Logging Formutech's Volatile Preworkout

[ODoyle99]

Plain title, couldn't think of anything clever.
Anyways:



Firstly, big thanks to Supermaz and Formutech for letting me log this. I've seen the product around a lot and I'm excited to give it a shot. Here's all the customary first post info:

My Background:
I haven't been lifting too long, and if we're talking about lifting intelligently then even shorter. (If we start when I stopped using bro splits and everything probably around a year). In high school I was disgustingly skinny, my arms were almost literally concave. It got to the point where I refused to go swiming with friends and whenever I tried to start lifting I saw people look at me struggling under such little weight and quit out of embarrassment. Eventually I just said screw it, and refused to acknowledge other people in the gym and just focused on my workout. Then I read the key to putting on weight is nutrition. So when I got to college I ate healthy, but I ate all the time because I was so sick of being skinny. I took in waay too many calories, and went to the other side of the spectrum and put on a bit of weight..too much weight. Since then I've learned a ton about workout routines, nutrition, and supplementation. I've made a lot of progress since high school and freshman year in college, but have a long road ahead of me before I'm satisfied.

Stats and Goals:
Weight is around 156 and I'm continuing my clean bulk (so I'll only be eating 10-15% over maintenance). Looking to add some more quality lean mass before cutting. Also will be doing a good amount of cardio to try to get my cardiovascular system healthy.

Workout Routine:
I'll be doing 5/3/1 Boring But Big. With this I'm hoping to increase strength a bit with the 5/3/1 sets and get bigger as well with the BBB sets. For the assistance work, I'll most likely do the three month challenge stuff. This adds some light bi, tri, and lateral delt isolations at the end of upper body workouts. I'll also be doing chins every workout.
For my cardio, I'm taking a sports conditioning class which will be an hour every monday. Apart from that, I'll be following Wendler's North of Vag cardio routine. Before every workout, 500 reps of jumping rope as follows:

100 normal, two legged
50 on only left leg
50 on only right leg
100 alternating legs
100 high knees
100 normal, two legged

The goal is to also do hill sprints on lower body days and punching bag conditioning on upper body days.

Other Supplements:
Scivation Whey
Trutein
Universal Atomic 7
Promera Sports Gluta-Tren
Fish Oil / CLA

And there we have it. Looking forward to this run of BBB and seeing how I like Volatile!

[ODoyle99]

First workout today and first impressions: I think I'm going to like it. Unfortunately, I was kinda sick today so I couldn't get a great feel for it. I barely ate at all before my workout and was definitely feeling weak. I feel better now though and am looking forward to tomorrows workout.

Bench Day

Warm Up
500 sets of jump rope
Rotator Cuff sets
BW Pull Ups X 25

The Workout
Flat Barbell Bench
175 X 5
175 X 5
175 X 5
200 X 1
200 X 1

Superset1: Flat DB Bench
50s X 10
45s X 10
45s X 10
40s X 10
40s X 10
Normally I wouldn't have a problem doing all sets with 50s or some with the 55s but I had barely eaten, felt weak, and those heavy singles took a lot out of me

Superset1: Chins
BW X 15
BW X 15
BW X 15
BW X 10
BW X 10

DB Shoulder Press
55s X 5
55s X 5
55s X 5

Superset2: Standing DB Curl
20s X 10
20s X 10
20s X 10

Superset2: DB Lateral Raise
20s X 10
15s X 10
15s X 10

Got a very decent pump in the arms from the chins and presses. Looking forward to seeing what this can do when I'm well fed, rested, and ready to go.
Also, I did the suggested 8 oz of water per scoop (with two scoops) and it was way too much liquid to chug before a workout. Felt it sloshing around in there so tomorrow I'll try it with 5 oz per scoop.

Total Number of Chins = 90
Normally I can get to 100, and tomorrow that'll be the goal

Conditioning
None today

[rdcopps]

Sub'd in on this. I've seen Volatile around to, but never tried it. Interested in seeing how it works for you. Glad to see you decided to stick with the weights. I've seen a lot of people over the years give up to quickly because changes didn't happen fast enough. Sounds like you've built a solid foundation and going in the right direction. Keep hitting it hard!

[ganutrition]

Interested in seeing how Volatile does for you. I would suggest taking 1-1.5 scoops to start with. Most people get the same benefit from it. I have stayed at 1.5 scoops for months now and still get the same pump that I got from day one.
Good luck

[ODoyle99]

Sub'd in on this. I've seen Volatile around to, but never tried it. Interested in seeing how it works for you. Glad to see you decided to stick with the weights. I've seen a lot of people over the years give up to quickly because changes didn't happen fast enough. Sounds like you've built a solid foundation and going in the right direction. Keep hitting it hard!

