I like to set a low bar
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Great way to always be a winner 
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These are the wisdoms us fathers are uniquely positioned to pass to the next generation.
On another note: Biotest is letting me try some supplements (again, because they’re super cool and I’m a talented imposter). I’m already a fan of intraworkout carbs, so I’ll be trying the new SWF. Is there anything you folks are interested in hearing my experience on.
I recently had a physical with labs, so my comparison plan right now is:
- SWF. I have used the old formula, but lately have been doing Gatorade or orange juice. I will report back if this keeps my underwear safer and/ or has impacts on my blood sugar.
- Flameout. I already use fish oil. I’m hopeful this is higher quality and will positively impact my HDL.
- I-Well. There’s some general goodness in here. The curcumin and D3 could positively impact a couple markers, but I’m just curious in general on this one.
I want to give this batch a couple months to see what it does, and then I’ll redo my labs. Is there anything that would be useful to folks on the next run?
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Chest & Shoulders
Normally after I’m on the road for a few days, I can’t wait to do legs. I’m still struggling on stairs, though!
- 5-minute bike
-
Incline DB Press
35/20
50/12
60/8
70/8
90/8
100/8
It’s probably time for me to go heavier -
Incline
45/10
135/10
155/10
175/10
Shoulder felt weird so I chilled out and just did 135 for a set of a bunch -
Machine Press
25 total reps -
Machine Flye
3 sets of 10 + 6 partials -
Rear Delt Machine
25, 20, 15, 9 -
DB Side Raise
4 sets of 10 -
DB Front Raise
4 x 10
Took a couple conference call walks today trying to loosen up after driving home last night. It is not working!
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Back for back, team superhero!
- 5 minutes bike
-
DB Row
55/10
65/10
75/10
85/10
95/10
105/10 -
Pulldowns
145/8 x 2
165/8 x 2 -
DB Pullovers
55/12 x 3 -
One-arm BB Row
50/8 x 2
50/6 x 2
These were freaking tough this late in the workout -
Banded Hypers
3 sets
So I’m thinking I’ll try Unity with SWF. I haven’t been able to totally finish this program with just Gatorade and whatnot, so if I can get through it that’s a pretty good testimonial for SWF. I’m willing to let myself gain a little weight as well.
I’ll do arms and some cardio tomorrow, then likely jump in on Sunday so I can get a day ahead (I’m traveling at least a day or two a week right now).
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Gun show today:
For cardio, I wanted to get @Dani_Shugart level fit, so I mowed and did yard work until I started sneezing.
I also took the kids to the pool to show off my NFL level Nerf ball throwing skills. I expect a call any day now - there’s still time to get me into camp!
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Definitely trying that arm workout!!!
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It’s Christmas!
Ok, ladies and gentlemen… actually, I know my wife doesn’t read this, so I’m being extraordinarily generous to myself with the plural “ladies.” It’s my log, though, so we’re sticking with it. Anyhow, let’s get into the plan.
In case anyone new reads this and actually cares, I’ll give a brief background on me. This is really just to set the stage for the experiment so you can decide what applies to you.
- I had a broad, if unremarkable, athletic background. I was a 4-sport athlete in high school and saw the field (however briefly, not important!) for two D1 sports. I can go into any of this is anyone cares, but I never was a threat to play anything at a higher level nor did I really deserve to do anything in college.
- I was then in the Army for several years. The reason I’m so hard on all the “I want to win a D1 scholarship and go to SF selection and gain 40 pounds to look good at the beach in the next two months before I graduate” is because I was an infantry guy that went through a lot of these schools and led the basic for all the infantry/ ranger/ SF contracts. I have some familiarity with what these different things take and it does require you to be serious.
- I’m now a 40-year-old corporate person with two kids and a wife of 14 years, whom are the most important thing to me, who travels for work. I’ve had multiple back and knee surgeries, and some other odds and ends. The only point being, my goals are decidedly not to be a great athlete nor to “do whatever it takes” - I’m not willing to make the sacrifices. I do like to work really hard in the gym - it’s cathartic for me.
