Cordygen5 Test Run sponsored by Millennium Sport

[ripped_holla]

Thanks to Matt at Millennium Sport Technologies for allowing me another opportunity to review one of their products. I have previously used and reviewed Millennium's SHRED-XS, a thermogenic fat-burner and energy supplement. My log for that is linked in my signature below.

Back to the topic at hand: Cordygen5 is a brand new supplement from Millennium that focuses on increasing exercise endurance. It does this via increased oxygen utilization and enhanced ATP production. I look forward to seeing what this product can do for me - a weight-training individual attempting to add muscle mass while still remaining reasonably lean.

Current Stats (09.11.06):

Age: 20

Height / Weight: 5'11", 181lbs

Occupation: College student

Lifting Experience: Working out seriously for about 2 years, overall about 3-4 years. I feel like I've come a long way in the past year, especially in regard to my nutrition and training protocols. With emphasis on the nutrition aspect - it's something I really enjoy reading about and seeing what certain foods do to my body. As of late, I've been a big fan of nutrient timing and "feeding your body what it needs in a given situation."

Diet: ~3000 calories per day (my calculated maintenance, using real-world data from fitday, is around 2600 cals). I used to log daily on fitday but for this current mass cycle I have stopped to allow myself a bit more freedom. I eat every 2-3 hours, with each meal containing a lean source of protein and either a fruit or vegetable (occasionally both). I concentrate all my starchy carbs into breakfast and postworkout and as an overall rule I try to abide by the P/C and P/F meal combos. This is a big change that I've made recently, as I used to eat whatever macro whenever in order to hit daily allowances/goals. Now I see how you can pretty much eat the exact same foods but at the correct times and see great results versus simply eating semi-haphazardly. I would estimate my diet right now is about 40% protein, 30-35% carbs, and 30-35% fats.

Water Intake: At least 1 gallon per day.

Training Protocol: Chad Waterbury ABBH2 program. It uses varied set/rep schemes with each workout and has me lifting every other day.

Other Supplements:

- generic multivitamin (1 per day)
- PrimaForce Lean Green (1 per day)
- Optimum Fish Oil softgels (6 per day)
- Optimum 100% whey protein
- Optimum 100% whey MRP
- NOW dextrose
- PrimaForce CreaForm creatine monohydrate (3-5g per day)

I took the first dose this afternoon upon receiving the product despite having already worked out this morning. I will be dosing at 3 caplets per day even on non-training days. Use will be about 30 mins prior to my workout, which turns out to be almost upon waking as I'm in the gym within 45 mins of waking up in the morning on training days. On off-days I'll take it in the early afternoon with a meal.

Official product description will follow in the next post...

[ripped_holla]

CORDYGEN5™

Cordygen5™ incorporates 100% organic, highly concentrated extracts of five strains & four species of cordyceps for maximum oxygen utilization, cellular energy, stamina and ATP production. Cordygen5™’s oxygen utilization enhancing effects have been touted by many users as a natural, legal and effective alternative to EPO.

Cordygen5™ is the strongest performance enhancing cordyceps product on the market and may provide up to 30% increases in ATP and up to 40% increases in oxygen utilization. Cordygen5™ is perfect for anyone who wants to increase their ATP levels but doesn’t want to consume creatine due to its common side effects. Cordygen5™ is also ideal for anyone who is a non responder to creatine products but still wants reap its benefits. The added bonus is the tremendous increase in oxygen utilization that Cordygen5™ provides. Cordygen5™ will allow all athletes, amateur or professional to break through their aerobic and anaerobic plateaus, maximizing strength and endurance. Whether you are a bodybuilder, powerlifter, martial artist, triathlete, cyclist, runner, swimmer, skier, snowboarder, hunter, climber, wrestler, golfer, tennis, football, basketball, hockey or baseball player, you’ll maximize your performance with Cordygen5™.

Cordygen5™ is a pure, solid state fermented, super potent blend of extracts from four strains and five species of cordyceps including Cordyceps Sinensis Alohaensis Hybrid, CS4 strain Cordyceps Sinensis, Cordyceps Militaris, Cordyceps Sobolifera and Cordyceps Ophioglossoides. The Cordyceps Sinensis Alohaensis Hybrid strain contains the highest HEAA (Hydroxy Ethyl Adenosine Analogs) levels ever measured and biological active ingredient levels about 5.3 times higher than the best wild collected samples. The potency of the Cordygen5™ cordyceps blend comes from the proprietary combination of cordyceps strains and the way these strains are cultured and extracted.

Almost all cordyceps strains are cultured in a process called liquid cultivation or fermentation. This process uses a liquid substrate to grow the cordyceps mycelium in a very speedy 5-18 days, yielding low levels of active constituents. The cordyceps mycelium is then harvested by filtering out the liquid medium, drying it and grinding it into a powder. By filtering out the liquid medium many of the quality compounds secreted by the cordyceps are lost. It is usually further processed using hot water or solvents resulting in the loss of nearly 90% of the active constituents of which it had few of to begin with due to the fast liquid culturing process.

Cordygen5™ is grown using a solid state (solid substrate) or biomass method. This is a much slower culturing method where the cordyceps is grown on a sterilized solid medium such as organic grain. The cordyceps is allowed to consume the solid substrate while being subjected to temperature and gas changes (O2 and CO2) to simulate its native high altitude conditions. This process typically takes between 22 and 24 weeks (nearly 6 months) before the cordyceps is ready for harvest. When the cordyceps mycelium is ready to harvest it has consumed more than 98% of the solid medium in which it was cultured on. The residual substrate is then removed yielding 100% pure, super potent cordyceps material with extremely high concentrations of active constituents from every facet of its life cycle. The cordyceps is then extracted & concentrated to increase it’s potency up to 20X. This process allows Cordygen5™ to exceed the potency of other cordyceps products on the market by up to 95%.

For Thousands of years Traditional Chinese Medicine has used cordyceps to support healthy kidney, lung (respiration) and heart function, low male and female libido, fatigue, immune disorders, for general health and appetite and for promoting longevity. Tibetan Sherpas use cordyceps to enhance energy production and oxygen utilization when climbing Mt. Everest. In 1993 the Chinese Women’s National Track Team used cordyceps to set nine world records, three by staggering margins.

In this country its use has been researched for it’s enhancement of energy production with applications in athletic performance and fatigue. Cordyceps has been clinically proven to enhance ATP production, increase oxygen utilization, improve VO2 Max, increase SOD (Super Oxide Dismutase) activity, support immune function, support healthy kidney function, support healthy cholesterol levels, protect the liver and improve glucose metabolism*. One study even suggests that cordyceps may improve testosterone production in leydig cells.

Benefits of Cordygen5™ Supplementation?

• Increase Oxygen Utilization 40%!
• Increase ATP 30%!
• Massive Aerobic & Anaerobic Endurance!
• Enhance Aerobic & Anaerobic Recovery!
• Great Strength Increases!
• Increase Training Intensity!
• Decrease Fatigue!
• Increase Testosterone!
• Ability to Pack Large Volume Training into Short Periods!
• Improve Immune Function!
• Improve Libido & Sexual Function!
• US & International Patents Pending!