Glad to have ya in on this! But ya, I'm definitely sticking with it. Going into it I knew it's a marathon and not a sprint so my goal was to just be significantly stronger and look significantly better in a year. Started out using 30 lb dbs for 5 reps of bench and not being able to do a single chin up. Definitely hit my goal haha. There's no better feeling than setting a PR or seeing that shirts that were baggy are now too tight. I'll definitely be sticking with it for a long while

[ODoyle99]

Interested in seeing how Volatile does for you. I would suggest taking 1-1.5 scoops to start with. Most people get the same benefit from it. I have stayed at 1.5 scoops for months now and still get the same pump that I got from day one.
Good luck

Thanks for stopping in! My stim tolerance is not insignificant (Ive napped after an espresso before haha) but I'll try out 1.5 scoops today and see how it is--thanks for the suggestion.

[ODoyle99]

Been doing errands and class all day today (Tuesdays are horrible for me) so I haven't worked out yet. About to make my pre and get to it though. Won't be doing conditioning today for two reasons:
1.) It's getting late
2.) I calculated how far I've walked today and going from class to class and walking for errands I've walked 3.6 miles today. I'm chalking that up as LISS and moving on haha.

Going to try 1.5 scoops in 6 oz of water, and if it won't mix due to so little water I'll slowly add more and report in after my workout.

[ODoyle99]

Hey all, sorry for not updating with my deadlift workout yesterday. As soon as I got back I hopped in the shower, then the gf wanted to watch walking dead, and I passed out in the middle of the episode. Was planning on logging the weights but my cell didn't save it for some reason e_e

I'll at least tell the effects of Volatile with the workout:
I used 1.5 scoops in 6 oz of water. The amount of liquid was much better, taste was good, and mixability didn't suffer too much. I'm definitely using about this much water from now on. Also, 1.5 scoops did the trick for me as well. Energy and focus was still great, can't comment on the pump as it was a deadlift day and I don't notice pumps too much on leg days.

Also, today is a scheduled rest day but I'm going to have to switch up my schedule a little this week as I have an all day event I need to attend a little later this week so I did my shoulder workout today. (To prevent this post from having a long intro, I'll do a write up in the following post)

[ODoyle99]

OHP Day

Warm-Up
BW Chins X 25
Rotator Cuff exercises
500 reps of jump rope

The Workout

Seated Barbell OHP
125 X 5
125 X 5
125 X 5
140 X 2
140 X 1

Superset1: Seated DB OHP
40s X 10
40s X 10
40s X 10
40s X 10
40s X 10

Superset1: Chins
BW X 15
BW X 15
BW X 15
BW X 15
BW X 15
--This made the total number of chins for the day 100. Was definitely feeling it in my lats and was growing tired but I made it

Superset2: DB Lateral Raise
15s X 10
15s X 10
20s X 10

Superset2: Concentration Curl
20s X 10
20s X 10
25s X 10





Conditioning
Another late workout so skipped. Also feels like I twisted my ankle or something, hurts to put pressure on just that foot, as well as shin splints (which is embarrassing, haven't had shin splints since my first year in high school track haha)

Good workout today but wow, my tris were demolished. That's why I skipped the flat or incline bench today. Going to scale back my 5/3/1 sets a little, increase BBB sets (just a tad), and increase protein intake. About to have two scoops of my trutein with a banana, and probably use my Scivation Whey in the morning. (I know I don't need protein in the morning and that's bro science, but it's a convient time to drink one to increase my daily protein).

How Volatile worked for me today:
Got a great pump pretty much everywhere. Shoulders were looking good (obviously, it was a shoulder day), next were triceps (felt like they were going to explode). Biceps + forearms also got a nice pump from all those chins. It's also getting easier to hit 100 chins in one workout. First time I got to 100 it took 9 sets, and the last 5 were all rest/pause (after each one). Now I'm down to 6 sets pausing after 10 then hammering out 5 more the last few sets. Enjoying it so far!

[rdcopps]

Good job listening to your body. Too many people try to continue their workout after their body is already annihilated. That's the point when you get out of the gym, let your body recover and watch yourself grow. Well done!

[ODoyle99]

Good job listening to your body. Too many people try to continue their workout after their body is already annihilated. That's the point when you get out of the gym, let your body recover and watch yourself grow. Well done!

