first log for me, bulking with Activate Extreme and X-Factor

[lowandslow]

Over the last couple months my core lifts have leveled off or even lost some strength and I haven't been able to figure out why, I've never tried a supplement like this before and decided it might be what I need to get me out of these ruts on back on the road to becoming an ogre.

My info:
Age: 20
Height: 5 11
Weight 185
BF: ~18% est.

Current 5RM maxes

Deadlift: 265, Squat: 205, Bench: 205, Mil. Press: 145 Pendlay Row: 150

My training: Working each core muscle group 2x a week, mainly in the 6-10 rep range, 2 diff core exercises per muscle group per workout(ie chest day: flat bench and incline bench) with a few isolation workouts once a week. Squats and deadlifts will be kept lower in reps and focus more on pure strength.

Exercises over the next 4 weeks will include deadlifts, atg squats, flat bench, incline bench, pendlay row, military press, pull ups, deep dips, and maybe some curls here and there. Both barbells and dumbbells will be used, mainly barbells though.


My diet: I'm bulking with minimal concern on fat gain. I try to eat at least 3500 calories of the following foods each day: chicken, steak, beef, fish, oats, fruits, veggies, whole grain breads and maybe a bagel or two, eggs, cottage cheese, baked potatoes, nuts, natty pb, and a whole lot of 1% milk.
I pretty much stick to these foods and no junk, eating meals every 2-3 hours.

Over the next 4 weeks I will try my best to not drink/smoke anything. I'm 20 yrs old though so no promises there...

My goals: Gain 8 lbs of muscle, probably 12-14lbs overall, and set new PRs on ALL of my lifts.

Other supps:

Animal Pak vitamins(willl be switching to Orange Triad shortly)
Creatine monohydrate
Fish Oil
Whey and Cytogainer when needed

Today is Day 1: Got the Activate Extreme at about 1:30 pm and immediately had my first serving. Today is on off day also...

Wish me luck...

ANY suggestions on diet, training routines, other supps, or anything are more than greatly appreciated.

Dan

[lowandslow]

Day 2: Shoulders/back workout today. Not much to report on, I rolled my ankle playing basketball earlier today so no deadlifts or squats, everything else went fine though..

Saturday is my next workout and I'll start logging all my lifts and what not.

As far as the Activate Extreme goes, nothing yet, although I did wake up with a more severe than normal case of morning wood today...

[lowandslow]

Day 3: Off day. Did about 20 minutes of cardio this morning, felt surprisingly better than normal during cardio, I usually absolutely hate it, but today I almost wanted to keep going for longer..

[lowandslow]

Day 4: Chest day

Training: Squats 125x5, 145x5, 165x5, 185x5, 210x3, 165x8
Flat bench 125x5, 145x5, 165x5, 185x5, 210x5, 170x8
Incline 165x5, 170x5, 175x5

I couldn't do dips today because I was stuck at work and had to work out at home due to my gym being closed.

On flat bench I was only planning on 210x3, but the 3rd rep was done without struggle so I kept going. 210x5 is my previous PR, so next week I'm confident that will be broken.

The 210x3 on squats was easy, could've done 5 reps for sure, and that will be another broken PR next time for sure.

That's also the most I've ever done on incline but I haven't trained incline forever....

Overall I'm very happy with tonight's workout, except the fact I couldn't do dips.

Notes on Act. Xtreme: Very horny the last couple days, slight increase in acne, nothing bad though. Most importantly, I am now very confident I will be breaking PR's on all my lifts here within a week... good stuff

Oh yea scale this morning said 186.5, so I'm up 1.5 lbs so far....

[lowandslow]

Day 5: Shoulders/back

Rows: 95,115,125,135,155x5
Pullups: BWx8, BWx4, BWx6
Mil Press:95x5, 115,125,135x5
Lateral Raises: 10x10, 12.5x8, 12.5x8

Very bad day. My G-pa had a heart attack, his gall bladder failed, his kidneys are failing, he was put on a respirator, etc etc, his time left is short.
I didn't eat hardly anything all day and couldn't focus at all during my workout, especially during the pull ups and mil press.