Supplement Facts:
Serving Size: 3 Time Release Tablets
Servings Per Bottle: 30

Cordygen5™ 2250mg
Proprietary blend of highly concentrated extracts from:

Cordyceps Sinensis Alohaensis
Cordyceps Sinensis CS-4
Cordyceps Militaris
Cordyceps Sobolifera
Cordyceps Ophioglossoides

Suggested Use: Take three time release caplets 30-60 minutes prior to weightlifting, endurance event or sport. Use Cordygen5™ as a stand alone product or stack it with Kreaceps™, Citruvol™ or Ragnarok™ for mind blowing performance!

[ripped_holla]

September 11, 2006 - Day One

Weight: 181lbs

Training:

- back squats - 6x5 @ 200lbs
- seated calf raises - 6x5 @ 140lbs
- weighted situps - 6x5 @ +35lbs

Done as straight sets, all sets finished for one exercise before moving on.

I will be updating my log on my training days, which is either 3 or 4 days per week. I'm using Chad Waterbury's ABBH2 program from T-Nation. I'm on the start of the third week and am enjoying it so far. My favorite part is the overall low volume (3-4 exercises per session) and varied set/rep schemes - 3x5, 3x12, 4x12, and 6x5.

Calories are around 3000 per day. I'm hesistant to do much, if any, cardio on off-days as I'm having quite an interesting time trying to put on weight. Part of this is due to eating 90-95% clean and not consuming a lot of calorie-dense junk foods. I feel like I'm eating 10x more than anyone I know, yet I'm not putting on a pound per week as I would like. Therefore, I'm going to make a concerted effort to add calories to the diet. The first place this is going to happen is at night, such as a few more bites of cottage cheese and some extra natural PB. I'll be posting up other ideas as they come to me.

As a college student, I end up biking around about 30 mins per day. This obviously isn't high-intensity cardio but it certainly isn't sitting on the couch. I like the fact that it's a form of "active recovery" during the day. Gaining weight for me is a delicate balance because when I do start gaining I notice it almost immediately in the stomach area. Now that I'm on a workout plan that has me lifting every other day instead of simply Mon/Wed/Fri, I think I can get away with a higher calorie intake and not put on "bad" weight. My attempt to gain lean mass will be a constant theme in this log.

As you can tell by now, my evaluation of Cordygen5 is going to be highly subjective with some supporting objective data. It's sometimes hard to attribute an extra rep here or there to a particular supplement. I have a feeling, though, that if this product is "for real" that I'll see some nice increases in stamina and feel less burnt out after my workouts. One benefit I'm looking for in particular is decreased recovery time between sets. On certain days, like the 6x5 day, I'm doing straight sets of X lbs and by the 4th or 5th set it starts to wear me out. Hopefully I see some changes here.

[whitedevil74]

Good intro. I hope people aren't overloaded with all of these cordygen 5 logs.

[Millennium 1]

Good intro. I hope people aren't overloaded with all of these cordygen 5 logs.
I hear ya on the overload WD, but; I really think we will find that everyone experiences the same effects. I think it will be easier to evaluate and compare if the logs are close together and abundant. The one odd variable may be the amount of time between dosing and workout for everyone.

[RBEliminator]

I'm using Chad Waterbury's ABBH2 program




Good choice, keep us updated on your workout, you keep a log?

[ripped_holla]

Good choice, keep us updated on your workout, you keep a log?
I'm not running a log on ABBH2. I'm liking what's happening so far though. As I mentioned above, I'm enjoying the varied rep schemes. I also find that the exercises used allow almost full recovery before they're beat down again. That is, good separation between muscle groups in the program.

Just want to note that I skipped ABBH1 and went straight to 2. Reason being I didn't think 1 would have enough volume for me, simple as that. I couldn't justify to myself going to the gym to do only dips and chinups for one day's workout, or just bench and rows another day. I like the medium amount of volume here and I'm out of the gym in usually 30-40 mins per workout.

Planning on Waterbury Method next but we'll see. It's an awful lot of volume - a 10x3 exercise followed by four 4x6 exercises. That's a hell of a lot of time in the gym especially when I wake up at 7am on workout days, hit the gym, and have class around 10am daily.

May have rambled there but thanks for the interest!

[hotasice2003]

I am very interested in this product, so I am following all the logs lol...... good luck.....

[RBEliminator]

. It's an awful lot of volume - a 10x3 exercise followed by four 4x6 exercises. That's a hell of a lot of time in the gym especially when I wake up at 7am on workout days!


I've done 8 x 3 for eight different exercises per workout in the past. It's grueling, but you will definetely GROW! Check out my Log!

[ripped_holla]

September 13, 2006 – Day Three

Training:

- flat DB bench – 3x5 @ 75s
- decline BB bench – 3x5 @ 160lbs
- seated hammer strength row – 3x5 @ 190lbs
- bentover BB rows (underhand grip) – 3x5 @ 145lbs

Jury’s still out on the Cordygen. I took 3 Cordygen and a Citruvol sample 4-pack first thing this morning and headed to the gym about 30 minutes later after a light meal. Maybe a slightly increased pump from the Citruvol but nothing spectacular. To be fair, these exercises probably weren’t the best for seeing raging bicep or tricep pumps. Back to the Cordygen…didn’t notice any real changes in endurance. Still very early in the test run so I’m not surprised by this.

Calories are slightly upwards of 3000 today with water intake around 1 gallon. Will have eaten two meals of chicken by the day’s end but this week’s grocery store sales don’t start until tomorrow so I need to hold off and make due :). Veggies with every meal except breakfast, three pieces of fruit, six fish oil caps, one Lean Green, one multi, and a partridge in a pear tree.

More coming Friday. With Friday comes dose number five, and according to the info I have this stuff reaches full strength after doses four or five…looking forward to it. And my latest goodie box of supps came today with a new product, Syntrax Matrix 5.0 chocolate. I’ve read good things about this protein blend and can’t wait to mess around with it in the blender tonight.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: Somebody please tell little Junior that when you’re 5’7” and 140lbs, Under Armour is not considered reasonable workout attire. Young man, those bones sticking out might hurt somebody. In between stifling my laughs, I noticed Junior doing back-to-the-wall bicep curls…which if memory serves I saw him doing on Monday as well. Junior is no doubt on the path to hyyyyuuuuggeness.

[Millennium 1]

Give it a little more time from ingestion to workout. Some people need a full 60 minutes. C5 will not provide you with a noticeable pump. Look for increased anaerobic and aerobic recovery times with increased strength. 3X5 training isn't the best test for C5 but it should still have a very noticeable effect on recovery times in between sets. Have you done anything cardio or endurance related?

