My Universal stack log

[Just Dave]

Bear with me here guys, this is just an intro. Future logs will be MUCH shorter.



The coming weeks promise good things for me. For the record, here?s how they started. My name?s Dave and I?m active duty military currently deployed to Iraq. I?ve been weightlifting for about a year and a half now. Over the course of this deployment, I set out to put on 10lbs solid muscle mass. I?m 5?7? and started at 140lbs. Got up to 150 but then dropped a few and am currently 147.
I?ve tried several different programs and a few different stacks out here with some success. As those of you with a bit of experience already know the secret (for an ectomorph who loves running) was calories. Food has been my greatest asset in weight gain and with a few adjustments to cardio and workouts, I?m making some real headway.
The next four weeks, I?ll be using a Universal stack and pushing to put on a few more pounds. Here?s what I have planned:


Nutrition
This one was the toughest. Calories out here are scarce and forget trying to eat clean. We have food brought out to us from a nearby mess hall three times daily and because of my shift, I only catch two. Hopeless for bulking right? Maybe not. I?ve ordered food and gotten some sent out here along with protein and gainer shakes. We also have some dry food on site. Little cereal cups, tiny cartons of sustainable milk, bagels, peanutbutter, etc.
The tough part is that I can?t really get an exact number on calories or protein intake. I?m also, to an extent, at the mercy of the mail deliveries out here. As of right now, I?ve got enough and more on the way. I?m getting somewhere upwards of 2800 calories/day and shooting for closer to 3500 but again, it?s hard to estimate. Protein intake is somewhere in the mid 200?s ?those are my best guesses based off what I know and what I?m estimating at the meals they bring us.
Here?s the ?Bare minimum? layout:

1000-Pre WO: cereal, at least 4 cartons of milk, clif bar or powerbar
1230-Post WO: Universal Torrent
1500-Universal Real Gains
1800-(Lunch) Chow from mess hall, double serving of whatever protein they bring
2100-Universal Real Gains
2300-(Dinner) Chow from mess hall
0100-(Bedtime) ISS ProM3 protein shake with approx 4.5g Glutamine

This is flexible. I have Beef Jerky and lots of granola etc. for carbs at my disposal as well. When my next shipment of Real Gains comes in, I?ll be taking 3 servings a day.

Training
Had to put my ego aside here. I?m an ectomorph and training?s gotta be done just a bit differently. I could stay in the gym for hours (when I first got here my WOs were typically upwards of two) but that?s not what my body needs to grow. I?m keeping this short and intense. I have no WO partner so I really gotta flirt with the crush factor on some of these but I think this should do.

Due to the constraints of being in the army, gotta keep running in there and at least one 5 miler a week which is ok I guess, my weekly mileage is about half of what it would be at bragg.


24Dec-18Jan

Mon-Shoulders & Traps
2 mi. run warmup
Overhead bb press, Arnold press, Seated db lateral raise, BB shrug, Middle back shrug

Tues-Legs & Abs
Squat, Leg press, RDL, DB lunge, Cable crunch, Weighted leg raise

Thurs-Chest & Abs
Incl. bench press, Decl. bench press, DB pullover, Flat bench, Janda situp, hanging leg raise

Fri-Back
2 mi. run warmup
Deadlift, Bent over row, Good morning, One-arm db row, V-bar pulldown

Sat- 5 mi. run


Supplements
The part you?ve all been waiting for??that last 10%. Here?s the rundown:
Animal Pak-(already taking it) 24 Dec-18 Jan
Universal Real Gains- 24 Dec-18 Jan
Universal EAA stack- 24 Dec-18 Jan
Universal Torrent- 31 Dec-18 Jan
Universal Animal M-Stak- 31 Dec-18 Jan

[naturalguy]

First off thank you for your service, it is appreciated and you have my utmost respect.

I'll be following along. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Just Dave]

Monday-Shoulders&Traps

Warmed up today with a nice 2 mile run. Focused on form and posture so, not too fast but enough to get me ready to hit the gym.

Sipped on my EAA stack throughout the WO. Doesn't really 'mix' per se and doesn't taste too stellar but hey, what are these supplements for, right? Obviously EAAs are gonna have more of an overall impact, not something I'll notice immediately in the gym. This will help round out what I'm not getting from the menu out here.

