Josh Niemi..."The Journey"

[coolguydsc21]

i love White Flood man! For me, It gets the job done. Great energy, focus.. ect. Its simply the best preworkout ive used.

[triplewhammy]

Triple "Makin it look easy" WHAMMY !!!

LOL! My wife was givin me grief too, like "oh c'mon that was too easy you could've done more". God bless her...she is my #1 fan though.

Well, first off I wasn't planning on maxing that day so I did my 225x16 working set, then 275x2, then finally 325x1. But really as I've been saying all along I have been working to LOCK DOWN my form so you there is no torquing my body weird, etc to get the weight up. That is also probably the illusion of it being "easy." I tried 335 after that but my shoulders said "no thank you I've done enough for one day."

It is actually more like the analogy of the duck on the water. Elegant and graceful above water, struggling and paddling like crazy below water.

[triplewhammy]

i love White Flood man! For me, It gets the job done. Great energy, focus.. ect. Its simply the best preworkout ive used.

Absolutely, it is incredible stuff. The focus content is off the hook for sure, that is what actually keeps me awake and alert long after my workout, not the caffeine.

[triplewhammy]

UPDATE 5/23/2011

STATS
Weight: 184.8 lbs
Bodyfat: 11%??

TRAINING
1: Cardio
2: Chest/Triceps/Calves
3: Back/Lats/Biceps
4: Off
5: Legs
6: Shoulders/Arms/Hamstrings
7: Off

DIET
Diet will be 2500 cals, 250g protein per day:
6:00am Meal 1 (400 cals)
8:00am BCAAs
10:00am Meal 2 (400 cals)
12:00pm BCAAs
2:00pm Meal 3 (500 cals)
3:30pm-5:00pm BCAAs
5:30pm Meal 4 (300 cals)
6:30pm Meal 5 (500 cals)
8:30pm BCAAs

SUPPLEMENTS
Performance:
NEW Controlled Labs White Flood
Double T BetaCene Plus
AMS Body Mortar
ThermoLife E-BOL

Support:
USPlabs Super Cissus
Glucosamine
Multivitamin
Fish Oil
Scivation Whey
Gaspari Myofusion
EAS Finish

THOUGHTS
Well, I've finally sorted out my preworkout dilemma that I've had for a few weeks now -- I am running a log of the NEW Controlled Labs White Flood and let me tell you, from just 3 doses, this product is SICK! The pumps are incredible, energy is almost as good as a 1,3-dimeth product (which says a lot), and the focus is crazy. In fact, I've been dosing at 2 scoops preworkout and this product has actually interfered with my sleep a bit from being so strong! I keep telling myself that I will back down on the dose, but 2 scoops is just so gosh darn good. Anyway, I am VERY happy with this product already and it will be a great DMAA break for me.

As far as the progress goes, this past week was incredibly epic: hit a couple new PRs for bench including 325x1, did a (trap bar) deadlift workout for the first time in over a year, and hit my weigh loss goal to top it off! Doesn't get much better than that really.

This week I am out of town so my diet is a little different and I'm sure my training will be affected slightly. Basically, I'm just eating 3x per day which makes it difficult to gauge my calories/meal. BUT, I will say that in terms of staying anabolic, Layne's BCAA dosing protocol tackles this meal frequency just fine which is a testament to how incredibly flexible and useful this strategy is. So, basically I will eat breakfast, dose my BCAAs 2-3 hours later, eat 2-3 hours after that, etc. As long as I hit my protein amounts I'm cool with it (not easy hitting 250g protein in 3 meals...LOL!).

Anyway, I got this week started off with some cardio today. Did 10 minutes elliptical, 10 min bike, and 15 min treadmill (1.88 miles). Definitely burned up my lungs which means I did something right.

Not much else to say cuz we are getting RESULTS up in here!


Josh

[triplewhammy]

So, despite having TWO gym memberships (Snap Fitness and Gold's Gym), I STILL could not find either of those within a reasonable distance of the hotel I'm staying at! Thus, today was an $11 workout. I've paid around this price many times in the past and in reality I have a love-hate relationship with it. On the one hand, that is ridiculously high for a single workout but on the other hand it forces me to have nothing less than an epic session.