[whitedevil74]

[b]Gym Tidbit of the Day: Somebody please tell little Junior that when you’re 5’7” and 140lbs, Under Armour is not considered reasonable workout attire. Young man, those bones sticking out might hurt somebody. In between stifling my laughs, I noticed Junior doing back-to-the-wall bicep curls…which if memory serves I saw him doing on Monday as well. Junior is no doubt on the path to hyyyyuuuuggeness.


I hear you, it is not as bad as this grotesquely fat lady at my gym who only wears a sports bra and little biker shorts. I mean it is great that she is trying to improve her health, but unless you have a killer body, no sports bras and biker shorts.

[Hizzie]

I hear you, it is not as bad as this grotesquely fat lady at my gym who only wears a sports bra and little biker shorts. I mean it is great that she is trying to improve her health, but unless you have a killer body, no sports bras and biker shorts.

No, no. It's ok. They just have to realize that they are fair game for trash talking. Just like the stripper on the eliptical with her "pecs" busting out. She is gonna get stares. All is fair.

I love the gym.

[ripped_holla]

Give it a little more time from ingestion to workout. Some people need a full 60 minutes. C5 will not provide you with a noticeable pump. Look for increased anaerobic and aerobic recovery times with increased strength. 3X5 training isn't the best test for C5 but it should still have a very noticeable effect on recovery times in between sets. Have you done anything cardio or endurance related?

I'll try giving it some more time before hitting the gym. I workout in the mornings though which means that extra 20-30 mins comes in the form of me waking up that much earlier. But it can be done if necessary. The pumps comment was related to the Citruvol sample pack, not the C5, sorry about that.

Only one of my four workouts on this program is 3x5, the next two upcoming are 3x12 and 4x12 so that'll be a good test. The last sets of a 3 or 4x12 aren't always the most fun. Haven't done any cardio or endurance stuff yet (discussed in an intro post above). May do some for fun in the coming weeks just to test out the C5 as it relates to the aerobic side of things.

[SPACECLOWN]

I hear you, it is not as bad as this grotesquely fat lady at my gym who only wears a sports bra and little biker shorts. I mean it is great that she is trying to improve her health, but unless you have a killer body, no sports bras and biker shorts.
That hot, especially when she jogging on the treadmill hehehe

[ripped_holla]

September 15, 2006 - Day Five

Weight: 182.5lbs (yes! up 1.5lbs since Monday)

Training:

- hypers (warmup) 3x8
- partial BB deads - 4x12 @ 155lbs
- leg press calf raise - 4x12 @ 245lbs
- weighted situps - 4x12 @ BW+20lbs

Dosed 3 Cordygens and 3 Kreaceps first thing in the morning, hit the gym a full 45 minutes later (as suggested). Workout went well. I'd say I felt some slight increases in recovery time between sets, especially with the calf raises. Usually by the 3rd of 4th set my calves are burning and I need to wait past the 60 sec rest period that I'm aiming for. Not today though.

Weight is up slightly as well! Very happy about this. Maybe all this eating is finally paying off. Actually I just got back from lunch with a friend who's visiting and ate a big chicken club sandwich, some bruchetta (sp?), and some sort of seasoned potatoes. First big cheat in a long time. At least it was about 4-5 hours after my workout so damage will be minimal. I need the calories anyway so I'm not that concerned.

Not seeing any side effects from the Cordygen at all. Anaerobic endurance may be starting to increase. Feeling strong as ever too, weights felt great today. I'm thinking about switching the partial deads to rack deads because I'd be able to pull more weight. Right now I'm doing 12-rep sets and while my grip is strong enough to hold that weight for all 12 reps I could probably lift a ton more with rack deads where I can drop the weight and regrip every couple reps. Pretty sure it's partial deads in the program though, done as I'm doing them now (down to top of shins, lockout, down to shins, etc) so maybe it's not a good idea to switch. We'll see.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: Goofy personal trainers and goofy clients. Big guy training a younger woman. In the 45 mins I was at the gym, I saw a couple sets of lat pulldowns (fine), some DB bench (with 20lb DBs? c'mon) and finally some squats. Here's where the fun started. No weight on the bar yet we need the neck pad! Maybe if you put the bar where it was supposed to go in the first place it wouldn't hurt. There's a reason people squat with several plates on each side with NO NECK PAD. First few reps of this were maybe 1/4 down. Lower, the trainer says. 1/2 down. Lower still, he says. Then he stands next to the rack to get a good view of how low she's going...and lets her continue at 1/2 reps the rest of the time I'm watching. Cute.

[hotasice2003]

[/QUOTE]Gym Tidbit of the Day: Goofy personal trainers and goofy clients. Big guy training a younger woman. In the 45 mins I was at the gym, I saw a couple sets of lat pulldowns (fine), some DB bench (with 20lb DBs? c'mon) and finally some squats. Here's where the fun started. No weight on the bar yet we need the neck pad! Maybe if you put the bar where it was supposed to go in the first place it wouldn't hurt. There's a reason people squat with several plates on each side with NO NECK PAD. First few reps of this were maybe 1/4 down. Lower, the trainer says. 1/2 down. Lower still, he says. Then he stands next to the rack to get a good view of how low she's going...and lets her continue at 1/2 reps the rest of the time I'm watching. Cute.[/QUOTE]


LOL, that is the only way I ever see ppl squating. I have yet to see someone do a full rep in my gym......

[ripped_holla]

September 17, 2006 - Day Seven

Training:

superset:
- standing BB military press - 3x12 @ 75
- chinups - bodyweight x 11, 10, 7

superset:
- weighted dips - 3x12 @ +15
- dumbbell side lateral raises - 3x12 @ 20s

Kind of disappointed today. Ran out of gas pretty early in the workout. Failed on the last rep of the last set of military press. Chinups were 3x10 last week, was aiming for 3x11 this week, but died on the 7th rep of the last set today. Oddly though I had an absolutely sick pump going, not really sure why. Most likely my increased food and protein intake.

Dosed 3 Cordygen about 60 mins pre-workout. I did have a few beers last night but got a solid 8.5 hrs of sleep and ate a great breakfast this morning. Didn't feel out of it at all but nonetheless it may be what contributed to a less than stellar performance today. Something even the Cordygen couldn't make up for I guess. Got to take what life gives you though especially when you're working out every other day like I am on this program. Every week I have a weekend workout, be it Saturday or Sunday. I do try to take it easier the night before but stuff happens.

Cordygen side effects...on my info sheet there's an "immune function" bulletpoint. I don't know if it's the Cordygen contributing to this but I'm not feeling very run down even on an every-other-day program (I'm on day 21 of 47, 12 workouts done so far). Most of this can probably be attributed to eating a ton and sleeping well. Diet has been 95% spot-on during this program. Also, is that a slight increase in libido...?!?

Bounce right back on Tuesday.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: Chicken legs and old men. I never tire of seeing guys with pretty well-developed upper bodies and chicken legs. I'm talking calves that are smaller than my forearms. Also, anybody have these token old men at their gym that never seem to be doing anything? Always carrying a big bath towel around, looking at people, standing around and "stretching" a.k.a. wild lunges to the left and right, and more or less staring at YOU. I just stare right back and then give them a puzzled look. Weirds me out.

