ethyl ester. This is UNPUBLISHED work and only a select few know about this. Always remember, guys creatine monohydrate is the most studied supplement out there. There are more scientific articles in respected journals on this supplement than I can count. If you don’t want to get bloated then consider some other form (maybe creakic from M-T) but don’t bother with creatine ethyl ester.  

So I learned about Creatine Ethyl Ester when in GNC and the guy was trying to push it one me. Right away I think how could an ester of creatine survive the aqueous acidic environment of your stomach without being hydrolyzed. One of the first things you learn in 2nd year organic chemistry is ester hydrolysis equilibrium. 

Secondly having studied a lot about cell membrane channels and transport mechanisms into our cells I am quite certain that there is no transport mechanism for the ethyl ester of creatine. So unless it get hydrolyzed in your liver then taken to your muscle cells…good luck. I noticed on some adds that the companies such as CE2 claim that the pharmaceutical companies use esters for their pharmacology (pharmacology meaning transport and delivery in the body more than final effect although the two are intimately related). However they fail to point out what exact type of ester bond. If the ester bond is to a chemical moiety that is very insoluble in water then this will work great because the equilibrium hydrolysis reaction will be favored in the UNHYDROLYZED direction. However with an ethyl ester the byproduct in the hydrolyzed direction is ethanol, which as you all know is readily water soluble (you don’t see ethanol precipitating out of your beer or vodka). So in short that claim by the CE2 company is misleading. 

Anyhow here is from a full professor. My friend Rene and I were discussing it and Rene went online and found an abstract proceeding from conference from this professor. So Rene e-mailed him and here was the response. 

—– Forwarded message from ****er@utulsa.edu —–
   Date: Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:47:31 -0600
   From: Gordon Purser <*********a.edu>
Reply-To: Gordon Purser <********tulsa.edu>
Subject: DO NOT TAKE CREATINE ETHYL ESTER!
     To: *****@po-box.*****l.ca

Hi Rene-Viet -

> I’m a graduate student in chemistry at McGill university in Montreal,
> Canada. I’m very interested in your research on the stability of
> creatine ethyl ester, not for my graduate studies, but for my
> personal optimal consumption of creatine. I wish to know how stable
> is creatine ethyl ester at physiological pH. As our stomach is very
> acidic, I’m curious to know if the ester can stand the hydrolysis.
> Also, can our cells absorb creatine ethyl ester or must it break down
> to monohydrate?
>
> Thank you for your time.

DO NOT TAKE CREATINE ETHYL ESTER!  While our research suggests that it
is stable for days at the pH of the stomach, it might be as short as 30
minutes at the physiological pH of the duodenum.  But there is more.
There is NO reason the believe that the the ethyl ester serves as the
same kind of energy source or can be phosphorylated in the same manner
as creatine.  Some of our experiments show very different reactivity of
the ethyl ester to other substances compared to creatine.  Not one
<script>    </script>single scientific study suggests that CEE helps in the building of lean
muscle mass.  STICK WITH CREATINE MONOHYDRATE!!

Dr. Purser

    (”`-'’-/”).___..–'’”`-._      _    Dr. Gordon H. Purser
     `o_ o’ )   `-.  (     ).`-.__.`)   Department of Chemistry
     (_Y_.)’__    )   `.  / ‘ `-..-’     The University of Tulsa
   __/`–’   _/  /  __’  /_,’            600 S. College Ave.
  (il).-’  (li)./  ((!.-’                      Tulsa, Oklahoma  74104