I have been pretty satisfied with my supplements and results lately. On the right is a chart showing my weight and body fat over the past semester. I try to do it most weeks, but have missed a few. This past week was a little frustrating. The past few weeks have been frustrating workout-wise. I have been plagued with exams and minor injuries, and a less sleep than I would prefer, and it has been taking a toll on my body. Also, last week was Thanksgiving, and I deviated from my diet. Actually I have been less disciplined than usual with my diet over the past few weeks.

I keep telling myself that I want to put on weight no matter what, but when I go up 2%in body fat in 2 weeks it makes me question my motives. I still am going to get up to 250lbs. That is the goal.
I started a new Pro Hormone, Tri-Methyl Xtreme 3.15, which is kind of an "x-factor." The manufacturer's representative said the product would deliver "30lbs of 'wet mass'" in 4 weeks. I had never heard the term "wet mass" before, but I imagine it means basically muscle, not lean muscle. I am fine with adding "not-lean-muscle" as long as it is muscle and not fat. I am one week in with this product, and that 1 week included Thanksgiving, so the jury is still out on "Tri-Methyl."

However, I have been and felt incredibly strong over the past week. I squatted 455lbs 2x, which is a personal best, and my bench also went up. I hope to get 315lbs before January.

I am going to start some cardio to deal with some of this extra fat I have been putting on.

I have also been taking Synthesize and Elite Mass, which I really like and will review later.
Get Huge!!!

Cell Drive

I have been taking Cell-Drive for the past few weeks and I so far I am very impressed with it. I have been taking it immediately post workout mixed with Nectar Isolate, and I have found that the "Punch Rush" flavored Cell Drive and the "Strawberry Kiwi" flavored Nectar mix very well. I take it immediately post workout to refuel my body with fast digesting whey isolate and to get the creatine, BCAA's, and the glutamine needed to recover. I have found that taking Cell-Drive really helps to decrease muscle soreness.

I typically lift between 5 and 6 times per week, depending on how I am feeling. My lifting split is divided so that I have 2 days minimum rest before lifting a muscle group again, and very little related-muscle overlap (no triceps day after benching, or traps day after working back). I lift 3 days then rest 1 day, and if I need to take a day off to rest, I can do so at any point. While taking Cell-Drive, I have felt rested enough to lift for 6 days and not take any extra days off.

I have also been taking Cell-Drive during my workout. Initially, I started doing this in order to save money and not overlap similar products (I was debating taking Size-On or Synthesize during workout, but I found that Cell-Drive and Size-On contained fairly similar ingredients.) I wrote earlier about Ultimate Nutrition's "adreNOline" that I liked the effects but disliked the taste; I am a big fan of "during-workout" shakes, because they allow you to lift with greater intensity for greater time periods. I was taking Cell-Drive during my workout for these effects.

I am going to stop taking Cell-Drive during my workout for several reasons:
1. I think it is a great recovery shake, but it was not intended to be taking during workout. I am going to try out a few intra-workout shakes that were designed for that purpose. I would also like to have some sort of stimulant during workout, and Cell Drive does not contain that.
2. I have been going through the Cell-Drive incredibly quickly.
3. There is a 32g of sugar in Cell-Drive, which by itself is not a ton, but by having multiple servings of Cell-Drive and Size, I was getting more sugar than I need. A lot more. The sugar overload could have contributed to the "junk weight" I gained along with the muscle.
Nitro also has a sugar free version of Cell-Drive that I would be interested in trying out.

Cell-Drive is a VERY good recovery shake. It does a great job of replenishing the body and reducing muscle soreness. It combines all of the recovery components well... 3g of glutamine, 3.5g of creatine, 1000mg of BCAA's, and a little bit of arginine to pick you up after your workout. It is ideal for recovering from heavy lifting or from cardio.

I am going to continue incorporating Cell-Drive into my supplement regiment because I am very impressed with it.

Overall product rating "A+"

Progress Report... SIZE!!!

