Day 22: BECOME YOUR PASSION!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"If there is no passion in your life, then have you really lived? Find your passion, whatever it may be. Become it, and let it become you and you will find great things happen FOR you, TO you and BECAUSE of you." - Monica Brant


MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY

All That Remains - Hold On




TRAINING

V-Burn Challenge Circuit (no recovery between exercises; 1 minute recovery between rounds):
4 x rounds -
1. Jumping Split Squat x 10
2. Hand Walkout (from toes) x 10
3. Single-Leg Deadlift (with twist and lateral reach) x 10 per side
4. Push-Up (with alternate side rotation) x 10
5. Jumping Jacks x 10
6. Side Lunges (with over head reach) x 10 per side
7. Handstand Push-Up x 10
8. Squat Thrust (jump and reach) x 10

Stretch 23 min.


COMMENTS

Sleep - Time and Quality: Getting closer to what I want my sleeping schedule to be re bed and getting up.

Mood/Aggression: We have to take charge of our own destiny, yes, but I have to trust that God has a future for me in line with the one I want for myself!

Energy: I'm not as 'bouncy' as I have been re energy today - the heavy resistance training is catching up on me and the extra weight is actually having an effect.

Mental Focus and Clarity: Can't afford to clack off today, though.

Stress: Funny how some music can get you worked up and motivate your aggression for things like training, but then the exact same music can also help chill you the fcuk out - that's what hard rock/metal, etc. does for me at any rate, and right now I am listening to it to HELP calm me down and try to relax!

Libido: Rearing its demanding head.

Endurance: Ok.

Strength: Believe me when I say that those extra 10-15 pounds made a HUGE difference to my performance!

Quality of Training: I only did four rounds of the V-Burn Challenge Circuit today. Not only was my left ankle bothering me from yesterday, but both my wrists were suffering during Push-Ups. The Handstand Push-Ups are a b*tch, and I couldn't go all the way down on all of them. Next week, though, there can be NO excuses for not doing SEVEN rounds!

Recovery: Everything is catching up on me.

Other Notes: I will finish up my bottle of Slin-Sane today -yes I know, one bottle in a week; it's crazy! I've actually been having an extra dose than what I mentioned earlier, but that's fine - it has been a huge help over the last week.


FIT TIP OF THE DAY

If you want fat loss, then RESISTANCE TRAINING is the BEST type of training you can do! Cardio is NOT even necessary for fat loss (even though it has many benefits and can be used to get your caloric deficit, instead of doing it through lower caloric intake). The BEST way to achieve fat loss though, is through a COMBINATION of resistance training, cardio, AND flexibility (since you can't forget this - stretching is active recovery).

Review of Genomyx's Slin-Sane

I have finished one bottle of Slin-Sane and am going to use more. See why . . .


What is it?



* Enhances vasodilation and muscle pumps
* Elevates nitric oxide
* Drives nutrients into cells
* Stimulates insulin release, mimicks insulin and enhances insulin's endogenous effect
* Reduces fat gain and speeds up fat loss
* Regenerates pancreatic beta cells
* Supports healthy blood lipids

For the product write-up, please see Genomyx: Slin-Sane.


Taste: 10/10. Slin-Sane does not have a taste, nor does it leave an aftertaste - and I dosed it both with and without water.

Vascularity: 9/10. Vascularity has been pretty decent, especially since I have been eating a LOT of carbohydrates.

Pumps: 5/10. Pumps not so much.

NO Effects: 9/10. In conjunction with carbohydrate consumption, Slin-Sane worked a treat - interesting, since during my use of Slin-Sane, there were a few days where I used a NO product pre-training, and they did NOT produce anywhere near this (in fact, they had the OPPOSITE effect!)

Nutrient Repartitioning: 9/10. I definitely noticed if I did not eat within 15-20 minutes of dosing Slin-Sane. I was able to consume large quantities of food over a reasonable period of time (80-90 minutes of NON-STOP eating and shoveling the food in like there's no tomorrow) and not feel uncomfortable - more like my usual self before coming over to the US.