Thanks man. Ya, I would have liked to do those flat bench sets but there was no way my triceps were going to allow that haha. I'll be toning down the upper body 5/3/1 sets a considerable amount

[ODoyle99]

Man, this volatile is growing on me. The focus hit me today hard with deadlifts and squats. Went to A&M's rec center today rather than my dorm's gym and it was SO much better haha. The deadlift station is on a platform and the focus was ridiculous. Felt like a beast haha (not much weight, but not many people do deadlifts. Mostly curling with horrible form). Anyways, did some back work and got a small but noticable forearm pump, but today was mainly characterized by focus.

Tomorrows a rest day then it's Bench Day. Went all out on deads, not so much on squats. Dont want to be completely annihilated for bench day.


Deadlift / Squat Day


Warm Up
BW Chins X 25
Light Calf Work
Jump Rope X 300

The Workout
The gf was waiting on me, it was late, and I'm doing bench day in two days so kept it short and sweet with heavy compounds.

Deadlift
215 X 4
235 X 3
235 X 3
265 X 2
265 X 2
265 X 1
Two sets of heavy doubles followed by one set of a heavy single. Felt really good. Saw the heads of a few curl bros turn haha. A goal I have is to be doing 500 X 1 by the end of 2013.

Superset: ATG Squats
125 X 5
125 X 5
125 X 5
Laughable, I know. Used to be an upper-body only tool. Wisened up and hitting lower body hard now. Love deads. Squats? Not so much. Still grinding through though.

Superset: Misc. Back Work
BW Chins X 25
Kroc Rows 40 X 15
Kroc Rows 40 X 15

Conditioning
Hour of racketball with the gf

[mormonpickett]

Oh snap didn't see this log! I'll make sure to follow everyday now

Glad you're likin the volatile! I've been usin it for months now

[supermaz]

Subbed in Man!

[Raigs]

In!


265 @ 150 is pretty impressive

[qstick99]

Nice start, this is a pre I am looking forward to trying!

[ODoyle99]

Oh snap didn't see this log! I'll make sure to follow everyday now

Glad you're likin the volatile! I've been usin it for months now

Subbed in Man!

Glad to have yall in here! And ya, I'm definitely liking volatile so far.
Sorry for the late notice, Supermaz. Could've sworn I PM'ed ya when I started it but I guess my tablet messed up or something

In!


265 @ 150 is pretty impressive

Thanks for the sub man. And appreciate the comment on my deads. I'm not going to be satisfied until I can pull 405 at least

Nice start, this is a pre I am looking forward to trying!

It's definitely worth a shot. Good energy, good pumps. Had incredible focus on my last session of deads.
I'll be honest, when I saw the flavor was berry I got worried, I don't normally like berry flavored stuff. But it's really, really surprising. Reminded me of bubble gum (in a good way). So far, really no complaints. (Granted it's very early. These are just my first impressions.)

[supermaz]

all good man. better late than never. doin work man

[Raigs]

Thanks for the sub man. And appreciate the comment on my deads. I'm not going to be satisfied until I can pull 405 at least

ha shoot man Im at 180 Im not going to be happy until I pull 405. Im at 365 :/

[mormonpickett]

ha shoot man Im at 180 Im not going to be happy until I pull 405. Im at 365 :/

you mad I squatted 405x5 today?

JK

365 still some decent weight. I want 500

[ODoyle99]

ha shoot man Im at 180 Im not going to be happy until I pull 405. Im at 365 :/

Definitely getting there man. You'll be there in no time. I, on the other hand, have a little ways to go haha. I'm all recovered from my last deadlift session and have another tomorrow. Really excited for it, going to see if I can't add 5 pounds to my heavy single.

you mad I squatted 405x5 today?

JK

365 still some decent weight. I want 500

I actually saw someone squatting 405 today in my gym. He did his squats right after his bench of 355. (The university's powerlifting team was in the gym at the same time as me today.) Definitely something to see haha

[ODoyle99]

Had a great session today. Held back a little on the 5/3/1 sets so my triceps could make it through the entire workout this time haha. But, I hit a PR for chins definitely pumped about that. Speaking of pumps...I had a great one today. Forearms and arms were definitely swelling up.