I have been on my current supplement cycle and lifting routine for the past 10 days. Just to recap, I am taking M5 preworkout, Cell-Drive during workout, Cell-Drive and Nectar Isolate immediately post workout, a Size shake 45 minutes later, and 1 or 2 more Size shakes throughout the day.

I get my weight and body fat tested on Monday afternoons. Last Monday, November 1st, I weighed 213.1 lbs with 13.7% body fat. Yesterday, November 8th, I weighed 218.0 lbs and was 15.0% body fat. Initially I was pretty impressed with myself, but after doing some math I realized that I had put on 3.5lbs of fat and only 1.5 lbs of muscle. Granted, I am trying to bulk up, but that is not necessarily the bulk I am trying to put on. I am not worried though. I went from doing a lot of cardio to doing none, and

I think I went a little bit overboard with the Size shakes.
One thing is for sure, JS Nitro Size shakes help you put on weight. I went through a bag in 1 week. All things considered, I had a great lifting week. I went up in most of my totals. And recovered very well from my workouts, which are pretty rigorous.

Today I squatted 405lbs 4times for my 5th set of 4 reps, which is something I have not done ever. My bench last week was depressingly low, but I realized that I hadn't benched heavy in over 4 weeks, and had worked shoulders the previous day. I thought I was close to 300lbs, but struggled to get 265 2x. I switched up my routine from last week, and should go into bench day pretty fresh. On standing straight barbell curl I did 2 sets 135lbs 4x, which impressed me. And my close grip bench press went up 10lbs to 205lbs for 4 reps. I deadlift only twice per month because it is pretty taxing on my lower back, but I did 405lbs 4x. I had planned on attempting 455lbs, but I wasn't really feeling it.

Overall, I am excited about the strength gains I have seen so far, but the ratio of fat-to-muscle that I put on is not what I was looking for. I am glad to gain strength, but can't put on that much fat.

The changes I am going to make are:
1. do only 1-1.5 Size shakes per day, and possibly try out a different weight gainer when I finish this bag.
2. do 15 minutes of long-slow-distance cardio before a few of my shorter workouts.

Getting bigger every day!

JS Nitro Size Chocolate Size

The flavor of John Scott Nitro's size that I tried is "Double Chocolate Ice Cream." And honestly, it tastes really good. Granted, if I am going to have a shake that has nearly 1000 calories, it had better taste good. It mixes well with both water and milk. I prefer the taste with 3/4 water and 1/4 milk, but I can't store milk in my locker, so I only mix with milk when I am at home.

So far I have been very impressed with JS Nitro products. They make sense.

I was initially skeptical because Size contains 150g of carbs (50% of your daily value) with only 1 gram of fiber and 79g of sugar. But those sugars are to replace the sugars expended while lifting. Size has a 50/50 ratio of fast and slow digesting carbs to replenish your body and to give you good carbs.

Combining Size with Cell Drive, also a JS Nitro product, is ideal because Cell Drive contains a creatine, BCAA's, and glutamine in the recovery shake. Some mass gainers contain these, but Size does not. If I was not taking Cell Drive, I would probably look for a Mass gainer that contains the BCAA's and glutamine, but currently I am very happy taking both products. I would rather take two products that do what they are supposed to do effectively instead of taking one product that performs both functions half way.

I have only taken Size for 3 days, so I have not really seen any quantifiable results, but the taste is great. I take size 30 minutes post workout, because I take Cell Drive and an isolate immediately post workout. I will probably start doing another size shake before bed. The taste is good enough that I don't have to chug it, and actually enjoy sipping it. My only reservation is that the taste, while very good, is pretty strong, and I don't want to take so much of it that I get tired of it. Also, it is a pretty "heavy" shake, and I need to make sure I lift hard enough to use the 1000 calories for muscle gain instead of just fat. I will probably buy vanilla size and see how I like that.

As far as taste and ingredients go, I would give Chocolate Size an "A." Time will tell if results come.

Update

On October 31 I started a 12 week bulking cycle. I am switching up my workout every 4 weeks. The main focus is back, chest, and shoulders.