Body Composition and Look: N/A. Circumstances under which I used Slin-Sane were interesting - the first week was a week OFF training (with a couple of light training days) at MAINTENANCE calories (which is very high calories - ~4,300 daily - and high carbohydrates). I gained ~15 pounds in the first four days from food and water weight, but had lost most of it by the end of the first week. Since I have not used Slin-Sane for long enough during a normal period of training, I cannot comment here - aside from saying that despite my eating habits, after a week, there was no bloating or water retention, etc. the morning after a heavy meal (the bulk of my calories and carbohydrates have been eaten within 2-3 hours of passing out).

Blood Lipids: N/A. I have not had bloods done pre and post-Slin-Sane, so cannot comment here.

Side Effects: 10/10. Slin-Sane is recommended to be dosed at 1 cap pre-meal, generally no more than three times daily. I used 6 caps a day on average, and did not experience any insulin-like side effects.

Overall: 9/10. I was NOT using creatine (had been off for ~2 weeks before starting use) or any other products with nutrient repartitioning/insulin mimicking effects when using Slin-Sane. My purpose for using Slin-Sane was for its nutrient repartitioning/insulin mimicking effects and it did not fail to deliver. No bloating was experienced at any time, and after a few days, water retention from the first few days of no training and coming off a week of competition dieting, disappeared. What I like about Slin-Sane is that it is a specific nutrient repartitioner/insulin mimic - I used to use NeoVar Recomped for this purpose (as well as as my creatine product) and sometimes I was doing as high as 12-16 caps a day from using it for properties other than creatine effects, which is not ideal for an individual of my body mass (far too much creatine - wasting it - daily). The only recommendation for Slin-Sane I have is perhaps a larger capsule content per bottle for those of us that DO dose a little higher sometimes.

Would I use again? Yes. And this time I WILL stick to 3 caps daily: 1 cap first thing, 1 cap 15-20 minutes pre-Meal 1, and 1 cap pre-bed - at this dosage, a bottle of Slin-Sane would last just under three weeks.

Would I recommend? Yes.

Day 282: The Start of Brutal

Training

HIIT Cardio:
a. 4 min jogging
b. 4 x 20 sec effort/40 sec recovery
c. 4 min jogging
d. 4 x 20 sec effort/40 sec recovery
e. 4 min jogging

Stretch 10 min.

Gym - Full-Body (30 sec recovery between alternate sets):
Alternate Set A -
1. BB Good Mornings 8 x 12
2. Side-to-side Plyometric Bench Jumps 8 x 24
Alternate Set B -
3. Push-Ups (feet on bench, hands on DB) 8 x 10
4. BB Bent Over Rows 8 x 10
Alternate Set C -
5. DB Hammer Raises 8 x 10
6. DB Lateral Raises 8 x 10
Alternate Set D -
7. Dips 8 x 10
8. DB Bicep Curls 8 x 10-12
Alternate Set E -
9. Rope Crunch 8 x 10
10. Hanging Straight-Leg Raises (hips to 90 degree flexion) 8 x 10

Post-Weights Cardio - Stepper:
20 min @ 11 floors/min

Stretch 10 min.

Comments

Sleep - Time and Quality: Waking ~3 hours after going to sleep.

Mood/Aggression: Up and down. Someone mentioned in the gym that "you don't look very happy to be training", and my reply was, "I've been here a long time". Definitely was NOT a happy woman during training, and I am resigning myself to this fate for the next five weeks.

Energy: It was reasonable, but not out of this world.

Mental Focus and Clarity: Fine.

Stress: HIGH. I am going to have to make a real effort over the next five weeks to really try and decrease this, and stop taking on more than I should.

Immune System: Fine.

Libido: Sometimes enough is never enough even when it is enough!

Joints: Lateral left ankle was aching from the start of my training, and by the end, my left wrist was throbbing as well.

Endurance: Excellent.

Strength: I'm NOT going to be focusing on strength until these five weeks are up.

Pump: Minimal - certainly nowhere near as good as this session last time.

