I really like your HIIT day. Instead of doing cardio, you do a lot of random shit, sounds pretty cool. I may try something like that.

yeah calisthenics and plyometrics are a lot more effective for interval training than just straight cardio. you can basically convert any bodyweight exercise into hiit too, and anything with kettlebells or a medicine ball. the next day you really feel it too. look into some real hiit stuff like crossfit. it's all about pushing yourself beyond your endurance limit. i used to do more of it, and i'll start back up eventually. it's good shit but it's draining.


took it relatively easy today, just did the regular weight training and 20 mins on the treadmill.

3x12 concentration curls @ 30lbs (wasn't able to step up the weight because i worked out at home and only have 30lb dumbbells there, but increased reps)
4x12 wrist curls (i do them with a barbell behind the back, standing) @ 120 lbs
2x10 ez bar curls @ 65 lbs (wide motion to hit the entire long head of the muscle... so hard after the concentration curls today)
2x20 upright rows @ 80 lbs
5x5 pullups.
1x10 overhead press @ 80 lbs
2x20 explosive jumps (tucking legs, as high as i can jump)

looking so cut up today, and my biceps are still sore from yesterday. spoiled myself with 2 boddington's ales last night watching the faber vs pulver fight, but the extra carbs didn't seem to affect anything.


1x12 front raises @ 60lbs
2x10 dumbbell flies @ 30lbs
2x10 reverse curls @ 70lbs
2x10 hammer curls @ 30 lbs
2x12 tricep kickbacks @ 30lbs
2x10 tricep extensions @ 70lbs
30 elevated pushups.
10 reverse handed pullups.
2x30 crunches.
25 mins treadmill.

noticed some serious strength gains today. didn't take any ephedrine and i was still pumped and ready. everything was so easy but i still felt a burn. overall an excellent day at the gym. i think it has a lot to do with the neovar i'm taking.

afterward treated myself to a buffalo burger (>50g protein, 1.5g fat, 360 cals).

3x12 squats (to the floor) @ 120 lbs
2x10 barbell calf raises @ 120 lbs
2x10 barbell front raises @ 80 lbs
2x8 bench press @ 160 lbs
2x12 upright rows @ 80 lbs
2x10 pushups w/ one-arm dumbbell row @ 30 lbs
3x10 dragon flags
2x20 russian twists with 30lb dumbbell
20 mins on treadmill.

some noticeable growth in my biceps. tris are killing me from yesterday. seems like recovery is worse but results are better while on this creatine.

10x burpees
10x kettle bell swings
30x medicine ball slams
5x bear crawls + crab walks (pushed/dragged 30lb dumbbells in each hand)
5x5 weighted punches each hand
10x squat-jumps
30x weighted side bends
50 jumping jacks
x3.

stair runs, 10 mins jump rope.

brief rest.

25 mins on the treadmill.

i think i need a day off tomorrow. we'll see.

had some good energy earlier on but felt exhausted before my workout. pulled through somewhow and i'm noticing solid strength gains, for real. i attribute it to the creatine. this stuff seems to work a lot better than the gnc powder i was using before.

also i guess i should mention... i don't know how else to put this... i've been shitting a lot more than normal this week. almost the kind you take if you've ever chased a meal with a carb blocker, which i find really strange. my diet really hasn't changed and i haven't been eating any more of anything. this wasn't a side effect of any creatine i've taken before and i'm definitely not sick. not a big deal, but weirding me out some.

took a light day yesterday because i was aching all over. only did about 40 mins of cardio and some jump roping. yesterday and today i'm just feeling pretty fat and weak.

skipped my e dosage yesterday as well as the neovar creatine. back on both today.


2x10 concentration curls @ 30lbs
1x10 hammer curls @ 30 lbs
2x10 combo curls @ 30 lbs
4x12 wrist curls @ 120 lbs
2x10 ez bar curls @ 65 lbs
2x20 upright rows @ 80 lbs
5x5 pullups.
1x10 front press @ 90 lbs
2x10 back press @ 90 lbs
1x10 deadlifts @ 180 lbs

45 mins cardio.

tri day... feeling pretty deflated and i have no idea. my biceps seem smaller than usual, and less vascularity. pissed about that. wtf.

upped my dosage of neovar to 6 tabs daily, from the 5 i was taking before. battered myself today to compensate for the blunted feeling.

2x12 front raises @ 70lbs
2x10 dumbbell flies @ 30lbs
3x10 reverse barbell curls @ 70lbs (these got so hard to do)
2x8 combo curls @ 30 lbs.
2x12 tricep kickbacks @ 30lbs
2x10 barbell tricep extensions @ 70lbs
4x5 pullups.
3x10 elevated pushups.
10 reverse handed pullups.
3x30 crunches.
20 bodyweight squats.
20 burpees.
20 elevated pushups.
10 one-armed dumbbell rows + pushups.
10 bear crawls + crab walks.
100 jumping jacks.
30 dragon flags.
2x10 concentration curls @ 30lbs.
ran up a flight of stairs 20 times.

