It's getting MIGHTY strong in here! BenW22 logs Controlled Labs Green Might

[BenW22]

Hey everyone, the fine folks over at CL were nice enough to send me a tub of their new Green Might creatine product to use and share my experiences with.

I'm a regular creatine mono user, so I don't really know what, if anything, to expect since the base of this product is creatine mono as well. We shall see

A quick bit about me:
38 years old later this month
Sort of a weekend gym rat - not training for a show or competition or anything
Diet is generally on point - high protein, moderate fat/carb. I've toyed with IF and like how I feel during the day, but it did seem to hurt my lifts.
I have 2 young kids and another on the way, so my gym timing is erratic at best (along with my sleep...). Sometimes it's late at night, sometimes it's early in the morning. I figure getting there is far more important than WHEN I get there.

My initial thoughts: this stuff tastes amazing. I have the cherry limeade flavor and it tastes just like a bomb pop to me. I love it. I often drink it during the day at work. It's very sippable. No need to chug just to get it down or anything. Also, the mixability is great - no shaker bottle needed. A normal .5 liter water bottle does the trick with no clumping issues whatsoever.

And now...on to the show! Thanks for checking this out everyone!

[BenW22]

Week One...

Normally I do these logs workout by workout, but I gotta admit: last week wasn't great in the gym, so I'm kinda lumping it all into one post. Tuesday and Thursday are my normal workout days and I just wasn't feeling it. Weights felt heavier, confidence was down, you know the routine. Thankfully I didn't walk out of the gym or anything...bench felt heavy, so I did smith machine incline bench. Random I know, but sort of felt good just because it was different. Squat felt bad, so I did some hack squat machine work. I suppose Tuesday and Thursday were "fine" and no one really wants a "fine" training session.

Anyway, I ended up going to this gym this past Friday because I knew I was going to be out of town on the weekend. Back day, so I figured I'd start with some light deadlifts to get the blood flowing and then some other row work and call it a night. I set up 135 on the bar and that's when things got interesting.
135x10 - the usual
225x5 - the usual
275x5 - hmm...feeling light. Could have done at least 8
315x5 - whoa, haven't done that for awhile
335x1 - I hit that weight about a month ago
355x1 - I failed at 345 the same night I did 335
365x1 - yikes, haven't done that in 5 years

So yeah...that was surprising to say the least. The form was starting to go on 365 so I didn't push it further, but 355 felt gooooood.

Just for kicks I left 225 on the bar and 10 double overhand reps which I've NEVER done at that weight for those reps and then put on 275 and did 3 double overhand, which, again, I've never done. And three was definitely the limit on that set.

I did finish up with the planned row work after that. Low cable row...lowered the weight a bit just to get real slow and controlled with the movement. Really felt the contraction in the back - used varying grip widths - was very nice.

Now, I don't know that I can attribute this surprisingly good deadlift session to a week's worth of Green Might (but who knows?), but either way, it was a confidence boost that I hope carries me into the rest of this log. Looking forward to more!

[longhorns_p]

Subbed.

Similar "lifestyle" and goals. Congrats on your 3rd..

[BenW22]

Subbed.

Similar "lifestyle" and goals. Congrats on your 3rd..

Welcome aboard, thanks!

[BenW22]

Shoulder night!

I decided to do seated OHP press on the Smith machine last night. A little weird, I know, but I get a good stretch and pump. I also did some farmers walks...maybe like 40 feet or so with 80/90/100 pound DBs. I've done these before with a trap bar with more weight, but the DBs are much more difficult for me to hold.

The reason for the Smith machine is that I'm trying to go away from doing the Big Four every week. I've found I'm much stronger (especially on deadlifts) when I do similar, but different, exercises for a couple weeks between going heavy on the main lifts. Trap bar deads, Smith OHP, DB bench press, hack squat machine etc.

Overall, a great workout and some really nice pumps. :-)

[Farley1324]

Shoulder night!

I decided to do seated OHP press on the Smith machine last night. A little weird, I know, but I get a good stretch and pump. I also did some farmers walks...maybe like 40 feet or so with 80/90/100 pound DBs. I've done these before with a trap bar with more weight, but the DBs are much more difficult for me to hold.

The reason for the Smith machine is that I'm trying to go away from doing the Big Four every week. I've found I'm much stronger (especially on deadlifts) when I do similar, but different, exercises for a couple weeks between going heavy on the main lifts. Trap bar deads, Smith OHP, DB bench press, hack squat machine etc.

Overall, a great workout and some really nice pumps. :-)

Trap bar deads are money, regardless

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/trap-bar-deadlifts/

[BenW22]

Trap bar deads are money, regardless

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/trap-bar-deadlifts/

Totally agree! Love how my butt feels after a good trap bar session...wait, wut? Serious though, they work the glutes somethin' fierce.