Vascularity: Hints of some blue lines - but that was only during the cardio aspects of my training; during resistance training I was lucky to see a few knots towards the end of the session.

Quality of Training: HIIT was HARD. For some reason my body was shattered after a few efforts . . . Resistance training was fine. Just under two hours - it's only day ONE of this, and already I can't wait for it to be over and done with! . . . Post-Weights Cardio was an effort. I'll be glad when I can stop doing this as well - even though I feel like I'm being bad if I DON'T do this after EVERY resistance session now . . .

Recovery: We'll see tomorrow.

Body Composition and Look: 9% bodyfat at 111.6 pounds. So, gained a little bodyfat - or it could just be that I am still holding some water from the last week. Either way, 9% bodyfat is my "starting point" for getting as lean as possible.

Other Effects: I'm looking forward to the Triazole drying me out.

Slin-Sane Notes: I have started dosing 1 cap of Slin-Sane first thing, and find this very effective.

Eviscerate Smolder Notes: I have noticed that there is minimal to no water retention with this - unlike the original Eviscerate, which caused quite a lot of water retention for me.

Other Notes: So far, all the NO products I have tried do NOT work for me. I used PlasmaJet only today, and got similar results to when I used Anadraulic Pump re less of a pump and vascularity than usual, etc. Tomorrow I am going to use GlycoCarn-GPLC only pre-training and see how that goes, and then on Wednesday stack PlasmaJet and GlycoCarn-GPLC to see what happens. On Wednesday I will be able to say for definite whether or not NO products are like Growth Hormone boosters for me and simply do NOT work with my body (except IGF-2 - which I use as a staple).

Day 277: Eviscerate Smolder

Training

HIIT Cardio:
a. 4 min easy
b. 8 x 20 sec effort/10 sec easy
c. 8 x 1 min effort/30 sec easy

Stretch 21 min.

Comments

Sleep - Time and Quality: All the carbohydrates I have been eating are knocking me out!

Mood/Aggression: As to be expected.

Energy: The way my body is feeling, not inclined to do anything much.

Mental Focus and Clarity: There.

Stress: HighER.

Endurance: Fine.

Quality of Training: Nothing mind-blowing.

Body Composition and Look: I am feeling every single one of the 15lb I have gained since Saturday. Even though I know they'll be gone by the end of next week, it still does a number on my head, and doesn't make my body feel any less UNcomfortable.

Slin-Sane Notes: I have to be careful not to have TOO much of this - have dosed two caps a couple of times instead of only one. Also need to make sure that I DO eat within 15-20 minutes of dosing, because it is quite strong and the hypoglycaemic effects kick in about then.

Eviscerate Smolder Notes: Eviscerate Smolder is a lighter colour than Eviscerate. Goes on just as easily as Eviscerate. Unlike Eviscerate, it leaves an ICY wind across the skin where it is applied. There is a faint icy burn and that it is . . . After putting Flawless over the top of the Eviscerate Smolder, the burn intensified, and started warming up. I am looking forward to this combination, and definitely hope that it gets rid of the burn marks on my stomach from the wheatie . . .

Completing the Female Terminator's REMODEL

19 weeks since I started training again, ~6 weeks since I have been back at Maintenance training levels.

I have just competed in my debut US Figure competition, where I placed third. I had initially planned on competing at the Worlds in November. However, I have reconsidered, deciding that I want to do 1-2 more competitions before stepping up to the World stage (IF I decide I want to continue competing in this arena).

I was not as lean as I wanted to be for my competition, and there is NO reason for me NOT to continue on the intense preparation that has occurred over the last week or so to get to the leanest and ULTIMATE conditioning of my life! I am giving myself one month maximum to lose 1% bodyfat (the leaner one gets, the harder it is to lose bodyfat, and a slower rate of loss will also mean a higher rate of being able to maintain that leanness) and ~2 inches from each my hips, and thighs (since I have gained muscle mass in those areas, I am not sure how much I will actually lose with losing some muscle mass - although I don't mind some going from my legs) - a loss of 1% bodyfat is going to make a dramatic difference to my physique.

