Yea man holy fuck!!! Great work!!!
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I hope you take this as a compliment and I am simply asking from curiosity and ignorance:
Are you natty? I havenāt had a chance to read through all of your logs, but damn that is a great physique with strength numbers to match. Both of which are quite close to what my ideal, long-term goals are, so if you are natty that is very encouraging for me! Otherwise I might need to temper my expectations because regardless of whether you are or not, I know you bust your ass, have been doing so for years, and you were quite strong even out of high school. So I definitely would have a ways to go, but it would be motivating to know that it can be done!
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@BOTSLAYER - Thanks brother!
@lil.greggy - I do take it as a compliment. I am 100% natural. Creatine and BCAAās are as far from natural as I get! I established a great base of strength in high school and then inconsistently maintained/improved my strength for 4 years of University. I took a year off working out completely when I was remotely stationed out of town for my first job out of University and then picked it back up consistently in Jan 2015.
I appreciate the kind words man. Unfortunately the iron game is all about putting in the time, consistently! Youāll get there if the work and recovery are put in. 
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Awesome to hear! #fitspo or whatever the kids say nowadays.
I had a good base of strength out of high school, but after a couple years of college and competing in PL, I didnāt even maintain it. Dug myself into a pretty deep hole, and as you say, the only way to get out of it is putting in the time consistently. Having an attainable goal at the end is definitely motivating! Will need to dedicate some more time to poring over your logs.
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Summary:
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A little Jim Stoppani programming (Shortcut to Size and Shortcut to Shred)
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A lot of 5/3/1 (Various Templates)
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A little stuff from CT (Layers, etc)
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Some Brian Alsruhe Training (Both his Conjugate Method as well as following his Daily Workouts from his website - Strongman Focus)
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āBulkedā to a max weight of 217lbs. Currently sitting at 203lbs.
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Minimal cardio until this Transformation Challenge
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Lots of eggs (ground pepper and grated turmeric root), oatmeal (cinnamon and natural peanut butter), chicken, beef, venison, frozen veggies (hot sauce and soy sauce), salads, apples, bananas (with natural peanut butter) rice (soy sauce) and potatoes. I also ācheatā more than I should, and am a big fan of beer and Canadian Whiskey.
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I supplement with protein powder, creatine, greens supplement, psyllium fibre, calcium, zinc and fish oil.
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Iāve recently started drinking apple cider vinegar as well as sodium bicarbonate (separately) daily recommended in an article on CTās website.
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Damn, you the man! We have a few similarities (mainly the beer and Canadian Whiskey).
Iāve been using Apple Cider Vinegar for the past couple of months. Initially just in the evening, then I added in a tablespoon in the morning as well. Not sure how useful it is since Iām not cutting, but in theory increased insulin sensitivity is a good thing regardless.
So 217 was your lifetime max? I guess I can expect to bulk up to at least that at some point in my life if I want to be a lean 190. Not anytime soon though since Iām already sitting at 200 without anywhere close to enough lean mass on me.
Have you looked much at CTās neuro typing articles? Whatās your take on them?
Seriously, thank you for that summary. Iām sure Iāll have more questions to badger you as I go.
Iāve started to actually enjoy drinking the Apple cider vinegar mixed with water at work after my coffee. Kind of has a cleansing taste to it, if that makes sense.
The greens, sodium bicarbonate and psyllium fibre mixture I make in the morning is pretty awful to choke down.
Yes, 217 is my lifetime max weight. I finished high school around 185lbs.
I have briefly looked at the neurotyping articles. Just at a quick glance it looks like Iām mainly Type 1. Some of the description I swear he is talking about me but other aspects arenāt quite fitting. I havenāt invested much time or thought into it though, tbh.
No problem man! I also forgot to mention that Iām currently doing a more traditional 5 day BB split at the moment working around a knee injury. Hitting back, shoulders and hamstrings twice a week.
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Funny, seems just like astrology signs.
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Same except for type three instead of one.
Ya a few people have been pretty critical of his recent articles comparing them to astrology/witchcraft.
CT is an author who I do really enjoy the work of, so Iām not so quick to dismiss this concept. He has some great info on his website, and I enjoyed his book with Paul Carter āMaximum Muscle Bibleā. I havenāt looked into neurotyping enough to be sold on it but Iām willing to give him the benefit of the doubt here.
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Iām gone for a couple days and all hell breaks loose! Eāerybody hide yoā wife, hide yoā kids! We got a shredded Canadian on the loose!
Nicely done, man, thatās a fantastic transformation plus solid numbers. (And no, Iām not jealous, at allā¦why do you ask?! Seems like a weird questionā¦)
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DAMN BRO! Looking great man, crazy progress!
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@Despade - Haha, well now that winter is over I can finally shed my extra insulation! Thanks man.
@robstein - Thank you, and I appreciate all your help along the way!
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People are stupid. Looking at dopamine, seratonin, and the other stuff is pretty forward thinking. Outside of that I canāt believe so many people are freaking out about psychology playing a role in your success.
Itās no different than a personality test that tells you which traits you exhibit for the work environment. Some people are leaders, some organized, etc.
The bottom line is that if you donāt enjoy your training, nutrition, etc then you wonāt succeed in the long run. CT is trying to help people find their optimal training style without investing years of training to figure it out on their own.
Itās new and scary. Letās not forget the audience - - meat heads may not always be the smartest people in the room. A lot of us study and take this seriously but this siteās forum has daily evidence that weāre the exception instead of the rule.
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He has given out tons of wonderful free info, and I definitely respect that. I just think people already gravitate towards what they like to do programming wise, especially if they have made any sort of progress. If they didnāt enjoy their style of training, I doubt they would have trained consistently enough to progress.
Looking like a beast man! Hopefully one day my upper body will look something like yours lol.
How many meals do you eat daily?
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Thanks man!
I actually only eat 3 planned meals a day, but I snack throughout.
A typical day will look something like this:
Breakfast ~6:30am: Omelette with bagel
Snack at work ~9:30am: Almonds
Lunch ~11am: Meat/Veggies and sometimes a carb source (rice/potato/bread/pasta)
Snack when I get home ~4pm (pre-workout): Banana and peanut butter, Finibar, protein shake, Plazma (any or all of these)
Post workout ~6:30pm: Protein shake, banana and peanut butter, granola bar, candy/chocolate.
Dinner ~7pm: Meat/Veggies and sometimes a carb source
Snack ~10pm: Banana and peanut butter (often just peanut butter), Protein Pudding, Protein mug cake, Protein ice cream, etc.
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Yep. When I read the articles and decided which type I was it was more like finding an explanation for why I prefer certain rep schemes and loads. I didnāt need to know I was Type 1 to realize that I donāt like going over 5 or 6 reps on big movements.
But I still enjoy reading new stuff. Iām definitely not going to set my hair on fire and start screaming "DEVIL! " in the forum if I donāt like what I read.
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Nice man. You on the same lines as me, except I donāt snack as much.
How much PB do you eat daily? Just a few spoonfuls??
Same. I like CTās work. I donāt agree with all of it, but I also see heās put a lot of logical thought and observation into what he writes.