stats as of 5/13: age 22, 6'1, 185lbs, ~14%BF (measured daily with a tanita scale).

goal: cutting 5-10 lbs or as much as it takes to tone up some more. i have a small pouch below my belly button to lose. retaining lean mass while increasing strength and endurance. eventually getting to single digit BF.

some background info: i've been working out for about two years. after high school, like many people, i managed to somehow completely let myself go and gained almost 100 lbs. after two years of carrying that around i spent a year lifting, doing hiit, and generally busting my ass to drop all the weight. i used zero supplements and basically just ran my ass off without knowing what to do.

it almost worked.

i plateaued around 205, and nothing i could do would make the rest come off. so, exhausted and uninspired, i slowly started to slack off in the gym and pay less attention to my diet, and one day i caught myself weighing in at 221 at feeling like crap. this was november of 07. so i went back to the gym. only this time, i had a hard regimented plan carved out for myself and i was determined to go the entire distance. by march, i was at 187 and i was beginning to see some ab definition. progress has slowed since then, but is steadily continuing.

my diet nov-march was my own low carb concoction designed to leave as little glycemic footprint as possible. the only substantial carbs i would eat all day was a half-cup of steel cut irish oats in the morning and a half-cup post workout with a pear or an apple on resistance training days. i lifted 3 days straight, and on the fourth day did only cardio. i now eat complex carbs more often, but still avoid them within six hours of going to bed.

during this second attempt i did use an array of supplements. my stack included two gnc men multivitamins, post-workout gnc creatine monohydrate, 2-3 scoops of optimum nutrition 100% whey spread out in the first 2/3 of the day, and a teaspoon of flax seed oil at lunch. i did two cycles of thermogenics, giving myself a 4 week break in between. the first was vpx redline, and the second was hitech stimerex es w/ ephedrine (note: not ephedra extract). i later added 6g of gnc cla, but lowered the dosage to 4g, and 1g of gnc cod [PLINK=6237]liver oil[/PLINK].

my generic gnc creatine ran out two weeks ago, and i've been doing some research on what other kinds are out there and how they could prove a better investment than the gnc stuff i had previously. when i saw the special BN was running on neovar, and read some good information about the product, i knew i would love to give it a try.

the following log will document 30 days of progress with neovar and hopefully will be a useful tool for potential customers who would like to evaluate the successfulness of the creatine without first becoming guinea pigs themselves.


the stack i will be using in conjunction with neovar:
4g cla, taken in two separate doses
1g fish body oil in the morning
1 multivitamin in the morning
1 green tea cap in the morning
2 scoops whey in the morning
2 scoops whey pwo

rough workout regimen:
day 1: biceps, shoulders; cardio
day 2: triceps, forearms; cardio
day 3: chest, legs, abs; cardio
day 4: abs; hiit

my creatine will be delivered this week, so stay tuned for daily updates. wish me luck guys.

good luck, will be interesting to see what type of gains this product can produce



and i think the only benefits from CLA is when its does roughly 6 garms or higher a day

people disagree on what amount you should take. i think gnc recommends only 2-3 grams, while people i know personally take 6-7 grams. after taking 6 grams for a few weeks, i just felt i should drop it down a notch, and after i did i noticed some slight changes. so i think it's the right dosage for me.

Have you started the NeoVar yet var? What dosage you running and what times of day will you be taking it?

unfortunately i have not started it yet. still waiting on my order, if you can believe it.

daily food intake is usually about the same for me, although i'll shake up which meat i eat every day between salmon, orange roughy, tuna, strip steak, and grilled chicken breast.

outline:

meal 1: apple, kashi tlc bar
meal 2: 2 scoops whey
meal 3: 1 cup grape nuts and skim milk
meal 4: spinach and chicken salad w/ grape tomatoes or bacos and 1tsp of olive oil vinaigrette (~30 cals).
meal 5: pwo 2 scoops whey, 1/2tsp orange blossom honey, 1/2 cup steel cut irish oats, banana
meal 6: some kind of lean meat and green vegetable (zucchini, spinach, romaine lettuce, fresh green beans, brussel sprouts).
meal 7: i can't go to sleep without some kind of small dessert an hour or two before, so i'll eat under 200 cals of something, maybe a kashi bar or some lite applesauce.

ends up being about 2000 cals, and 150-200g of protein.

okay, the stuff came today. first impression: nicely packaged with a cool label. can't wait to try it. one thing that bothered me was the vague instructions though. granted, most people will know how to take creatine monohydrate, but there were no instructions for the loading phase. i also am used to calculating how much to take based on grams per lb of body weight, but the label just gives a recommended number of pills per dosage. easy enough to figure out based on the nutrient label i guess, but just noting things that bothered me a little.

not that it affects me terribly, because i'm already loaded on the gnc mono.

will be taking 2 caps at lunchtime, and 3 post-workout.

today is where i do most of my legs, chest, and back.