Matt Cahill at Driven Sports wants a female perspective on Triazole - I am logging my experience so that other women can see effects and have some idea of what to expect, etc. should they consider using this product.

I am also using Slin-Sane - this is replacing NeoVar Recomped as my nutrient repartitioner/insulin mimetic.

AND I am one of the privileged who get to try the new Eviscerate Smolder betas!

GOALS

* Body Composition of 7% bodyfat (or as lean as physiologically possible - I want to be able to use myself for an anatomy chart!)
* Maintain Resting Pulse of 30-32 beats per minute

I'm starting this log at:
* Body Composition of 8% bodyfat
* Resting Pulse of 32 beats per minute

TRAINING

Monday: HIIT Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes + Full-Body + 20 min Post-Weights Cardio

Tuesday: 20 min Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes + Full-Body + 20 min Post-Weights Cardio

Wednesday: HIIT Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes + Upper Body + 20 min Post-Weights Cardio

Thursday: 20 min Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes

Friday: HIIT Cardio + Stretch 20-30 minutes + Shoulders/Arms/Abs + 20 min Post-Weights Cardio

Saturday: HIT + Stretch 20-30 minutes

Sunday: Day OFF

A second cardio session (either am or pm) will be added in 2-4 days a week as well.

My training does not stay the same re exercises, order, sets, reps, or weight used, each week, but varies. I always lift as heavy as I can for the reps I set out to do each session, and I use 30 seconds to 1 minute recovery between sets/supersets/trisets/giant sets.

I am not going to do any specific work for my legs - aside from a few exercises for my hamstrings each week - as my lower body overwhelms my upper body. If I train legs, I gain muscle mass despite what I do (as has been shown over the last 8 weeks), and more muscle mass in my legs is NOT what I want or need.

I train first thing in the morning, since this is the most effective for me.

And for any given week training can be changed and adapted, based on how my body is feeling, recovery, etc.

NUTRITION

I am going to be doing a week-pre-competition diet every second week. Every first week I will allow myself a cheat meal either once every 3-4 days or once a week (on my Day OFF), depending on how I'm feeling after training, etc.

I will be having 5-6 meals daily, 2-3 hours apart.

I will continue to drink 1-2 galleons of water a day, with the only other liquid that I consume re drinks being herbal or green tea.

SUPPLEMENTS

(in alphabetical order):

Alpha-T2: 2 caps first thing and 2 caps ~8 hours post-Dose 1.

BC+EAA: 3-4 x 10.5-21 grams daily.

BLACK CATS: 3 caps first thing and 2 caps 6-8 hours post-Dose 1.

CreaPure: 2.5g 60 min pre-training and 2.5g immediately post-training.

EndoAmp Max: first thing, post-training, and pre-bed.

IGF-2: 3 caps first thing and 3 caps pre-bed.

Lipotrophin-PM: 2 caps first thing and 2 caps pre-bed.

MuscleGels: 1-2 daily.

Organic VitaBerry: 5g first thing and 5 g post-Meal 1.

Slin-Sane: 1 cap 15-20 min pre-Meal 1, and 1 cap pre-bed (as well as 1-2 caps 15-20 min pre-meal containing high carbohydrates).

Topicals: Eviscerate Smolder applied post-shower once daily.

Triazole: 1 cap first thing and 1 cap 6-8 hours post-Dose 1.

Vitamin C: 1 gram first thing, 1 gram immediately post-training, and 1 gram pre-bed.

I'll also be using GlycoCarn-GPLC (4.5g ~60 min pre-training) and PlasmaJet (10 caps 1-2 hours pre-training) on and off.

COMMENTS

Please note that I may or may not comment on all the factors listed below in each 'update'.

Sleep - Time and Quality
Mood/Aggression
Energy
Mental Focus and Clarity

Stress
Immune System
Libido
Joints
Endurance
Strength
Pump
Vascularity
Quality of Training
Recovery
Body Composition and Look
Other Effects

So, going to be a lot of fun over the next four weeks!