[Millennium 1]

One thing I really notice on C5 is that the recovery time between sets is much shorter oxygen utilization wise. If I let that shorten my time between sets then my strength on each set is good but not stellar. If I wait and use my normal 60-90 second break between sets (which on C5 seems like forever) then my muscular endurance is far better and I feel my strength is much improved. It almost gives you a false sense of readiness because the oxygen utilization occurs at a slightly faster rate than ATP regeneration.

[Mickfootie]

I just recieved a few samples from Millenium Sport of Kreacaps, Citruvol and Cordygen 5.
I stacked the Cordygen 5 with the Kreacaps this morning before my workout and i felt on fire. I am goin to stack my other sample with the Citruvol and see if that is any different.
When i finished i still felt as though i could go back in and have a run on the treadmill. It was amazing as i usually feel shattered when i leave the gym.
Im hoping that stacking C5 with Citruvol that i get some amazing pumps.

I will let you know how that goes after my next workout.

Mick.

[ripped_holla]

September 19, 2006 – Day Nine

Training:

- full BB back squats – 6x5 @ 205lbs
- seated calf raises – 6x5 @ 145lbs
- hanging leg raises – 2x10
- crunches – 2x12

Took 3 Cordygen and 3 Kreaceps about 45mins preworkout. I’m essentially taking these on an empty stomach (first thing in the morning before I quickly eat) so I would think this would speed absorption, which means I don’t have to watch the clock until an hour later. Sets felt pretty good today. The last rep of the second set of squats was a little iffy so I got slightly concerned, but all the rest of the sets went very well. Overall this workout was a ton better than Sunday’s workout. In addition, I left the gym feeling refreshed and ready to face the day. Nothing like that feeling to fire you up.

It’s probably still too early to start chalking things up to the Cordygen, but things are promising. If I feel revved up and ready to go after my morning workout, that’s a great thing that doesn’t always happen. Obviously everyone has days like that but if Cordygen could give me that each and every workout then it’s done it’s job.

I’m looking forward to weighing in on Thursday; I was planning to today but forgot to do so before my workout. I hope to see at least 183lbs on the scale or else it’s time to massively ratchet up the eating. The way I’m eating now I’m consuming foods that are very efficient – that is, they produce a high thermic effect of feeding and a lot of energy turnover. That’s not always the optimal thing for trying to add mass but overall it’s a healthy and intelligent way to eat. 3500-4000 calories might be right around the corner.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: There was a guy doing some nice full ROM squats and some Bulgarian split squats which was great to see. However, this positive sighting was balanced by a lady with a nice spare tire. I’ve seen her a couple times now and each and every time she’s just chilling on a Swiss ball. Sometimes she gyrates a little, sometimes does some 1/10 ROM crunches on it, sometimes just lays on it. I almost, almost went up to her and asked, “What exactly are you doing and who told you to do it?” I would be fascinated by her answer but in the interests of not offending her or having her feel inferior I decided that wasn’t a good idea. Maybe next time.

[ripped_holla]

Here's a little item I forgot to mention above...

I'm going to try my hand at some martial arts in the next couple days. Over the past few months I've really wanted to start learning one, but it wasn't a big priority. Now I've done some research and am going to start Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I'll start with only a couple sessions a week to get acquainted with it and take it from there. I really like how jiu-jitsu is a ground-oriented, self-defense form of combat. They also don't deal with far eastern philosophy or anything like that. Cool and applicable to real life.

This provides another opportunity for the Cordygen to shine. I know I don't have a baseline for my endurance in jiu-jitsu but I have a feeling I'll be able to tell if my conditioning holds up better than I inherently think it should. Depending on how my body adapts I may have to drop to only 3 lifting sessions per week (right now I'm doing every other day) in order to keep volume reasonable. An extra off-day might become necessary. And my caloric intake...sigh...is going to have to go up some more.

[SPACECLOWN]

Sounds like fun! Why the sigh for cals going up, I would be smiling :)

Oh I used the foam roller on my quads today. I liked it but when doing the side of the quads it is a bit painful.

[ripped_holla]

Sounds like fun! Why the sigh for cals going up, I would be smiling :)

Oh I used the foam roller on my quads today. I liked it but when doing the side of the quads it is a bit painful.
I don't mind eating, in fact I love it! It's just that by eating more, I need to shop more, and by shopping more I need to spend more. It ain't cheap to eat 4000 clean cals per day. But I'm slowly getting there. :D

[SPACECLOWN]

I hear ya. Chicken titties arent cheap and I am eating a ton of them not to mention my bill for veggies.

[ripped_holla]

September 21, 2006 – Day Eleven

Weight: 181.5lbs (arggh)

Training:

- standing BB military press – 3x5 @ 95lbs
- weighted chinups – 3x5 @ bodyweight+20lbs
- weighted dips – 3x5 @ bodyweight + 35lbs
- side DB lateral raises – 3x5 @ 35lbs

At this point in the ABBH2 program, the set/rep schemes switch around. I used to do these particular exercises at 3x12 but now they are 3x5. This necessitated a somewhat lighter day today to feel out the correct weights to use and as always to undershoot my potential considering I’m upping weight each workout. For whatever reason, my military press is and always has been a weak point. I suppose I don’t train it all that often but I’ve never been able to put up even 115lbs for reps. Next program I do I really want to work on this, probably with a push-press or something like that.

First day of my Brazilian jiu-jitsu mixed martial arts went well. I love how I was able to jump right in and start grappling immediately. Learned some takedown techniques and how to transition to an arm-bar and a shoulder joint submission. Pretty cool stuff that I think I’ll enjoy doing. I plan on starting with 2-3 sessions a week and taking it from there. This might require a decrease in lifting but we shall see – if my calorie intake and sleep are both up to par then I might be able to get away with a good amount of training.

Cordygen stuff…took 3 about an hour before the MMA yesterday and felt great. Left feeling really good and wasn’t worn out at all, nor was I sore today. Lovely. I’m liking the product but as usual can’t pinpoint anything as “because I’m taking this here Cordygen I can do x, y, and z when otherwise I wouldn’t be able to.” In other news, I honestly think I’m losing some bodyfat even at these calorie levels. Looking in the mirror today I could see outlines of my abs that I don’t normally see. Perhaps it’s the weighted ab training making them bigger and thus they poke through, who knows. If my body weight stays relatively constant (or up a couple pounds) and I lose bodyfat, that might be the coolest thing ever. I attribute it to my eating habits which I can expound on more if people are interested.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: Other than having to spot a guy doing ¾ reps on bench with a weight obviously too heavy for him, nothing too juicy to report here. Sorry folks.

[whitedevil74]

Here's a little item I forgot to mention above...