Today was the first time I did lateral raises and they are great, amazing how much that little weight can work your shoulders... I do them straight out from my sides creating a wingspan(don't know how else to put it)

Activate Extreme: My mind was not on the weights today and my nutrition was horrible, so I can't really comment on its effectiveness fairly. I'm still much hornier than normal...

I'm gonna go eat some oats, tuna, veggies, and chicken right now, hopefully tomorrow I can break my PR on deadlift...

[lowandslow]

Day 6: Squats: 125x5, 145x5, 165x5, 165x5
Deadlifts: 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5

275x5 on deadlift is a record for me. Lifting it was not difficult, it was my grip that was the hardest part, I'll try my best next week to hang on to 285...


Activate Extreme: I didn't have work today so I didn't set an alarm this morning and ended up sleeping 11 straight hours, not sure if AX would have anything to do with this or not, other than that, and an increased sex drive, I'm feeling no affects from the AX.

[lowandslow]

Day 7

Training was cut short today, while doing dips my elbow went out on me, it has happened before, certain tricep workouts cause it, not sure what it is but its an extremely sharp pain in the elbow when doing movements associated with tri workouts. After it happens its like my elbow no longer works for a while....not blaming this on the Activate Xtreme at all, this is a previous problem unrelated to the supp.

Here's what I did get done

Flat bench: 135x5 155x5 175x5 195x5 215x4

Dips 1 set of 8 BW, beginning of second set elbow went bad on me....

That's it, not worth screwing up my arm to keep working out, it is always fine the next day and usually lasts me a solid month or so before it fails again, I have no idea what it is because it is totally random to me and my doctor can't pinpoint the problem either.

This really irritates me because I was feeling amazing while benching. Hopefully tomorrow's workout will kick ass.

P.S. I ordered Orange Triad multis today so that will be the only change in my stack as of now... possibly some X-factor will be added soon....

[lowandslow]

Day 8:

Today was a strange day for me, went to a new gym that is open 24hrs and got a membership so my messed up schedule shouldn't be a problem anymore.

Training

Squats: 140x5 160x5 170x5 190x5 210x5(PR!!)

DB Mil Press: 40x8 50x8 60x6 60x6

Lateral Raises: 10x10 15x8 15x8

BB Rows: 95x8 115x8 135x8 155x6(PR!!)

Pullups: BWx8 BWx5 BWx4

Dips: BWx8 BWx8 30x8 40x8(PR!!)

Preecher Curls: 70x8
Standing Preechers: 80x7
DB Curls: 30x8 on each arm

Notes: Took some N.O. Xplode today, it felt like it kicked in about when I got done with squats, and I got real light headed and couldn't focus during DB Mil Press, I was also shaking really bad... I'm gonna go ahead and blame it for my less than par performance on those. Also could not stop my legs from shaking horribly during rows, on my last set I could have done 8 I know it but I was shaking and farting so much I had to stop... Couldn't do much on pullups, or curls for that matter today either.

I'm very happy that my legs and back are getting stronger now, they have been in a rut for so long and it's great to add some more weight to the bar for a change.

Activate Xtreme kicks ass so far in my opinion.

Oh yea, X-Factor is on the way so this is about to get nuts!

[MRT4R]

I'm surprised nobody has commented here yet, but looking good. is your diet in check? I am looking to start the x factor / ax stack here in about a week, except ill be running x-factor for 20 days, then the remainder of the cycle will be x-f/ax. talk about an expensive stack...i've done my research though, so hopefully it is well worth it. will be following along here as well. good luck

[lowandslow]

Thanks for jumping in man I was wondering when someone was coming this I know I am very interested in Act. Xtreme.

My diet is pretty good yes, lots of lean protein sources, oats, whole grain breads, lots of fruits and veggies, a whole lot of milk, eggs, etc.