20 mins treadmill. my legs feel torn up. had that tingly, sleepy zma feeling in two fingers on my right hand today... couldn't shake it. what's that about? none of the supps i take cause that. i didn't even down any thermos today.

ate a shitload yesterday, and not all of it was good for me. slept about 10 hours. when i woke up, i felt amazing and i looked shredded. heavy workout + cheat day = results. today my lower body is pretty sore so it's a good thing it's a light day. i also feel strong today. hoping it has to do with the increase in creatine.

2x10 squats (to the floor) @ 120 lbs
2x10 barbell calf raises @ 120 lbs
2x10 bench press @ 160 lbs
3x10 dragon flags
2x20 russian twists with 30lb dumbbell
3x20 bob & weaves with 30lb dumbbell (something i made up, you put your hands up like you're covering up for a barrage of punches, and hold the dumbbell in between both hands so the bar is horizontal, then make like you're bobbing and weaving. works obliques like russian twists do but less stressful on the lumbar and you do it standing)


30 mins on treadmill.

hiit day. woke up and my abs were clearly visible, so i know i'm getting close to my goal.

not really sore considering how much i battered myself the past two days. happy about that. i believe the creatine is to be credited for it.


10x burpees
30x kettle bell swings
30x medicine ball slams
10x bear crawls + crab walks
10x situps w/ punches
5x5 weighted punches each hand
50x jumping jacks
x3, fast as possible, no rest.

40 mins treadmill, slow pace.


can't really get lower than 185 on the scale ever but trace fat DOES seem to be disappearing from everywhere except the pouch below my belly button (that i've been targetting forever).

however i really noticed today that my arms are getting sickly thin. i've lost quite a bit of mass on them. my hope was that the neovar would slow this process, but it doesn't seem to have had much of an effect on size - only recovery and strength.

after this cut i'm going to have to work seriously hard to gain some mass back on my upper body, arms in particular. maybe this is all why my biceps are weak and flat lately: there's just significantly less muscle left.

nothing new to report. progress continues.

2x10 concentration curls @ 30lbs
4x12 wrist curls @ 120 lbs
2x10 ez bar curls @ 65 lbs
2x20 upright rows @ 80 lbs
5x5 pullups.
1x10 front press @ 90 lbs
2x10 back press @ 90 lbs
3x10 elevated pushups.

40 mins cardio.

Yo Var, how many grams of carbs are you eating after you take the NeoVar? Sorry bro, been busy in the Product Testors and forgot you had a Journal's section going.

If strength is going up, you are going to notice increased soreness I'm sure cutting helps prolong it since you are restricting and not feeding the machine! Drive would help with muscle wasting while cutting, Forskolin has some great properties that help stop it, also I can't remember if you are supplementing any BCAA's but on a cut its a must.

Also keep the Fish Oil high!

i usually have one or two pieces of fruit like an apple and a peach immediately after working out, and before i do cardio. usually some oats and sometimes a package of raisins mixed in with my shake, too. so i'm guessing about 50-70g of carbs pwo. then i usually follow it up with two slices of ezekial whole grain bread in the next meal, an hour after cardio.

i don't think my strength is going up anymore. it was last week but it has sort of plateaued. my point is that i'm not losing any strength. my pumps yesterday and today weren't bad though. really only on sunday+monday. so it's possible i'm not losing as much size as i thought.

i take at least 3 scoops of ON whey every day, and 2 scoops is 100% minimum bcaa. i also take a gnc fish oil cap in the morning and eat 5-6 oz of red fish every other day at the very least.

good tips though and thanks for stopping by. i'll look into drive, i've heard good things. is it a PH exactly or what?



edit: sorry misread your question about carbs. i take 2 neovar in the morning right after a big bowl of grapenuts and before 2 oz of simply orange juice (in a shake). i take 2 again pwo with the carbs i mentioned above, and i increased my afternoon intake from 1 to 2 caps with another piece of fruit.

i've almost abandoned the whole low carb thing i was doing a few months ago, and now i just concentrate on which carbs i eat, and when. but the weird thing is i think i was maintaining size better WITHOUT the carbs. maybe i'm just one of those people who gets slowed down by carbs, or maybe i'm overtraining a little, not sure.

2x10 front raises @ 70lbs
2x10 reverse curls @ 70lbs
2x10 hammer curls @ 30 lbs
2x12 tricep kickbacks @ 30lbs
2x10 tricep extensions @ 70lbs
15 reverse handed pullups.
2x30 crunches.
25 dragon flags. (ouch)
3x12 dips.

25 mins treadmill.

doing okay today i guess. kinda waiting to see how it pans out by the weekend.

good day, cut seems to still be working and my arms are still pumped from the past two workouts. maybe i'm in the clear?

