Tina's 6 week supplement challenge - Magnum + HIT

[tina722]

Hello all. This is my first venture into this forum. I just logged for magnum (10week shred challenge http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...01&pagenumber=) and have previously logged in the women's forum. I had really good experiences with my previous magnum products, so I'm pretty excited for this new stack.

I have a stack from Magnum that I plan to run for the next 6 weeks. This log is my record of it so I stay on track. Getting to the gym is easy for me, I'd like to be at least 90% compliant with my nutrition/supplement plan and the logging really helps with that.

So... the stack.



HI5: BCAA http://www.hardmagnum.com/product/hi5
- I'll take with training sessions

Limitless: preworkout: http://www.hardmagnum.com/product/limitless
- 1/2 scoop to full scoop per training session

Volume: L-argnine http://www.hardmagnum.com/product/volume
- 3-4 pills / training session

Primer: basic performance pack (looks like includes everything) http://www.hardmagnum.com/product/primer
- one every day


Training is a PL program, I've been working with the same coach for over a year and have really enjoyed the strength/size increases. This log should be heavily focused on training sessions, some videos and I should see some pretty nice number increases because I've moved from dieting into maintenance/small surplus.

I also have two preworkouts from HIT that I plan to try and will include my reviews here in addition to the store, as requested by the promotion.

[tina722]

20160820. Cycle 3. Week 3. Day 4.

BS: 200x4x4
2 ct pause BP: 115x3x5
HBBS, Reverse BB lunges, weighted GHR, machine row

- two primary movements, and 3-4 accessories each day. I also bench everrrry day, well 4x/week.

*First day for this flavor of
- HI5 (loved it, makes me get in my liquids),
- volume : not sure...I'm not used to getting a pump, tomorrow there will be more upper body/high rep work and I'm looking forward to possible effects then.
- Limitless: these 'scoops' are huge. this is my first time taking a preworkout in a few months, I started slow 1/4 scoop before training and 1/4scoop mixed into my HI5 . No problems with my sometimes sensitive stomach, and a nice energy throughout my workout.


*Also, I should note that I haven't paid for any of the magnum products, but this log wasn't asked for so I decided to put it in this forum. Let me know if there are any problems with that.

[SophieM]

First! Excited to continue following you!

[tina722]

First! Excited to continue following you!

Hey Sophie! Awesome, it's great to have your support.

[tina722]

20160821. Cycle 3. Week 3. Day 3

DL: 260x3x5
BP: 110x5x4 [Did two of these sets at 112.5, living life on the dangerous side!]

pushpress, rows, curls



Supplements

1 scoop of HIT preworkout


[/center]

I really like the breakdown of this preworkout, and caffeine level is very manageable for me. I haven't taken any beta-alanine for some time, the tingling effects were fun. Like others in the thread reported (http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...33&pagenumber=) my container expires this month. Wanted a chance to try it, but i'm going back to limitless for some time.


HI5 intraworkout (1scoop)

Forgot my volume. :/ only the second day...hopefully a little time and I'll get in the routine better

Took the primer with my meal after training.



*Tomorrow will be a day off from training, I'll still take primer. And I'll take Bulk supplements amino acids in the AM.

[B Con]

SUBBED. Killer stack.

[tina722]

^^^Thanks! And agreed. HI5, limitless and primer are basic, but complement each other nicely. Volume is going to be the mystery/surprise, for me anyways, of the bunch.


***

Remembered to take everything yesterday. (Primer in PM + amino acids in AM)

Today: 20160823. Cycle 3. Week 4. Day 1.

HBBS: 155x8, 165x8, 145x8
SLDL: 185x5x3
BP: 110x6x4

Pullups, face pulls, curls

High bar back squat and stiff leg deadlifts were the new/change to the program this cycle. HBBS are a hard variation for me, but i feel more balanced and consistent from rep to rep. I'm supposed to do them at RPE 7 (3x8) and overshot a bit with the 165, nothing major, some forward lean and hips rising first in the last few reps. I have no conditioning, or need to loosen my belt, because getting out of breath makes the set last longer. SLDL have been interesting, I've done them differently each week. Today I started at a full rest from the floor each rep and practice getting a really flat back and keeping lats retracted. BP was fun, hit a grove on the last cycle and I'm hoping it sticks even as I move into the new weight range...somewhere around 120, it gets mentally challenging.