Took my Real Gains PWO. Tastes great and suprising that there's 600 calories or so per serving since I was still hungry afterward. Other shakes I've taken (I won't name brands) taste chalky and leave me feeling like I just dumped a bunch of sludge into my stomach (if that makes sense). So far Real Gains gets very high marks...EAA, not bad.

Here's what I did:
Overhead Barbell press: 90x10/95x8/95x7/100x7
Arnold Press: 40sx7/40sx7/40sx7/40sx6
Seated db laterals: 15sx10/20sx7/20sx6
Barbell shrug*: 225x10/225x10/225x12/225x12
Middle back shrug*: 65sx10/65sx15/70sx12/70sx12

*Even though I'm keeping weight high and reps low, I've read and heard that traps should be hit at higher rep ranges. If you've heard/experienced differently, let me know.

There it is. Short. Heavy(for me). Intense.

[Just Dave]

Originally Posted by naturalguy

First off thank you for your service, it is appreciated and you have my utmost respect.

I'll be following along. Let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks naturalguy

[naturalguy]

EAA's do not mix well. If you let them sit for around 20 minutes in the fridge they will mix better.

I imagine you have the fruit punch flavor which is meh, we just came out with "Juicy Watermelon" flavor which is delicious.

[Just Dave]

Originally Posted by naturalguy

EAA's do not mix well. If you let them sit for around 20 minutes in the fridge they will mix better.

I imagine you have the fruit punch flavor which is meh, we just came out with "Juicy Watermelon" flavor which is delicious.

Thanks for the tip I'll try that tomorrow.

[Just Dave]

Tuesday-Legs&abs

Put the EAA stack in some orange gatorade and left it in the fridge for 20 min. prior to my WO. Much better. A good WO. Kept it at an hour though I wanted to try something I read yesterday...think it was in the AOM.
10-10-2-20.....fun with leg extensions! Maybe next week I'll let myself go over my hour time limit just to fit that in. The only reason for the time limit is because I keep reading that guys with my body type need to keep it short.

Here's what I did:

Squat-185x10/205x8/215x8/225x7
Romanian deadlift-185x10/225x8/225x8/225x7
Leg press-380x10/450x9/450x8
DB lunge-40sx10/55sx10/55sx7
Cable crunch-130x12/130x12/130x12/130x12
Weighted leg raise-40x10/40x10/40x10/40x10

I kept the lunges continuous (one leg at a time no pauses) and superseted the abs. Nothing crazy with those, I just need to maintain at this point.

Broke my 205 barrier on the squat which was an excellent christmas present and the diet's staying the same. Weighed myself after my WO and I'm back at 150. My weight seems to be in a constant state of a 3lb fluxuation.

Tomorrow's an off day so I may not post anything....be back thursday with chest though.

Take it easy,
Dave

[Just Dave]

Chest

EAA (fruit punch) is definitely better in an oraqnge flavored sports drink after having sat in the fridge for a while. Just trying to take in a sh!tload of calories each day and waiting for my next shipment of real gains and food I ordered. Hopefully it arrives this week so I can stay on schedule. I need to up the protein intake even more for the M-Stak.

Workout:
Kept it short, heavy enough to keep in the 5-8 rep range. As I go, I may add more exercises/sets but my body seems to be responding to this type of workout. Up to 151lbs as of this morning.

Flat bench-165x7/155x8
Incline bench-115x8/115x8/115x8/115x7
Decline bench-150x7/150x7/155x6/155x5
DB pullover-55x8/60x8/60x7

That's it. Got back tomorrow and (providing my orders get here) Next week I'll be starting M-Stak and Torrent.

Later,
Dave

[Birddog6424]

Following your posts Dave.

And thanks for your service!

[Just Dave]

Back

Outstanding day today! Got more Real Gains and food in the mail so I'm ready to give em hell next week with my M-stak, Torrent and upping the dosage on that Real Gains to 3 servings a day!

After a quick 2 mile warmup, I was pumped and ready to go. Drank that EAA stack like it was goin out of style and had to chug a bunch of water to make sure I was spreading it out throughout my WO.