Sunday night I got HORRIBLE sleep, something like 5-6 hours. So I've been really tired the past couple of days as my body is trying to catch up. Last night I threw down a SOLID 9 hours of sleep and was still tired mid-day. Today, I ended up taking 1 scoop White Flood at about 3:00pm to help wake me up. Then I took another scoop at around 5:00pm which was actually preworkout. I did it this way so that I could still get most of the benefits of 2 scoops but hoping this doesn't keep me up too late.

Well, back/lats/biceps was on tap and I will start out by saying the pumps, energy, and focus were ATROCIOUSLY good! I know I sound like a broken record now, but this really is a great product. Again, I'm not hating on SP MAX because it is a great formula in its own right, but when it comes to energy/focus which is what I primarily need right now while dieting, the new White Flood is incredible and is keeping up with the DMAA-based products which SP MAX could not.

Corner Rows
1p x 10
2p x 10
3p x 10
4p x 8
5p x 8
6p x 16
7p x 8

DB Rows
75s x 10
100s x 10
105s x 8

10+ sets of various Bicep exercises
6-8 sets of Lat Pulldowns

So, strength was fantastic on Corner Rows which admittedly did have a slight negative impact on my strength for curls. No problem though since I really do not take much stock in how much I curl compared to a larger multi-joint exercise. Regardless, I still had some sick pumps going and I could tell they were above average because my forearms had a nasty pump in them that has still not gone away completely, now 2.5 hours after the workout.

[TheGilmore]

Nice log, in for progress. Why two gym memberships, though?

[lhockey]

7ppsx8?! damn things are picking up steam in here! the leg workout looked great too.

can't wait to watch the new video tomorrow after getting some sleep! sucks about the gym, but you made the $11 worth it

[triplewhammy]

Nice log, in for progress. Why two gym memberships, though?

One is closer to work, the other is closer to home.

7ppsx8?! damn things are picking up steam in here! the leg workout looked great too.

can't wait to watch the new video tomorrow after getting some sleep! sucks about the gym, but you made the $11 worth it

Never stopping, you know how we do up in here!

[triplewhammy]

Decided to do cardio today at the hotel since I didn't feel like putting up another $11 today at the local gym (I will tomorrow though). Lower back was WRECKED (in a good way) from yesterday so instead of doing any treadmill work, which would've impacted my spine, joints, and lower back, I went with 60 minutes on the bike and burned 550 calories. Post-workout I went to Qdoba (second day in a row) and threw down.

Assuming the lower back is still tight tomorrow I will call an audible and go with Chest/Calves/Triceps instead of Legs.

Thaz about it!

[triplewhammy]

Hit up another solid $11 workout. Chest/Triceps/Calves was on the menu as I anticipated. Lower back was still "tender" from Tuesday's session. Wasn't quite as strong as last week when I hit those PRs but I left the gym very satisfied. Highlights were Bench 225x14 (+1 spot), Incline DB Press 100s 7 and 105s x 5. I don't believe I've ever used the 105s for Incline so that was an enjoyable test.

Since I really had nowhere to be after training, I put in some HIGH volume on my triceps as well. Preworkout I used 2 scoops WF and 3 scoops GlycerGrow (just had to try the combo) and the pumps were SICK! I pounded away at my triceps and calves pretty well and ended being in the gym for roughly 2 hours. After lifting I drank a scoop of Body Mortar then hit the treadmill (incline walk) for 15 minutes to burn off some extra calories. Overall, I was very pleased with this session. Everything felt really good - joints, muscles, pumps, energy, etc, etc. Had a great time, which is an aspect all too often overlooked by those of us in search of muscle!

After that, I hit up my post-workout meal: Qdoba for the third day in a row YEAH BUDDY!

Here's what I got...
Naked Burrito - Rice, Black Beans, Fajita Vegetables, double Chicken, Chile BBQ Sauce, Extra Hot Sauce, Cheese, and Guacamole.

Can anyone say... EPIC?!

[tonsti]

hit up another solid $11 workout. Chest/triceps/calves was on the menu as i anticipated. Lower back was still "tender" from tuesday's session. Wasn't quite as strong as last week when i hit those prs but i left the gym very satisfied. Highlights were bench 225x14 (+1 spot), incline db press 100s 7 and 105s x 5. I don't believe i've ever used the 105s for incline so that was an enjoyable test.

