~SMac's Making Crazy Gains with CRE-02~

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 7

The Workout: Legs

Squats (ATG)
135x10
155x6
180x5
215x1, drop set to
135x20

Smith Machine Front Squats (ATG)
85x10
90x8
120x6
145x3, drop set to
90x8

Lunges
4 sets of 14 strides w/ 30lb dumbbells

Lying Leg Curls, superset w/
4 sets

Leg Extensions
3 sets

Seated Calf Extensions, superset w/
4 sets

Hammer Strength Incline Press
4 sets

Workout Thoughts:
Wow, fantastic workout. Energy was through the roof, endurance was awesome (see the 135x20 for my drop set on squats), and I hit some PRs. Intensity was there as well, and I worked at a brisk pace, so it was just awesome all the way around.

Dosage:
Took the 3 caps with breakfast, 2 hours 15 mins. before hitting the gym.

Pump/Vascularity
Okay pump in the legs; a bit more pumped than normal, but nothing crazy. I think part of the thing is my current gym does not have a working leg press machine (the only one is broken), and after squats, this is normally my go-to exercise to kill the quads; in the process, they always blow up. Since I don't have that option here, I have opted for smith-machine front squats as a substitution. I like them, but the feeling is different.

Strength:
Great. Set a PR in squats with 215, as well as a PR in front squats when they are done as a second exercise. Also noticed that everything just felt a little bit easier/lighter, especially during the squats...I almost nearly got a full 2nd rep w/ 215, but my spotter had to help me out a tad, so I'll discount it.

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
Also good. I moved quickly through the workout, but I was able to keep up the intensity and added some reps to certain sets, such as my dropset on squats.

Recovery:
Great recovery between sets; was breathing a little hard at points, but my muscles felt fine.

Changes in Mood:
Noticed an increase in focus as usual, but not much else.

Other Thoughts:
Fantastic workout, pretty much exactly what I was looking for. Did not have time for cardio, and my legs were too toasted anyway, so no complaints whatsoever.

[SMac2347]

Crazy day thus far, but I will be hitting up the gym soon; nothing to alleviate stress like a wicked gym session and a crazy pump in the arms!

[SavageOne]

That's a massive drop set yesterday!

Hope it works well for you today!

[SMac2347]

That's a massive drop set yesterday!

Hope it works well for you today!

Thanks man, indeed it was. Good workout, will be updating fully later.

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 8

The Workout: Arms

Close Grip Bench Press
95x10
135x8
155x1
145x4, drop set to
115x9

EZ Bar Curls (not sure how much the bar weighs, but it is definitely more than what typically used, so I don't know the exact weight I used), superset w/
5 sets

Overhead Dumbbell Extensions
50x8
65x8
85x5
85x5
85x5, drop set to
50x9

Dumbbell Preacher Curls, superset w/
20x8
25x5
25x4
25x3, drop set to
17.5x5

Dumbbell Skull Crushers
20x10
30x8
40x4
35x7

Seated Dumbbell Hammer Curls, superset w/
30x6
30x6
30x5, drop set to
22.5x3

Rope Cable Pressdowns
3 sets

20 minutes, moderate intensity, on the elliptical, followed by a light jog just to loosen up the legs from yesterday.

Workout Thoughts:
Again, a great arm workout today. Exceptional focus and mind-muscle connection made the time just fly by. Felt very good and had lots of endurance, and of course had a sweet pump going.

Dosage:
3 caps, taken w/ lunch about 2 hours pre-workout.

Pump/Vascularity
Insane pump and fullness in the arms yet again. My arms looked huge, honestly much bigger than I feel they are, and it felt awesome. Definitely have noticed the greatest pumps on arms days thus far in the log.

Strength:
Got a new PR again in cgbp, despite having to work much faster than usual due to a line at the benches. Also added reps to the preacher curls and overhead dumbbell extensions, which I am certainly happy about.

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
Awesome endurance again today. No issues whatsoever during the actual workout. During cardio, breathing was definitely easier than usual, and I felt like I definitely could have kept going for longer than usual.

Recovery:
Legs are a bit tight from yesterday, but no real soreness despite working them pretty hard. Overall, I feel pretty darn good.

Changes in Mood:
Yet again, a slight pick-up in mood and focus/alterness as a result of taking the CRE-02.