3x10 squats (to the floor) @ 120 lbs
1x30 barbell calf raises @ 120 lbs
3x10 bench press @ 180 lbs
8x10 pushups
8x10 pullups
3x10 elevated pushups
2x10 pushups w/ one-arm dumbbell row @ 30 lbs (god these are still hard as hell)
4x15 dragon flags
3x15 dumbbell pullovers
2x10 deadlift @ 160lbs

25 mins on treadmill, fast, medium incline.


had some great ideas for hiit day tomorrow, but i don't plan on taking any ephedrine, so we'll see if i can work up the motivation to try them all.

how long have you been cutting? When i used the original neovar on a cut i noticed an increase in strength through the first few weeks, but then the lower carbs/cals caught up with me and i started to flatten out a bit and strength plateued and then started to drop

Neovar is solid stuff but after a month of low calories it's not going to be magic... You might considering carbing up for a week or so just to let your body recoup, and then continue with your cut

like i said in my first post i've been on a cut for a LONG while now (since nov... i was pretty fat when i started) with only a few weeks' break in march. loss has been steady (from 20% BF to maybe 12%) but very slow in the past two months. the only real flattening i've experienced was earlier this week, but today and yesterday have been fine. i probably just overtrained last week. but good points, and if i notice another drop in strength or size i'll do what you suggested.

Always take your NeoVar and then 15mins later eat/drink a nice carb meal. It works like a carb metabolizer, basically pushes more glycogen to your muscles and the creatine rides it in as well.

Could be why it started feeling like you weren't as full as before when restricting carbs or adding in the carbs but not after the NeoVar.

Don't remember if you put down how much water you are drinking, but I'm on day 3 of NeoVar and getting a slight headache and I think its cause of my water intake, I gotta increase it.


Dang a reduced diet since Nov......you're my hero bro! I don't think I could do it that long!

yeah it's been tough. extremely low carbs until like mid march was the hardest thing. since then i've added in cereal and bread and i'm not sure i could ever cut those out again even if i wanted to.

think i've been doing the right thing as far as taking carbs with the neovar but i've been paying particular attention to it since you said something, and since then it's been all $$$. coincidence? doubt it. so thanks for good advice.

and before i forget, about .8 gallons on most days. i try for a gallon but don't always get it. never less than 96oz (.75 gallons).

my run of bad luck has turned into goodness over the course of this week. it's nice going from feeling flat as shit on tuesday to seeing veins popping out of my biceps without even having lifted on friday. i was sore as hell today, mostly in my quads. i really nailed em good with the squats + deadlifts i think, and i plan on incorporating deadlift into my regular leg day routine (finally). because of the soreness, really couldn't work as hard as i wanted to. no hiit really, but got some good ab work done. i hate having sore legs more than anything... i can push through the sore arms, sore core, sore back, whatever... but i can't with legs.

60 situps with punches.
40 weighted side bends.
50 bob and weaves.
20 russian twists.
25 weighted punches, both hands (mostly hooks).
30 pushups.
30 second plank.
30 elevated pushups.
20 pullups.
20 reverse handed pullups.
5 mins shadow boxing.
2x10 upright rows.
2x10 of those overhead curl things i never know what to call.

20 mins on the treadmill, low running speed, very high incline.

took my neovar and then washed it down 15 mins later with a big bowl of grapenuts, skim milk, half a teaspoon of honey, and a banana. ate a kashi bar after that... i can't get enough of those.

this morning i also tried a little of that special k protein plus cereal... taste is not so good and there's a small amount of corn syrup in it but the rest of the nutritional stats are legit and it's a small boost in protein compared to what you'd normally get from cereal: 10g as opposed to 1-3 per serving. so decent to cap off my breakfast shake which is ~30g itself.

ended up skipping hiit day again because my quads are even more sore today than yesterday. did day 1 instead. bumped up the weights today too.

1x10 concentration curls @ 30lbs
4x15 wrist curls @ 120 lbs
2x10 ez bar curls @ 90 lbs
2x20 upright rows @ 100 lbs
5x5 pullups.
2x10 front press @ 100 lbs
2x10 back press @ 100 lbs
3x20 elevated pushups.

30 mins cardio.

chased the neovar with two apples, a whey shake, and half a cup of oats. pwo meal was some gigantic shrimp and a whole zucchini.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/rsvarr/DSC00249.jpg

yum.

i've decided to almost completely cut out cereal after this weekend. i love it too much and eat it too often. i'm also going to count calories more carefully. i want to finish this cut by july.

also, i know i mentioned i stepped up to 6 caps per day of the neovar from 5 about a week ago, but not sure if i clarified when i take these.

2 before lunchtime, i usually have grapenuts and a piece of fruit after.
2 after immediately resistance training, followed by a banana and some oats or something similar.
2 late afternoon, with the last carbs of the day (usually whole grain bread or sweet potatoes).