OK, I haven't received my test bottle yet, but I'm going to go ahead and get some preliminary things out of the way.

• 27 years old
• Male
• Dry weight this morning was 196.6 lbs
• 6’ 0”
• Body fat: I’m using one of those body comp scales for this. They may not always be the most accurate, but I just need consistency. I had my BF done professionally (trainer) a few weeks ago and was at 11.4%. This morning, my scale has me at 13.4. For the purposes of this test, I’ll be using the body comp scale (again, it is consistent).
• Training: I trained all through college and was probably at my peek then – 187 lbs, <10% BF. I let myself go when I got a real job and moved away. I flabbed up to 216 pounds before I decided to get control of things. I changed my diet, started Hydroxycut (save your opinions here), and started running 2 miles 3-4x weekly. Within two months, I was down to 176. That’s when I started lifting regularly (also stopped cardio) and bulking up. I have been lifting regularly now for over a year and I’m close to where I was before I let myself go.
• Currently, I just came off a two-week cycle of 10mg first week and 15mg second week of M1T, and 600mg 4AD (each broken out 2x daily) with creatine and whey. I did NOT have the great results everyone else had. I feel fatter now but I hope it’s due to some water retention. I am now starting 75mg of ephedrine and 600mg caffeine broken out 3x daily. I am currently on 600mg 6-OXO broken out twice daily this week, and will have 300/200mg daily next week to PCT my last cycle. I am stopping creatine to lose ALL water retention but will continue whey (although cutting back serving sizes to normal to cut). I am not on any prescription drugs at all, and no other PH/steroids/supplements. While cycling, my caloric intake was between 2600 – 2900 calories daily and ensuring that protein was over 200g. During this cutting phase, I will drop initially to about 2000, and probably end up around 1700. Ephedrine EXTREMELY suppresses my appetite. Still going to try to keep my protein around 200g/daily.
• My workout regimen usually consists of 4-6 days of training per week. I am avoiding preemptive knee surgery right now because I’m getting married in 26 days so you will notice my schedule will not include leg exercises. This is a major hampering for me.
• I have taken measurements as recently as 4 weeks ago, but want to take new ones before starting.

Thanks
Brandon

OK, I got my bottle today so I'll go ahead and start everything.

04/05/04
Diet:

Meal 1: Protein Bar
Meal 2: Shake
Meal 3: Chix Fajita
Meal 4: Shake
Meal 5: Shake
Meal 6: Chix Stirfry
Meal 7: Shake

Calories: 1508 (too low for my liking - I attribute ephedrine)
Fat: 21.1g (6%)
Carbs: 122.2g (36%)
Protein: 197.3g (58%)

My workout regimen:

DB flat bench: 10x50, 10x70, 10x80, 10x90, 10x100
DB Incline: 70x10, 70x10, 70x10
DB Incline Flies: 30x10, 30x10, 30x10
DB Decline: 60x10, 70x10, 70x10
Skull Crushers w/.superset of close grip presses: 70x15/70x10, 80x12/80x10, 80x12/80x10
Dips: 3 sets of 15
Push down with rope: 80x12, 85x12, 85x12
Decline bench Crunches w/ superset of twists: 25/20, 25/20
Oblique crunches on roman chair: 2 sets of 15 on each side with a 10 lb weight

I applied Skupt when I got home from the gym. My first impressions are not pleased. The spray is a deep red color and goes on like sunless tanning lotion. I had to wash my hands three times afterwards and they still had a red tint. Stuff also smells like Ben-Gay. Use is a well ventilated area. I applied 7 sprays total: one to each pec, one of each love handle, and three on my abs.

This morning (04/06/04), I applied the my second dose. This one came after my shower. I applied one spray to each pec, each love handle, each deltoid, and one to my abs. I think this is going to more of my application process going forward.

**NOTE: I did have a burning sensation on my chest after application this morning. It felt like I applied Icey Hot. Lasted about 10 minutes.

My hands now look perma-dirty! I HAVE to get some latex gloves. Why would they make this stuff stain your skin? Why not make it clear like Ab-Solved? Wouldn't that make more sense?

I'm not sure which ingredient is staining. This formula was supposed to be less staining though. Apparently not. If the staining is too much for you you can go down to 7 sprays 1x daily (since that falls within the recommended dose) but it will be harder to determine results.

I'd prefer to keep up with the twice daily since I'm getting married in 25 days!! Not much time to dilly-dally!