Supplements

1/2scoop Limitless before training: I think I could even cut down a tiny bit when training in the evening.
1 scoop HI5 while training
3 volume before training
Primer with dinner

[B Con]

Awesome. Can't wait to see how you progress. Every time I do SLDL I'm sore as hell for a few days on my hamstrings. I've been using a platform and really just focusing on the stretch part of the movement as opposed to overloading it with weight.

[tina722]

Awesome. Can't wait to see how you progress. Every time I do SLDL I'm sore as hell for a few days on my hamstrings. I've been using a platform and really just focusing on the stretch part of the movement as opposed to overloading it with weight.

I'm feeling these in my glutes today, normally second day is worse. They have been interesting for sure, so many different ways to do them.


*****


20160824. cycle 3. week 4. day 2.

Power cleans: 95x3x4 (should've been 6 sets, got tired)
Front squat: 135x5x4
2 ct pause BP: 110x4x5

OHP, rows, face pulls

Pretty tired for this workout, but if I had waited until tomorrow, I just would've been more tired. :/ Mostly just getting it done, had some fun with the rows at the end, feeling some blood flow. BP is great, elbows are finally staying mostly steady and tucking appropriately, also able to get some extra force in the top portion of the lift, as opposed to just finishing it off.


Supplements

1 scoop HI5 during training
1/2 scoop limitless before training
3 volume before trianing
Primer with dinner

Also, really satisfied with nutrition intake yesterday and today. Going to costco tomorrow to stock up and try to keep the pattern going.

[B Con]

Sounds like everything is on point. Keep it up.

[tina722]

20160827. Cycle 3. week 4. day 4

OHS: 85x5x3
Low bar BS: 205x4x4
2 ct pause BP: 120x3x5

lunges, hack squat, cable work

My low bar squat form has fallen apart. I was getting some sciatica pain at the end of the last cycle; introducing high bar is supposed to train me to use my quads better, instead of relying on low back and hips. But in the process I seem to have forgotten how to low bar: a lot of hesitancy in reaching depth, hips rising first, good morning it up...lol just can't win. Today (week 4) I have the option of doing AMRAP sets at the end... I didn't take it. 4 reps was difficult enough. I did do some back off sets and those felt a little better. BP was great, so at least I have that going for me. I'm supposed to be doing 'paloff's press' for ab work, but it's not clicking for me when I get to the cable. I might have to see if I can find someone that knows how to do it; you tube instructional vids look great, but no luck for me in implementing it yet...

Tomorrow is DL day! And more benching, lol.


Supplements

Primer taken thursday/friday on my days off.

1 scoop limitless and 1 scoop HI5 during training today
4 volume
will take primer with my meal

[SophieM]

Sucks about the sciatica. Is it still giving you issues?

I have to look up paloff's press. It looks very strange.

[tina722]

Sucks about the sciatica. Is it still giving you issues?

I have to look up paloff's press. It looks very strange.

Just off/on. Sleeping and sitting for long periods are the worst. I tend to be hip/back dominant in my squat and have a butt tuck to reach depth, weak thoracic muscles... some of the usual triggers. It's been a lot better in the new cycle. High bar squat are easier to reach depth, I have no/less butt tucking.... my ankles are rolling a tiny bit, but i'm hoping I can work on that over the next month. I'm actually enjoying using the lower weight too (and RPE system) with the HBBS, it got a little tiring going in to squat weight that I was nervous/scared about. I've been really good about trigger pointing/stretching which always makes it clear up, just need to learn to be consistent.

And yes, I thought I could watch the youtube, go in, remember what was done and just repeat it. But i had a pretty big blank, not to mention any setup feels weird. I'll try again in a few days.