[BenW22]

I figure there's really only so much I can talk about during a creatine log - no matter how tasty and effective the creatine is - so while I'm sipping on my Green Might this morning I figure I'll talk about my tasty, tasty food today :-)

Meal #1
2 pieces of turkey bacon
1 slice P28 toast with almond butter
Protein shake

Meal #2
2 servings ground bison
1 serving brown rice
2 servings egg whites
frozen chopped broc****
chicken bone broth
(the above are in a sort of fried rice concoction)
Apple
String cheese

Snack:
Kirkland brand protein bar. This is Costco's version of a Quest bar. I LOOOVE Quest bars. I rarely have fewer than three boxes in my house, but I gotta tell you: the Kirkland brand bars are LEGIT. They taste amazing.

Meal #3
Well, I have a leftover 93/7 ground beef patty, so I'll probably make some sort of sandwich out of that with a couple eggs, more P28 bread and a piece of fruit.

I'm going to train tonight, so I'll eat something pre-training. Maybe some Rice Chex in a protein shake. Or maybe a frozen waffle and more turkey bacon. Or proats. Plenty of flexibility here. Or, who knows, maybe I'll be full enough from dinner - game time decision.

Post workout I usually have cottage cheese mixed with some protein powder and some strawberry jelly or a protein shake blended with frozen blueberries - again with some Rice Chex thrown in for crunch/carbs.

Have a great day everyone!

[longhorns_p]

Diet looks solid - are you noticing any pump/vascularity ?

[BenW22]

Diet looks solid - are you noticing any pump/vascularity ?

Hmmm....well last night was legs, so didn't notice much (besides the blinding pain of leg night). Tuesday night was shoulders and yeah, I noticed some nice pumps and vascularity, but I also had a pop-tart preworkout :-)

[BenW22]

Is your preworkout meal ever two Chobani yogurt tubes that are expired because your kids didn't eat them? Well that's what I ate last night before leg night (with some Rice Chex).

Leg press:
Worked up to 6 plates per side and then dropped down to 4 plates per x15 and 3 plates per x22 which were absolute killers.

After that I did a couple sets of light squats to really burn the legs and then leg curls and leg extensions. I was hobbling around somethin' fierce during and after this workout. I feel a little fatigued today, but I bet tomorrow will be worse, haha.

Today is an off day and I'm going to a minor league baseball game tonight, so that might mess up the diet just a wee bit...I'll use the extra calories for chest tomorrow!

[longhorns_p]

leg day sounds brutal! 22 reps...fuark.

love the pre-workout meals; pop tarts and expired dairy ftw

[BenW22]

leg day sounds brutal! 22 reps...fuark.

love the pre-workout meals; pop tarts and expired dairy ftw

Well they were like 50 calories and 5 g protein each, so mixed with a little rice Chex it's a pretty decent preworkout meal. And really...they expired not even 2 weeks ago. I mean, yogurt is already just old jacked up milk, so how much worse can it really get??

Pop tarts though....MMMM. In my part of the country we haven't had any good new flavors in awhile. I have vanilla milkshake right now which are pretty good. I miss red velvet and birthday cake though :-( They got these dang Jolly Rancher flavors out now...not interested.

[Marshall28]

Getting the old band back together again are we ?

[BenW22]

Getting the old band back together again are we ?

Hahaha, trying man. Did my solo act for awhile, but miss the group. Or maybe the groupies. Wait, wut?

[longhorns_p]

OG thread

[BenW22]

Good weekend of working out...

Saturday was chest. Warmed up light on flat and then worked my way up to 205 on incline. And then sorta screwed around on decline and got up to 185x8 which felt reallllllly good. Pumps were awesome...possibly due to the pretraining meal which I'll get to in a minute.

Sunday was a really early morning back day. I hit deads again and, like last week, they felt light which was awesome. I was feeling good, so I wondered if I good do 315 double overhand. Turns out I can't. Haha. However. I banged out 6 reps of mixed grip and then went balls out (for me) and hit 10 reps at 275 which felt great. Finished up with some curls and other accessory exercises. Pumps were strong.

Diet...the wife and I went to Costco Saturday and my son kept saying, "I want a churro, I want a churro!" Ok, fine, knock yourself out young man. 8 seconds later: "dad, I don't like churros." I wanted a fountain drink, but then realized that it only cost 90 cents more to get one of their forearm sized hot dogs...so my pretraining meal on Saturday was a hot dog and a churro. Not really proud of that, but dem pumps...

Question for the crew: anyone noticing any water retention on GM - like more than typical creatine mono? Yes, I know I had the hot dog and churro, but generally the weekend diet was clean enough and I jumped up in weight far more than I expected.

[longhorns_p]

Question for the crew: anyone noticing any water retention on GM - like more than typical creatine mono? Yes, I know I had the hot dog and churro, but generally the weekend diet was clean enough and I jumped up in weight far more than I expected.

Well this is ironic - because I felt and looked a little more bloated the last two days than expected. My diet has been good and I ran 5 miles yesterday, which had me sweating out any excess water retention. I'll be keeping an eye on this as I'm trying to drop fat. Thought the scale would've moved last week and it didn't, was thinking it was more a plateau but maybe holding some water that's hiding the loss. Never noticed any issues in the past when using CM, not significant at least. Although I do usually use 3g v 5g and only 4-5 days a week rather than everyday

[Marshall28]

Hahaha, trying man. Did my solo act for awhile, but miss the group. Or maybe the groupies. Wait, wut?

