well, done cook, its gonna be quite the transformation once youre done.
Got about 2 weeks left of this 6 month project. It will be 6 month 2-22-07.
Whatever.
Been watching this thread for a bit. Seriously, some very nice and noticable gains since you started. Great job! I am in my 6th week of a TBT (newb to lifting) and this thread provides motivation seeing the gains you’ve made.
Questions: I read you are taking BCAA’s and protein. I was going to order BCAA’s myself and give those a shot (getting ready to come off of HRX). Any feedback while on them? How long have you used them and your protocol?
Also, did you at some time take HRX for fat loss? Or was that composition change due to striclty diet, lifting and BCAA?
Thanks and I will be following this thread.
[quote]tiggo25 wrote:
Questions: I read you are taking BCAA’s and protein. I was going to order BCAA’s myself and give those a shot (getting ready to come off of HRX). Any feedback while on them? How long have you used them and your protocol?
Also, did you at some time take HRX for fat loss? Or was that composition change due to striclty diet, lifting and BCAA?
Thanks and I will be following this thread.[/quote]
Hello my friend, and thank you for your kind words.
I was taking BCAA up until mid-late December, then I stopped. I just didn’t see a difference when taking them, so I saw no reason to continue taking them. I guess some people notice a difference in gains when taking them. I also feel my Surge has plenty of BCAA for my workout, and when I eat later I can add a serving of whey to add the BCAA.
I do drink protein, whey and Metabolic Drive - low carb. I take the whey from time to time to supplement my protein intake, normally with a meal, but sometimes 2 servings with some nuts to go along with it as a MRP.
Metabolic Drive I take sometimes before bed, or as a meal replacement when I cannot stop to eat. If I feel my stomach is not full enough to get me through the night, I will toss back some Metabolic Drive; 1-2 scoops depending on how I feel. I try to eat real food for the most part. I try to make sure I do not overeat, and I do not go around feeling hungry to too long, mostly by feel.
As for HOT-ROX, I did take them for a while. I noticed significant energy and mood elevation, but i did not notice an increase in fat loss. So, I stopped taking the HOT-ROX religiously for fat loss, and started taking it for when I felt lethargic, or needed to perform at my best. Some people note a signifcant increase in fat loss while taking HOT-ROX.
I hope that answers your questions.
Pete,
Just wanted to say, Nice Work.
Keep on truckin’.
-New2
[quote]new2training wrote:
Pete,
Just wanted to say, Nice Work.
Keep on truckin’.
-New2[/quote]
Thanks dude. I have been feeling a bit down and appreciate you taking the time to say something.
Jesus Pete…not too bad.
Nice work.
Wow, man. I’ve been following this thread and I’m truly impressed! Keep it up!
[quote]Petedacook wrote:
Got about 2 weeks left of this 6 month project. It will be 6 month 2-22-07. [/quote]
Pete,
Great fucking work man…In just about 6 months you definetly transformed your body…Keep up the good work, ur abs are even showing!!
Looking strong, man.
Just picked up this thread. SERIOUS props to Mr. Pete. Way to lay it on the line, there, man! What a transformation. I sure as hell don’t have the stones to post progress pics, and I consider myself to be in pretty good shape.
I bet we’d all make better progress (and maybe a few less wild claims about our lifts/measurements/BF%?) if we laid it on the line in this way.
Nice testament to t-living! Cheers for Pete!
DF
Nice job Pete. Quite a transformation.
Just think what you would look like had you followed TBT! (j/k)
[quote]Avoids Roids wrote:
Nice job Pete. Quite a transformation.
Just think what you would look like had you followed TBT! (j/k)[/quote]
LOL
I had not thought of that 
Holy cow! What a great transformation. This has been an inspiring thread (I discovered it only a couple of weeks ago).
I hate to ask you for this, but, as you approach the end of this 6-month project, could you sum it up in one info-packed narrative including things like how many times per day or per week you worked out, and how long per workout? How much cardio, if any? Cardio at the beginning or end? What were the exercises you did? Which ones worked and which ones lacked (such as, for example, your one message where you talked about starting dead-lifts and altering your squat form)?
And, importantly, what was your diet and supplementation during this period? Did you just kind of “wing it” with food keeping mental tabs of what you were eating based on past experience? Or, did you count grams of protein and calories and schedule your eating? What supplements did you take, and on what schedule?
These are the pain-in-the-ass questions of an amateur who would like to improve his fitness level through weight-lifting. I am a fat-fortified 235-pounder who’d like to “get into it” to try to improve matters in this diabetes and heart disease filled world.