Deadlift-205x8/225x8/225x6/225x6
Bent over row-115x8/125x7/135x6
V-bar pulldown*-210x10/220x10/230x10/250x8
One-arm db row-60x10/60x10
Good morning-135x8/135x7/135x6
Pullup-wide gripx7/medium gripx7/narrow gripx7

*We don't have alot of options out here so normally I slap some plates on the Nautilus pulldown machine but I wanted to change up the angle, so I slid a bench over to the cable station for these. Problem is, I'm afraid I won't be able to go heavy enough to keep it in my 5-8 rep range since 250 is the whole stack!

Advice please: Should I go back to the nautilus or keep this for the sake of the angle and add another exercise?

Thanks,
Dave

[Just Dave]

Soulders & Traps

Started M-Stak and Torrent today. I'm usually a bit sensative to stims so I was skeptical bout the red pill (energy booster) but it seems to have agreed with my body rather well. First thing I noticed was not so much a feeling of being 'wired' like I do with NO products but simply having more 'fuel' than I expected. It is of course possible that I simply had a good day, I'll see if this continues.
The next thing I noticed was that my body needed about twice as much water as it normally does throughout the workout. I don't sweat very easily so, the profuse sweating I've heard mentioned in other logs didn't happen.

Torrent tasted pretty good. Nothing significant to report there.

All in all, I feel pretty good right now. Here's how the workout went:

Warmup: 2mi. run

Barbell overhead press: 95x10/105x8/105x6/105x5
Arnold press: 40sx8/40sx7/40sx7/45sx5
side lateral raise: 20sx10/25sx8/25sx7/25sx7
Barbell shrug*: 225x12/225x12/225x12/225x8
Middle back shrug*: 70sx12/70sx12/70sx12/70sx7

*These two were a superset, no rest at all. Very effective.

Weight: 153lbs
At the end of this phse I'll be posting my weight along with body measurements before and after.

[Just Dave]

Legs & abs

Nothing significant to report today as far as supplementation goes. Didn't drink quite as much water as I did yesterday during my workout. I seem to have handled the weight just a little bit better than I did last week. I also incorporated something I found, I think on animalpak.com called 10-10-2-20 for the quads. We're getting new equipment in our gym so I'm replacing abs with the hammerstrength crunch machine since I've been doing the same handfull of abdominal exercises for the last few months. It's something new and interesting.

Squat-205x8/225x8/225x8/230x7
Romanian deadlift-225x8/225x8/225x8/225x7
Leg press-450x8/450x8/450x8
DB lunge-55sx8/55sx7/55sx7
Leg extension-110x10/140x10/200x2/110x20
Hammer strength curl-50x12/70x12/70x10

That's all for today, be back thrusday with chest.

[naturalguy]

Happy new year to you Dave

[Just Dave]

Chest & Abs

Felt a good pump through most of the workout but didn't notice a real change in strength. If anything, I didn't feel quite as strong as I thought I should have. I've been trying to squeeze as much out of chest days as I can since it's one of my weakest areas but for some reason I go in, don't feel like I do too much and feel smoked the next day.

I know I'm making progress but I don't feel impressed with chest or shoulder days. Anyhow, M-Stack's kickin ass and takin names so far. Torrent satiates me but it's not long before I'm hungry again. Getting really used to the EAA stack too. All in all, good ****. Here's how today went:

Flat bench-155x8/165x5/165x3
Incline bench-115x8/125x7/125x7/130x7
Decline bench-150x8/165x6/165x7/170x5
DB pullover-60x8/65x8/65x8
Janda situp-50
Hanging leg raise-25/25

Couldn't help myself afterward and weighed myself too (usually this is just mondays) 153lbs

Something's working lol

[Just Dave]

Back

Nothing significant to report with the sups. My muscles do feel fuller and stronger. Had a decent back day today but moved the order of exercises around so I didn't feel as confident with the deads as I do at the beginning of my workout. Here's what I did.

Pullup-narrow grip: 12
medium grip: 10
wide grip: 7
V-bar pulldown: 250x8/250x8/250x8/250x8
Deadlift: 225x8/225x5/225x5/225x5
Bent over row: 125x8/135x8/135x7
Single arm nautillus pulldown: 115x7/115x6
One arm db row: 70x8/70x8

[Just Dave]

Well, today was rushed. Started the day a few hours earlier than I normally do on a tighter schedule. I was afraid I'd miss my workout but I managed to get an abbreviated shoulder workout in there. Also took some measurements and while not much else changed, I had to measure my chest about 4 times to make sure I wasn't seeing things. 37.5" That's a 2 inch increase from last time! Well, I did it before my workout so needless to say, I was psyched going into the gym. Time being against me I sqeezed out as much rest time as I could to fatigue the muscles faster and turned the last 3 exercises into a superset.