Groupies with 5 kids combined sounds about right lol

OG thread

YES!!!!!!!!!

[bull.dogz]

Were you drinking enough water?

[BenW22]

Well this is ironic - because I felt and looked a little more bloated the last two days than expected. My diet has been good and I ran 5 miles yesterday, which had me sweating out any excess water retention. I'll be keeping an eye on this as I'm trying to drop fat. Thought the scale would've moved last week and it didn't, was thinking it was more a plateau but maybe holding some water that's hiding the loss. Never noticed any issues in the past when using CM, not significant at least. Although I do usually use 3g v 5g and only 4-5 days a week rather than everyday

Interesting. I might try taking a half scoop for the next few days and see if I notice anything.

Were you drinking enough water?

I suppose. I don't really keep track - I drink when I'm thirsty. I have a water bottle I sip on at work.

[Marshall28]

I wouldn't expect you to hold much water with the product.

[stan47islav]

Totally agree! Love how my butt feels after a good trap bar session...wait, wut? Serious though, they work the glutes somethin' fierce.

I have a home gym and bought a trap bar for it a couple years ago. I really need to do more farmers walks with it.
But everytime I m not feeling regular Deads I jump on trap bar and feel alot better.

[BenW22]

I wouldn't expect you to hold much water with the product.

Well then I'm getting old and fat. THANKS A LOT ANDY.

I have a home gym and bought a trap bar for it a couple years ago. I really need to do more farmers walks with it.
But everytime I m not feeling regular Deads I jump on trap bar and feel alot better.

Totally...I did farmer walks with the trap bar last night. It's taxing and wonderful - and frankly - looks pretty badass (in my gym anyway).

[BenW22]

Decided to switch things up a little bit last night and did seated OHP and really liked it. I was able to lift a bit more weight for a few more reps. Worked up to a few sets in the 135-145 range. Definitely was feeling the burn.
After that was trap bar farmer walks. 230-330 pounds for roughly 40 feet. Love the trap bar. Finished up with a little accessory work - pumps were crazy last night. Pretraining meal was some Rice Chex.

Meals today:
Started out with a protein shake and a couple pieces of turkey bacon.
Lunch will be ~5 oz of beef mixed with rice, chopped kale and some egg/egg whites. String cheese and an apple as well. The beef is stew meat from Costco slow cooked - basically like lean pot roast - just falls apart and goes REAL well with rice and it's basically the same price, if not a bit cheaper, than ground beef.
The family and I are grilling out tonight - I think I'll have a piece of salmon and some asparagus. Probably some rice or other small carb source as well.

Green Might...I'm going to dose 1/2 a serving for a bit just to see if I notice any changes in water retention or strength. I'm not expecting much either way, but we shall see

[Marshall28]

Still enjoying the flavor ?

[BenW22]

Still enjoying the flavor ?

Oh yeah, definitely very good. Tastes a lot like a bomb pop. Super easy to drink.

[BenW22]

I literally squatted more and with better form (IMO) last night that I have in well over 5 years. Maybe there is something to this Green Might after all...

I watched some vids of Stan Efferding squatting yesterday for a little motivation and noticed his stance was a little narrower than I often see, so I figured I'd give that a go last night. I also tried to really concentrate on sitting back into the movement. It was like night and day.

135x12
185x10
225x3
245x1
255x1
225x5
185x10
135x20

These are in no way epic numbers, I understand that, but they represent a huge jump for me. I've only done 225x5 a handful of times and I've never done 185x10 or 135x20. Things were just feeling good. And the craziest thing - the absolute craziest thing - is that I am actually LOOKING FORWARD to my next squat day because I think I can top all those numbers. It's like newbie gainz all over again

Another big shout out to CL for allowing me to do this log. I was a typical gym guy doing chest, back and and shoulders 3x or 4x as often as legs, but when I was given the opportunity to log White Flash and now Green Might I figured I had to do legs so as not to catch any crap from you guys. Turns out being "forced" to do legs was an amazingly good thing for me. I think it's been helping my deadlift too. Love it!

Here's a still of the vid at the bottom of the 255 rep:

[longhorns_p]

Solid number on the squats 👍

[BenW22]

I was only able to train once over the weekend, but still had a very nice chest session.

Started on flat bench, worked up to 240 with a couple sets of 3 @225 and a set of 8 @205. Those are good for me, but basically the baseline of what I need to get on a chest day, so nothing spectacular. What was nice was the burnout set at the end: 155x20. That's only the second time in my life I've done that. I usually fail anywhere between rep 15 and 18. I also got 185x10 on decline which I believe is a rep PR. Finished up with DB flyes and some skullcrushers. 2 days later and my chest and tris are still sore

Diet was a little iffy over the weekend as I had some guests in town, so there was Mexican food and margaritas...therefore I'm back on the strict diet train this week. I need to get some chicken in the slow cooker tonight for my meals. Have a great week everyone!