20160828. cycle 3. week 4. day 3

BP: 115x5x4
DL: 265x3x5

pushpress, cable rows, curls, raises

Pretty good day today. Bench is still moving along nicely, of course the weight is nothing new, just one more chance to gain some consistency and get comfortable. DL were great, the easiest and most natural lift for me. Someday I will feel this comfortable with my squats.


Bench vid,



Supplements


1 scoop limitless and 1 scoop HI5 during training today
4 volume
will take primer with my meal

[ilovethe80s]

I admire people who can easily switch back and forth between high bar and low bar, and people who can do low bar at all .

I do pallof presses regularly and also have a hard time feeling them unless done from the half kneeling position, or just done for long isometric holds. The half kneel position seems to amplify the effect because you can wobble straight over if you aren't braced to resist the rotation.

Bench looks awesome, very controlled.

I hope your sciatica clears up!

[B Con]

I usually do torso rotations or what I call "wood choppers" in place of Pallof Press. The biggest thing for me has always been to really focus on my core/obliques doing the work in the rotation as opposed to my arms/shoulders. Took me a bit of trial and error before I felt 'em.

And yes hope the sciatica issue resolves itself.

[tina722]

I admire people who can easily switch back and forth between high bar and low bar, and people who can do low bar at all .

I do pallof presses regularly and also have a hard time feeling them unless done from the half kneeling position, or just done for long isometric holds. The half kneel position seems to amplify the effect because you can wobble straight over if you aren't braced to resist the rotation.

Bench looks awesome, very controlled.

I hope your sciatica clears up!

I admire them too. lol. I have it in the back of my mind that I should just switch to high bar and build it up. The variation feels a lot better atm

Thanks for pointing this out, I guess it will have to be something that I do, without instant benefits.

I usually do torso rotations or what I call "wood choppers" in place of Pallof Press. The biggest thing for me has always been to really focus on my core/obliques doing the work in the rotation as opposed to my arms/shoulders. Took me a bit of trial and error before I felt 'em.

And yes hope the sciatica issue resolves itself.

I think I could do that, thanks for mentioning. I'll probably end up dropping the weight to the lowest option to figure this out.

[tina722]

20160831 cycle 3. week 5. day 1.

I decided to insert another building month in this program. It was supposed to be month one: build volume, month two: build intensity, month three: peak. I just finished month one, and will insert another build volume month. It's something my coach had me do earlier this year to help gain confidence in squat form and build bench volume a tiny bit more. So, generally total reps will increase for primary lifts and weight will stay approx then same, maybe a tiny bit heavier on some good days. Food has been pretty plentiful, so I will push it if everything feels good.

Training

BP: 112.5x5x5
HBBS: 145x6x5
SLDL: 185x 6x3

pulldowns, hamstring curls


Supplements:
The normal...

[tina722]

No workout today. I will take primer, but no workout means I have some free time to give a quick run down on the products. I'm on 10 days in, not much to really see a difference, but time will go quick. I was allowed to pick this stack, and chose the first three because I wasn't quite sure what my nutrition goals would be. I chose the last one for fun.

Hi5: This is the easiest one, I had it in my previous stack. Having an intra is a huge boost to workout, not only does it provide hydration, energy and aminos; but its my way of saying I'm serious about this training. The flavor/sweetness is a little strong for my taste and I need minimum 20oz water to drink the whole scoop.

Limitless:
Here's the breakdown:


So my complaint would be that there's no breakdown of individual products. It looks pretty good at a glance. One the weekends, for an AM training I've been taking a full scoop and can feel the the beta alanine. :fun: I haven't crashed (yet) and there's no stomach issues for me. Weekday PM trainings, I've been taking 1/2 scoop, mostly for fear of being up all night. 1/2 scoop has been fine for getting me through the training; no obvious effect on sleep.

I probably should mention that through mid-July I was on pretty high caffeine intake, maybe 1g/day, in late July, I reduced to about half that. I tend to be on a steady intake allllll day, everyday. Just varying how fast/and in what form I'm taking it.