- Meadows’ programs really resonate for me and I really liked the man. We weren’t friends, but I did get to meet him a handful of times and he would always respond to emails/ messages; I appreciated his outlook and I can push hard on his stuff without heading back to the OR. I’ve been eating consistently enough and doing his programs pretty exclusively for the last 5 or so years, to the point where we can consider these variables relatively controlled.
- I am on the business strategy side of healthcare, which both means I like to pretend I’m as smart as a physician, which I’m not, and I’m going to write out my experiment as if it meets publication criteria, which it won’t.
Anyone still with me?? Ok, here we go.
I have tried the Meadows/ Tate Unity program a couple times in the past and not been able to complete it. I usually start wearing out after 3-4 weeks and then I’m totally done by week 6 (if I made it that far). I’m going to be using Surge Workout Fuel and starting Unity again today; if I make it through, that’s a pretty good testament to the product.
Overall, let’s look at the following:
We want to make it through Unity using Surge Workout Fuel. I have been using intraworkout carbs for years, but recently only the cheaper versions (gatorade, etc.). I think that makes this a great experiment; if I notice a difference, it’s the product and not just the calories.
I track my bloodwork pretty religiously (I’ve got some cardiac abnormalities). I take fish oil, but I’m trying Flameout now. If we see an improvement in my HDL, I think we can say Flameout is a higher quality product. I’m also hoping to see some positive improvements in my hematocrit and eGFR because these numbers are very hydration-dependent. I frequently have trouble with staying hydrated (likely travel-related), so it would be cool to see if Surge Workout Fuel can impact this. This is a lower importance, though.
The wild card in this mix is I-Well. It should have general benefits on markers of inflammation, but I don’t have one lab value I want to target and decide if it’s working. I’ll likely have to just watch and see that one.
So, in the short-term, the goals are:
- Get through Unity - tests Surge Workout Fuel
- Labwork results - tests Surge Workout Fuel, Flameout, perhaps I-Well
In the longer-term, I know my weight is 192 when I get “beach lean” (I realize I’m never stage ready) - this is relatively lean, though, with lower ab veins and whatnot. This has been consistent the last 3 years. What I’d like to do is run alternating strength/ hypertrophy programs until around March of next year and then start dieting down. If I’m able to get to the same visual effect at a higher weight, we’ll be able to say I added lean tissue at the age of 40/ 41. Considering I haven’t done so since 37, that would be a big win as well.
Sorry for the book. I’m really hoping this is helpful for someone. If there’s something that can help point anyone in the right direction or serve as an experiment you’re on the fence about, please let me know. At the very least, we’ve all joined together to do curls and read Bernard Cornwell… except for that one dude in Scotland, I lost him to the dark side of burpees; we still like him, though.
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It’s going to be a wild ride, @TrainForPain. Excited to see how this goes for you!
I really appreciated this part, and you win a genuine LOL from me.
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I’d be content for the rest of my days if my T-Nation legacy was Uhtred and biceps… and @rugby_lifting even found the joy of MD training.
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Ok, day 1 of 45 down.
DE Squats
- 5 minutes bike
-
Lying Leg Curl
40/15
65/12
95/6
110/10 + 80/10 + 10 partials
I am really trying to focus on muscular contraction on these vs just flexing at the knees -
DE Box Squats
Box just below parallel - I think this height was about perfect
45/6
135/5
225/2
235/2 x 10 with 30s breaks -
Leg Press
2pps/6
4pps/6
6pps/ 10 x 2
Feet narrow and low-ish on these -
Hypers
35/8
45/8
60/8 -
Decline Leg Raise
BW/10
BW/10
BW/6 -
Smith Calf Raise
135/6
185/10
205/10
225/10
25 tibia raises in between
- Cardio: Bike x Bob’s Burgers
Overall, not bad. I’m definitely a little weak right now, but that’s on me - I’ve been all cardio-focused.