Since i really had nowhere to be after training, i put in some high volume on my triceps as well. Preworkout i used 2 scoops wf and 3 scoops glycergrow (just had to try the combo) and the pumps were sick! I pounded away at my triceps and calves pretty well and ended being in the gym for roughly 2 hours. After lifting i drank a scoop of body mortar then hit the treadmill (incline walk) for 15 minutes to burn off some extra calories. Overall, i was very pleased with this session. Everything felt really good - joints, muscles, pumps, energy, etc, etc. Had a great time, which is an aspect all too often overlooked by those of us in search of muscle!

After that, i hit up my post-workout meal: Qdoba for the third day in a row yeah buddy!

Here's what i got...
Naked burrito - rice, black beans, fajita vegetables, double chicken, chile bbq sauce, extra hot sauce, cheese, and guacamole.

Can anyone say... Epic?!

epic!!

[coolguydsc21]

Congrats on using the 105's on incline.. awesome to hear! Ya i use the WF/GG combo all the time.. Pumps really are off the chain. Theres nothing like having a great time working out..

As for the meal.. dare i say...
ya i'll say it..

Epic.

[TheGilmore]

Damn son, all that GG and WF? That sounds ridiculously awesome. And I am definitely admiring those bench numbers.

[Muoio117]

In on this! I didn't read much of the thread but I'll follow from here on out.

[triplewhammy]

epic!!

Thank you!

Congrats on using the 105's on incline.. awesome to hear! Ya i use the WF/GG combo all the time.. Pumps really are off the chain. Theres nothing like having a great time working out..

As for the meal.. dare i say...
ya i'll say it..

Epic.

Yeah great combo! The meal was legendary...but the scary part was I had NO problems putting it all down!

Damn son, all that GG and WF? That sounds ridiculously awesome. And I am definitely admiring those bench numbers.

The combo was disgusting. I've been a fan of C-BOL + GG for a long time and now that WF is nitrate-based they have put together a very comprehensive single-source stack. Kudos to CL on this one.

Just remember...it's more than the statistics, this is about the JOURNEY!

In on this! I didn't read much of the thread but I'll follow from here on out.

Dude you need to read through and watch the vids! How else are you supposed to make fun of my short shorts? Gotta get in on these inside jokes...

[RichL1982]

Josh nice log man. Dont know how I didnt see this. Cool videos...definitely subscribing! Keep it up!

[triplewhammy]

Josh nice log man. Dont know how I didnt see this. Cool videos...definitely subscribing! Keep it up!

You are now part of The Journey Brethren!



...I don't know what all that means for you, but you're in!

[Muoio117]

I've read through page 10. Nice vids btw. They're inspirational and encourage me to get through this injury and push it hard. Loving your log so far. Keep it up!

[triplewhammy]

I've read through page 10. Nice vids btw. They're inspirational and encourage me to get through this injury and push it hard. Loving your log so far. Keep it up!

Excellent! You are now up to speed.

Keep pushing through my man, you'll be back in no time. I lost 3 years' worth of squats due to a knee injury and I'm slowly getting back on my feet (pun intended)

[pu12en12g]

Just remember...it's more than the statistics, this is about the JOURNEY!

^^^^

Wise man say....

[triplewhammy]

^^^^

Wise man say....

Truth is, mentally I've been going this hard in the gym since the start. The gains wax and wane like many other things in life. Hence, not about the stats. One dude's PR is another dude's warm-up. I just want to encourage you all to become better each day than the day before.

[triplewhammy]

Alright FIRST OFF, I had a physical evaluation today (blood draws, BP, EKG, etc) for my life insurance policy. When I woke up this morning I weighed in at 188.0 (meh). But then I put on clothes and drank quite a bit of water for my urine sample (I apologize for the details LOL). When I weighed in for the exam I was 197!! WHAT?! C'mon now! Punching that into a BMI calculator puts me at the upper end of overweight, almost into obese HAHAHAH! Well, that is pretty lame how it might affect my costs and in reality I wish I could just head out to the track with a stopwatch and pound out a mile or two as they watched. It is what it is though...

