Designer Supplements ActivaTe Xtreme - A log by xxghostxx

[40-Yard Dash_2]

Certainly. Having spent the majority of my time at bodybuilding.com in the nutrition forum I have read and learned a lot in relation to dieting and tested myself in many different ways. Having also read a lot of stuff on Lyle McDonalds forum, I have changed my meal frequency from upwards of 6x a day down to 3-4 meals a day. I have not noticed any significant change in body composition in doing this and it also decreases work/school/meal timing conflicts. I also seem to do much better energy wise with fewer meals.

I am not currently counting calories but know the amount of protein I get in a day is generally around 220-240g, and in a given day I am floating just about maintenance or slightly above depending on the level of activity going on at work that day. I am a boring dieter relying on the same foods almost every single day. I eat broccoli, cauliflower, green beans with every meal except breakfast. My major carbohydrate sources are split between whole oats, yams/sweet potatoes, and different types of beans. The bulk of protein intake consists of cottage cheese, chicken, turkey, eggs, and steak. If I am in a bind I will use whey, but I try to avoid this as best as possible for a number of reasons.

I used to track my diet religiously with fitday.com but have sinced stopped doing that as I became quite neurotic about it. It started to really take away from my ability to have a "normal" social life and so I have since become more relaxed, although still eating very well. If I were ever to decide to compete this would of course change but I don't plan on ever doing that. Hopefully this answer will suffice in answering your query 40 . If you would like a more specific answer, please ask, thanks for the question!

Wow, come to find out that we have very similar approaches. Thanks for taking the time to post.

[uhockey]

Nice info, Blake. Hows the internship going??

I actually can't get enough cals on 4 meals a day unless I eat lower quality foods......it would definitely be a timesaver.

[Sixpack]

I could not help but respond to this cause I am doing the same thing, I have read about the Integrated fasting a tad and eating less often throughout the day, I am at about 4 meals per day sometimes 5, but they are not meals more or less some fruit in the afternoon before I coach practice. I have found stress levels to be down and less worrying, planning etc. I have not noticed any difference in body comp. If anything I am stay less bloated and lean. But like Mike said if I was lean bulking it would be hard to get in all the cals, But i think if I would raise them 2-300 per meal it would not be bad at all. Also ya I quit the fitday think sometime back, social life and not getting OCD are important.

Certainly. Having spent the majority of my time at bodybuilding.com in the nutrition forum I have read and learned a lot in relation to dieting and tested myself in many different ways. Having also read a lot of stuff on Lyle McDonalds forum, I have changed my meal frequency from upwards of 6x a day down to 3-4 meals a day. I have not noticed any significant change in body composition in doing this and it also decreases work/school/meal timing conflicts. I also seem to do much better energy wise with fewer meals.

I am not currently counting calories but know the amount of protein I get in a day is generally around 220-240g, and in a given day I am floating just about maintenance or slightly above depending on the level of activity going on at work that day. I am a boring dieter relying on the same foods almost every single day. I eat broccoli, cauliflower, green beans with every meal except breakfast. My major carbohydrate sources are split between whole oats, yams/sweet potatoes, and different types of beans. The bulk of protein intake consists of cottage cheese, chicken, turkey, eggs, and steak. If I am in a bind I will use whey, but I try to avoid this as best as possible for a number of reasons.

I used to track my diet religiously with fitday.com but have sinced stopped doing that as I became quite neurotic about it. It started to really take away from my ability to have a "normal" social life and so I have since become more relaxed, although still eating very well. If I were ever to decide to compete this would of course change but I don't plan on ever doing that. Hopefully this answer will suffice in answering your query 40 . If you would like a more specific answer, please ask, thanks for the question!

[xxghostxx]

Lower body workout Warm-up sets excluded
* Dead lift - 2 x 10 - 245 lbs
- Smith guided calf raises on step - 2 x 15 - 250 lbs
* Leg extension - 3 x 25 - 40 lbs
- Seated hamstring curls - 2 x 15 - 85lbs
* Abdominal machine 3 x 10 - 110 lbs
* 10 minutes elliptical. I cut the time short here because I had practice ten minutes before lifting which meant an hour and a half of playing drums in a super hot room and it really does get your heart going.