Thanks

May 1, Brandon?

Congrats, man -- we'll have a big BN.com bachelor party for you. Maybe we can get Loki to jump out of a protein cake.

Kow, you missed the bachelor party to Vegas! 13 of us went. Good times! And yes, May 1st is the date! Then off to St. Lucia!!

04/06/04
Diet:

Meal 1: Protein Bar
Meal 2: Shake
Meal 3: Chix Stirfry
Meal 4: Shake
Meal 5: Chix Burrito
Meal 6: Shake

Calories: 1750
Fat: 49.4g (13%)
Carbs: 141.2g (37%)
Protein: 187.3g (50%)

OK, here was tonight's workout:

Deadlifts: 135x10, 145x10, 185x10, 205x10 (I just started doing these about 4 weeks ago - man they are tough!!)
Pull-ups: 4 sets of 10 wide overhand grip
Close-grip lat pulldowns: 130x10, 140x10, 150x10
BB Bent-over rows: 135x10, 145x10, 155x10
DB pull-overs: 60x10, 60x10, 60x10
Alternating seated curls: 35x10, 40x10, 45x10, 50x5


I had to call it a day after this. I was beat. I applied Skulpt the same as this morning. No hot sensation this time.

Thanks

**Oh, and by the way. Check out my picture above. Notice the color difference between my chest/abs compared to my arms? That's not a lighting trick. That's the color of Skuplt. I kid you not!!

Just so people know and I am not am expert on this, this is just from my experience. But the staining is probably from the Yohimbe....Good Yohimbe extract tends to be reddish/brown..and stains everything (even your tough for little bit)...(so you can't do much about that). The buring sensation is from dmso...I read they use dmso in this product. DMSO is great as a solvent and good for diffusion but it tends to be one of the harsher products used for topical application and usually not well tolerated...(It works well though). DMSO usually produces skin irritation (varying degress) and very bad breath (garlic, rancid fruit smell).

04/07/04

Diet:

Meal 1: Protein Bar
Meal 2: Shake
Meal 3: Chix Burrito
Meal 4: Shake
Meal 5: Spaghetti w/ meat sauce
Meal 6: Shake

Calories: 1751
Fat: 41.6g (11%)
Carbs: 161.7g (42%)
Protein: 181.5g (47%)


Training:

DB Shoulder Press: 50x10, 55x15, 60x15, 65x12
Arnold Presses: 35x10, 35x10, 35x10
Front Delt Raises: 25x10, 25x10, 25x10
Side Delt Raises: 25x10, 25x10, 25x10
Rear Delt Raises: 25x10, 25x10, 25x10
BB Shrugs: 225x10, 225x10, 225x10
DB Pull Overs: 60x12, 60x12, 60x12
Decline crunches superset w/ twists: 25/20, 20/10
Hanging Leg raises: 3 sets of 10
Cable crunches: 100x20, 100x15


I applied Skulpt this evening the same. No issues to report.

Dry weight 04/08/04: 192.2 lbs and 13.2% BF.

Total fat weight gone from 26.34 lbs to 25.37 lbs. A decrease of 3.7% so far.

LBM has gone from 170.26 to 166.83. A decrease of 2.01% so far.


Any have ideas of how to retain more LBM? I know my calories are a little low, but I'm still getting a maintanence dosage of protein.

Ways to help maintain LBM on a diet (other than steroids):

-Eat clean, and a lot of protein
-Don't try to increase strength/lifts a lot (I tend not to at all)
-Take creatine (will also partially impede fat loss, personally I think it is worth it) - unfortunately in this case, starting creatine may interfere with product evaluation.

Keep in mind water/glycogen weight though. Sometimes it may look like you've lost a lot more LBM according to the calipers than you actually have.

I'm also coming off a cycle of M1T and 4AD. I think I did have some water retention.