Overhead barbell press: 105x8/105x8/105x8/105x7
Arnold press: 45sx6/45sx7/45sx6/45sx5
Seated db lateral raise: 25x8/15x8/15x8/15x8
Seated db bent over raise: 20x8/15x8/15x8/15x8
Seated db front raise: 20x8/15x8/15x8/15x8

[Just Dave]

Legs

For some reason, I decided to do things out of order today. Form on my squats was mediocre at best so I decided to drop the weight for the last 2 sets. All around, I don't feel like I did as much as I usually do but my legs were smoked just the same.
Tried the 10-10-2-20 thing again. Feels awesome!

Leg press:450x10/450x10
Squat: 225x8/225x7/205x8/205x7
RDL: 225x8/225x8/225x8/225x8
Leg ext: 140x10/170x10/215x2/140x20
DB lunge: 45x10/45x10/45x10
Hammerstrength crunch: 70x8/70x8/70x8

That's pretty much it. Kinda felt like I'd been dragging ass when I was finished based on what was on paper but my legs told a different story so I guess I'll go with how I felt and say it was a decent workout.

Tomorrow's off, chest on thurs.

Later

[Just Dave]

Chest

Weighed in today, still at 153. Got my calipers in the mail too so I can get more accurate readings on my BF%.

Flat bench-155x8/160x7/165x7
Incline bench-125x8/130x8/135x7/135x5
Decline bench-160x5/160x6/160x5/160x5
DB pullover-65x8/65x8/65x8
Dips-15/10/10
Hanging leg raise-25/25
Janda situp-75

That's pretty much it. Back day tomorrow.

[Just Dave]

Back

I felt incredible this morning. Overall, had a great workout. Finally got my callipers in the mail and noticed something odd. I'm going to recallibrate them and try again but according to the measurements I took, my BF% has gone down! I'm somewhere in the 9% range (9.42 I think). How weird is that? and with everything I've been eating nonetheless! I was planning on dedicating a few weeks to taking BF off but apparently now I won't have to!

I'm feeling great about the supplements I bought from Universal for this phase of my training and I know without a doubt where I'm coming for future stacks and (of course) my multi. Animal Pak is not to have its importance understated as the foundation for my efforts.

Here's today's workout:

Pullup: ng-12/mg-10/wg-10
Deadlift: 225x8/225x7/225x5/225x5
Bent over row: 135x8/135x8/145x8
1-arm nautilus pulldown: 115x8/115x8/115x8
One-arm db row: 75x10/75x10
V-bar pulldown: 250x8/250x8/250x7/250x6

Time to rest up for a few days and I'll take measurements, weight and BF monday as I begin my final week!

[Just Dave]

Shoulders

Holy hell, I thought I was bulking not cutting! I'm slowly continuing to put on weight but my BF% continues to go DOWN! I'm currently sitting at 153.5lbs and 7.8% bf.......aboslutely amazing! I'm feeling great today.

2 mi. warmup run

Overhead bb press-105x8/105x7/105x7/105x6
Arnold press-40x8/45x7/45x6/45x6
Seated lateral raise-15x8/15x8/15x8
Seated bent over raise-15x8/15x8/15x8
Incline front raise-15x8/15x8/15x8
Barbell shrug-225x8/255x8/255x8/275x7

PR there on the shrugs. Good ****.
Tomorrow's everyone's favorite....Leg Day!

[Just Dave]

Legs

Very brief today, I've been slowly working on speed with my runs so my legs were exhausted fairly quickly. Next week whan I start my next phase, (starts next week) I'll be really emphasising the runs so my challenge is going to be keeping the weight on.

Leg press-500x8/500x8
Squat-205x8/225x8/225x7/225x7
RDL-235x8/255x8/255x8/255x8
Leg ext-145x10/175x10/225x2/145x20

Not alot but enough to give em something I guess. Next phase, I'll be dropping the weight and upping the reps a bit. I've got the layout down; it's designed toward a fitness test I'll have to take when I get nome and hitting calves and arms directly since they've taken the back burner lately.