Thoughts and feelings: I really need to start getting in bed before midnight. Hell the amount of money I am spending on Monster Low Carb energy drinks alone should be enough to deter my staying up too late for awhile. That said, it is summer and with everything else going on, having any fun comes at a cost and seven hours of sleep isn't THAT terrible . As for today, I went from band practice to working out and was surprised at how much energy I had. I am usually a wreck after playing a half hour long show, let alone an hour and a half long practice. Every lift was strong and smooth however. I was also in a really good mood, enough so that I actually said hi to most of the ladies I saw in the gym, which is strange as I am a total coward when it comes to talking to women usually.

As noted from one of my last entries, I had slated some fixed gear riding which usually murders my hamstrings but they were perfectly fine. Granted my volume in the gym isn't nearly as high as others logging this product, my recovery is certainly above ordinary right now and I love that. Sleep is very deep and I can actually sleep in now if the opportunity arises. In the past my working early hours for so many years took over my body clock and ruined my ability to sleep in. Thanks for all the questions and comments yesterday everyone.

[xxghostxx]

Wow, come to find out that we have very similar approaches. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Certainly. Perhaps sometime we could bounce some ideas off each other. I am always interested in hearing what others are doing.

Nice info, Blake. Hows the internship going??

I actually can't get enough cals on 4 meals a day unless I eat lower quality foods......it would definitely be a timesaver.

Thanks, Mike. The intersnship will be a lot better after tomorrow. It's the last day of my orientation/training and I will also be taking the HIPAA exam to see if I am as clear on the details as they would like me to be .

4 meals is definitely the way I will choose to go about this as long as I can in the future. When I started I had to really up the number of calories per sitting which wrecked my stomach every time. After utilizing some digestive enzymes I was able to do it well enough, then slowly cut back on the enzymes over time. I still enjoy using them but haven't purchased any for over a month.

I could not help but respond to this cause I am doing the same thing, I have read about the Integrated fasting a tad and eating less often throughout the day, I am at about 4 meals per day sometimes 5, but they are not meals more or less some fruit in the afternoon before I coach practice. I have found stress levels to be down and less worrying, planning etc. I have not noticed any difference in body comp. If anything I am stay less bloated and lean. But like Mike said if I was lean bulking it would be hard to get in all the cals, But i think if I would raise them 2-300 per meal it would not be bad at all. Also ya I quit the fitday think sometime back, social life and not getting OCD are important.

Good to see you still floating around sixer. When did this Optimum business take place?!

[uhockey]

HIPPA. I've taken that friggin test 4 times now and aced it every time. I'd not be too worried if I were you.

[Zachattack43]

HIPPA. I've taken that friggin test 4 times now and aced it every time. I'd not be too worried if I were you.

why you take it 4 times? other times practice?

[uhockey]

Med school, Cleveland Clinic 4th year sub-I, CWRU 4th year sub-I, Residency.

[xxghostxx]

Upper body workout Warm-up sets excluded
* Bench press - 2 x 12 - 185 lbs ~ this is my first return to bench since injuring my shoulder.
- Superset with - Bent over rows - 2 x 8 - 125lbs
* Rope triceps pull down - 2 x 8 - 150 lbs
* Barbell curls - 3 x 10 - 65 lbs
- 3 x 8 - 45 lbs
- 3 x 6 - 30 lbs
* Machine abdominal crunch - 3 x 10 - 120 lbs - very slow eccentric - 5 second count
* Shoulder rehab work - 10 minutes elliptical - toned it down because I knew later on would be the Boise downtown bike shutdown, and I would be riding quite a bit.

Thoughts and feelings: My apologies for not getting this update to you guys yesterday but timing was an issue all day trying to get things ready. The above upper-body workout was one of the most fun workouts I've had in a long time. Really great energy and strength on all the lifts I tried. I was racing back and forth between movements with little to no rest at times. Recovery from most of the lifts is on par with what I've seen over the last two weeks although my back is a tad sore from yesterday. Sleep has been great the last two days and the irregular BMs have subsided almost entirely. Again, if anyone has any questions, thoughts, or feelings post them up and I will hopefully have an answer for you. Enjoy the rest of your weekends everyone.

[xxghostxx]

HIPPA. I've taken that friggin test 4 times now and aced it every time. I'd not be too worried if I were you.

