Maple Syrup Strength (littlesleeper)

To piggy back on Mark, I don’t take all my supps on days where I’m not training as hard. I have a product that’s a volumizer that I only take on days that I want to feel a pump. Some days I don’t have enough time to really get after it so I don’t waste the money.

I’ve also found that if I do my sprint workout before lifting then I don’t feel any of the effects of the pre-workouts. I burn through it before I start lifting.

You’re cutting out whey and bcaas too? Is there a bro-benefit to that? Or mainly to make weight gains in the wallet

Eh I don’t count those because they’re more nutritional type things. I can get them through diet but they’re nice on days where I need to catch up on protein.

I’m talking more about my creatine, beta alanine, and stimulant loaded pre-workouts.

I’m taking a break for my kidneys and liver since they have to filter all that stuff. My doctor is cool with me taking supps but she tells me to use a ratio of 1:1 for time on and off. I’ve been on for quite a while now.

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Word, just clarifying. I try “cycle off” of coffee too. Actually been leaning towards cutting it out completely, but then I remember I’m a working adult.

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No kidding. I measure my intake in pots. Cops live on caffeine and tobacco. I managed to quit chewing in 2011 and I avoid energy drinks so I think I’m doing pretty good.

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@MarkKO - That’s not a bad idea. I’ll see how I make out with the remaining quantity of my supps. I might run the course for my first experience using the products so I can say I gave them a genuine trial. I’ve been doing just Plazma for every workout, and having a pre-workout Finibar alongside Plazma for my squat/DL days. Thanks for the suggestions! Also, looking forward to hearing how you make out with ‘Training Maximally’.

@Frank_C - Thanks man. I also think it is a good idea not to take supps ‘just because’. Ensuring you are putting them to use is a big part of the puzzle. Thanks for the suggestion/comment!


Weekend Nutrition:
Horrible, but whatever.

I’ve been very strict with my diet until this weekend. Not one drop of alcohol in over a month (this is big for me), and not one unhealthy meal in a month.

This weekend I consumed:
Friday:
Mini eggs
Beer
Wine
Brownies

Saturday:
Extra meat pizza (this was godly, I needed this in my life)

Obviously there was more food, but the rest as my usual nutrition (eggs, avocado, spinach, chicken, etc).

Just before I devoured the pizza I decided to do a quick workout so that those carbs wouldn’t be completely wasted. So I decided to do the Mantathlon Challenge, even though my afternoon hangover was starting to set in…

Weight 204lbs:
Bench @ 205lbs = 28reps (not competition, banging this out T&G)
Chins @ BW = 25reps (not dead hanging each rep, only dead hang for last 5-6)
OHP @ 105lbs = 28reps (this surprised me)
Dips @ BW + 55lbs = 12reps (triceps were SHOT)
BB Curls @ 105lbs = 22reps (not super strict, not full cheat curls)

Pros of this challenge:

  • Short time to complete
  • Great pump, like I may consider doing this challenge before my ‘after shots’ for this challenge. I came upstairs and my wife said “Holy crap, your shoulders are massive”. When your wife notices your gains, you know it’s good! lol

Cons of this challenge:

  • For me, going for max reps in a challenge definitely sacrifices form which then discredits the movements I performed.
  • I prefer strength challenges rather than muscle endurance challenges.

I think I would have enjoyed the challenge more if there was a cap at 20 for each lift. That was a ceiling would be set for each lift and I could hold my form to try to hit a solid 20. This may have left some triceps in the tank for my dips as well.

So I did 115reps Total. I didn’t take a video, because honestly I felt like crap going into it and didn’t expect much of a performance. I just liked the thought of having a pre-designed workout under 20mins that I could do before eating pizza.

I’m not happy enough with my form in the lifts to submit my results against people who completed it in a more strict fashion.

I woke up this morning at 204.4lbs.
I was really expecting to be heavier after that much pizza and junk.

Back to being strict this week. Lets see what I can do for one more month! I’d really like to see that 199lbs!


Week 2 - 5/3/1 - 5’s PRO, BBB

I performed some jump rope and shoulder band work between press sets and I did 105lb DB rows x 10reps between bench sets.

A nice quick workout before heading to work. Speaking of work, one last week of stress then things should return to the norm again. I worked all weekend to hopefully make this week a little more manageable.

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Good job on the challenge mate! I’m sure you could get a perfect score if you capped at 20.

I wouldn’t be too worried about the booze. Every once in awhile you need to let go I think. Still gotta enjoy life!

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Yeah, that puts a bit of a damper on usage. Those are generally what I notice as well, that by the end of my normally scheduled workout I’m still looking for exercises to do, feeling pretty fresh and strong, but steroid-like improvements I have not found to be the case haha and if you can find something at least in the ball park for substantially less money it makes a lot more sense fiscally.
Leave it to a Canadian to get upset over shipping…

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Awesome job on the challenge! That’s a pretty beastly performance. For most of us it wasn’t an endurance challenge! I’m adding your score whether you like it or not. If you check out some of the videos then you’ll see that no one is being a form nazi on this one. The chin-ups haven’t been dead hang for one second and the curls have all had a bit of body English–not lower back jerking movements but not strict like someone with his back against a wall.

Perhaps some of that junk food and beer gave you a surge of dirty energy since you’re usually around 60g carbs per day.

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I just added your score…and I had to because you beat @brady888!!!

The original article actually has a 20 rep cap per exercise and a perfect score of 100. For the challenge we’re letting people go over 100 because it seems that it will determine a true winner instead of having a bunch of people tie at 100 (OK, so not a bunch but at least a few).