Anyway, I was really dragging this morning. In fact, I've been dragging and having poor recovery since last Sunday when I got around 5-6 hours of sleep. So, this morning I tried a B-12 megadose sample that I had. Seemed to almost instantly perk me up which was cool, but overall my energy was down so I ended up using 2.25 scoops White Flood preworkout. Not something I recommend (especially not regularly) but I tell you what... GREAT WORKOUT! I also put down 3 scoops GlycerGrow in addition. So amazing.

Hit up Shoulders/Calves/Biceps even though my Chest and Calves were still feeling WRECKED from Thursday's session. Highlights included HS Shoulder Press 4pps x 10 (+2 Rest-Pause) and Standing DB Curls 60s x 6 PR! Never tried the 60s before but I was "feelin' it" -- great stuff! Pumps were nasty as and the workout was just intense. High volume as always and I left feeling both depleted and satisfied, which of course was my intention.

[RichL1982]

Nice ...60lb curls...got Damn. Keep those numbers rollin. I read the beginning of your journal and it said you were taking a break from stims. How did that go? (Didn't get through that part of journal) I'm taking a break and am not ready for it LOL.

[triplewhammy]

Nice ...60lb curls...got Damn. Keep those numbers rollin. I read the beginning of your journal and it said you were taking a break from stims. How did that go? (Didn't get through that part of journal) I'm taking a break and am not ready for it LOL.

Thank you sir, definitely surprised myself with those! I've struggled with DB Curls for a LONG time, seems they have finally taken off for me.

The stim break went great! Took an entire 4 weeks COMPLETELY off of stims and came back reset and ready to go. Just push through the first couple weeks and you will be better off having done the full month or so stim-free.

[coolguydsc21]

Alright FIRST OFF, I had a physical evaluation today (blood draws, BP, EKG, etc) for my life insurance policy. When I woke up this morning I weighed in at 188.0 (meh). But then I put on clothes and drank quite a bit of water for my urine sample (I apologize for the details LOL). When I weighed in for the exam I was 197!! WHAT?! C'mon now! Punching that into a BMI calculator puts me at the upper end of overweight, almost into obese HAHAHAH! Well, that is pretty lame how it might affect my costs and in reality I wish I could just head out to the track with a stopwatch and pound out a mile or two as they watched. It is what it is though...

Anyway, I was really dragging this morning. In fact, I've been dragging and having poor recovery since last Sunday when I got around 5-6 hours of sleep. So, this morning I tried a B-12 megadose sample that I had. Seemed to almost instantly perk me up which was cool, but overall my energy was down so I ended up using 2.25 scoops White Flood preworkout. Not something I recommend (especially not regularly) but I tell you what... GREAT WORKOUT! I also put down 3 scoops GlycerGrow in addition. So amazing.

Hit up Shoulders/Calves/Biceps even though my Chest and Calves were still feeling WRECKED from Thursday's session. Highlights included HS Shoulder Press 4pps x 10 (+2 Rest-Pause) and Standing DB Curls 60s x 6 PR! Never tried the 60s before but I was "feelin' it" -- great stuff! Pumps were nasty as and the workout was just intense. High volume as always and I left feeling both depleted and satisfied, which of course was my intention.

Being 5'9 myself and weighing in at 200lb kinda sucks when you calculate the bmi.. i think i would be in the "Overweight" category (which i completely disagree with at 12%bmi). It all comes down to your BF%. They can take that bmi calc and shove it.

60 x 6 What!?? ... doin work bro! Hittin PR's every other day!

[triplewhammy]

UPDATE 5/29/2011

STATS
Weight: 188.0 lbs
Bodyfat: 11%??
R/L Arm: 17''

TRAINING
1: Cardio
2: Chest/Triceps/Calves
3: Back/Lats/Biceps
4: Off
5: Legs
6: Shoulders/Arms/Hamstrings
7: Cardio/Off

DIET
Diet will be ~2700 cals, 250g protein per day. Cheat meals will occur from time to time.
6:00am Meal 1 (500 cals)
8:00am BCAAs
10:00am Meal 2 (500 cals)
12:00pm BCAAs
2:00pm Meal 3 (500 cals)
3:30pm-5:00pm BCAAs
5:30pm Meal 4 (500 cals)
6:30pm Meal 5 (500 cals)
8:30pm BCAAs

SUPPLEMENTATION
Performance:
NEW Controlled Labs White Flood
Nutrex Volu-Grow
AMS Body Mortar
ThermoLife E-BOL

Support:
USPlabs Super Cissus
Glucosamine
Multivitamin
Fish Oil
Scivation Whey
Gaspari Myofusion

THOUGHTS
Ok, so this past week being out of town left with a weight gain even though I bet a majority of it is water retention from the increased calories. I did my best to keep the calories down and also had some lengthy workouts but still gained. Not too concerned though.