Well I now understand exactly where you were coming from on this. I do think the clinic I am interning for went through great lengths to make my HIPPA experience as miserable as possible. That said, a 100% on their test wasn't a difficult task when I finally got to take the exam. I will say this too, if I do become a physical therapist, the clerical type work that goes along with running your own practice is going to be the death of me .

[uhockey]

Well I now understand exactly where you were coming from on this. I do think the clinic I am interning for went through great lengths to make my HIPPA experience as miserable as possible. That said, a 100% on their test wasn't a difficult task when I finally got to take the exam. I will say this too, if I do become a physical therapist, the clerical type work that goes along with running your own practice is going to be the death of me .

No ****. Clinic is killing me.

Good news on the rehabbing shoulder.

[xxghostxx]

Lower body workout Warm-up sets excluded
* Leg press 2 x 4 - 500 lbs
- Superset with calf leg press 3 x 6 - 500 lbs
* Leg extensions - 2 x 25 35lbs
- Superset with hamstring curls 3 x 15 - 85lbs
- 35 minutes stationary bike set at 8/10 difficulty - reading material Notes of A Dirty Old Man - Bukowski

Thoughts and feelings: Despite having slept an "ordinary amount" last night, I woke up incredibly tired today and had already made up my mind to skip caffeine today. I feel good right now typing this, but didn?t have much energy during my workout. I decided to go a few days without caffeine after downing a Redline RTD last night and getting nothing at all from it (although the Green Apple flavor was delicious!) I feel that if my tolerance is that high to what usually puts most people through the roof, it?s time to cut back slightly. Once this log is over I am planning to implement the Reset AD sitting on my shelf as well. Thanks for reading along everyone, and as I always mention, please ask any questions you might have either here or via PM .

*edit* anyone know why copy/paste from MS word replaces certain punctuation marks with question marks? Do I need a patch of some sort?

[xxghostxx]

No ****. Clinic is killing me.

Good news on the rehabbing shoulder.

I can't even imagine what you're going through in clinic nor do I want to .

My shoulder is feeling a ton better and I am hoping to avoid the surgery, even if it's small, that was hinted at by the orthopedic physician I have been in to see.

[Zachattack43]

I can't even imagine what you're going through in clinic nor do I want to .

My shoulder is feeling a ton better and I am hoping to avoid the surgery, even if it's small, that was hinted at by the orthopedic physician I have been in to see.

that is great to hear. what is your secret?

[uhockey]

Good update Blake, and goodluck going stimfree.

[TexAss]

I've been known to have 4 shots of espresso followed with a nap.
I guess I've always just attributed it to my ADD, caffeine is my Ritalin.

What kind of, if any, rehab/prehab stuff are you doing for your shoulders?
I've been battling RC tendinitis for years now.

[xxghostxx]

Upper body workout: Warmup sets excluded

* Cable bar row 3 x 8 - 120 lbs
Superset with bench press - 3 x 10 - 145 lbs
* Machine abdominal crunches - 3 - 15 - 110 lbs
* Straight bar curl - 4 x 10 - 65 lbs
- 2 x 8 - 55 lbs
- 2 x 6 - 35 lbs
* V- hold tricep push downs - 2 x 6 - 120 lbs
- 2 x 10 - 80 lbs
- 2 x 12 - 65 lbs
* Shoulder rehab work with 10 minutes elliptical and 30 minutes stationary bike.

Thoughts and feelings: Huge apologies to everyone with regards to my not updating sooner! I woke up Wednesday to find we were slated for going out of town for work. I am in a small resort town in Northern Idaho, and somehow am staying at the lake-front cabin of the former Ms. Idaho. They have everything else I could think of at our disposal while we work but finding internet has been a gigantic chore! I did just find a small coffee bar in town with internet and am currently finding out the closest place to squeeze in a leg day! Looks like I found my place and will hopefully be there in about 45 minutes and maybe I can sneak back in here to post an update afterward.

In other news, my last leg day had me sore for days but I am ready to slam them again right now. Sleep has been excellent the last few days and yesterday I threw down some cardio via jet skiing for two hours in the evening after work. Today's workout I'm not sure about because I've worked outside in the sun for 11 hours going up and down ladders, but I'm going to do it anyway, and am excited to do so! I will keep you guys posted.