Lastly - could you describe “intensity”? I often read weightlifters talking about “intense” workouts, or increasing intensity. Is this a state of mind (like performing each rep more “enthusiastically”) or can it be quantified in some way (like getting X reps completed within a fewer number of seconds than before)?
Again - a huge congratulations to you. Even though the time period isn’t over yet, I’d say you have already hugely succeeded based on the pictures you’ve posted in this thread.
[quote]jgundrey wrote:
Holy cow! What a great transformation. This has been an inspiring thread (I discovered it only a couple of weeks ago).
I hate to ask you for this, but, as you approach the end of this 6-month project, could you sum it up in one info-packed narrative including things like how many times per day or per week you worked out, and how long per workout? How much cardio, if any? Cardio at the beginning or end? What were the exercises you did? Which ones worked and which ones lacked (such as, for example, your one message where you talked about starting dead-lifts and altering your squat form)?
And, importantly, what was your diet and supplementation during this period? Did you just kind of “wing it” with food keeping mental tabs of what you were eating based on past experience? Or, did you count grams of protein and calories and schedule your eating? What supplements did you take, and on what schedule?
These are the pain-in-the-ass questions of an amateur who would like to improve his fitness level through weight-lifting. I am a fat-fortified 235-pounder who’d like to “get into it” to try to improve matters in this diabetes and heart disease filled world.
Lastly - could you describe “intensity”? I often read weightlifters talking about “intense” workouts, or increasing intensity. Is this a state of mind (like performing each rep more “enthusiastically”) or can it be quantified in some way (like getting X reps completed within a fewer number of seconds than before)?
Again - a huge congratulations to you. Even though the time period isn’t over yet, I’d say you have already hugely succeeded based on the pictures you’ve posted in this thread.[/quote]
Intensity is supposed to be percentage of 1RM
WOW.
First, thank you to everyone for your positive feedback. I appreciate you taking the time to acknowledge my effort.
jgundrey, These are some good questions you have posed. I was planning to put specifics on what I do at the end of this 6 month period. For now, I wil ltruncate with a synopsis.
I stepped into the gym knowing what has worked for me in the past, but quickly found myself questioning it and trying new things. One thing that I tried and struggled with was intensity.
Some seem to define intensity as less time between sets, or more volume, etc… Other people define it as pushing to failure and beyond.
For me, intensity means lifting high weight, low reps to failure, and beyond. Pushing past the brain telling you it hurts too much and you cant lift it. Ignore the signals and push the weight anyhow, with all your might and will. And after you get that perfect form rep out that was nearly impossible, cheat the weight up again using poor form, body motion, whatever, and let it down slow, as slow as you can, feeling the burn. Add a giant set if I feel springy at that point.
After reading some of Chad’s stuff, as well as other stuff, I found myself questioning training to failure. So I stopped for a while, and trained to near failure except on the last set per exercise. I decreased rest time between sets, and pushed fatigue instead of failure (they are different to me). I found my gains slowed down. Allowing my breathing and heart rate to return to near normal level before starting a new set is best for making gains for me.
I threw out what had me questioning my training, and went back to what worked for me in the past, pain, among other things.
I will post a more descriptive narrative to all the intricacies of my workout, lifts, supplements, diet, etc., at the end of this project.
I might add that I try to keep it simple. I do not see novice bodybuilding as scientific as some people make it out to be. Example, I “wing” my diet. I do not do a macro nutrient breakdown, and I do not count calories.
I try to gauge what I eat so that I get 20-40 grams of lean protein per meal, carbs are kept to a minimum. If I question the amount of protein in what i am eating, I use the USRDA calculator to get the breakdown. I eat when I get hungry and I eat enough to make sure I get hungry every 2-3 hours. If I eat and I am not hungry for 4-5 hours, then I know I ate too much during the last feeding and correct that portion in the future. When I get hungry, I make sure to eat right away. I consider myself gifted in that I can eat a very boring diet and it will not bother me much. Sure, I get urges, and I cheat, but I try to keep the cheating down to 10% of my meals per week.
My biggest asset was having been this size before, and having done this before. My biggest pitfall was questioning what I know works for me.
Thanks again everyone. Stay tuned if you are interested in the end result.
Thanks Bro! Keep up the hard work. Looking forward to see the end result of your efforts.
Was the competition tossed out the window? I don’t think I’ve seen many posts from your challenger.
Hey, Pete! February 22 has come - and gone. I know the competition aspect of this thread sort of dissolved early on. But you documented progress was killer! What what’s the endgame? Pix? Summary? Any lessons learned or pontificating you’d care to share?