My long term goal is to get to 230lbs at less than 10% body fat. As of today, I weight 213.1lbs and am at 13.7%body fat. My goal for this cycle is to get to 240lbs and 13.0%body fat. I am going to keep an update journal to track my progress and my thoughts on the supplements I am taking.

Here are the supplements I am currently taking to reach my goals.

For a pre-workout I am taking "M5 Extreme" in the fruit punch flavor by Cellucor. I picked this preworkout because it has a creatine in it and I had never used it before.

I am taking Cell Drive by John Scott Nitro both intra-workout and immediately post workout. I was deciding between that and Size-on by Gaspari Nutrition for my intra-workout shake; I want to replace the calories I am burning so that I can put on more weight. Cell Drive is a post workout, but is a similar product to Size-On, so to save money I decided to try using it during my workout.

Immediately post-workout I have a shake that includes both 1 serving of Cell Drive and 1 scoop of Nectar Isolate Strawberry-Kiwi. I chose to do this because isolate is the fastest digesting type of protein.

30-45 Minutes post workout I am taking chocolate "Size" by JSNitro, a 1000 calorie mass gainer.

At night and for extra meals and calories during the day I am taking Elite Gourmet, a blended protein.

2-4 weeks from now I am going to start a pro-hormone. I am currently debating which one to try. I am waiting so that I can break through any plateaus I reach in my first 4 week cycle instead of experiencing bigger gains more quickly.

I will review each of these supplements in more detail as I use them. I will update on a my lift totals on a regular basis so record them, but I will only do body fat percentage once per week.

240 here I come... watch me.

Dymatize Elite 12 Fudge Brownie

I tried the Dymatize Elite 12 Fudge Brownie protein mostly just to rate the taste. I was impressed that it had a good amount of amino acids. The name was accurate... it actually tasted like a fudge brownie; not just another name for a "chocolate" flavor... it tasted like a brownie. I am skeptical of the claim that it digests over 12 hours, but if that is true then this is a very good product.

I would give it a "B+" on taste

Optimum Nutrition 100% Casein Protein

For those people unfamiliar with casein, according to Wikipedia:
"An attractive property of the casein molecule is its ability to form a gel or clot in the stomach. The ability to form this clot makes it very efficient in nutrient supply. The clot is able to provide a sustained slow release of amino acids into the blood stream, sometimes lasting for several hours.[3] This provides better nitrogen retention and utilization by the body"

Basically, casein is a slow digesting protein. It is found in most blended proteins and makes up the slow digesting portion of it. It can be purchased separately, like this product.

Casein is derived from milk, and is not very soluable in water; it basically turns into a gel into your stomach. Because of this, stand alone casein products do not taste great... it has an odd consistency. The chocolate flavor was fine, but the consistncy of straight casein makes it kind of hard to like. I tried different blends of water and milk, but clumps remained despite shaking pretty hard.

I found the best tasting way to drink this protein was with blended with the elite fusion 7 Cookies and Cream mentioned in a previous post, with 6oz of water and 6oz of skim milk.

I would give this product a "b" overall rating. The product was effective, but did not taste great, but I am not sure how much of that was Optimum Nutrition's fault because I have not tried any other straight casein products

Elite Fusion 7

I tried out the Elite Fusion 7 Cookies and cream. I took it as a meal replacement. Fusion 7 is a "fusion" of 7 different types of protein "In blending with Casein, Milk Protein, Egg Protein and other top rated performers, Dymatize can enhance Whey protein's effectiveness over a sustained period of time." Basically it is a blended protein. The taste of the Cookies and Cream was okay good. It mixes well with both water and milk, but I liked the taste better with milk. Also, a lot of the cookie bits fell to the bottom and weren't able to drink.

I was still hungry the shake, but drinking it with a banana or a protein bar was enough to take the hunger "edge off." I haven't tried any other of the Elite 7
flavors, but I have tried a lot of their Elite Gourmet and Elite Isolate flavors, and have been impressed by how they taste, so I would assume the other flavors taste good as well.

