GirlyMan's taking the plunge!

[GirlyMan Member Find all posts View Profile Close GirlyMan]

Yep that’s right. Mr. Natural is going to be doing his first ever cycle. It is my hopes that this log will be both a reference for myself and maybe a learning tool for others. This log will include the following:

My background
Detailed cycle (what gear, when, how much, etc.)
Initial Stats (initial weight, BF%, measurements, etc.)
Diet
Workout Plan

I’ll be updating this log every day. The log itself will contain what I ate that day, a detail workout log (not including weights lifted unless specifically asked), and what I took. Every 2 weeks I’ll make an update with new one rep max totals for bench press, squat, and deadlift. My official start date of the Cycle is Monday July 4th. If you have any suggestions or would like me to talk about additional things, please let me know.

My Background:
As some of you may know, I’m a 100% natural Fitness model and bodybuilder and I’ve been featured in several magazine and website articles. In 1996 through 2001 I held several world records in power lifting based on my age (13 through 18) and weight class (165 and 181). This month I took 3rd place as a middleweight (weighed in at 172 even) in a natural show featuring over 60 competitors. Lifting, bodybuilding and power lifting have always been a part of my life. I feel that at age 28, I have reached a certain point where future gains are going to be few and far between. I strongly believe that you can always make natural gains every year, but after months of debate and thought, I’ve decided to take the plunge and do one cycle. Yes, just one. I know, I know. It’s like cheeto's, you can’t just do one. Well being a natural competitor who does a 100% clean diet year round, I know how to say no! My reason is that 1 cycle will give me the 15 pounds of lean muscle mass I’m looking for. Anymore than that and I run the risk of losing my contracts as a Fitness Model (they have a limit on size). Furthermore, one of my major features is my nearly perfect symmetry and proportions (reference my stats below). I have a very classical look comparable to Frank Zane and I do not want to jeopardize that.

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My Cycle:
My cycle is going to be very simple and most would consider it the beginner cycle:
GP Test E 500mg a week, for 12 weeks
GP Methan10 (d-bol), starting at 20mg ED up to 40mg, for the first 4 weeks
GP Adex, .5 mg starting at EOD, for the duration of the cycle
GP Nolvadex 40mg ED for week 14
GP Nolvadex 20mg ED for week 15-17

I’m listing d-bol as starting at 20mg because I may increase it to as much as 40mg ED as time goes by. To be on the safe side, I have extra supply of Adex, Nolvadex and Clomid.


Initial Stats:
Title says it all. Here are my stats :

Age: 28
Height: 5’10 (70 inches)
Weight: 178
BF% (based on electronic measuring): 8%
Lean Body Mass (LBM): 163 pounds

Measurements:
Chest: 39.5
Bicep: 15.5
Leg: 23
Calves: 15.5
Waist: 32

One Rep Max:
Bench Press: 355
Squat: 495
Deadlift: 495

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Diet
This is the section I love. I have spent years learning how to refine my diet to fit my needs on any given day and it is something I really enjoy researching and developing. So lets? get to it.

Macros:
Calories ? 3250
Protein ? 400
Carbs ? 300
Fats ? 50

Ok now, I know these macros are going to raise some flags for some people so let me explain. Even though I?m going to be on gear, I?m still going to be doing a CLEAN bulk. Normally my diet consists of 1.5g of protein per pound of bodyweight, 1.5g of crabs, and 0.25g of fats. I also cycle that with a percentage based system based on my BMR. Those percentages are 40% protein, 40% carbs, and 20% fat. For this cycle I?m going to increase my protein to 2g per pound and leave everything else the same. My body is going to need the extra protein, not carbs, because of the muscle gains I?ll make. I have always been against taking in more carbs than protein. Now with all that said, please feel free to comment or offer suggestions below, but try and provide some reasoning or links where I can look up what you?re talking about. If anyone would like me to go into details on what I eat and when, let me know and I?ll make an addition.

