It Ain't Hard to Tell

5/3/1 CYCLE 4

MILITARY PRESS DAY

Quick story. As of last week I've been holding off on going to the gym and waiting until Sara gets home so I can teach her to lift. I usually make her stay fairly close to whatever I'm doing, as it's easier to teach her through example, and I think learning the basic movements I do would be beneficial for a new lifter. I do, though, have her do different exercises when I, for instance, do more MP work than she needs to. She doesn't need to be doing 5 sets of 10 on overhead press following 4-5 sets of overhead press. Pointless.

Anyway, because she doesn't get home until 6, we don't get to the gym until 6:30 or so, which is rush hour at Bally's. Morons everywhere, just fucking up my shit. I won't go into too much detail, but its a goddamn train wreck. So there's some joker on the sole squat rack, talking on his cell phone in between sets of quarter squatting 315. So we did our first few sets of overhead presses out in the open, cleaning them up to our shoulders first.

Well this butt dart decided he had enough and left, leaving the 315 behind as a monument to his greatness. I told Sara to go stand in the rack while I unloaded the bar we were using. I was throwing the weight on the tree when I heard a large crash behind me, and I immediately knew what it was. Sara had pulled off all three 45s from one side, leaving 135 sitting on the opposite end. The bar had flown off the rack and was standing straight up, still within the hole of the three 45s that were now on the floor. Everyone stood around like jackasses, in no way attempting to help her. She was super embarrassed and had a crap workout because of it.

She also suggested that I not blog it. Welp.

Military Press (Standing Strict Overhead Press):

I upped my max in this cycle from 170 to 175.

45 x 10

95 x 10

120 x 5

130 x 5

135 x 5+ (Hit 8, estimated 1RM of 171. Not good. I thought bumping it may have been a foolish move, but we'll see)

Military Press (Same movement, using the "Boring But Big" assistance plan)

95 x 10

95 x 10

95 x 10

95 x 10

95 x 10

Dips:

5 sets of 20

Pullups:

5 sets of 10

At this point we got out of there. Sara was still mad and embarrassed, and I was tired of being surrounded by total jerkoffs.

PRODUCT REVIEWS!

So I teased this review a couple weeks ago and never delivered. Suck it.

Long story short I had a $75 gift card to EFS and snatched up the Simple Guide to Very Low Carb Diets e-book by Shelby Starnes and the Tips and Tricks for Dieting Success e-book, also by Shelby. Both are incredibly informative and well worth the already cheap price. Though I'm already a pretty lean person, without any serious cardio work, I just wanted to educate myself on the proper way to manipulate my diet to cut out carbs if needed.

I bought the short Axis Foam Roller (12"x6") as well. Its incredibly dense and is likely the most durable foam roller I've ever used. Bally's and the YMCA have the longer, white foam rollers that are almost universally worn down in the middle to the point that they're now as hard as a sponge. Worthless. This roller is hard as hell, and I doubt I'll be able to wear it down in the next few years, even. I bought this particular model for its density first, and its price second. It's cheap as hell and well worth it. I wouldn't be scared away from its short length, I don't find it to be any hassle, I can't recall ever once having to reset myself due to rolling off of it.

I basically had what I wanted at this point, but I had $35 or so left over. I didn't know what to do with that so I just snagged a pre-workout supplement, as unemployment has rendered me supplement poor as well, and I just wanted to test one out for the fun of it. Now, I don't think much of pre-workout NO powders as a huge muscle builder or some bullshit, I just like the stimulant effect. They get my psyched to lift on those days where I'm wanting to be a pussy. So they're worth it to me when I can afford to buy some.

I ended up with Dirty Pre-Workout Original. It advertises itself as having a "bad" taste and for giving you "painful" pumps. That pretty much sold me.

Truth be told, it doesn't taste bad. It's not good, certainly, but its nowhere near as bad as some other supplements I've tried before. It's really just incredibly bitter, but considering I'm going to guzzle it down in a few quick seconds, it's really no big deal.

The most noticeable effect of Dirty, aside from the general feeling of energy, is the "Niacin Rush". If you've ever drank a strong energy drink, and if you're in the CBC you definitely have, you know what I'm talking about. Niacin causes this tingling sensation on the skin, and it comes in waves or rushes. I most often feel the Niacin rush on my face and head, but its nothing too weird or distracting, just not something I'm used to with NO supplements.

As for the pumps, they're not lying. Though I don't workout for a "pump", I can feel it during any set where I go for 10+ reps. Today at the end of my workout I had a hard time finishing my chins because my biceps felt so swoll. I'd imagine this would be a huge selling point for people who do work out for that pump.

The downside, though, is the price. $29 doesn't seem like much for a pre-workout supplement, but Dirty comes in a remarkably small container with only 15 servings worth. Though I think the product is good, it doesn't compare economically to my Gold Standard of pre-workout supplements, White Flood. White Flood comes with a months supply or more for $40 and works just as good, if not better.