Freak's Training Log

[genetic freak]

Had my final visit with the cardiologist yesterday and everything looks perfect. Even though my troponin levels were elevated to the point it showed I had a heart attack back in June, the doctor said there is no other sign that shows that and concluded the intensity of my training during prep was high enough that it likely caused the elevated CK (close to rhabdo) and troponin levels, causing my heart to race which gave a false indication of a heart attack.

What does that mean? I have been holding back up to this point. Time to step it up another gear.

RDLs 475 lbs x 9 (I used the kilogram plates, so I had no idea how much weight was on there until I totaled it up at the end. 30 more lbs than last session and an extra rep. Sometimes it is good not knowing how much you are lifting.)
Barbell hack squats 210 lbs x 15 (I was trying something new. My hamstrings and ass get in the way, so I moved on to machine hack squats.)
Hack squats 7 pps x 8 (Patella was not happy when I was done, but it felt just fine with the double ply knee sleeves when I was doing it.)
Kick backs 7 plates x 13
Seated leg curls 130 lbs x 7/110 lbs x 6/90 lbs x 5 (Drop set. I wanted to do a rest pause set, but my hamstrings were pretty smoked by the time I got to 130 lbs.)
Smith Machine sissy hack squats 185 lbs x 17 (I seen Scott Stevenson do these on Muscle Minds and wanted to give them a try. The gym's smith machine doesn't go all the way to the floor, so I was standing on a ply box that wasn't tall enough. I will get a taller box next time and bring the weight down a bit.)
Smith Machine standing calf raises 135 lbs x 25 (Not a lot of weight, but I stand on a 45 bumper and let my heels go all the way to the floor with each rep. Nice and slow. I do not bounce. People ask, how do I get my calves so big, this is how. BTW there are a couple guys at the gym with even better calves than me. What do they do for calves? Exactly the same thing. Stop loading it up and bouncing.)

 

[Yano]

Had my final visit with the cardiologist yesterday and everything looks perfect. Even though my troponin levels were elevated to the point it showed I had a heart attack back in June, the doctor said there is no other sign that shows that and concluded the intensity of my training during prep was high enough that it likely caused the elevated CK (close to rhabdo) and troponin levels, causing my heart to race which gave a false indication of a heart attack.

What does that mean? I have been holding back up to this point. Time to step it up another gear.

RDLs 475 lbs x 9 (I used the kilogram plates, so I had no idea how much weight was on there until I totaled it up at the end. 30 more lbs than last session and an extra rep. Sometimes it is good not knowing how much you are lifting.)
Barbell hack squats 210 lbs x 15 (I was trying something new. My hamstrings and ass get in the way, so I moved on to machine hack squats.)
Hack squats 7 pps x 8 (Patella was not happy when I was done, but it felt just fine with the double ply knee sleeves when I was doing it.)
Kick backs 7 plates x 13
Seated leg curls 130 lbs x 7/110 lbs x 6/90 lbs x 5 (Drop set. I wanted to do a rest pause set, but my hamstrings were pretty smoked by the time I got to 130 lbs.)
Smith Machine sissy hack squats 185 lbs x 17 (I seen Scott Stevenson do these on Muscle Minds and wanted to give them a try. The gym's smith machine doesn't go all the way to the floor, so I was standing on a ply box that wasn't tall enough. I will get a taller box next time and bring the weight down a bit.)
Smith Machine standing calf raises 135 lbs x 25 (Not a lot of weight, but I stand on a 45 bumper and let my heels go all the way to the floor with each rep. Nice and slow. I do not bounce. People ask, how do I get my calves so big, this is how. BTW there are a couple guys at the gym with even better calves than me. What do they do for calves? Exactly the same thing. Stop loading it up and bouncing.)

That's great news man , Glad to hear your mended up and ready to smash !

 

[genetic freak]

Going back to Fortitude Training. My joints are killing from the DC training. It sucks getting old. All working sets for each exercise were completed with a 90 second break between. I was trying to go to 2-3 RIR in the first set, 1 RIR in the second set and to failure on the last set, hoping it was the same number of reps as the first. Not quite, but still working on it.

V-grip pull downs - 230 lbs x 8/8/7
Incline bench press - 275 lbs x 10/10/8
W presses - 50 lbs x 8/8 (I decided to forgo the last set, as my shoulder was aching pretty bad.)
Cable rear delt fly - 30 lbs x 12
Nautilus pec dec - 125 lbs x 11
TKO chest press shrugs - 190 lbs x 15 (I have no idea what the arms weigh. This is just the weight I had on there.)
Barbell rows - 275 lbs x 12/225 lbs x 13 (For the heavy back exercises, I only do a top set and back off set. There is too much fatigue trying to row your top weight for three sets.)