At this point in time it is time to switch gears. My recovery has not been great lately (granted I worked out several days in a row), my joints have been less than a 100% (no injuries, just a few aches here and there), and I've really had to bust my butt to keep my strength where I want it. So having said all that, IT IS TIME TO BULK UP. I don't think my bodyfat is as low as I would like it, but it's time. My metabolism has also been less-than-stellar for quite some time now due to all of the dieting.

No major changes for this, other than I will be eating 2500 solid calories per day, plus the small additional calories from the Body Mortar BCAAs. I will still be keeping at least one day of cardio per week as well. This is something that I have not done well enough in the past and I really need to keep consistent with it. Cardio is fantastic for keeping the bodyfat low as well as sensitizing the body to glucose which will only assist my gains.

To kick off the bulk, today was Leg Day and I had Back Squats for the main course with Front Squats for dessert...BRUTAL!

Back Squats:
135x10
185x8
225x8
275x8
315x10

Front Squats:
135x10
185x10
195x10

4 sets Seated Leg Curls

This was a killer workout for me and I felt absolutely depleted by the end even though it wasn't all that much on paper. But this is the type of workout that will get me results! At some point here I will also be implementing my second Leg Day again. I feel that this was extremely beneficial during my last gaining cycle and with my legs being my weak point, this is a must.

Let the games begin.



Josh

[Davila12]

I took White Flood recently because of the great experiences you share about it but as of late I ran out! As I been following your journal I see the new white flood is on your list but I myself have not been able to find it. Can anyone give a place to buy the new white flood since bbing.com does not yet have it.

Thanks for any help and replies

[lhockey]

whew as usual a lot changed since i last checked in! had a crazy busy weekend... bulking again sounds great! especially if your metabolism and joints aren't up to par right now.

if you've been hitting PRs on a cut, this bulk should be EPIC. also, do you ever eat at chipotle? i have qdoba and chipotle near me... chipotle is so much betterrrr

still majorly jealous of your squats!

[nads786]

after my cut I think I'm gonna keep cardio in too and see how my body reacts while bulking, hopefully it will limit some fat gains!

[triplewhammy]

I took White Flood recently because of the great experiences you share about it but as of late I ran out! As I been following your journal I see the new white flood is on your list but I myself have not been able to find it. Can anyone give a place to buy the new white flood since bbing.com does not yet have it.

Thanks for any help and replies

New WF is definitely a hit and I encourage you to give it a run. Unfortunately, bb.com seems to be slower these days getting new product in to the store so maybe you could send them an email and ask when it should be up. I don't know of another place off the top of my head but if you send "pu12en12g" a PM he will probably take care of you.

whew as usual a lot changed since i last checked in! had a crazy busy weekend... bulking again sounds great! especially if your metabolism and joints aren't up to par right now.

if you've been hitting PRs on a cut, this bulk should be EPIC. also, do you ever eat at chipotle? i have qdoba and chipotle near me... chipotle is so much betterrrr

still majorly jealous of your squats!

I'm tellin ya, this train doesn't make any stops!

Chipotle is most definitely a regular for me too. Overall, the quality of food at Chipotle is better but I have to hand it to Qdoba for their variety of sauces to keep things interesting, especially since I've been eating at these two places for years.

I'm really looking forward to making some progress during this bulk. Just seemed like I've been dieting for too long and the offseason is getting away from me. Looking to increase my lifts big time and put some meat on my legs.

after my cut I think I'm gonna keep cardio in too and see how my body reacts while bulking, hopefully it will limit some fat gains!

Yeah I have never been good about this since cardio seems at first glance, cardio might seem counterproductive to your weight-gaining goals. The reality is that it makes you more oxygen efficient at a heavier weight, keeps the fat at bay, and helps your cells be more glucose sensitive. I just need to stay motivated to do it since mentally and physically I'd rather put all that extra energy towards my lifting. Let me know how it goes for you.