I'm going to try my hand at some martial arts in the next couple days. Over the past few months I've really wanted to start learning one, but it wasn't a big priority. Now I've done some research and am going to start Brazilian jiu-jitsu. I'll start with only a couple sessions a week to get acquainted with it and take it from there. I really like how jiu-jitsu is a ground-oriented, self-defense form of combat. They also don't deal with far eastern philosophy or anything like that. Cool and applicable to real life.



Ok, I have fought competively as a MMA fighter several years ago, OG I am old. BJJ is great for a ring, it is great for a match, for a street fight it is not an optimal art. the last thing you want to do in a street fight is go to the ground. That is when the guys three friends run up and start kicking you. One on One BJJ is great. Make sure you combine it with some form of standup fighting. Krav Maga is good for overall self defense. The combination of the two is excellent IMO.

[ripped_holla]

Ok, I have fought competively as a MMA fighter several years ago, OG I am old. BJJ is great for a ring, it is great for a match, for a street fight it is not an optimal art. the last thing you want to do in a street fight is go to the ground. That is when the guys three friends run up and start kicking you. One on One BJJ is great. Make sure you combine it with some form of standup fighting. Krav Maga is good for overall self defense. The combination of the two is excellent IMO.
Thanks for the advice.

What I'm actually doing is a MMA variant based in jiu-jitsu. So we do all the jiu-jitsu ground-oriented work as well as striking, kicking, etc. I think regardless of what I take I'm pretty much effed if I get jumped by 3 guys, so I'd love to just be able to take on one. :D

[whitedevil74]

Thanks for the advice.

What I'm actually doing is a MMA variant based in jiu-jitsu. So we do all the jiu-jitsu ground-oriented work as well as striking, kicking, etc. I think regardless of what I take I'm pretty much effed if I get jumped by 3 guys, so I'd love to just be able to take on one. :D

Again only my opinion, these mixed martial arts schools are getting out of hand. I briefly trained at the Lion's Den in San diego and it was good. however, I am of the opinion that one is almost better off training at two different schools, one a pure BJJ, the other a pure stricking art school. The reason behind this is most of the guys teaching at these MMA schools are not truly profficient in either art, they just took some BJJ took some kick boxing and opened a MMA school. Both arts have so many subtle moves that take years to master and a guy honestly with just a black belt is not enough. At this point I prefer a guy who has perfected his art, you get more out of it that way. Then you combine them on your own. What the hell do I know, if you like where you train that is what is most important. good luck, I just have some issues with the recent over proliferation of MMA schools lately, your school might be great, I hope it is. Always have fun.

[ripped_holla]

Just a little something.

At some point, one must evaluate himself and see if his actions are inline with his priorities. I know plenty of people that drink 3 nights a week and don't think twice about it. But what else do they like to do? Watch TV? Play poker? What else do they have to do? Go to class. Eat. Sleep.

I had a riotous freshmen year of college. Drink, eat like semi-crap in the dining hall, stay up late. None of it interfered with my schoolwork though, I made sure of that. I remember times I'd come home at 2am with some buddies on a Friday and eat an entire pizza. Then I'd go to bed.

Last year I had a hell of a time as well. Scaled back a little bit, but it was my first time living in a house with a bunch of guys. You can get away with a lot more in your own house than you can in a dorm. We hosted our fair share of parties and it was a blast. I limited drinking to only Friday and Saturday nights and stopped eating when intoxicated. Regardless of how messed up I got, I was always intelligent enough to not eat a whole box of Cheez-Its before bed.

Have I got all of this out of my system now? More or less. At what point do I need to start thinking, "Hey, if I do x and y, will that have a negative effect on what I want to do tomorrow?" I've gotten better about thinking along these lines. I've started to re-evaluate myself. Does it sound weird to others? Of course. Do I spell it out entirely for them? No, but they know my hobbies and that I eat like a madman. When I wake up at noon feeling like death, what are the chances I'm going to get 3000 calories in? Pretty damn low. And I'll have a crappy workout to boot. Not getting smashed doesn't mean not having fun, nor does it mean not hanging out with friends and retreating to my room every night. It means taking it easy and putting things into perspective.

Just some random thoughts I needed to get out of me. Here's to a kickass day tomorrow.

[Hizzie]

Those are the words of a man. Be proud.

[Millennium 1]

Those are the words of a man. Be proud.
I agree! Sounds like you have a strong, clear head on those shoulders!

[SPACECLOWN]

Agreed. At some point one must look at their goals and look at their lifestyle and see if the are similar. If not something has to change. I went through the very same thing 4 years ago and have never looked back. I just wish I would have done it at your age.

[ripped_holla]

September 23, 2006 - Day Thirteen

Training:

- full ROM back squats - 4x12 @ 145lbs
- weighted situps - 4x12 @ bodyweight + 10lbs
- seated calf raises - 4x12 @ 115lbs

Wow. This workout was kickass and it kicked my ass.

The squats were awesome though. Straight sets of 4x12 aren't the most fun to do but I got through them. Rested about 90 secs between sets. I really felt like I was pushing myself to the max on the last reps of each of the exercises. This may be the first time where I can truly say, with some confidence, that the Cordygen helped out a lot. I was feeling the burn and fatigue about halfway through the last two sets of each exercise but found it in me to pump out the last 5-6 reps each time. I left the gym feeling absolutely great.

Dosed 3 Cordygen about 45 mins preworkout. Also had a couple cups of coffee which I normally don't do - I was revved up and my skin felt warm, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. Probably helped my performance though.

Thanks for the comments on the last post; I appreciate it. Just got done eating an entire pizza for a postworkout cheat meal so now it's time to watch some football and the Ryder Cup. :D

Gym Tidbit of the Day: My gym got some new machines in - pretty nice waste of space if you ask me. There's one called a "Biangular Transformer." WTF? Apparently it's a bench press, incline press, seated row, and a bunch of other crap smashed into one machine that's not much bigger than a standard chest press. A better investment, in my opinion, would be a glute-ham raise apparatus. However, I'd probably have to dust it off each week before I used it. Bodyweight exercises scare people.

[ripped_holla]

September 25, 2006 – Day Fifteen

Weight: 183lbs

Training:

- flat DB bench – 3x12 @ 55lbs
- decline BB bench – 3x10 @ 135lbs
- seated hammer rows – 3x12 @ 140lbs
- bentover BB rows – 3x10 @ 115lbs

Doing high-volume on these exercises is quite a kick in the ass, just as it was on Saturday. As I mentioned, the exercises switch halfway through the program so the 3x5 turned into 3x12. The flat DB wore me out for the decline BB so I only did 10 reps of the latter, same deal with the bentover rows. Hit the same point as I did on Saturday as well in terms of fatigue. Again, though, I was able to bust through that and hit my intended reps.

I’m starting to notice – I think – slightly decreased recovery times between sets. It was most noticeable on the first exercise for each body part (flat DB and seated hammer rows). I was able to polish off the final set without an inordinate amount of rest. It was a different story for the decline BB and bentover rows seeing as how I was already pre-fatigued for those exercises. I haven’t done high volume with multiple sets per body part for at least the past year so that might be part of the problem.