Followed this up with a pump set of 15-30 reps for leg press, seated leg curls, rope extensions and spider curls.

 

[cockswole_gentleman]

Had my final visit with the cardiologist yesterday and everything looks perfect. Even though my troponin levels were elevated to the point it showed I had a heart attack back in June, the doctor said there is no other sign that shows that and concluded the intensity of my training during prep was high enough that it likely caused the elevated CK (close to rhabdo) and troponin levels, causing my heart to race which gave a false indication of a heart attack.

What does that mean? I have been holding back up to this point. Time to step it up another gear.

RDLs 475 lbs x 9 (I used the kilogram plates, so I had no idea how much weight was on there until I totaled it up at the end. 30 more lbs than last session and an extra rep. Sometimes it is good not knowing how much you are lifting.)
Barbell hack squats 210 lbs x 15 (I was trying something new. My hamstrings and ass get in the way, so I moved on to machine hack squats.)
Hack squats 7 pps x 8 (Patella was not happy when I was done, but it felt just fine with the double ply knee sleeves when I was doing it.)
Kick backs 7 plates x 13
Seated leg curls 130 lbs x 7/110 lbs x 6/90 lbs x 5 (Drop set. I wanted to do a rest pause set, but my hamstrings were pretty smoked by the time I got to 130 lbs.)
Smith Machine sissy hack squats 185 lbs x 17 (I seen Scott Stevenson do these on Muscle Minds and wanted to give them a try. The gym's smith machine doesn't go all the way to the floor, so I was standing on a ply box that wasn't tall enough. I will get a taller box next time and bring the weight down a bit.)
Smith Machine standing calf raises 135 lbs x 25 (Not a lot of weight, but I stand on a 45 bumper and let my heels go all the way to the floor with each rep. Nice and slow. I do not bounce. People ask, how do I get my calves so big, this is how. BTW there are a couple guys at the gym with even better calves than me. What do they do for calves? Exactly the same thing. Stop loading it up and bouncing.)

That's good news! I'm learning about troponin levels right now as my mother ended up in the hospital yesterday with what they called a non ekg altering heart attack.

Love how you do the calf training! Way too much half rep bouncing out there.

 

[genetic freak]

RDLs 420 lbs x 8/8/7 (2 minutes rest between sets. RDLs take too much out of you get away with 90 seconds.)
Leg press 10 pps x 8/8/14 (90 second rest between sets. I underestimated how many I would get on the final set. I should have done 10 reps a set.)
Adductor 125 lbs x 15 (4 count eccentric, 2 count hold)
Close grip bench press 275 lbs x 8/8/8 (90 seconds rest between sets.)
Cable curls 35 lbs x 8/8/10 (45 seconds rest between sets.)
Seated calf extensions 185 lbs x 15 (Slow and steady, full ROM.)

I was supposed to some pump work for the rest of my muscle groups, but I did way too many warm up sets for RDLs and Leg Press and just ran out of time. Actually, it was probably better, as I feel wrecked right now.

 

[genetic freak]

Muscle round day! For those who do not know, a muscle round is performing 5-6 rounds in a set with 6 deep breaths between each round. Usually, you pick a weight you can perform 10-15 times continuously (really depends on the exercise) and do 4-6 reps for 5-6 rounds. If you chose the correct weight you should fail on the last round with the with the same number of reps as the first round.

Lat rows 80 lbs x 5/5/5/5/7
Smith incline press 275 lbs x 4/4/4/4/4/4 (Shoulder was killing me, but I endured. The last rep of the final round probably took 4-5 seconds to lockout.)
Hypertrophy coach laterals 30 lbs x 14
Cable rear delt fly 25 lbs x 8 (My shoulders were so pumped at this point I could barely move my arms.)
Behind the back shrugs 185 lbs x 24
Iso lateral row 5 pps x 13/3 pps x 15
W overhead press 50 lbs x 10

A pump set for triceps, biceps, hamstrings and quads.

 

[Kluso]

Second day of training with my gym bro. Actually, it was gym bros. I was pleasantly surprised when I showed up that all the Strongman competitors were there to do some pulling. I have no idea how many pulls we did, but it was a lot.