I started this at 185 and yesterday morning I was at 187 and it was flickering towards 187.5 so I'm hoping this morning that's where I'll be, not bad for the first week considering the Activate Xtreme has only begun to kick in... No noticeable gains in bodyfat and I've been setting PR's so I'm thinking the weight is clean bulk I've added.

[MRT4R]

hitting PR's and gaining weight doesn't necessarily mean that the weight gained was muscle, just an fyi, but hopefully that's the case for ya.
have you noticed increased pumps/vascularity without the NO xplode? (i'll be using no xplode also)

[lowandslow]

hitting PR's and gaining weight doesn't necessarily mean that the weight gained was muscle, just an fyi, but hopefully that's the case for ya.
have you noticed increased pumps/vascularity without the NO xplode? (i'll be using no xplode also)

No, the only way I really get good pumps is when I take 4 or 5 scoops of N.O. Xplode without taking it for at least 2 weeks prior, and then I get one day of good pumps/vascularity. To me though, the pump doesn't matter at all.

So to answer your question, I don't really get good pumps without the N.O. Xplode, but I don't mind I'd rather have a day of heavy benches, squats, and rows than have my arms grow an inch temporarily.

If the pump helps you though I would recommend White Flood, I tried it once and the pump is 10x better than N.O. Xplode, for me at least...

Also, I'm pretty sure my weight gain is a result of increased muscle mass. Both my mom and a friend commented on how my shoulders looked bigger/wider. And in the mirror I agree with them. I'll put up some before after pictures when I get done with this and let everyone else be the judge though, but I think I'm off to a good start!!

When are you starting your stack??

[MRT4R]

its in the mail, should be starting monday or tuesday.

[lowandslow]

Day 9

Not much to report on today, back and lats are sore today which is not something I usually feel, I know soreness doesn't mean much but I'm glad to know that those muscles definitely got worked.

Oh yea X-Factor and Orange Triad have arrived, will be starting in on those tomorrow....

[lowandslow]

its in the mail, should be starting monday or tuesday.

Cool I'm confident you will enjoy this stack, I'm just now starting to feel the benefits from Activate Xtreme and I'm loving it.

Are you gonna stick with your HST routine while on the stack? I came off Rippetoe's about the same strength your sig indicates there and the 2 months after that is when I made the fastest gains in strength/size I've ever made. I was on a 5x5 routine but I think anything would have worked, my muscles just wanted something a little different.

[MRT4R]

yup I'll be sticking with the hypertrophy routine. i think it'll be good to run this stack halfway through the 11 weeks im on it and have ~ 2 weeks of the routine left by the time im done.

[40-Yard Dash_2]

Wow, didn't see this log. Very interesting, and on board from here on out.

[lowandslow]

Wow, didn't see this log. Very interesting, and on board from here on out.

Cool glad to finally have a couple people checking this out!!

[lowandslow]

Day 10 AX, Day 1 X Factor

Woke up late today so dosing was 2 AX and 2 XF at about 11:30 am, then the rest throughout the day today...

Things to comment on: My increase in acne has subsided over the last day or two, back to a minimal amount like it was before, I'm hoping it will kind of pick back up again here in a few days to show that the X-Factor is kicking in.
Libido is still way up, I am very determined to get some poon this weekend...

Tomorrow is bench/squat/dip day, will be trying for records on all of those lifts so it should be interesting.

I'm gonna go eat now...

[lowandslow]

Had to take the day off today, was back spending time at the hospital and working all day...

Notes: Took my serving of Act. X right before bed last night and had some really great dreams...

[40-Yard Dash_2]

Had to take the day off today, was back spending time at the hospital and working all day...

Notes: Took my serving of Act. X right before bed last night and had some really great dreams...

Yeah, I love ActX's effect on sleep and dreams.