[xxghostxx]

that is great to hear. what is your secret?

MAN Sports Body Octane (I wish there was a swirly voodoo eyes emoticon for this comment )

Good update Blake, and goodluck going stimfree.

Thanks, still going strong, but I am weak, especially with this glorious coffee right here!

I've been known to have 4 shots of espresso followed with a nap.
I guess I've always just attributed it to my ADD, caffeine is my Ritalin.

What kind of, if any, rehab/prehab stuff are you doing for your shoulders?
I've been battling RC tendinitis for years now.

When I get back from working out of town I'll discuss what my issue is and how I went about working it out. I really don't think I could nail 4 shots of espresso and follow it with a nap, nor would I want to get to that point. I was getting there though, and for that I needed to back off a bit. Thanks for keeping up and checking in Moz.

[uhockey]

4 shots of espresso ain't got nothing on me.

Idaho has resort towns??

[xxghostxx]

Lower body workout Warm-up sets excluded
* Real awkward leg press - 4 x 12 - 375 lbs ***
Calf raise on awkward leg press - 5 x 10 - 375 lbs
* Stiff legged dead lift - 3 x 12 - 135lbs
* Seated leg extensions - 3 x 20 - 55 lbs
* Twenty minutes stationary bike cardio reading material ? Jennifer Government ? Max Barry

Thoughts and feelings: As noted from my last post, I was in search for a local gym out of town. On the classic school grading scale, this gym receives a D-. While I realize everyone in the area is probably wealthy enough to own an exceptional gym on their own, this place, which was also outrageously expensive, had a severe lack of even the most basic of equipment. That said I will explain the workout. As noted by the *** above, I had to rely on a really awkward leg press that even at 375 lbs felt exceptionally light. I would have loved a squat rack but the closest thing to it was a smith machine which was occupied the entire time I trained by two dolts performing shoulder presses in very bad form. The workout felt more like a hodgepodge of leftovers mashed together but I got it done and at the bargain of 15$ . That said, having worked 11 hours I was feeling pretty good about my time in the gym.

As expected I slept like a rock all night and still managed to wake up tired the next day. I am not sure if eight hours was just not cutting it, or if something else was up but I woke up feeling pretty lousy. My legs weren't sore at all and I was thankful for that considering I had another day of ladders ahead. Anyways, that ends this random and late review. I have a workout slated for later this evening and will report back in then.

[xxghostxx]

4 shots of espresso ain't got nothing on me.

Idaho has resort towns??

Now that I really think of it, I doubt 4 shots of espresso would really make a dent .

Hehe, aside from the potatoes and corn Idaho is a surprisingly nice area, and there are a lot of wealthy people that somehow end up here for whatever reason. With the addition of yet another ski resort in the area I was in this week, it's grown even bigger and has made what was once a very small town with one mediocre ski resort into quite the touristy area. There are both goods and bads in that I suppose.

[uhockey]

Sounds like a.....um.......awesome......er........yeah......wo rkout.

[xxghostxx]

Lower body workout Warm-up sets excluded
* Cable row - 3 x 6 - 130 lbs
* V-hold tricep push downs - 3 x 4 - 150 lbs
* Machine abdominal crunch - 3 x 25 - 80 lbs
* Bench Press - 3 x 10 - 150 lbs
* Straight bar burl - 3 x 10 - 65 lbs
- 2 x 8 - 45 lbs
- 2 X 6 - 35 lbs
* Shoulder rehab work. 10 Minutes elliptical machine. An additional 20 minutes to get to the gym on my bike.

Thoughts and feelings: This was a very good workout and I felt strong throughout the entire thing. From an aesthetic standpoint, I appear to be even more vascular as of late, but that may be entirely speculation on my part. My mood was great all day and I actually enjoyed a Sunday for a change. Nutrition was spot on all day and sleep was great both the night before and last night.

In accord with my curious nature, I had to shake out the remaining contents of my ActivaTe Extreme to find out that tomorrow will be my last day using the product. I will have to figure out how to get the initial pictures online and then get some post-log comparison photos up along with them. I really don't want this to end so am considering giving this a week or two off, then picking it up again once school starts. If I do this I will also implement Size-On (as I?ve told Zach for sometime that I would ) and BluePrint as I have another bottle waiting to cycle through. If anyone has any questions, comments or concerns, again, feel free to voice them.