Dosed 3 Cordygen and 3 Kreaceps about 45 mins preworkout along with a small meal (bowl of oatmeal and a whey shake). I think this is the best combination for me when I’m working out first thing in the morning. Hopefully this recovery aid continues for the lower set/rep days (which are coming up for the next two workouts). I’m also still noticing a slight boost in libido but that could also be the ZMA that I’ve now got back in two (dosing two caps on the nights of workout days). Bodyweight is up again (to 183lbs) but it was also up early last week. It could be extra water carrying over from the weekend, considering I ate an entire pizza as a postworkout cheat meal on Saturday.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: Saw a man who was at least 60 years old doing pull-ups. Plenty of people could benefit from a lesson with this guy!

[SPACECLOWN]

Soreness is probably from switching from low reps to high reps. I just did this and I feel your pain. I added in Citruvol and this has helped a lot which contains citrulline malate. Keep up the hard work! and I hope at 60 I am still active and can do some pullups. That's good stuff.

[ripped_holla]

September 27, 2006 – Day Seventeen

Weight: 182lbs

Training:

- rack deads – 6x5 @ 225lbs
- weighted crunches – 6x5 @ +20lbs
- leg press calf raises – 6x5 @ 295lbs

Good workout today. I enjoy these low set/rep days as they’re both intense yet allow me to leave the gym without feeling really worn out. They mesh well with the high rep days. I was forced to use a thick bar on the deads (which I don’t normally use) so I kind of had to keep the weight lower. I switched to a mixed grip on sets 3 thru 6 (rather than overhand) to help with this. Next workout the weight on these is going to go up considerably.

Dosed 3 Cordygen and 3 Kreaceps about 45 mins preworkout. Recovery time between sets today was very good. Over the past couple weeks, my abs have been starting to develop outlines that they don’t normally have – either all this weighted ab work is making them bigger and thus able to “poke through”, or I’m losing bodyfat. I have a suspicion that since I’m not packing on bodyweight that I might be accidentally cutting somewhat. I’m working on upping calories around my workout so we’ll see if that starts some weight gain. Even so, I’m finding it very hard to get much above about 3200 calories per day while still keeping with clean foods.

On a sidenote, I'm starting to sense that this every-other-day training is beginning to catch up with me. I would be awesome if I could make it through this program without extra rest but that might not be possible. This was the last workout of the fourth week and I have two more to go. A couple well-timed days off, though, could allow some extra fatigue to dissapate (obviously) and thus let the fitness show through (good). Time will tell.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: To my utter amazement, I saw someone using a foam roller. Good for him. Other than that, we had a very athletic looking guy doing half-rep squats. He should know better.

[SPACECLOWN]

I know love the foam roller :D
Keep on truckin ripped

[Millennium 1]

Was the guy doing half rep squats using the "Bar Tampon" too? (foam pad)

[SPACECLOWN]

Bar Tampon? Holy crap I was LOL on that. I never heard that before.

[ripped_holla]

Was the guy doing half rep squats using the "Bar Tampon" too? (foam pad)
haha...but no. Which is why I was surprised! Seeing someone doing everything else right (bar placement, looking like they've actually squatted before, etc) and then only going halfway down...odd.

The thing that really gets to me is when trainers start people out incorrectly to begin with. I've seen them allow half-reps, add the bar tampon AND further pad it with a towel, bad bar placement, everything. Here's a novel idea: why not teach correct bar placement to begin with so they aren't dependent on pads? There's a reason people can squat 315 with no pad. Obviously having the bar on the back of your neck is going to hurt like hell which is why it's not supposed to go there! Pull your shoulders back, let the bar sit in the "groove", and squat away. Hey, it didn't hurt that time...

[ripped_holla]

Pictures - September 28, 2006

It's about time: 5'11" @ 182lbs...

[ripped_holla]

Pictures - September 28, 2006 (continued)

The rest...

[ripped_holla]

It ain't much, but as with everyone else here it's a work in progress.

[Millennium 1]

I can tell you squat with good form just by looking at your great quad development! Very nice my man! Looking good!

[ripped_holla]

September 29, 2006 - Day Nineteen

Weight: 182.5lbs

Training:

- standing military press - 3x5 @ 100lbs
- weighted dips - 3x5 @ bodyweight + 45lbs
- dumbbell lateral raises - 3x5 @ 40's
- weighted chinups - 3x5 @ bodyweight +25lbs

Strong today. I really enjoy these low-rep days. Traps/upper back were still a little sore from Wednesday's rack deads. Other than that nothing special to report.

Same dosing as usual - 3 caps about 45 mins preworkout. As I've mentioned lately I'm starting to think this program is catching up with me. I'm four and a half weeks into it and have been lifting every other day. I'm going to play it by feel and if I need to postpone Sunday's workout until Monday then I'll do that. There's no reason to run myself into the ground when an extra day off but be just what I need to straighten up.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: The dynamic duo. Almost every day I work out I see this tandem. In the time I finish 2-3 exercises they've just wrapped up bench press and are making their way to the preacher curls. I've yet to see either of them doing any leg exercises. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I hate chicken legs. Either buy some pants or hit the squat rack. :)

[SPACECLOWN]

Tidbit - that kills me. I forgot the name for that. I had it in one of my logs. Now its gonna kill me all night trying to think of the name.

[Millennium 1]

I'm finding that every gym has the "Dynamic Duo" Chest and Bi only guys. I ask the pair at my gym "is it leg day?" everytime I see them and they haven't gotten the hint yet. I see them training with the guy who loads up the squat bar and then walks around the gym for 30 minutes without ever doing a set. It's an epidemic!

[ripped_holla]

October 1, 2006 – Day Twenty-One

Training:

- full BB back squats – 4x12 @ 150lbs
- weighted crunches / ab bridges – 4x12 @ +10lbs
- seated calf raises – 4x12 @ 125lbs

Felt really great today. Had a nice breakfast and let that settle for about 90 mins before hitting the gym (took 3 Cordygen about 60 mins preworkout). Last time I did this workout I was hurting to get through the last reps on the squats. Today, though, I wasn’t struggling nearly as much even with the 5lb weight increase. I was tight and felt a little weak during my warmup sets but got it in gear for the working sets. Overall I do feel less “spent” when I leave that I did a month ago. That could be the Cordygen, that could be me adjusting to this program, that could be from an increased caloric intake, etc. Not sure if it’s the Cordygen or what but I don’t think it’s hurting. That said, I'm having a hard time definitely attributing this or that directly to the Cordygen.

Foam roller was MIA today which was irritating – I really like using after my leg workouts to hit the quads and what I believe is called the “IB band” on the outsides of the quads. Plus I usually do some calf work (back and side) too. But I’ll live.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: Not much, except that I saw somebody with the most impressive calves I’ve probably ever seen. And I mean that in the most neutral way possible, so please hold your tongues.