Bench Day

Warm Up
Jump Rope X 500
BW Chins X 50 (over two sets)

The Work Out

BB Flat Bench Press
175 X 3
160 X 3
160 X 3
180 X 2
180 X 1

BB Flat Bench Press (BBB sets)
125 X 10
105 X 10
105 X 10
105 X 10
105 X 10

Superset: DB Seated OHP
50s X 5
50s X 5
45s X 5

Superset: Weighted Chins
+25 X 15
+25 X 15
+25 X 10
+25 X 10
The last set of chins wasn't supersetted with anything. I just added up how much I had done and realized I was so close to 100 and wanted to get there

Standing BB Curl
40 X 15
70 X 5

Total Number of Chins = 100, half of them weighted (PR).
^Really excited about this. I was happy enough with 100 unweighted chins, now 50 of them are with +25. Will be working on slowly increasing the number of weighted until I can do all 100 with +25

Conditioning
Heavy Bag Conditioning:
Jab, Cross X 10 per side
Jab, Cross, Hook X 15 per side
Jab, Cross, Hook, Elbow X 15 per side
Jab, Cross Hook, Elbow, Knee X 12 per side
Jab, Cross, Hook X 10 per side

Wanted to do more conditioning but I was beat and my knuckles were starting to bleed so I figured I should call it a day.

[Raigs]

you mad I squatted 405x5 today?

JK

365 still some decent weight. I want 500

Race you to 500 Deads?

As I watch you go pull that tom

Definitely getting there man. You'll be there in no time. I, on the other hand, have a little ways to go haha. I'm all recovered from my last deadlift session and have another tomorrow. Really excited for it, going to see if I can't add 5 pounds to my heavy single.



I actually saw someone squatting 405 today in my gym. He did his squats right after his bench of 355. (The university's powerlifting team was in the gym at the same time as me today.) Definitely something to see haha

Great motivation to watch the schools PL team lift. Cant wait to see your deads tom!

Really nice Benching! Thats some good work you are doing

[mormonpickett]

I'll attempt 5 plates in a few weeks

100 pull ups? 0_o nuts

[Raigs]

I'll attempt 5 plates in a few weeks

100 pull ups? 0_o nuts

I dont have enough weights to pull 500 Brb making some cardboard plates

OH didnt see 100 pullups very nice

[ODoyle99]

I'll attempt 5 plates in a few weeks

100 pull ups? 0_o nuts

5 plates lol..ridiculous

I dont have enough weights to pull 500 Brb making some cardboard plates

OH didnt see 100 pullups very nice

And thanks yall. I think for pulls / chins I'm going to keep doing it the way I did yesterday. (50 unweighted before my workout, then 4-5 sets of weighted (with either +25 or +35))
Excited for deads later today. Goal is to add 5 pounds to my heavy double, we'll see how it goes haha

[Raigs]

I hope you hit it!

[ODoyle99]

I hope you hit it!

Holy crap did I hit it lol. I forgot how much weight I did last time, and the only thing I remembered was "55 plate + 35 plate + 25 plate." I thought I did that for my X 3 sets, apparently I did it on my heavy singles. Updating with today's workout now, the only thing I can say is: Owww! It hurt so good haha. Set a very nice PR in the process

[ODoyle99]

As I said in the post above, today hurt (in the best way possible). I slightly adapted today's routine to be a combo of Boring But Big with I'm Not Doing Jack **** since I hit such a nice PR (for me) and was exhausted. The limiting factor was actually just my grip strength and hand. It was worn out to the point of "I can't do anymore unweighted pull ups"
Without further adieu:

Deadlift Day

Warm Up
Jump Rope X 500
BW Pull Ups X 25

The Work Out
(Really can't believe I pulled this off after I looked at the numbers from last time). Also, last week I miscalculated the weight of the bar. I thought it was 35, saw a sign that said it was 45. So add 10 pounds to last week's numbers. This week has the correct weight

Deadlifts
275 X 3
275 X 3
275 X 3
290 X 1 -- PR!
290 X 1 -- Got the PR again

Deadlifts BBB
135 X 10
135 X 10
115 X 10
115 X 10
115 X 10
I was dead at this point. Was going to do some squats but they were full of people doing curls (with horrible form) or people doing shrugs (again...with horrible form. How do people not know how to shrug??) So ya, that was enjoyable. Figured I had taken a beating already and moved on to Pull Ups

Unweighted Pull Ups
X 15
X 15
X 10
X 10
Grip wouldn't hold me anymore, considered doing ab work but was proud of the work I put in on deads so just called it a day

Total Number of Pull Ups = 75 But completely okay with it

Conditioning
haha, wasn't gonna happen.





Have a much needed rest day tomorrow that will be pretty much filled with homework (yes..already *sigh*) But will try to get in some hill sprints--if only 10 or so.
Got a relaxing massage, going to down some BCAAs, then protein before bed (going to force my body to recover adequately haha)

[rdcopps]

Congrats on the PR! Well done! Do you ever use wrist wraps? I have them, but only use them if my grip is failing near the end of a workout.