[xxghostxx]

Sounds like a.....um.......awesome......er........yeah......wo rkout.

Heh, I definitely concur with this sentiment; it was a very "blah" workout.

[Sldge]

Lower body workout Warm-up sets excluded
* Cable row - 3 x 6 - 130 lbs
* V-hold tricep push downs - 3 x 4 - 150 lbs
* Machine abdominal crunch - 3 x 25 - 80 lbs
* Bench Press - 3 x 10 - 150 lbs
* Straight bar burl - 3 x 10 - 65 lbs
- 2 x 8 - 45 lbs
- 2 X 6 - 35 lbs
* Shoulder rehab work. 10 Minutes elliptical machine. An additional 20 minutes to get to the gym on my bike.

Thoughts and feelings: This was a very good workout and I felt strong throughout the entire thing. From an aesthetic standpoint, I appear to be even more vascular as of late, but that may be entirely speculation on my part. My mood was great all day and I actually enjoyed a Sunday for a change. Nutrition was spot on all day and sleep was great both the night before and last night.

In accord with my curious nature, I had to shake out the remaining contents of my ActivaTe Extreme to find out that tomorrow will be my last day using the product. I will have to figure out how to get the initial pictures online and then get some post-log comparison photos up along with them. I really don't want this to end so am considering giving this a week or two off, then picking it up again once school starts. If I do this I will also implement Size-On (as I?ve told Zach for sometime that I would ) and BluePrint as I have another bottle waiting to cycle through. If anyone has any questions, comments or concerns, again, feel free to voice them.

Great feedback. I guess it really says something when the testers are sad to see the end coming and want to pick up another bottle to keep going. I look forward to seeing how it will run with both of those products.

[uhockey]

I'd love to give ActX + Blueprint a go....seems promising....may have to look into it.

[xxghostxx]

Lower body workout Warm-up sets excluded
* Leg press (feed wide) 4 X 12 - 325 lbs
- Superset calf press 4 x 10 - 325 lbs
* Leg extensions 3 x 25 - 35 lbs
* Hamstring curl 3 x 15 - 85 lbs
* Seated calf raise 2 x 10 -135 lbs
* 35 minutes on stationary bike at an 8 out of 10 resistance setting. Reading material Notes of a Dirty Old Man - Bukowski

Thoughts and feelings: This was my last day using ActivaTe X and as I have mentioned above, I am disappointed to see it go. Sleep has remained deep and I generally get about 8 hours unless my body clock gets the better of me (it usually does too). Although sleep has remained good, my inability to get to bed on time has caused some conflicts and I've relapsed back to stimulants. This isn?t as big a deal in the mean time, but I still plan to cut back again soon.

The above workout was very good despite my lack of both motivation and energy going into it. I was planning on being at my internship when this workout occurred but they had called to let me know nearly all of the afternoons patients had canceled, so I opted to not come in. There was very little rest between sets and I could tell that the wider foot stance on the leg press had already beaten my legs up pretty badly. When I got to the bike portion of the workout I was feeling a lot better and my energy level shot up. I almost always feel a lot more energetic and lively when I finish up with cardio work of any sort. This is probably a big factor in why I enjoy road bikes so much. So in keeping with the constants of this log, I will take my post log comparison photos in the morning tomorrow as I took the initial photos in the morning as well. If there are any questions or comments, feel free to express them. Thanks for following along.

[xxghostxx]

Great feedback. I guess it really says something when the testers are sad to see the end coming and want to pick up another bottle to keep going. I look forward to seeing how it will run with both of those products.

Of course, as mentioned in my introductory post, I'm no stranger to ActivaTe and was really anxious to give this a shot in comparison with the original. I haven't been dissapointed.

I'd love to give ActX + Blueprint a go....seems promising....may have to look into it.

Did Joey ever get a bottle of Blueprint sent out your way? I think this would be a very solid stack and am excited to get it underway when school starts and my next bottle of ActivaTe arrives.

[40-Yard Dash_2]

Blakester, you got AIM?

Got a question to ask you.

[xxghostxx]

Blakester, you got AIM?

Got a question to ask you.

I do but am not on too much anymore. I added you to my list though. Maybe hit me up via PM if possible?