Deadlifts 601 lbs x 1 (This went up so easy, I could have easily put on another 50 lbs. The guys were trying to get me to add another 25 kg plate to each side and give it a go, but I still needed to train. This was just for fun and it was only my second pulling session in a long time. The goal was 600 lbs and mission was accomplished.)
Lat rows 70 lbs x 15 (My lats were pretty much destroyed before I started. Haha)
Chest supported rear delt fly 20 lbs x 12
Cable hammer curl 40 lbs x 10
Cable bicep curl 140 lbs x 10 (I usually do single arms for cables, but I wanted to get these over quickly.)
Bent over dumbbell row 120 lbs x 8 (Both arms at the same time.)
DC rows 80 lbs x 10

I don't think I am training legs this week. I might go in for a little pump work, but no real training. I have labs on Tuesday next week and I am sick of hearing my PCM freak out when my creatinine and liver enzymes are high. If I stop taking creatine and don't train for the week, I am usually in the normal range.

GF, my last labs I said fuck it and kept the creatine in. For me I don’t think it has ever made a difference. This last one my creatinine was good, well better @ 1.24. Gfr was 71 and CystatinC was 0.80. Just from being 10 lbs lighter and on just trt. Think my AAS use has the biggest impact but maybe my overall bodyweight too? I don’t think I have lost any muscle size though and back is honestly bigger being 10lbs less. Liver enzymes too. Back down in low 30s. And how close to being on cycle I was. I was 1.7 creatinine on last test and liver enzymes elevated and that was two weeks after dropping cycle so basically still on but dbol should have been out of system. And that was first run of dbol in awhile and they were elevated last cycle too on no orals. They did an ultrasound about two months before last bloodwork and said my liver was fatty and 21cm which is pretty large for a liver. I just wonder if it was enlarged from the dbol still and not actually fatty but the tester lady said it was fatty. So 2 month later you’re telling me my liver enzymes are good now? I don’t have fatty liver anymore? Yeah right. Something doesn’t add up. Seems like every time I run insulin too. Even if just 10ius log 3 days a week I get bad liver enzymes too. Might be a factor. Seemed to all start with bad liver enzymes when I started using Lantis awhile back. Sorry for the ramble.

 

[Kluso]

How did those labs go anyways?

 

[genetic freak]

How did those labs go anyways?

Everything was good except for RBC/HCT/hemoglobin, which were a lot higher than I like. I usually run around 54-55 on TRT, but I was over 58 HCT. Even on citrus bergamot and nattokinaise. It is entirely my fault though. I like Grape Nuts cereal and I forgot how much iron is it, as much as a 12 oz steak. I have a serving a day and on high carb days, I might have 2-3 servings with my Greek yogurt. I really have to limit my iron intake when taking test. Contacted the Red Cross about giving power reds and they don't want my blood type... It was funny, because the doc was freaking out and I told them I knew it was high because I could feel it. They asked how, I told them it is like being an old diesel truck. When your blood gets thick, it is hard to get moving, but when you do, there is no stopping you. Anyways, I told them I have been as high as 60 before, so don't stress.

Even though my TRT dose only places me in the upper 800's, I am going to lower it and add in masteron 1:1. Masteron doesn't thicken my blood at all. Even if my total test comes down, my free test will go up with the added masteron.

Creatinine is always above the normal, but 1.4 is not bad considering my lean body mass is right around 195 lbs. Liver enzymes were all normal.

Estrogen was above normal, but not concerning. I actually prefer it being in the 60-80 range. I grow better, heal faster, IGF-1 levels are a lot higher and I don't have any side effects at this range other than a little water retention that goes away with just .5 mg of a-dex.

As far as your numbers are concerned. Anytime you are on cycle you are going to have a higher rate of protein turnover, so your creatinine is going to be elevated. Let's say you were running 500 mg of test a week and dropped down to just TRT 4 weeks before labs, you still are not going to be back down to TRT levels of testosterone concentration in your blood unless you were running prop.

The reason your liver enzymes suck on lantis is because you are storing more glycogen. Your liver is as full as it is going to get. If you were to go on a glycogen depleting diet leading up to your ultra sound it would likely show a smaller liver and your labs would probably be even better. However, your BUN would be high and they would probably think your kidneys were failing, so you would have to explain that.

 

[Kluso]

That makes a lot of sense man. Kinda what I was thinking also. You would think that the person reviewing the ultrasound would be able to tell if it was enlarged from being fatty or from glycogen storage but maybe that’s not easy to distinguish. And they are people and people make mistakes. I’m guessing they just assumed it was fatty because of the size. It would seem that regardless of why it’s enlarged it’s going to increase liver enzymes as well. Now I’m curious what exactly having high liver enzymes actually means. I mean if there’s more liver, size wise, maybe it’s going to make more enzymes and it’s totally normal when the liver is bigger. Could just be an indication of an enlarged liver but doesn’t actually mean damage. You would almost think if the liver was actually damaged it wouldn’t be able to make liver enzymes and they would actually be low. I curious now. About the actual biology of it all.