[Millennium 1]

RH, I'm hoping everyone can post to their logs a week or two after they are done with the C5 to let us know how things are going without it. Nice session!

[ripped_holla]

October 3, 2006 - Day Twenty-Three

Weight: 184lbs

Training:

- flat DB bench - 3x10 @ 60s
- decline BB bench - 3x10 @ 140lbs
- seated hammer rows - 3x12 @ 145lbs
- bentover BB rows, underhand grip - 3x10 @ 115lbs

Couple items today. First, weight is up to 184lbs which is great. I haven't seen it hit 184 in awhile so I'm very happy. Second, today's workout went fine as I hit all the reps I aimed for but overall it kind of dragged. I'm experimenting with a workout drink (simple carbs and protein) to see if that kicks me in the ass a bit considering I workout in the morning. I already have some oats and a protein blend shake preworkout but I'd like something simpler coming into my system as well. Plus it gives me some extra calories (which I need) and during my workout is an optimal time to add them. I've noticed a better pump (for whatever that's worth...) in the couple workouts since I've started with a peri-workout drink. After the two benching exercises I was feeling pretty swollen up which is always nice.

I'm sticking with the normal dose of Cordygen (3 preworkout on workout days, 3 at once during the day on off-days). Today's workout didn't shine at all. I even dropped some sets from 12 reps to 10 reps to give me more options to progress in the next week (instead of just adding weight) and even in doing that I felt a little week. I'm planning on taking the next two days off (Weds and Thurs) to give myself a little recharge and then hitting the gym a little fresher on Friday. I've been bantering the idea of taking an extra day or two off for awhile now (see posts above) and it's probably time to just do it.

Anaerobic endurance is up in the air; it really depends on the day unfortunately. Nothing concrete that I can chalk up to the Cordygen yet. I know there was talk about it boosting the immune system and I've dodged being sick despite being around some sick people. Late summer allergies are still nagging a little but I'm certainly not ill. For the record I don't usually get sick but truth be told I'm on a pretty active program (every other day and haven't had two consecutive days off in almost 5 weeks) and now is the time I'm probably susceptible to illnesses. No other funny side effects either.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: Foam roller is still missing, wtf. Irritating. New sign idea: Please don't be a male doing lateral raises with the 7.5lb dumbbells while standing in front of people doing bentover rows when they are obviously trying to watch themselves in the front mirrors. Concise enough phrasing?

[SPACECLOWN]

Rest is good :D
The sign is concise but it's to PC.

[ripped_holla]

October 6, 2006 - Day Twenty-Six

[b]Weight: 183 lbs

Traiining:

- rack deads (pins at top of shins) - 6x5 @ 245lbs
- weighted crunches - 6x5 @ +25lbs
- leg press calf raises - 6x5 @ 310lbs

Took my normal workout day (yesterday) off to give my body a little extra chance to recover. I came back nice and strong today - ripped through my sets with relative ease. However, I did completely forget to take the Cordygen...oops. I am experimenting with a workout drink (in addition to my usual postworkout one). I'm using the recommendations in "Nutrient Timing", which is about 25g simple carbs and about 10g protein. So I'm using about half a ON scoop of dex and half a scoop of ON whey. I try to get it down by about the halfway point in my workout to give it time to get through me before it's time for the PWO drink.

Nothing else to report. Immune system is still feeling strong (I'm taking some extra vit C though). Looking forward to starting a new program in a couple weeks after wrapping up this one. Has some chicken, carrots, oats, and quinoa for my postworkout meal today - never had quinoa before but it's alright. Kind of tasteless, reminds me of rice. Need to figure out some good recipes for it.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: The difference at my gym between the morning and afternoon crowd is hilarious. If you're there early, you're obviously pretty dedicated. But then you have the people who seem to only trickle in on Friday afternoons. Both the girls doing cardio and the dudes doing curls are thinking the same thing (in my opinion) - "hmmm, I better get in a half-ass gym session before I hit the bar tonight." Same goes for the people who'll be there tomorrow afternoon trying to burn off tonight's damage and "pre-burn-off" tomorrow night's damage. Whatever makes you feel good, I guess.

[SPACECLOWN]

I agree with the gym observation. Pretty much the same at our gym.

[ripped_holla]

October 9, 2006 - Day Twenty-Nine

Weight: 184lbs

Training:

- standing BB military press - 4,5,3 @ 105lbs
- weighted dips - 3x5 @ bodyweight +50lbs
- weighted chins - 3x5 @ bodyweight +30lbs
- dumbbell side laterals - 3x6 @ 40's

Decent workout today. Had my mma/bjj class the other day and my outer forearms are f'ing sore from doing blocking drills. I'm going to be training 2-3 times a week now and I'm looking forward to it. Just another something that can wear me out but that's alright. I enjoy the cardio aspect of the groundwork and it's going to give me loads of confidence. However if I do the Waterbury Method plan after this program I'm thinking I might have recovery issues as it's overall going to be a helluva lot of volume.

Anybody have ideas about a lifting program to run while doing mma 2-3x a week?

Really busy this week so I'm trying to do my best to not let it get me stressed out. This log is starting to wind down as it seems I'm running out of Cordygen. Good stuff in the gym though as weights were up again and stamina was good. I've gone one on/two off for the last two workouts to give myself a bit of a break and it's worked well. I seem to come back nice and strong after a extra day or two of rest (as expected).

I'm starting to think about how I want to cap off this log. By now I pretty much know what my thoughts are but we can wait on those. Still healthy even around some not-so-healthy people so that's good; libido is also good. Yee-haw.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: Too much weird crap to list. I really need to make sure I don't lift in the evenings. I think Monday is national "Anything But Legs Day" as I had no trouble occupying the squat rack for awhile during military and chins.

New Quote Posted Above My Mirror: "The number one rule to being successful is showing up. Sometimes in life your job is to just show up."

[Millennium 1]

RH, I'm sure Whitedevil74 and fight_prof have some suggestions on what training regimen to use with your MMA 2-3X per week.

I'm sorry to see this log coming to an end, but I can't wait to hear your final thoughts.

It's National Anything But Legs Day" at my gym everyday. I feel as if the squat rack is mine all mine anytime I want it. It's sad!

[ripped_holla]

October 12, 2006 – Day Thirty-Two

Weight: 183lbs

Training:

-
-
-

Pretty crummy day today. It’s starting to get cold out and that isn’t helping my attitude whatsoever. On the way to the gym this morning I wished I was already at the gym. At the gym I wished I was already home and in the shower. After the first set of squats (today was supposed to be 4x12) I was feeling really unfocused and crappy. So I screwed around a bit with some lighter ATG front squats for a few sets, then did the real calf raises that were on the schedule. Skipped the ab work (plenty of that at MMA conditioning), foam rolled for a few minutes as usual, then got the hell out of there. I haven’t felt that shady in the gym in several months.