[lowandslow]

Squats: 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 195x5, 215x5(pr), 175x8

Bench: 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 195x5, 220x3, 175x8

Dips: BWx8, 25x8, 45x8, 45x7(pushed so hard on 8th but wouldn't go)

Incline DB: 50x8, 60x8, 65x8 (all seemed too easy should've tried more)


Good workout tonight, would've like to see the 220 on bench go up a little easier but i got 3 reps so I'm happy. Squats were great, I see no problem with the weight continuing to rise on those. I also did some farmer's walks with 70lb DBs tonight, 2 sets of as far as I could walk. I've heard good things so I thought I'd give them a try and maybe help out my grip.

So far I couldn't be happier with the ActX. It's only Day 3 of X Factor so I don't expect anything from it yet, hopefully my lifts will just become easier and feel lighter over the next few workouts...

[MRT4R]

nice workout, good to see you're feeling good about the lifts. You have some nice strong lifts, i'll be starting my x-factor tomorrow. how much do you weigh btw?

[lowandslow]

I was 188 this morning before eating drinking anything and after my morning dump/pee.

EDIT: Just jumped on the same scale a second ago and weighed 195.0, crazy how much bodyweight fluctuates...

[ucfmatt]

Good log, I'll be checking in regularly.

One question: I've noticed the common pattern on this stack is XF by itself for a few weeks, then ActX + XF for the remainder (probably because the stack requires 2 bottles of XF and 1 of ActX). It seems like you are doing the opposite, any reason for that?

[getbustered]

I was 188 this morning before eating drinking anything and after my morning dump/pee.

EDIT: Just jumped on the same scale a second ago and weighed 195.0, crazy how much bodyweight fluctuates...

I know what you mean about the weight. I was shocked to step on the scale at 186 last night (highest I've been in a long while), but was back at exactly 182 this morning. Water weight and whatnot is always interesting.

Log is looking good so far. I'm very interested in seeing how the Activate Xtreme pans out, and of course I'll be following along to see how you do with X-Factor.

Where you at in Kansas? Your lifting stats are fairly similar to mine, if you're close maybe we could hit the gym sometime. (married, no homo)

[lowandslow]

Good log, I'll be checking in regularly.

One question: I've noticed the common pattern on this stack is XF by itself for a few weeks, then ActX + XF for the remainder (probably because the stack requires 2 bottles of XF and 1 of ActX). It seems like you are doing the opposite, any reason for that?

I was going to run ActX by itself and then decided hey whats the point why not get the most out of these 60 days so I added in X Factor. I do think I got a pretty good idea of what ActX does after being on it for 10 days by itself. Definitely no strategy to starting them opposite from what you normally see... maybe I'll uncover something!!!

[lowandslow]

I know what you mean about the weight. I was shocked to step on the scale at 186 last night (highest I've been in a long while), but was back at exactly 182 this morning. Water weight and whatnot is always interesting.

Log is looking good so far. I'm very interested in seeing how the Activate Xtreme pans out, and of course I'll be following along to see how you do with X-Factor.

Where you at in Kansas? Your lifting stats are fairly similar to mine, if you're close maybe we could hit the gym sometime. (married, no homo)

I'm in Wichita.

[lowandslow]

BB Rows: 95x8, 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 165x5(form got somewhat sloppy so no pr)

Pullups: BWx8, BWx6, BWx4

Mil BB Press: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 145x4

Lateral Raises: 10x12, 12.5x10, 15x8

DB Shrugs: 80x10, 85x10

Started to feel light headed after my first exercise, rows. I contribute this to oversleeping last night/undereating this morning. Still a decent workout though, my upper back/traps/shoulders felt pretty torched at the end.

[lowandslow]

Day 14, Day 4 OFF

Day 15 Act.X, Day 5 X Factor

Front squats: 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 175x5

Deadlift: 135x5, 185x5, 235x5, 285x3....

Standing ezcurls: 75x8, 85x8, 95x8

Standing Hammers: 3x35x8

Standing BB Curls: 2x70x8

Deadlifts were not hard on my back, just couldn't keep my grip after 3, which sucks but I guess I'll just keep going til my grip gets better. The guy I workout with loves doing arms so I let him be happy today. Personally I would rather go squat more but whatever.

Notes on supps: Acne is getting bad again and dreams are getting crazy.