?What about a cheat day/reefed day?? Yes I believe cheat days/reefed days are needed to shock the body into both growing (cheat day) and cutting (reefed) depending on what you?re doing. I usually only do it once every 3-4 weeks depending on my progress. At this time I do not have any plans on adding a cheat day, unless I see my progress slowing. If I do my cheat day macros will be 3650 Calories, 300g of protein, 500g of carbs, and 50g of fat. (That?s 1.5g of protein, 2.5g of carbs, and 0.25g of fat per pound of bodyweight). Even though it is a ?cheat day? it will still be from clean sources. I?ll just add additives such as peanut butter and honey, and increase the carb intake.

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Workout Plan:
As I said, my background is powerlifting. I strongly believe in the saying, ?Lift Big, Get Big?. I also believe that the simplest and basic movements/exercises also produce the best results for me. I?ve tried several programs and it wasn?t until I went back to the basics that I made my most progress. Here is my training split:

Monday:

AM training (6 AM)

Chest, Bicep, Triceps, Forearms

PM training (anywhere between 6PM ? 9PM)

HIIT Cardio
Abs

Tuesday:

AM Training (5 AM)

Shoulders, Back

PM Training

Abs, Calves

Wednesday:

AM Training (6 am):

Legs

PM Training:

Low intensity cardio
Abs

Thursday:

AM Training (6 am):

Chest, Bicep, Triceps, Forearm

PM Training:

Abs, calves

Friday:

AM Training (5 am):

Shoulders, Back

PM Training:

Abs
HIIT Cardio

Saturday:

AM Training (6 am):

Legs

PM Training:

Abs, calves

Sunday:

Rest

Yet more red flags probably, so let me explain. First off, I?ve been doing twice a day training, 6 days a week for years. One reason I am able to do this is because I am very sedentary during the day and I take a 1-2 hour nap around the middle of the day (I love my day job). I always do my cardio separate than my workouts, and I always do cardio even while bulking (just not as extreme). I do know when my body needs a break and if I?m not feeling 100% recovered, I will not train that morning. Yes it does happen, just not often. I always listen to my body.

?Why so many calve training days?? ? It?s all about symmetry and my body?s genetics. Genetically, I?m gifted with great calves, but also great arms. In fact, for the majority of my career I barely would work my biceps because they were naturally bigger and were throwing off my proportions. So it is for this reason that for every arm workout I do, I do 2 calve workouts so that my proportions stay the same (FYI, your biceps are suppose to be the same size as your calves). I may even make further changes to this based on how I react to the gear.

I?ll go into details on specific exercises I?ll be doing on a day by day basis throughout the log. As an overview, the first body part training (Mon, Tues, Wed) are heavy days focusing on mass, power, and overall size. Lifts include Squats, Bench Press, Deadlifts, pull ups, barbell curls, etc. The second body part days (Thurs, Fri, and Saturday) are focusing on separation, striation, and weak point training. For example, I feel my upper chest is a weak part, so on Thursday I?ll do 2 more exercises focusing on the upper chest, while the other chest exercises will be things like cable cross overs, flies, etc. that focus on separation and creating striations.

Every 2 weeks, I will do a one rep max test to gauge my strength and progress. These tests will be done at the beginning of my workouts on Mon, Tues, and Wed.

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Pics

I'll be taking pictures every Sunday while on the cycle. For security and privacy reasons i'm NOT going to be posting them. If you're really interested in the progress, you can send me a PM and I may send you pics directly.

Thanks for reading all this. Please leave any and all comments, suggestions, bitches, and complaints below.

[sixteentons Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sixteentons]

Great planning and excellant detail. Your macros look similar to mine, and I agree on seperating cardio and weights. Works best for me too. Looking forward to reading about your progress.