Diet:

Meal 1: Protein Bar
Meal 2: Shake
Meal 3: Chix Stirfry
Meal 4: Shake
Meal 5: Peanut Butter Sandwich
Meal 6: 2 Chix Sandwiches

Calories: 2048
Fat: 48.7g (10%)
Carb: 192.9g (41%)
Protein: 230.1g (49%)


Training:

DB Bench: 55x10, 70x12, 80x12, 90x10, 105x8
Incline Machine: 140x12, 180x12, 180x10
Incline DB Flies: 35x12, 35x12, 35x12
Cable X-Overs: 45x12, 45x12, 45x12
Dips: 20, 15, 15
Over head DB Extensions: 35x12, 40x10, 45x8
Cable Extensions - rope: 80x12, 85x12, 90x10
Cable Extensions - angle: 100x12, 110x10, 110x10
Hanging Leg Raises: 10, 10, 10
Decline Crunches: 15, 15
Oblique crunches w/15 lbs: 15
Cable Crunches: 100x15, 100x15

I took 04/09/04 off from the gym. All supps contimued as normal.

Diet:

Meal 1: Protein Bar
Meal 2: Shake
Meal 3: Spaghetti
Meal 4: Shake
Meal 5: Chix Sandwich
Meal 6: Pizza

Calories: 2483
Fat: 62g
Carbs: 173
Protein: 188




04/10/04

Supps: Same, but dropped my 6-OXO to 400mg daily.


Diet:

Meal 1: Peanut Better Sandwich
Meal 2: Mini quiches
Meal 3: Plate of fruit
Meal 4: Steak and potato
Meal 5: Shake

Calories: 1379 (WAY too low)
Fat: 26g (9%)
Carb: 135g (45%)
Protein: 140g (46%)


Training:

DB Shoulder Press: 50x10, 50x10, 50x10
Front Delt Raises: 25x10, 25x10, 25x10
Side Delt Raises: 25x10, 25x10, 25x10
BB Shrugs: 225x15, 225x15, 225x15

Really light on the workout. Typically, I go on Sats to help my girl.

Thanks

04/11/04

Diet - I ate like crap, but MAN IT WAS GOOD!! Back on the wagon tomorrow!

Meal 1: 2 eggs, 3 sausages, 2 toast
Meal 2: Steak, PBJ
Meal 3: PB Balls
Meal 4: BB! Pork Ribs, BBQ Chix Sandwich, Baked Beans, Fries
Meal 5: Girl Scout Cookies

Calories: 3037
Fat: 140g (24%)
Carbs: 281g (48%)
Protein: 166g (28%)


Training: Off day


Measurements:

Neck 16.500
Shoulders 49.500
Chest 42.000
Left Bicep 16.250
Right Bicep 16.750
Left forearm 12.500
Right forearm 12.500
spare tire 35.000
Waiste 34.500
Hips 39.000
Left mid-thigh 24.000
Right mid-thgih 24.250
Left Calf 15.500
Right Calf 15.500

04/12/04

Dry Weight: 193.2 lbs
Body Fat: 12.7% (24.5lbs)
LBM: 168.7 lbs


Fat overall gone from 26.34 to 24.5. (decrease of 7%)

LBM overall gone from 170.26 to 168.7. (decrease of 1%)



Diet:

Meal 1: Protein bar
Meal 2: Chix BBQ Sandwich and M&M frozen yogurt
Meal 3: Taco Pasta
Meal 4: Doctored Shake

Cals: 2051
Fat: 63.3g (14%)
Carbs: 204.6g (46%)
Protein: 175g (40%)


Training:

DB Bench: 50x10, 70x15, 80x12, 90x10, 100x8
DB Incline: 75x12, 80x10, 80x10
DB Decline: 60x10, 60x10, 60x10
DB Incline Flies: 30x10, 30x10, 30x10
Cable X-Overs: 45x10, 45x12, 50x12
Incline Skullcrushers superset with cose grip press: 70x12/70x10, 80x12/80x10, 80x10/80x10
Kickbacks: 20x10, 20x10, 20x10
Angle push downs: 100x12, 110x12, 120x12
Cable Crunches: 20x100, 20x100, 20x100
Hanging leg raises: 3 sets of 10

04/13/04

Supps: Same. I have managed to stain two pairs of shorts, a shower curtain, toilet seat, and a bathmat to date. My lady is NOT happy with me!!