Here’s the rating scale for your score (if you follow the rules strictly):

0-10 – Low Man on totem pole
10-20 – Skinny Man or Man Boobs
20-30 – Average Man
30-40 – Wing Man
40-50 – Door Man
50-60 – Athletic Man
60-70 – He Man
70-80 – Super Man
80-90 – Mega Man
90-100 – Man of War

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@Irishman92 - Yea man, I had turned down a lot of events this past month which has really helped put me in a good spot for some physique improvements. I agree though, all in moderation. It was a fun ‘guys night’ (wife was away this weekend), when the women are away, the boys shall play. I MIGHT have been able to eek out 20 dips if the previous exercises were capped, but it would have been close. I’m still relatively new at weighted dips, and have plenty of room for improvement in that category. Figured that would be my weak point, which it was.

@Despade - Haha! Ya, while I do enjoy the product it is a tough pill to swallow dropping $550. I am far from giving up on the product though. I’m going to reevaluate once I finish my entire supply. Then I can see how long it lasted and place a personal value on it.

@Frank_C - Thanks man! Ya, I wasn’t throwing the weight up on the curls. Elbows were a little flared, and my shoulders had some back and forth movement to maintain the rhythm. Lower back/core was held straight and tight for the reps though. The dirty energy may have helped, but honestly was pretty shaky and light-headed after each exercise. Not saying this would have resulted in more reps, but I just would have felt much better while performing the movements! Haha, “Man of War”, I’ll take it! Thanks

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Oh hell yeah. Looks like I have some reading to do!

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05/02/2017

Well…shit.

Last night was a bit of a crazy evening. I went and looked at a used truck, worked until 7pm got home to this book, and we are dog sitting a friend’s dog (so now we have two dogs running around). I was running around feeding the dogs, making my own dinner and running up our one set of stairs when I stubbed my toe and slammed my left knee into the stair (yes, I fell UP the stairs). Smashed my existing lump on my knee left from Osgood-Schlatter disease I had when I was younger. This lump is tender on a good day, and right now I can’t fully extend my leg or bring it anywhere near 90 degrees.

This is a little less than ideal for deadlifting/squatting this morning.

So I just did ~15mins of some modified mobility work. Tomorrow is a rest day, Thursday is Bench/Press and fingers crossed I’ll be good to go for squats/deads on Friday. It has been awhile since I’ve missed a workout due to injury. Not happy about it.

204.0lbs upon waking this AM.

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Bugger. Probably better falling up than down though. My fiancee tried jumping off the stairs to catch a balloon (long story) and ended up jumping I to the front door. Luckily no major knocks, but could have been bad.

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Ahh the joys of training. Just when you think things are going good. I was searching the injury and rehab threads for people with similar QL issues and found my own responses to someone else’s back problems. It was pretty recent. Funny how I was sharing my experience about recovering from a back injury and here I am a month or two later with another back problem…

If you’re still beat up Friday then you could try some new/weird stuff like single-leg deadlifts with your good leg. Use the same set-up and everything, just pick up your bad leg and pull. We probably all should do that on occasion to make sure we don’t have any huge imbalances.

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Good suggestions, thanks man.

The stiffness this morning was really bad, but it seems that my knee mobility is already improving as the day goes on. So I’m hoping this is a temporary acute pain. I will make friends with A535 tonight and hopefully this won’t affect training beyond this morning’s workout.

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05/03/2017

So I went to a family gathering last night for my cousin’s birthday. Hot dogs and hamburgers. I managed to avoid the chips, cake, etc. I ate 2 burgers, 3 ‘all beef’ hot dogs and at least 6 full Deviled Eggs.

I may have also indulged with 2 rye and diet cokes as well as helping my 3 year old cousin finish her ice cream.

I was in a bit of a crossroads on this fat loss challenge. I haven’t seen the scale move in the better part of 3 weeks now, and I’m definitely losing interest in the losing fat aspect. I’ve obtained a level of leanness I’m satisfied with and do not feel going any further will aid me in any of my current long term goals.

I may remain at around maintenance calories for the remainder of May to try and get my body fat set point to where I’m currently sitting (which I feel is maintainable, at this point). Injuring my knee and missing my workout yesterday was also a bit of a dagger, and I feel as though I will be missing Friday’s lower session as well (or at least having to modify it to work around the pain).

However, I was pleasantly surprised with seeing a new low on the scale this morning at 202.6lbs. I have not hit the 202.X range yet, so this did light a little bit of a fire in me inspiring me to continue until I at least see sub 200lbs.

I did throw on the 50lb weighted vest and walk 1mile with the dog to at least get moving around yesterday, and will likely do that again tonight or see how my knee feels on the AirDyne.

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…I was gonna say…come on, man! Was about to do a whole call out shtick (gonna be the whole similar size, good numbers to chase, helped spur me into starting a log, sappy shit like that) haha glad to hear you’re gonna muscle through the last 3 weeks, I think you’re gonna be much happier not quitting on it (even though it’s for the internet bragging rights only.)

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Wait a week and revisit this post. Close to your goal but no recent weight loss, jacked up training day, possibly a bad meal…

See how all that sounds?

Wait a week and then decide if you’re ready to throw in the towel and settle for “close enough”.

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OR you can just continue eating like that so I don’t look as bad on June 1st! haha I’m already starting the think up the excuses as to why I don’t look much different…

EDIT: But in all seriousness, I’ve been following along and your transformation has been awesome!

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