Other Thoughts:
Felt great to hit the gym and work out some energy/stress after a long day of classes and getting swapped with new assignments. Tomorrow I will probably be going for some sort of run.

[SavageOne]

Damn that's a killer workout! Love the drop sets at the end of the exercises!


I always hated when there's a line waiting to use equipment. I couldn't stand that! Congrats on the PR though, impressive!

[SMac2347]

Damn that's a killer workout! Love the drop sets at the end of the exercises!


I always hated when there's a line waiting to use equipment. I couldn't stand that! Congrats on the PR though, impressive!

Yeah, on Tuesdays since I have class all day, I can only hit the gym during peak hours, when it seems everyone decides to exercise; and even though I know it's coming, it's still annoying. And thanks about the PR, hope to keep making them!

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 9

The Workout: Lifting--Off
Cardio--Road run, between 4.8 and 5 miles, moderate-hard pace.

Workout Thoughts:
Well, the run started off great...I felt awesome, and was going at a pretty quick pace. However, because I felt so good early on, I pushed the pace too much, which led my pace to drag quite a bit towards the end. However, considering I haven't run over 4 miles in a long time, and ran after only eating one meal (which always results in crappy runs, I usually need at least 2, I just didn't have the time today), I was very happy with how I felt overall and how things went.

Dosage:
3 caps, taken w/ breakfast about 2 hours before the run.

Pump/Vascularity
N/A.

Strength:
N/A.

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
Endurance felt pretty darn solid today. Breathing definitely felt easier than normal; I think the thing that was holding me back was the lack of fuel in the tank, coupled with the fatigue of my legs from leg day. I was trying to push the pace, but at certain points my legs just were not cooperating.

Recovery:
As I mentioned, legs felt slightly fatigued, especially the quads and glutes. Otherwise however, I felt fine.

Changes in Mood:
As usual, a slight pick-up in mood and focus/alterness as a result of taking the CRE-02.

Other Thoughts:
Honestly, it felt great to get out there and go for a longer run, especially in the morning when the route was pretty empty and I could just kind of allow my mind to wander.

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 10

The Workout: Back

Deadlifts
95x12
135x8
185x5
225x5
260x3
305x1--fail
305x1--yes!, drop set to
225x5, drop set to
135x15

Wide-Grip Pullups
BW+20x5
BW+20x4
BW+20x4

Iso-Lateral Hammer Strength Front Lat Pulldowns (neutral grip)
90x9
120x8
150x5, drop set to
90x7

Rack Chins
BWx10
BW+10x8
BW+20x5, drop set to
BWx5

Close Grip Cable Rows, giant set w/
4 sets

Straight Arm Pulldowns, giant set w/
3 sets

Cable Reverse Flies
3 sets

Workout Thoughts:
Great back workout. Again, like last Thursday, hit the gym early in the morning, and once again that worked out great. I was very focused and incredibly determined to set some PRs today, and I did, despite having to cut down on rest times a bit more than I would have liked so as not to be late to my first class.

Dosage:
Took the 3 caps with breakfast, 2 hours before the gym.

Pump/Vascularity
At first, I thought I was getting a pretty good pump, but didn't think it was anything special. When I got back to my room however and actually looked in the mirror, I realized my lats were incredibly flared, much more so than I can remember them ever really being in recent memory; it was the first time I looked at myself and felt I had a really noticeable V-taper going.

Strength:
Well, set another PR on deads, despite failing on my first attempt, simply because I was determined not to leave the gym until I did 305 at least once. All the deads today left my shins really chafed and actually bleeding, but it was well worth it. Also set a new PR on the front lat pulldowns, which was great.

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
Fast pace, heavy weight, yet no issues of fatigue; drop sets definitely seem easier, especially on the deads.

Recovery:
Recovery from set to set felt a bit quicker than usual, which helped me cut down on the time of the workout.

Changes in Mood:
Definite increase in focus and mental clarity.

Other Thoughts:
Great workout; again, no time for PWO cardio today, but I went for a long run yesterday, so I can live with it. Also is worth noting that, for rack chins, tweaked the angle of the movement and pulling motion; before I was doing more of a inverted row, whereas today the plane of motion was certainly more of a pullup/row hybrid. I liked this a lot, and think I will continue to stick to this way of doing them to try and really focus on back width.

[SavageOne]

That's a good looking workout!