Overall, I would give it a "B" rating.

MRI Black Powder

Black Powder was the first pre-workout that I ever tried, and I loved it.

The flavors I have tried taste very good. My favorite is Orange Burst, but Grape Rush and Fruit explosion are good. I have not tried blue raspberry.

I know that black powder works as a preworkout. If I have tried to lift when tired or sick, I have really noticed the difference that black powder makes. However, I have also tried other pre-workouts, and I think they are superior to black powder.

BP is marketed very well, and tastes great, but I am not sure about how well it actually provides results.

Overall, there are better preworkouts, but Black Powder is in my top 10. "B"

Ultimate Nutrition adreNOline intra-workout

Orange Ice Flavor, 2.65lbs Container

AdreNOline™ is the during-workout formula designed to keep you energized and focused throughout your workout. It features 46 ingredients in 9 scientifically-designed blends including waxy maze carbs and a BCAA, energy and recovery complex:

* 0g of sugar per serving
* 100mg of caffeine per serving
* 3g of BCAAs per serving
* Vitamin and mineral Blend
* Digestive enzymes

adreNOline worked. I used it twice, and it allowed me to workout for 90 minutes and go hard the whole time. However, I thought it tasted pretty bad the first time. The recommend serving is to mix with 12oz of water and sip throughout the workout, but that flavor is too strong. It tasted kind of like sherbet, but not in a pleasant way. The second time I mixed it with closer to 20 oz of water, and I liked the taste much better. It still wasn't great though.

Despite tasting somewhere between "okay" and "bad", adreNOline worked very well, to the point that I COULD get over the taste and use it consistently. I think that there are better tasting Intra-workouts, so I probably will not use it, but it is a good product. Ultimate Nutrition should come out with a new flavor.

Overall rating: "C"

Nectar Isolate

Supplement info:
Fruit Juice Flavored Whey Protein Isolate

Welcome to the critically acclaimed world of NECTAR™! Gone are the days of low quality whey protein. Gone are the days of those blah-tasting protein drinks that promise much but deliver little. NECTAR™ once-and-for-all breaks the mold by combining Promina, the highest quality whey protein isolate ever developed, with a flavoring system that is so fruitilicious that you will never drink another whey protein shake ever again. If you like the refreshing taste of fruit juice, you'll love NECTAR™! With its mouthwatering fruit juice flavors, NECTAR™ is truly a protein drink you will look forward to drinking each and every day. Whether it be Apple Ecstasy, Very Cherry Berry, Caribbean Cooler, or one of the others, NECTAR™ will keep you coming back for more. What's more? Well, Syntrax did something totally amazing by engineering NECTAR™ to be so delicious that you can eat it right out of the container. Imagine putting a protein powder in your mouth and it tasting like candy. Imagine this protein powder having ZERO carbs and ZERO fat. Stop imagining! Syntrax brought you NECTAR™!

NECTAR™ Features:

* Mixes Instantly
* Zero Carbs
* Zero Fat
* Promina™ Whey Isolate
* Refreshing Fruit Juice Flavors
* Best Tasting Protein on the Market



I have tried multiple flavors of the Nectar protein and they all taste very good. All of the Nectar products taste good, but I think they do the fruit flavors better than anyone else on the market. I like the fruit flavors directly after lifting because they feel light, and honestly taste refreshing.

Strawberry Kiwi is is my favorite, and is a popular seller.
Fuzzy Navel is also good, but the taste is very unique and some people might not enjoy it.
Pink Lemonade is good, but not great. It is very sweet, which is good and bad, but too sweet to take every day. If you are switching between multiple flavors, then it is a good occasional refresher.
Those are the only 3 flavors that I have tried, but I have gone through a bottle of each of them.

Downsides: Nectar Isolate produces a lot of foam. If you shake it too much, you will have a lot of foam that is a hassle to drink.

Overall, great taste, great protein. "A"