Primer
I actually love taking this more than I thought I would. I complained about having sooo many pills in my last log, BUT these ones are color coded AND size coded. Maybe the novelty will wear off eventually, but the convenience of all my basics packaged up and bundled together in a cute little, easy to tear container is pretty freakin fun. I always kinda scoffed at paying more for this convenience, but if it could be worked into my budget, I wouldn't hesitate. As far as actual benefits of taking this product consistently, it's probably too early to tell.

Volume
Okay, and the mystery. I was really excited for this product; my only other experience with this type of product is Noxivol, which I took 3-4 years ago. I am already biased and really wanting to love it. There's nothing extremely noticeable in my workouts so far (granted PL-based), as far as getting an easy pump. I am generally feeling pretty thick (a good thing! long-term, I'm looking for size) and there have been more than a few times that I love the reflection in the mirror (those arms/hamstrings/etc).


So.. that was way longer that I planned it to be. But that'll just make it easier to update next time.

[SophieM]

Thanks for the rundown! As someone who knows basically nothing about supplements, I always like reading more about them.

[B Con]

Love your run down of the products Tina. Glad you're enjoying this stack.

I actually will use Hi5 in my gallon of water (when it's maybe 2/3 full) and the flavor does just fine in there. You can definitely use a good amount of water with it.

From what I've been told, we are planning to eventually release the full label of Limitless to the public just like we did for Opus a few years back. As you can imagine, the supplement industry is a lot of copy cats, so sometimes it's best to wait and reveal the full listing.

Primer is such a great underrated product. So easy to use as well. I agree with everything you said on it. Between that and greens I always do my best to make sure I'm taking these daily.

For volume, the biggest thing I've always noticed has been increased vascularity (which I'm not too vascular to begin with) and an enhanced pump.

Carry on in here Tina. You always continue to amaze me with your sessions.

[tina722]

^^^
More water sounds great, I actually went and bought a bigger waterbottle to be able to do this. I had been using empty gatorade bottles to take my HI5 in.

Would be great to see the ingredients laid out, I'm probably most interested in the creatine and the caffeine.

Now that you mention it, I do think I've had more vascularity. All in my neck, when deadlifting though. Fun, but not attractive. :/


*****

A few days ago:
Safety bar squats: 145x5x4
2 ct pause BP: 107.5x4x5

rows, curls, single db OHP

Today:
OHS: 85x5x4
BS: 200x4x5
HBBS paused: 155x4x3
2 ct pause BP: 115x3x3; 120x3x2, 122.5x3x2; 95x6

reverse lunges, hack squats, split squats

The weight moved better today. I focused on pushing my knees forward and keeping upper back tight. Heels are still coming off the ground. It might sounds weird, but I think I need stronger feet. I also want to bring calf raises back in consistently. BP was ah-maz-zing.
I should have done all 6 sets at 115, but couldn't help myself.

Forgot to take the volume today.

DL and powercleans tomorrow - I'm planning to go to the other gym, with the real bumpers!

edited to add the back off bench set and HBBS; I'm such a rebel. lol.

[tina722]

20160904. cycle 3. week 5. day 3

Powercleans: 100-110ishx3x6
DL: 255x3x5
BP: 110x5x4

PC were fun; I used the women's bar and had real bumpers. I can actually get some technique work done, instead of it just being an accessory. I ended up jumping back too often. DL were slow and hard. No issues with bench!! Took 90min to get through that, I did some GHR and DB rows as accessories in 5 min, then left.



Supplements
1 scoop HI5 during training
Volume
Used HIT preworkout
Will take primer with meal



Edited to add some training notes:
Jumping back is okay in OL. I still think I should be more aware of my feet; they will splay out 'starfish style' occasionally.

I'll leave the video here, only recorded a few sets. I had some failure to commit on the third rep of a few of the middle sets. I'm not really sure why, it wasn't a weight issue, not tight enough maybe.