It will look something like this:


Mon:
Pushups (100), situps (100), 2 mi. run, pullups (to failure)


Tues:
5 mi. run

Wed:
Bench press, Squat, Overhead barbell press, Deadlift, Lat pulldown, Incline db flyes, Seated row, Behind the back bb shrug, Romanian Deadlift, I-Y-T?s

Thurs:
Intervals, single leg calf raise, ski jumper calf raise, leg press calf raise, Hammer strength crunches

Fri:
Arm supersets

Barbell curl/Lying barbell tricep extension (behind head)
Concentration curl/Skull crusher
Preacher curl/Cable incline tricep extension
Hammer curl/Cable one-arm tricep extension

Sat:
5 mi. run


Any suggestions?
-Dave

[Just Dave]

Chest

Awesome pump today, Felt great though my form left something to be desired. Also found out that the scale we have in our gym needed to be recallibrated. Re-set it and it was off by a pound or so. I'm at 154.75 Almost there! Eating everything that isn't nailed down today. As I wind this last week down, I gotta say that I am very impressed. Universal makes excellent products and I now know where I'm going in the future for supplements, especially my multi.

Flat bench-160x8/165x5/165x4
Incline bench-130x7/130x8/135x7/135x5
Decline bench-165x8/170x5/170x6/170x5
DB pullover-70x8/70x8/70x7
Dips-15/9

I was pretty well spent after that and did a quick 3 sets of abs. leg raises with a 30 sec. rest followed by a set of janda situps:

Weighted leg raise-40x8/40x8
Janda situp-100

[Just Dave]

Back

Winding things down now with my Universal 4 week push for more weight. This is the last actual workout and I'll be recording my finishing stats on monday. As stated previously, I have been very impressed and will continue to use their products in future endeavors. Felt pretty good today especially Deadlifting 225 for 4 sets when I recall not too long ago being at 135 for my heavy sets.

Deadlift-225x8/225x8/225x6/225x5
Pullup-10/9/8
Bent over row-145x8/145x8/145x7
V-bar pulldown-250x8/250x8/250x8/250x7
One-arm db row-80x8/80x8/80x7

For my one arm nautilus pulldowns, I did something new: one normal set followed by a half set as quickly as I could immediately followed by a lighter set at a 3-0-3 tempo. I was in the mood to try something different. It was interesting.

One-arm nautilus pulldown-135x8/135x4/90x15

Next phase will work on maintaining my weight while bringing my run down. There will be a slight emphasis on arms and calves as well since they have taken the back burner for the last several weeks.

Be back with a full report monday.
Later.

[Just Dave]

Well, that's it. 4 weeks and 6 lbs later (at around 6% bf) I'm rather pleased with my results. All of my lifts have gone up, I've gained weight, lost bf and feel great!

Animal Pak-the new staple of my nutrition, this is the best multi I've tried to date and I'm stickin with it.

M-Stak-Pretty sure I have m-stak to thank for a good portion of my results. Yeah, training and eating were critical but I've never seen results like this, this fast. Absolutely incredible.

Torrent-not a bad PWO shake. Didn't taste stellar and I was hungry again shortly after taking it but it certainly had it's place.

EAA Stack-once I got the taste and mixing issues resolved, this worked out pretty well for me. I will be looking into more Amino Acid products and things designed for 'during the workout'. I think there's alot of potential here for future stacks. I really felt that this made an impact.

Real Gains-This one was a lifesaver. Calories are scarce out here and while I plan on making solid foods the bulk of my nutrition once I'm back home, I could not have done this without the extra calories. This will also be something I'll look into including in future stacks.


All in all, a great run. I've tried several of the 'popular' brands out there and while some were effective, I think I'll be staying with Universal Nutrition in the future.

Thanks to those who followed along.

Dave

[WK21]

Hey awesome job man..
1. thanks for the work you're doing over seas. my dad's in the military and i will be soon too
2. reps for continuing to post even though you didnt get much feed back...it kinda sucks i know.
3. Tell me how you like all of those universal supplements.. i have used their animal pump and it was awesome...im curious if i should get the real gains and torrent? what else do you recommend?

-Wes