Love the determination on the deads! Safe to say, CRE-02 is working it's magic for both of us!

[ncangey0513]

looking sick in here, dude! awesome work!

[SMac2347]

That's a good looking workout!

Love the determination on the deads! Safe to say, CRE-02 is working it's magic for both of us!

Agreed, it was a failry epic workout, determination ftw ! And CRE-02 is indeed impressive thus far, 1/3 of the way thru

[SMac2347]

looking sick in here, dude! awesome work!

Thanks for stopping by man, appreciate the feedback!

[SMac2347]

Sorry guys, I will have the update for the past 3 days posted later tonight/tomorrow, things have just been insane this weekend.

[SavageOne]

Sorry guys, I will have the update for the past 3 days posted later tonight/tomorrow, things have just been insane this weekend.

x2 on that one. Haha, I hear you man, things get busy!

[SMac2347]

x2 on that one. Haha, I hear you man, things get busy!

I know, work+school makes lifting hard to fit in sometimes, and it's damn annoying!

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 11

The Workout: Chest

Smith Machine Guillotine Press (not counting the weight of the carriage)
50x12
90x8
120x4
130x2

Flat Dumbbell Press
65x7
65x6, drop set to
65x5

Incline Dumbbell Flies (squeezing all the way through)
25x10
30x8
30x8
30x6

Dips
BW+45x6
BW+45x5
BW+45x5, drop set to
BWx6

Hammer Strength Incline Press
3 sets

20 minutes on the elliptical, moderate steady state pace.

Workout Thoughts:
Solid chest workout today. Definitely better than last week's, a good portion of which I attribute to working out at my gym at home (I went home) as opposed to the gym at school. Superior equipment and hardcore atmosphere make a big difference I guess.

Dosage:
Took the 3 caps with breakfast two hours before hitting the gym.

Pump/Vascularity
Decent pump today, but honestly a bit disappointing. Vascularity in the arms was great however.

Strength:
Didn't really pump up the weight on anything, but I added a few reps here and there, and overall felt a bit stronger than last week's workout, which is a good sign.

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
Awesome, plain and simple.

Recovery:
Seemed to have a great increase in recovery from set-to-set today, and just felt ready to go faster than normal.

Changes in Mood:
Felt slightly more focused from taking the CRE-02.

Other Thoughts:
Solid chest day.

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 12

The Workout: Lifting--Off
Cardio--Road run, 4 miles

Workout Thoughts:
Okay, so today was nuts, and with everything that happened, I did not have the opportunity to go to the gym as I had planned, which sucked. However, I did manage to get a one hour window of freedom, which I immediately took and used to go for a quick run. The run was weird, as although my endurance felt great, my back was hurting (which has never happened before, ever), so I couldn't push the pace, and at certain points it was a struggle, but I didn't stop till I was done.

Dosage:
Took the 3 caps with lunch, about 4 hours before the run (as at that point I did not think I would have the opportunity to do anything today).

Pump/Vascularity
N/A

Strength:
N/A

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
Breathing felt much easier, and legs actually felt okay, but as I mentioned above the lower back pain limited my pace; otherwise I felt I could have taken advantage of the increased endurance I felt and run much harder.

Recovery:
Hard to judge for today's events...

Changes in Mood:
Felt slightly more focused from taking the CRE-02 today.

Other Thoughts:
A crazy day all-around, and I guess I was happy to be able to squeeze in a run when it looked like I might not get the chance to do anything active initially.

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 13

The Workout: Lifting--Off
Cardio--Off

Workout Thoughts:
Worked all day, and was on my feet for a good portion of that, so I was dead tired and had to no chance to go to the gym. I probably would have taken a rest day here regardless, so things aligned quite nicely.

Dosage:
Took the 3 caps with breakfast in the morning.

Pump/Vascularity
N/A

Strength:
N/A

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
N/A

Recovery:
N/A

Changes in Mood:
Felt nothing really today.

Other Thoughts:
Another hectic day, but overall things are good.