[tina722]

Alright three days in a row. I'm on a roll. Taking advantage of the holiday to make my work schedule easier.

Today was fun... I think the food and consistent supplementation are kicking in.

20160905. cycle 3. week 6. day 1

BP:
worked up to 135x2x2 (!!!)
then as scheduled: 115x5x5

HBBS: 155x6x2, 165x6x2
SLDL: 135x8x3

Pullups(7,7,7,6+2, 4+3), rows, facepulls, weighted dips and curls, GHD situps

I was in the mood to push bench a little. It's been so easy lately. I shouldn't complain; bound to turn around in an instance. I should have gotten a spotter because I could've added another 5ish pounds or a few reps if I had one. Everything was RPE 7-8. Heels finally stayed down on HBBS, Adductors were giving me some problems, but staying tight through the whole lift, got rid of most of the pain. Imagine that. Didn't feel like pushing SLDLs, glutes and hamstrings are already sore. Accessories were fun; I was trying to chase a real pump, but I think I need to get better at eating/food timing/supplement timing. When I was a tiny bit leaner, I had some veins on my arms that (kinda sorta) started to show. No luck with that now. I'm about 4lbs up since finishing my diet. 131ish.

Supplements
1 scoop of HI5 during training
4 volume
1 scoop Limitless preworkout
Primer with meal

[SophieM]

Oly lifts have always interested me, and terrified me at the same time awesome job on bench! I only dream of getting up to 135 lbs some day!

[B Con]

^^^
More water sounds great, I actually went and bought a bigger waterbottle to be able to do this. I had been using empty gatorade bottles to take my HI5 in.

Would be great to see the ingredients laid out, I'm probably most interested in the creatine and the caffeine.

Now that you mention it, I do think I've had more vascularity. All in my neck, when deadlifting though. Fun, but not attractive. :/

Dem neck veinz tho.

To give you a rough idea, less than 250 mg of caffeine. And creatine you are looking at around 4 g.

You make me want to start power cleaning again.

[tina722]

Dem neck veinz tho.

To give you a rough idea, less than 250 mg of caffeine. And creatine you are looking at around 4 g.

You make me want to start power cleaning again.

thanks, those figures make me happy. I was especially hoping creatine was around that level.

Do ITTTT!!!

[tina722]

20160907. cycle 3. week 6. day 2

Zerchers: 135x6x3
BP: worked up to 135x5 (spot on the last rep), then as scheduled:
2 ct pause BP: 110x4x5

weighted pullups, rows, pushpress, curls

lol. I need to stop getting off schedule. Officially raised my bench press max 10ish lbs. now 150. Zerchers are also of plan, but i think they are a reasonable substitute for front squats. I liked them.


20160910. cycle 3. week 6. day 4

OHS: worked up to 100x3
BS: 200x4x5
2ct pause BP: 125x3x5

reverse lunges, hack squat, pause HBBS

Very fun workout. Moved left foot a tad bit in on squats, helps me keep my heels down. Also moved the bar a tad bit up. These are going to be high bar before I know it. :P

Pretty sure this is a volume and rep PR for 2 ct pause BP. Will be nice to see more PRs over the next few months.

supplements

1 scoop of HI5 during training
1/2 scoop limitless on day 2; a large scoop on day 4
primer every day
4 volume before training

[tina722]

Oly lifts have always interested me, and terrified me at the same time awesome job on bench! I only dream of getting up to 135 lbs some day!

They are pretty terrifying sometimes!

and thanks, it has been a dream for me too for so long. I'm sure it will come for you too

[tina722]

20160910 Cycle 3. Week 6. day 3

BP: 115x5x4
DL: 260x3x5

seated rows, push press, curls and raises

Worked on tucking consistently today during bench. DLs were moving fast; hips tended to creep up on the last rep - need to watch that in the future.

supplements
all as normal

[B Con]

Awesome work as always in here Tina. I would love to add to my bench. Great work. You've inspired me to go back to a heavy lifting routine again.