New Supplements

After giving MuscleFeast 3 months of my time, effort, and money, I have decided to switch supplement brands.  After doing some research I decided on going with Muscle Pharm (www.musclepharm.com).  Here are the supplements I will be taking.

Assault: Pre-workout.  I never used MuscleFeasts pre-workout supp.  I had been a religious Jack3d user, so switching brands was difficult, but I had to give Assault a shot.  The reviews were great, and I am looking forward to changing it up.

Combat Powder: I replaced MuscleFeasts 100% & Micelar Casein with this product.  They have a 5 protein blend.  For the price per serving, and again, the reviews from a lot of people I respect, I had to give it a shot for myself.

Armor-V: This is Muscle Pharm's multi-vitamin.  This product is pretty much what got the ball rolling for me to switch brands.  I had been looking for a multi-vitamin for some time, and through research, and some suggestions I was pushed towards this product.  The serving size is 6 pills, but the bottle has a month supply, so for the price, I am good with it.  This is the first multi-vitamin I have taken in over 10 years, so I am looking forward to the next 90 days with it.

Creatine: I hadn't been supplementing creatine directly since I started training hard again.  I have just gone with what was already in Jack3d, and in my Anabolic Recover from MuscleFeast.  I decided for the next 90 days, I will also supplement Creatine, and since I went with Muscle Pharm, it made sense to give their creatine a shot as well.  Assault also has Creatine in it, so I am getting 2 servings on workout days, and at least 1 serving daily.

Re-Con: This is Muscle Pharm's recovery drink.  I use it immediately after any strenuous workout.  After sprinting/agility training.  After hitting the iron, and after games.  The flavor is great, and again, only time will tell on how well it works, but with the reviews I am going to give it my 90 days.

As for an Intra-workout supplement I am sticking with Purple Wraath until that bottle is gone, and then i'm switching to AEN's Intrabolic product.  I haven't looked into Muscle Pharm for an intra-workout product, but will do that research in the very near future.  I am happy with Purple Wraath, and the reviews on that product are very good.  I had also tried Scivation's Xtend, but wasn't overly impressed with the results.

I will review this products as I notice any differences along the way.  It's just too soon to give them a fair review.

Flag Football Game #3

Our 3rd game of the season put us against some of the Fond Du Lac Crusaders from the IFL.  They were really good.  Their quaterback had a great arm, and made good decisions, and their receivers pretty much caught everything.  We started off really slow on offense, but Alex figured them out after our second possession, and then the track meet was on.  We eventually brought it to within 4 points, with a couple minutes left, but they had the ball, and were able to run the clock out on us.  Our second half defense was really good, and we didn't get shredded as bad as we did in the first half.
On another note, I only got to play defense again this week, which is okay.  Wherever I can help has been my motto so far.  These guys do not know me, or what I can do, but hopefully I will get some opportunities to show them what I can do very soon.
I did manage to get spiked by one of the receivers on the other team during a "pick" play, which ended up requiring four stitches.  I really didn't think that I would end up having to get stitches because of a cleat in indoor football, but it's just part of the game.  I did end up playing the rest of the game after getting spiked, mainly because it wasn't bleeding, and there was absolutely no pain.  Which of course led me to believe that I didn't require stitches, so after the game, I went to the gym and lifted weights.  Once I arrived home, Kathy saw the wound, and convinced me to get the doctors opinion on the wound, and at 10pm at night, there is no walk-in clinic open, so emergency rooms rates apply!!!  The RN, PA, and Doctor I requested to look at the wound before I would go into the ER all suggested that I get a tetanus shot, as well as have it stitched up, and so pretty much my decision was made for me.  The only pain I felt in the whole thing was in my wallet.  A $200 Emergency room co-pay hit me pretty hard :-(.  

Stats and training

I wouldn't say that I completely overhauled my workout, but I will say that I fully re-evaluated my progress, and realized I have very little information to gauge my progress by.  Honestly, the only things I could go off of is how much weight i could lift compared to the previous week, my weight, and what I see in the mirror.  This is completely inadequate for what I am trying to accomplish.
If I go back and read my original post from October, I had some goals.  One of my goals was to weigh 205 pounds before the season started.  Of course, this was without sacrificing speed and agility.  Well, I discovered that my weight hasn't moved, my agility and speed have improved, and my body fat is yet to be tested (my goal is 8%, but 10% would make me very happy).
So, with all of that said, I have decided to take the bull by the horns, and track my progress a lot closer, and be more detail oriented.  I purchased 2 soft tape measures, a body fat tester, and have joined BodySpace on www.bodybuilding.com, which allows me to enter stats and goals.  So, in my posts here, when I update my stats on My BodySpace, I will leave a link to that page in my blog post.
I have also started evaluating my workout, and progress there.  I'm looking at shortening my rest time, but the jury is still out.  My main object is to gain strength, yet I do need to build up some muscle endurance.  I fatigue way too quickly when doing super sets.  Perhaps my goals are unrealistic, and that is another area I need to revisit.  I'll discuss this more with Kirk Olson, and see what he recommends, and by putting all of that together, I will be better able to gauge my progress and what changes I need to make in order to achieve my goals.

Goals
40 yard dash: 4.5
Body Fat %: 8%
Weight: 205lbs
Bench Press: 225 10x, 315 1x
Squat: 405lbs

More goals to come as I keep re-evaluating my progress.

Flag Football Game #2

I'm going to change up how I BLOG about my training in the very near future.  Reading about individual weight increases is getting redundant and dry.  I think I'll keep weekly stats and measurements, and any milestones I reach, but keep the individual lifts out of the whole thing.  I'm going to focus more on what I am doing, my thoughts on what I am doing, and discoveries I make along the way.  Be it supplementation, dieting, new training routines, equipment reviews, etc etc....

So, on to my game from last night.  We ended up losing the game, but we only played with 6 guys, and the other team definitely took advantage of the height difference.  Short passes were killing me last night, I just couldn't get underneath the route.  I was giving them the short stuff, and hoping for a mistake, which never came. I did get to play some offense last night, and have a couple catches, but not scores.  I'm sure as Alex gets more comfortable with what I can do, I'll get more opportunities.  Right now i'm using it as an opportunity to get some cardio work in, and some work with the guys on the Outlaws.  A couple of things from last night.  I'm not overly impressed with the NFL Equipment Mayhem gloves.  They really loose their grip quickly, until refreshed with water (or sweat, or spit).  My Under Armor gloves stayed sticky longer.  Also, the medium is just a hair too big, but the small was too small. I'm going to try the Reebok Fade, and maybe see what Nike has for gloves as well. Also, I bought a new pair of running shoes.  They are New Balance, and very light, and comfortable.  I got to really work them over last night, and I really do like them.  I will see once I get to try them at XLR8, and see how they are for running wide open.
Next week, I am wearing long socks, that come up to my knees.  My legs got really tore up on the turf this week.  Maybe I should try and stay on my feet more, but at the same time, my style is wide open, so full commitment on every play, so whatever happens, happens.

Quote

" Giving up is for those who never intended to be great, but only posed so that we could admire what they would never become."
George Stoichev

Quote

"When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too." - Paulo Coelho

Quote

"Don't go through life, grow through life." - Eric Butterworth