3x12 squats (to the floor) @ 120 lbs
2x10 barbell calf raises @ 120 lbs
2x10 barbell front raises @ 80 lbs
2x8 bench press @ 160 lbs
1x12 chest fly @ 30 lbs
2x12 upright rows @ 80 lbs
1x30 dumbbell pullover @ 30 lbs
2x10 pushups w/ one-arm dumbbell row @ 30 lbs

i don't do more for back (particularly deadlifts) normally because i already have back issues. i don't do more for chest because i don't feel i need to add much to mine. i'm sure i'll step it up in the future, but for right now that is it. my legs are hands-down my best feature if i do say so myself, and i definitely don't want them bigger. running and biking have toned them up enough.

this is where i'm at strength-wise currently. not too impressive, but that's why i'm trying a different creatine. i also have to admit i haven't really pushed myself to put up higher numbers because i've been getting such good results with this.

also trying a new thing with cardio: actually paying attention to the whole "target heart rate fat burning zone" idea for once. 45 mins of moderate-to-fast cardio, aiming at a consistent pulse of 160, and 5 mins of tabata jump roping.


took the dosage as specified in the post above. first with lunch, second after weights but before cardio.

today was hiit day, and i finished it off with some regular aerobic cardio too. hiit day is usually some combination of random calisthenic routines and sprints. today:

kettle bell swings x30
burpees x10
jump rope 30s fast
elevated pushups x10
bear crawls and crab walks 30 paces x5 each
weighted punches x25 each hand
jumping jacks x50

x3 no rest.

did 5 dragon flags, then 20 mins running on the treadmill.


had to skip my lunch today, too busy at work, but had the regular 4 scoops of whey. dosage of neovar the same as yesterday.

almost forgot to put up some proof:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/rsvarr/DSC00234.jpg

Nice log var...I was just curious as to if it's safe for that red headed kid to go into the water?

according to the plain dealer yeah, it is.

No need to load NeoVar, haven't gotten ahold of one of the new labelled ones so keep up with instructions and make sure to eat your carbs 15 minutes after consumption. I try to get around 50g's, but probably more with my protein/carb shakes and fruit.

so it's not even worth updating about this weekend. i was out of town so i couldn't really work out, and i ate complete shit. a lot of it. for example, two steaks that looked like that must've had about 50g of saturated fat each, pizza, almond cranberry oatmeal with whole milk, an entire bottle of sake, two pina coladas, deep-fried sweet potato fries... the list goes on. it was a disaster. the only exercise i got was a 4 mile hike at a reasonable pace in a hilly area, and a drunken late night swim. tuesday i get back and my abs basically look to me like a pudgy one pack. busting my ass this week to make up for that.

bicep day is my favorite day. modified it a little after an unusual 4 day break.

3x10 concentration curls @ 30lbs (getting too easy, stepping it up next time)
4x12 wrist curls (i do them with a barbell behind the back, standing) @ 120 lbs
2x10 ez bar curls @ 65 lbs
2x20 upright rows @ 80 lbs
20 pullups.
1x10 overhead press @ 80 lbs

45 mins of moderate cardio, sweater on because i'm just that hot (literally).

dosage the same, as usual.

Are you taking this for the purpose of cutting, bulking, or strength purposes?

What kind of results have you seen thus far?

read the first post bro

i'm cutting and trying to maintain strength. i measure myself daily but i'll only be posting average results weekly. so, we'll see in a week. however before this shitty weekend i was down 1-3 lbs every day after starting the neovar cycle, and i imagine we'll see a more clear result by the end of this weekend. as far as strength gains, haven't noticed any yet - before starting the neovar i felt like i was actually losing some. i have to say, i'm giving it some time before i start wondering where my results are.

Good stuff man. I'll be following this log, I may try this supplement in the future.

good to hear dude.

today was a better day than yesterday as far as diet goes. back on track. also, triceps etc. i've also been on the supp for a week now, although i skipped my workout a couple of days on the weekend as you probably read. so, i expect to start seeing some effects pretty soon. i'll keep you posted.


1x12 front raises @ 60lbs
2x10 dumbbell flies @ 30lbs
3x10 reverse curls @ 70lbs
2x10 hammer curls @ 30 lbs
2x10 tricep kickbacks @ 30lbs
2x8 tricep extensions @ 70lbs

i also did some lat pulldowns but i did them with a 30lb dumbbell (3x15) while lying down, sort of in the tri extension position but without bending the elbows and a farther range of motion. definitely felt the burn in my abs but not so much in my back. i'm fine with that though. anyway, don't know what that maneuver's called off the top of my head.

back up to 2 scoops whey in the morning and 2 pwo... had been having less, past few days.

neovar as usual!


started the cycle at ~185 average. on the first day i took it i was 186, the day after i weighed in 183, 13%BF. today, 7 days later, i'm at 189 and approximately 15%BF according to the scale, but i think my average over the week was really no change.

so bottom line, first week: no change.

today:

3x12 squats (to the floor) @ 120 lbs
2x10 barbell calf raises @ 120 lbs
2x10 barbell front raises @ 80 lbs
2x8 bench press @ 160 lbs
2x12 upright rows @ 80 lbs
2x10 pushups w/ one-arm dumbbell row @ 30 lbs
3x15 dragon flags
2x10 russian twists with 30lb dumbbell

25 mins of moderate cardio with a thermal on. got a real sweat going... more than usual.


ate a shitload today but it was almost all good. included a bowl of hot and sour soup with about 12 jumbo shrimp and bean sprouts covered in sriracha, 2 bowls of grapenuts, two massive spinach salads with 2 tsp of 0 cal dressing, red onion, cucumber slices, and grape tomatoes. one had ostrich and the other halibut. ostrich is fucking good btw: 160 cals, 1.5g fat, 38g protein. topped if off with a couple kashi bars, an apple, and two p-shakes.

still not falling below 189... i think the creatine has definitely added some water weight, but that's to be expected i guess. hoping that'll flush out this week.

i also have decided that it's high time to start cycling back on my ecy stack, so from this weekend on this log will detail any synergistic effects between my fat burner and neovar.

hiit day.

10x pullups
10x burpees
25x weighted punches each hand
30x medicine ball slams
50x jumping jacks
15 second pushup holds
5x dips
x3, fast as possible, no rest.

did about 10 mins of jump rope, and 25 on the treadmill.

took the ecy when i woke up with twice the amount of green tea extract as usual, also only 1 scoop of whey + half a cup of black coffee for brunch.

down to 186 this morning and bf% is down 3%, so maybe the water weight is finally flushing out.