I will say the Surge Workout Fuel had a 10/10 underpants safety score vs Gatorade. You can’t put a price on that. Actually, you can and Fruit of the Loom does. We’ll see how this holds up on ME day.
It’s just one day, and this isn’t a problem day for me, so we’ll save any energy judgments for later. I didn’t skip calves when someone was using the dedicated machine, so that’s a positive indicator.
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Great work in here!
LMAOOOOOO
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Thanks!
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Great post TFP and its going to be cool to see how you go through the next couple of months. Just cause I am to lazy to google and not smart enough to find the right one, do you have a link or breakdown of the program. Not looking for %'s or anything but What is the basic layout etc.
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Your wish is my command:
It is extraordinarily high volume. It feels like you start with a conjugate day and then, where you would normally add a couple assistance moves, you do a full Mountain Dog day.
The DE work is low percentage: like 50-55% with short rest and ramps up the number of sets quickly. The ME focuses more on 3RM than 1.
It’s a fun way to train, I am soaked with sweat every time, but I do tend to crash. After the DE days I get really sleepy, and after the ME days I’m just beat up.
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I’ve been reading Bernard Cornwell for the last 20 years or so!!! I’m loving this bromance of meadows and Cornwell
Interested with your take on surge but also your view on intra carbs in general.
I struggle with carb timing and actually making them useful rather than an annoyance that I never quite nail.
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You were way ahead of me on the Cornwell train!
Perhaps this log has become home of the… Corndogs?
I realize the rest of the world tragically does not have this American delicacy, but it is my sincere hope that the joke at least lands.
Anyway, I’ve used intraworkout carbs off and on for years; usually closer to 25g than the 38g in this current batch. I tried Anaconda and used the old Surge Workout Fuel several times in the past. I’ll then go through periods of heavier travel or whatever and start sliding to Gatorade (usually, I even ran with OJ for a little while) and I do notice a difference. This will be the first time I really try to document that difference with the program as the variable, though.
I typically lift in the mornings, and carb timing annoys me a bit too. The intra really helps me here, because I seriously worry about nothing. I drink a cup of coffee on the way to the gym, and drink the drink while I’m going, and that’s it.
The only thing that I ever had trouble with when I first started using intraworkout carbs was my waistline, but I wasn’t accounting for them. So I would drink those, then leave a bunch of carbs in my other meals, then also eat fats because I wanted to get lean so that made sense for some reason. I have since gotten pretty lean twice using the old Surge Workout Fuel and once using a different product. A very loose meal timing really did seem to help me here:
- Workout: Intra
- Breakfast: P + C + 10g F (so like egg whites, turkey sausage and grits)
- Lunch: P + F (salad with chicken)
- Snack: Eh (this one is optional and can be either whey or a piece of fruit or whatever. I almost never had this because I wanted a larger dinner)
- Dinner: P + C + 20g F (steak and baked potato, something like that. This bigger meal helps me sleep)
I do legitimately notice two things when taking an intra:
- I’m still “in it” at the end of my workout vs phoning it in. Typically with some of the higher volume days I just don’t care by the time I get to the later stuff, probably because I’m fatigued. I do much better here with the carbs.
- I don’t have to force myself as badly to go to the gym at the end of the week. Once the work week starts catching up and I’m sore from whatever I already worked, I have to drag myself out of bed. That is reduced when I was drinking the intra for those earlier-week workouts.
That was probably a longer novel than you wanted, but writing it out was helpful for me.
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Good luck with that, but I’m sure you can do it! The ME leg days are so brutal…
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Absolute torture!
Thanks man!
I’ve found that the perfect pre-workout snack is a PB&J - I slam an Uncrustable anywhere from 60-90 mins pre-workout and it has done me well. I also try to eat the majority of my carbs during lunch - which is a few hours before I train. Avoiding carbs after training has helped me stave off unnecessary calories.
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