1.4 creatinine is a good for you, isn’t it? Did you stop the creatine this time? They still won’t do a cystatinC test? Have you gotten one from a private lab to see where you’re at? Unfortunately both times I did get the cystatinC test my creatinine was good also. I want to see if it’s still good when my creatinine in high and eGFR is low. I forgot to ask for it the last one that was bad.

I did similar to my trt about 2 months ago. Changed trt from 150mg test a week to 100mg test/ 50mg mast. Less bloat and feel better actually. It’s been 4 or 5 months on trt and I’m getting the itch to go back on already. Might do a little 6 week blast at around 600mg total with some npp I have sitting around. But I know I should wait longer just to make sure I’m healthy. I always stay on too long or longer than I plan too. Not good at our age.

 

[genetic freak]

That makes a lot of sense man. Kinda what I was thinking also. You would think that the person reviewing the ultrasound would be able to tell if it was enlarged from being fatty or from glycogen storage but maybe that’s not easy to distinguish. And they are people and people make mistakes. I’m guessing they just assumed it was fatty because of the size. It would seem that regardless of why it’s enlarged it’s going to increase liver enzymes as well. Now I’m curious what exactly having high liver enzymes actually means. I mean if there’s more liver, size wise, maybe it’s going to make more enzymes and it’s totally normal when the liver is bigger. Could just be an indication of an enlarged liver but doesn’t actually mean damage. You would almost think if the liver was actually damaged it wouldn’t be able to make liver enzymes and they would actually be low. I curious now. About the actual biology of it all.

1.4 creatinine is a good for you, isn’t it? Did you stop the creatine this time? They still won’t do a cystatinC test? Have you gotten one from a private lab to see where you’re at? Unfortunately both times I did get the cystatinC test my creatinine was good also. I want to see if it’s still good when my creatinine in high and eGFR is low. I forgot to ask for it the last one that was bad.

I did similar to my trt about 2 months ago. Changed trt from 150mg test a week to 100mg test/ 50mg mast. Less bloat and feel better actually. It’s been 4 or 5 months on trt and I’m getting the itch to go back on already. Might do a little 6 week blast at around 600mg total with some npp I have sitting around. But I know I should wait longer just to make sure I’m healthy. I always stay on too long or longer than I plan too. Not good at our age.

Yeah, I don't bat an eye at 1.4. This was for my TRT doctor through Transcend, so they are much more aware of creatinine values and bodybuilders. They don't even bring up the possibility of impaired kidneys at that level. I did pull creatine about a week out, but I think it is only a minor impact. Training is the biggest thing for me. Doing all the rest pause, drop and widow maker sets are what drives mine up, even if I don't train for a week leading up to it. I did labs over the summer where I just did volume training with no sets to total failure and my creatinine came back at 1.03. I also pulled my own cystatin C test this summer right after coming off 450 mg a week of TMT and my eGFR came back as an 86, so there is no kidney damage. I sent those tests to my PCM. I should have put a note on it, suck my dick dumbass or something like that.

 

[genetic freak]

Muscle rounds for legs and arms. Well at least it was supposed to be for quads, but I wanted to try a new exercise and since I had no idea what weight I could do, I figured I would just do a top set and get a baseline for future reference.

Bar dips BW + 135 lbs x 5/5/5/5/2 (Shoulder was screaming during the warm ups and first round, but settled down a bit in rounds 2-5.)
Cable curl 120 lbs x 5/5/5/5/10 (I do these leaning slightly forward to take the delts and back out of it. So much harder than standing upright where you end up leaning back and cheating your biceps.)
Trap bar sissy squat 410 lbs x 8 (Elevate the heels and stand on a bumper plate to ensure the top of your quads are parallel to the floor. Keep the back straight up and down and let the quads do the work. Brutal.)
Adductor 110 lbs x 12 (4 count eccentric, 2 count hold)
Seated leg curl 130 lbs x 5/5/5/5/5 (Slow and controlled)
Machine calf extension 500 lbs x 8 (Slow and controlled, full ROM with a nice squeeze at the top.)

One set of pump work for back width, chest, rear delts, side delts, front delts, traps and back thickness.