[SMac2347]

Ok, just to provide some spice and sound for the upcoming updates:

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 14

The Workout: Legs

Squats (ATG)
135x10
155x6
180x5
215--fail
185x3
185x3
185x3
185x3, drop set to
135x10

Inverted XPlode Leg Press (different than a standard leg press; hard to explain, but it feels very odd, and the angle is steeper, making the movement harder)
90x10
140x10
180x8
200x6

Lunges
1 sets of 12 strides w/ 30lb db
3 sets of 12 strides w/ 35lb db

Lying Leg Curls, superset w/
4 sets

Leg Extensions
3 sets

Seated Calf Extensions, superset w/
4 sets

Hammer Strength Incline Press
4 sets (working up to 190 lbs.)

Workout Thoughts:
Fantastic workout. Energy and endurance were through the roof. Was a bit disappointed I failed to improve on squats this week, but seeing as I was on my feet for most of the day before, and did not eat nearly enough because I was working, this was not unexpected. However, since I was pissed about the failure, I made sure to ratchet up the volume on squats. Also decided to swap smith machine front squats for that weird inverted leg press machine...which I have decided I don't like (too much pressure on the knees), so I will probably be playing around with a secondary exercise to blast the quads for the next few workouts.

Dosage:
Took the 3 caps with breakfast, 2 hours before hitting the gym.

Pump/Vascularity
Better pump than usual in the legs; got some nice vascularity in the quads as well.

Strength:
Down a bit on squats (as detailed above), but up on lunges, and added reps to other movements.

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
Fantastic, I felt like I didn't do enough since I had so much left in the tank.

Recovery:
Great recovery between sets.

Changes in Mood:
Noticed an increase in focus as usual.

Other Thoughts:
Good workout to kick things back into gear.

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 15

The Workout: Shoulders, Traps, and Abs

Push Press
75x10
95x8
110x5
125x1, drop set to
115x2, drop set to
95x8

Behind the Neck Barbell Press
55x10
75x7
85x6
90x2, drop set to
75x7

Seated Dumbbell Shoulder Press, superset w/
45x5
45x5
45x5

Cable Lateral Raise
3 sets

Hanging Leg Raises, superset w/
4 sets

Dumbbell Shrugs
4 sets

Cable Crunches, superset w/
4 sets

Side Planks
3 sets

Reverse Crunches
3 sets


Workout Thoughts:
Another early morning workout, but it went great. My split got thrown a bit out of wack, so I have had to do some adjusting this week, hence why I did shoulders/traps/abs today.

Dosage:
Took the 3 caps with breakfast, 1.5 hours before hitting the gym.

Pump/Vascularity
Great pump today, definitely better than normal. I think the 90 minute mark is really the sweet spot for my CRE-02 dosage.

Strength:
Small increases here and there, so I'll take it.

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
Absolutely awesome again today.

Recovery:
Awesome recovery today; no leg soreness whatsoever too, which is sweet.

Changes in Mood:
Again, slight pick me up mood-wise and focus-wise from the CRE-02.

Other Thoughts:
I just felt focused, happy, and fantastic during today's workout. Probably hitting arms tomorrow.

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 16

The Workout: Arms

Close Grip Bench Press
95x10
135x8
155x2
145x5
135x5

Seated Supinating DB Curls
25x8
30x5
35x5
35x5
35x5

Overhead Dumbbell Extensions
50x8
65x8
85x5
85x4
85x5, drop set to
65x7

EZ Bar Preacher Curls (close grip)
bar+20x8---(since there are a few diff EZ bars in my gym, and they all weigh varying amounts)
bar+30x5
bar+30x3
bar+30x3, drop set to
bar+10x5

Dumbbell Skull Crushers
25x8
35x8
40x4
40x3

Seated Dumbbell Hammer Curls, superset w/
30x6
30x5
30x5, drop set to
22.5x3

Single Arm Cable Pressdowns (underhand grip)
3 sets

17 minutes, moderate intensity, on the elliptical, followed by 120 rope turns.

Workout Thoughts:
Man, CRE-02 makes for some awesome arm day. Great pump, great focus, and great endurance made for just a feel-good gym session.

Dosage:
3 caps, taken w/ breakfast 100 minutes pre-workout.

Pump/Vascularity
Insane pump and fullness in the arms again today; this stuff really shines on arm day. My arms looked very vascular as well, and for the first time I noticed veins from my arm branching up into my shoulder, which was pretty damn cool--especially because this workout was in the early morning, and as I have noted before the timing of such a workout normally would have left me less pumped than normal.