It probably wasn’t the best idea to train MMA last night and then hit the gym first thing this morning; however, due to my schedule lately it was really my only option. As I’ve mentioned, I’ve had a lot on my mind lately and workouts haven’t been as regularly scheduled as they normally are. Eating habits, thankfully, are still great. I’m going to do MMA tomorrow, take Saturday entirely off, then hit the gym for a final asskicker on Sunday. I’m going to try to max out on deads (which I haven’t done in awhile) or something equally as stressful. Then I’m going to take most of next week off and figure out what program I’m going to do next. This means that I’m going to wrap up the Cordygen log within the next few days.

I am still on the hunt for a good program to incorporate while doing bjj/mma 2-3x per week. Preferably a compound lift oriented, strength-focused type of program (with hypertrophy as a secondary concern). I’d really appreciate some suggestions on programs that would try to minimize burnout.

Gym Tidbit of the Day: Skinny kid supersetting skullcrushers and bicep curls. But I probably shouldn’t be commenting based on today’s performance.

[ripped_holla]

October 16, 2006 - Day Thirty-Six

Weight: 185lbs

Training:

DEADLIFT PR!

Today I took my last dose of Cordygen. I did miss a few days last week which is why the bottle lasted longer than 30 days @ 3 caps per day. My last workout was Thursday morning and as I noted in my post above it left a lot to be desired. I planned on hitting things hard today and then taking off the rest of the week - in preparation for a new program starting next Monday. I decided I should do something really testing, like max on a big lift. :)

To be honest, I've never really tested my deadlift max. I'm comfortably doing working sets with 2 plates but never have pushed it to the limit. Today I decided to do it. Here's what I did up to that...

- bodyweight hyperextensions (light and easy, warmup)
- hamstring/back stretches
- hypers + 10lbs (again, taking it easy)
- more stretching (hip flexors, hamstrings, back)

Deadlifts: (done with stance just outside shoulder width, not narrow, certainly not sumo; mixed grip)

- 135 x 6
- 185 x 3
- 225 x 2
- 275 x 1
- 313 x 1
- 318 x 1 :D

Actual weights are odd because one of the plates on each side was a bumper plate @ 44lbs (not 45lbs), added some 2.5lbs on each side for the last set to get it upwards of 315 (3 plates). 275 flew up. 313 and 318 were a little slow off the ground but once it got moving it came up nicely. I rested 3-4 mins between each early set and 5 mins throughout the last 3 sets. It may not be impressive to some of the advanced people on here, but I feel great about it. Now I can finally put a number on my deadlift.

Wrapped up the sessions with some dumbbell Bulgarian split squats. I'm going to incorporate some single-leg work into my next routine and wanted to familiarize myself with these. Balancing is a little tricky at first but I'm sure it'll get easier with time. After that I foam rolled the hell out of my legs and back and stretched a ton. Hopefully I don't feel too stiff tomorrow morning.

I'm now planning on doing this as a base program next: http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1206566

But more on that later. I'll finish this log up in the coming days.

[Millennium 1]

RH,

Nice deadlift PR. It's always a great feeling. Way to recover from the last workout! Can't wait to read your final thoughs.

Thanks,

-Matt

[SPACECLOWN]

Good stuff RH. I have been looking at the 5x5 also. Sounds pretty fun in a painful sorta way :D

[ripped_holla]

If you take a look at that article, it isn't the "standard" 5x5 (which I've done in the past). It's in my opinion a better variation using multiple set/rep schemes and load levels.

[ripped_holla]

Cordygen5 - Final Thoughts

Fresh off a delicious stir-fry I made for lunch and now with a strong cup of coffee at hand, it's time for me to conclude this log.

I'm going to attempt to evaluate this product using the 'thinking points' I received from Millennium. Let me first say thank you again to Matt at Millennium for letting me test another product. I enjoy doing logs not only to evaluate new supplements but also to keep my training on track. During this testing phase, I was eating cleanly above maintenance and put on 3-4lbs over the past five weeks. Seems like a slow rate of gain for me but looking at it in the 'big picture' it's not too bad. Now for my thoughts...

Strength: Strength climbed throughout this cycle. I wouldn't say that I'm lifting a ton more, but strength has been consistently 'reliable' lately.

Endurance: There were days when I felt really charged up after leaving the gym. Some days I finished sets that I didn't think I was going to finish. Both are good things.

Aerobic Recovery Time: Good. I never really get too winded during my sets but I do usually notice an increased heartrate. Hard to compare since I don't do a lot of high-rep sets.

Anaerobic Recovery Time: Acceptable. I recall a pretty even mix of days where I was raring to go on the next set and where I was giving myself extra rest time. I was hoping for something a little more tangible to report here but there wasn't anything spectacular.

Anaerobic Endurance: Good too. As I mentioned above, there were days when I got through my first set of squats at the working weight and was pretty concerned but not being able to finish the exercise. I do remember a couple specific days where I really had to dig deep and muscle my way through the final set or two. Cordygen, maybe. Placebo effect, maybe. Me being hardcore, maybe. Regardless, it made for some great lifts.

Aerobic Endurance: Not much data for this. I don't really do much cardio when I'm trying to put on muscle - I try to let my food choices/timing minimize the fat gain. More on this point below.

Effect on Cardio Workouts: Same as above.

Immune Function: I was a healthy guy before, during, and now after the Cordygen cycle. To be honest, I probably only get sick once or maybe twice a year. My diet, in my opinion, helps a lot with staving off illness (good food choices, lots of veggies and fruit, etc). I was around some ill people during this cycle and managed to escape unharmed...which is obviously good.

Side Effects: No (bad) side effects to report. I did notice some increase in libido, dare I say, while on the product. Not sure if that was directly related to the Cordygen but it's worth noting.

My overall review is...pretty inconclusive. There simply weren't any moments where I could definitively say, "Because of the Cordygen, I can ______ whereas without it I couldn't ______." I did have some excellent workouts on the Cordygen, but I also had a few crappy ones. There just aren't any concrete things that I can pin down to the Cordygen having caused.

That said, I would be keenly interested in reviews of Cordygen by strict endurance/cardio athletes. I would like to see if someone who runs 5x a week for moderate distances, or even a sprinter, would see noticable benefits from it. As far as weightlifting itself is concerned, I just don't know how much it helped. I feel like I saw tangible results from the Millennium Shred-XS thermogenic that I reviewed more so than this Cordygen.

Please ask away if there are questions!

[ripped_holla]

Bump for the final thoughts...

[SPACECLOWN]

Hey Ripped I appreciate your honest feedback. I agree that people notice more results in endurance type activities. I feel if you had some cardio during the log you definately would have noticed the difference. The log has been very detailed and great to follow. See you around, and again thanks.

[Millennium 1]

RH,

Thanks again for running a great unbiased log.

I agree that the C5 isn't optimal for the type of training that you are doing, but that's why do the whole tester log thing. I think you would have loved it with cardio. I train in a similar style to you on occasion and still find it quite beneficial not for energy but for recover between sets.

Thanks again for your hard work and attention to detail. I'll be in touch.

-Matt