Diet:

Meal 1: Protein Bar
Meal 2: Shake
Meal 3: BBQ Ribs and Baked Beans
Meal 4: Shake
Meal 5: Taco Pasta
Meal 6: Shake

Cals:
Fat:
Carbs:
Protein:


Training:

Deadlifts: 135x10, 185x10, 225x5 (felt something bad and had to stop those)
Pullups: 3 sets of 10
Lat Pull Downs (wide-grip): 130x12, 140x10, 150x10
Lat Pull-Downs (close-grip): 120x10, 120x10, 120x10
Bent Over Rows (underhand): 135x10, 135x12, 135x12
Alternating seated curls: 35x10, 40x10, 45x7
Standing hammer curls (in front of torso): 35x10, 35x10, 35x10
Concentration curls (1 second up, 3 seconds down): 20x10, 25x10, 25x10

04/14/04

Diet:

Meal 1: Protein Bar
Meal 2: Shake
Meal 3: Taco Pasta
Meal 4: Shake
Meal 5: Chix Sub
Meal 6: Girl Scout Cookies!

Calories:
Fat:
Carbs:
Protein:


Training:

DB Shoulder Press: 50x10, 70x12, 75x10, 80x8
Arnold Presses: 35x10, 35x10, 35x10
Front raises: 25x10, 25x10, 25x10
Side raises: 25x10, 25x10, 25x10
Bent Over rear Raises: 25x10, 25x10, 25x10
BB shrugs: 225x15, 275x12, 275x12
Decline crunches superset w/ twists: 25x10, 25x10, 25
Handing Leg raises: 3 sets of 10
Cable Crunches: 100x30, 100x30, 100x30

04/15/04

Dry morning weight 191.8
BF = 12.6%


Diet:

Meal 1: Protein bar
Meal 2: Shake
Meal 3: 2 PB Sandwiches
Meal 4: Shake
Meal 5:
Meal 6:

Calories:
Fat:
Carbs:
Protein:



Training:

Dips: 3 sets of 25
DB skullcrushers: 35x10, 35x10, 35x10
Single hand cable reverse curls: 25x15, 30x15, 35x15
Over-head cable tricep extensions: 50x12, 60x12, 60x10

No training 04/16 - 04/18. future inlaws came into town, and visitors just blow everything out of whack.

Also ate bad:

04/16:
Meal 1: Protein Bar
Meal 2: Shake
Meal 3: Taco pasta
Meal 4: Shake
Meal 5: Pizza and beer

04/17:
Meal 1: Whopper combo
Meal 2: Steak, potato, salad, banana pudding

04/18:
Meal 1: Sausage, eggs, cinnamon toast
Meal 2: Steak and pizza
Meal 3: Gumbolya and banana pudding

Have to get back on the wagon now!!

04/19:

Dry weight:

194.8 lbs and 11.5% BF. I think my scale was WAY off on the 11.5% part. I'll take another reading tomorrow to see if it's consistant. I just don't see how that can be accurate with what I ate over the weekend. I can definitely see my weight going up to that though!


Diet:

Meal 1: Protein bar
Meal 2: Shrimp and Sausage Gumbolya
Meal 3: Shake
Meal 4: Burger and fries


Training:

DB Bench: 55x10, 75x12, 85x12, 95x10, 110x8
DB Incline: 75x12, 80x10, 85x10
DB Decline: 75x12, 75x12, 75x10
DB Incline Flies: 40x10, 40x10, 40x10
Fly Machine: 105x10, 105x10, 105x10
Skullcrushers w/superset presses: 80x12/10, 90x10/10, 90x10/10
One-Handed behind head tri-extentions: 40x10, 45x10, 45x8
Angle bar push downs: 110x15, 120x12, 130x10
Decline crunches w/superset twists: 25/20, 20/20, 15/10
Hanging leg raises: 3 sets of 10

04/20/04


OK, I got on the scale again today, and it looked like it got back to normal.

Dry weight: 192.6
BF %: 12.5%

Overall changes:

Total Body Weight: 196.6 to 192.6 (-2%)
Body Fat: 13.4% to 12.5% (-6.7%)
LBM: 170.25 to 168.5 (-1%)


Diet:

Meal 1: Protein bar
Meal 2: 2 hambugers
Meal 3: Shake
Meal 4: Chix Fajitas


Training:

Deadlifts: 135x10, 185x10, 225x10
Pull-Ups: 3 sets of 10
Wide-Grip Lat Pull-Downs: 130x10, 140x10, 150x10
Close-Grip Lat Pull-Downs: 130x10, 140x10, 140x10
BB Bent Over Rows: 135x10, 135x10, 135x10
Seated Alt curls: 35x10, 40x10, 45x10, 50x6, 50x5
21s w/cable: 70, 70, 70
Decline Crunches: 25, 20, 15
Cable Crunches: 30, 30, 30