Strength:
No huge PRs in terms of weight, but again still managing to add reps here and there (reps went up on cgbp, drop set on overhead extensions, and db skull crushers as compared to last week's workout).

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
Awesome endurance again today. No issues whatsoever, everything felt great and cardio was a breeze.

Recovery:
No soreness from yesterday's workout, and overall I feel much better than I normally would after working out consectively and pretty hard for several days in a row.

Changes in Mood:
Redundant, but again a slight uptick in focus/alterness as a result of taking the CRE-02.

Other Thoughts:
A solid, feel-good day in the gym all the way around.

[SavageOne]

Everything's still going well it looks like!

Close-grip bench is so painful for me, it hurts just to read it!

[ncangey0513]

sweet looking workouts, dude! the pumps and fullness are what really amazes me from this product; glad you're experiencing the same! awesome updates as well!

[SMac2347]

Everything's still going well it looks like!

Close-grip bench is so painful for me, it hurts just to read it!

Oh yeah, things are progressing man. What's the deal w/ cgbp and pain, too much pain on the wrists?

[SMac2347]

sweet looking workouts, dude! the pumps and fullness are what really amazes me from this product; glad you're experiencing the same! awesome updates as well!

Agreed, pumps, provided CRE-02 is dosed right, are pretty insane.

[SavageOne]

Oh yeah, things are progressing man. What's the deal w/ cgbp and pain, too much pain on the wrists?

Pretty much, I have issues with the wrists at times, as well as the shoulders. Both kind of irritate me on close grip.

[SMac2347]

SMac's Making Crazy Gains w/ CRE-02: Day 17

The Workout: Back

Deadlifts
95x12
135x8
185x5
225x5
260x4
300--realized halfway through the rep that one side had more weight than the other, so I scrapped it
310--fail (3 separate attempts)
225x7, drop set to
135x15

Wide-Grip Pullups
BW+25x4
BW+25x4, drop set to
BWx5

Iso-Lateral Hammer Strength Front Lat Pulldowns (neutral grip)
90x9
120x8
150x5

Rack Chins
BWx8
BW+10x8
BW+22.5x6, drop set to
BWx6

Bent Over Barbell Rows, giant set w/
3 sets @ 135

Straight Arm Pulldowns, giant set w/
3 sets

Cable Reverse Flies
3 sets

Workout Thoughts:
I'm feeling pretty ambivalent about how things went today. On the one side, I was really, really hoping for another PR in deads, but it just didn't happen today...I think that half-rep at 300 w/ the uneven weight through me off, as it felt pretty easy, and had that little mishap not occurred I think I would have been able to get 310 once. Other than that though, the workout was awesome, managed to set some PRs on weighted pullups and rack chins as I really tried to make up for the failure on deads.

Dosage:
Took the 3 caps with breakfast, 95 minutes before the gym.

Pump/Vascularity
Hot damn, insane pump today; lats were flaring out like crazy. These back two back workouts produced, by far, the best pump in terms of lat width that I have ever felt.

Strength:
Ignoring the deadlift issue, set PRs in weighted pullups and rack chins, which was awesome and, at least for the pullups, unexpected. I didn't initially plan on going up in weight, but I was pissed from the deads and determined to make it up somehow, which I did. Also, surprised I was able to row w/ 135 for the giant set at the end...I gave myself literally no rest between the three movements, and yet was still able to row 135 after not having done that movement for at least 1.5 months.

Endurance/Oxygen Utilization
Again, went with a very fast pace and tried to push the weight, yet no issues of fatigue and felt solid from start to finish.

Recovery:
Recovery from set to set was awesome as usual. No arm soreness from yesterday.

Changes in Mood:
Slight increase in focus and mental clarity still.

Other Thoughts:
All things considered, I must say I'm impressed with how things went today. Although the deads were a disappointment, the lack of sleep I have got the last couple of nights, plus the intense workouts, would normally have been enough to derail my workout after the deads. However, today I was able to maintain on target and dial up the intensity even more, leading to a productive workout after all.

[SMac2347]

Pretty much, I have issues with the wrists at times, as well as the shoulders. Both kind of irritate me on close grip.

I hear you on that, sometimes my wrists bother me on cgbp, but lately it hasn't been an issue so I've been sticking with it. However, shoulder stuff (plus my long arms) pretty much prevents me from doing traditional bench press with a barbell for chest.