[Just1more Member Find all posts View Profile Close Just1more]

Good stuff Girly. I know diet is your thing. lol You helped me alot with that. Everything looks good, my one concern is the question of how your body will react to the test. When I cycle test I explode in size yet some of my buddies only slightly bulk. Also tren gives me nose bleeds. I know you are not taking tren, but my point is you may want to run a test only cycle to see how you react. My .02 cents. I completely agree with the cardio in your diet. I run at least 2 miles every day then go lift 5 days a week atm. Its brutal but it works well for me. I will be following your progress.

[sebaco2011 Member Find all posts View Profile Close sebaco2011]

Noticed you talked about refeeds in your diet section , isn't that for low carb and a calorie deficit ? Talked to a really good diet bro on another forum and he said that they really dont have a purpose if your bulking and are eating plenty of carbs , but cheat meals can help you mentally and sometimes people do think it will help them out but then again how many bodybuilders that are serious about their physique and coming up to a show cheat? .... Thats just what he told me , it does make sense though if your trying to get lean mass that you should eat as clean as possible and do whats neccesary like the example he gave me of if you would do something when coming up to a show.

[GirlyMan Member Find all posts View Profile Close GirlyMan]

Noticed you talked about refeeds in your diet section , isn't that for low carb and a calorie deficit ? Talked to a really good diet bro on another forum and he said that they really dont have a purpose if your bulking and are eating plenty of carbs , but cheat meals can help you mentally and sometimes people do think it will help them out but then again how many bodybuilders that are serious about their physique and coming up to a show cheat? .... Thats just what he told me , it does make sense though if your trying to get lean mass that you should eat as clean as possible and do whats neccesary like the example he gave me of if you would do something when coming up to a show.

You are correct. Refeeds are used while cutting to jump start or restart your weight loss. However, at least for me, i've found it is also needed for bulking. If you consume the same macros for several months your body will become accustomed to it and it will slow your growth. Remember our bodies are happiest when they are in perfect harmony. So a "cheat day", even when bulking, is a good way to throw a curve ball and get your body to react.

Again my "cheat day" is not beer and pizza like most would do. To me, it just means an extra cup of brown rice or another pound of sweet potato.

[jimmy93 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jimmy93]

grate stuff girlyman, look forward to seeing your progress, the only thing i would comment on is just run the d-bol 30mg 5 weeks, 6 weeks might be a bit to much on you liver 1st time round imo.

[ODB Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close ODB]

My Cycle:
My cycle is going to be very simple and most would consider it the beginner cycle:
GP Test E 500mg a week, for 12 weeks
GP Methan10 (d-bol), starting at 20mg ED up to 40mg, for the first 6 weeks
GP Adex, .5 mg starting at EOD, for the duration of the cycle
GP Nolvadex 40mg ED for week 14
GP Nolvadex 20mg ED for week 15-17

I?m listing d-bol as starting at 20mg because I may increase it to as much as 40mg ED as time goes by. To be on the safe side, I have extra supply of Adex, Nolvadex and Clomid.

Sounds like a solid plan.
I actually did the dbol bump-up recently (4 weeks) and felt I did better on 20mgED than 40mgED. I found great relief from the dbol pumps/cramping with Taurine.
IMO u can cut the dbol to 4 weeks on + still do great.

[GirlyMan Member Find all posts View Profile Close GirlyMan]

Thanks ODB and Jimmy!

I agree with you both, 6 weeks on D-Bol is longer than I wanted. I'll be doing 4 weeks, not sure why I put 6 I've updated the original post.

[GirlyMan Member Find all posts View Profile Close GirlyMan]

Have decided to start the cycle July 4th. I was doing a priming diet and figured I would need another week to prepare, but my body reacted faster than I expected (anticipation kicking in).

I'm taking Friday and Saturday off from training and doing measurements and one rep max tests on Sunday.

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Tomorrow starts day 1. Pics taken and stats updated on the first pages.

[jimmy93 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jimmy93]

good stuff girlyman, just make sure you have everything there readdy like pct and things b4 you start, hope all goes well keep us posted!