Oh, and 4 pills left in my first bottle of X-Gels. No better time than this weekend to get some “so far” pics. Really planning on finally doing this… I swear! lol
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Day 17 & 18 coming soon! Hopefully today. Been very busy between wedding planning, and we just hired a new guy at work that I’m in charge of training. Yippee.
Day 17 & 18
Day 17
Stack: 1.5g ARA, 81mg baby aspirin, 6g GMS
Intra: full serving of EAA Max
Pre-workout: full serving of Re1gn
Day 18
Stack: 1.5g ARA, 81mg baby aspirin, 6g GMS
Intra: full serving of EAA Max
Pre-workout: full serving of Outlift Amped (giving Re1gn a break)
So life has been super hectic lately. Between wedding planning and training a new guy at work, I’m finding little time to BS around on forums during my free time. This is where going to the gym in the AM comes in so much handy, meaning my gym time is never affected by a hectic life. 
Day 17 and 18 went along like usual…mostly.
Day 17 was Upper ‘A’ and went actually better than it has been. I’m been in a “heavy weight” slump lately where I’ve been experiencing form breakdown, and just an overall tougher time moving weight. On Monday, I got a glimpse of myself from 3-4 weeks ago coming back. My bench felt amazing, and I actually did some decent volume. I warmed up like usual with no weight, just some stretchy bands. My bench warm up was my usual 95lbs just to have some weight on the bar. I then moved to 135, planning on hitting 8-10 reps for 3 sets. After my first set, I hit 135 for 12 reps with maybe another 1 or 2 in the tank. I thought to myself…hmm…let’s work on getting to heavier (to me) weight. I added 20lbs, hit 155 for 10. Added another 10lbs, hit that for 8. Added another 5, hit that for 6. With how well that was going, I decided to shoot for the almighty 185, hit 1 rep easy, went for another and the bum came off the bench to get it up. I was really happy with that though since 185 is my 1RM at the moment and my bench has been CRAP lately, as mentioned in other posts. This was a good amount of volume for me. Something funny to point out is the fact that I think dinner the night before had a lot to do with it. About 10 hours before Monday’s workout, my fiance and I had some homemade chili. She messaged me saying she had a great gym session too, lifting heavier than normal. I told her - must be chili power LOL.
Overall, the pump was insane as always for upper body day. I’m currently weighing just about 14lbs heavier than I was on 12/4/17, but my vascularity is just as good, if not better than before. I’m feeling constantly pumped during the week while I’m taking X-Gels, and it’s a great feeling. So far no negatives with X-Gels, and I’m officially on my 2nd bottle.
Day 18 was my Lower ‘A’ day with squats and now with sumo deadlift instead of hack squats. Similar to my bench, my squat has also felt like it’s falling apart. I worked my way up to 235 for I think 2 sets of 2, maybe 3 sets. I have everything written down, just never have my notebook in front of me while writing up my log post. The heavier weight and perfect depth for my squats on this day was reassuring. I just would like to be able to work up a few more reps per set - soon enough! By the time I was done with sumo’s, my quads/hams were on fire. My quads are getting pretty defined too, so that’s nice to see.
Speaking of quad definition - I did finally get “1st bottle down” X-Gels pictures. I just need to get some time to gather my December 2017 pictures, February 2018 pictures, and current ones to examine differences and post. Hopefully the gains are apparent. From what I’m seeing in the mirror, I don’t look much fluffier, just fuller than I used to. Clothes are mostly fitting the same, just tighter in my upper back/chest/shoulders than usual. What i’m saying/hoping is that my 14lbs isn’t just fat…hopefully lol. My waist went up an inch total, but oddly enough, that happened when I first started X-Gels.
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The real question for these is, how will they effect the “one inch” of inflammation you’re supposed to get from Rich Piana’s 8 hour arm workout
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I think it’s time to officially close this log a little short unfortunately.
I know I’ve been missing for quite sometime. I haven’t had a whole lot of time to sit here and type stories lately, mostly for work related reasons. We just got a new guy that I was in charge of training who is taking a bit of my workload, so time is coming back to me at last.
I made it through about 1.5 bottles of X-Gels before having to call it quits. While I loved the constant pump effect it provided, I couldn’t handle the DOMS anymore. Even with my progressive eating, doing my usual 4-day split was not giving me enough time to recover in between days. I’d feel great on a Monday, “okay” on a Tuesday, and Thursday and Friday would usually be pretty bad. Sometimes even the whole week was just bad because my body was so sore. Since coming off of X-Gels, my workouts are not leaving me feeling dead in the water. Plus, the fasted workout was really killing my time. I’d wake up starving and the pre-workout only masks so much of the feeling while working out. I thought the EAA’s as my intra was helping, but that ended up being a no-go.
Anyways, without much rambling, here’s the pictures I’ve been promising. Since they’re all side-by-side or top to bottom, I will label each one for before and after. I think the after is pretty clear, but maybe I’m bias!
All ‘before’ shots are from 2/4/18. Weight was around 192-193.
All ‘after’ shots are from 3/11/18. Weight was around 196-197.
Top = after, bottom = before
Top = after, bottom = before
Left = after, right = before
Top = after, bottom = before
This was about 1.5 bottles of X-Gels in a progressive caloric surplus using a progressive overload style program. I’m not too concerned about being “shredded” or anything - would rather have the mass. My legs are fairly lean, arms are noodles, and most fat is held in my chest/torso area. It’s all a work in progress but I was definitely happy with the little extra mass I put on with X-Gels. How much of it was contributed from X-Gels? We may never know, but I know for a fact the pumps are insane and LONG lasting even hours after the gym.
It’s still bulking season! I’m giving something else a go, trying a better looking program, and hoping to add the leanest mass possible from here on.
Huge thank you to @SNSJS for getting me an extra bottle of X-Gels to run. I just wish I could’ve finished it up. I’m going to hang on to it in case I’m feeling like giving it another shot, but if I decide I definitely don’t want to, I’ll post it up here on the forum to give away to another member.
Thank you to everyone who joined in! I’ll post up another log here shortly while I continue to try and get my noodle arms noticeably bigger. Maybe soon it’ll look like I actually lift! 
lol
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Gonna run these starting this week. Thoughts/advice?
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They’re pro-inflammatory so much of it’s about timing around your workout - don’t put them next to your anti-inflammatory stuff like fish oil.
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Oh perfect. So alongside GMS and carnitine. If my pre already has something like a high yield glycerol, should that be sufficient?
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Yes
Xgels-6 gel caps(1.5 grams) + Glycerol (GlycerPump-2 or 3 caps)+Carnitine(2g of either LCLT, PLCAR, or ALCAR)
Dosed preworkout only
Also like Mike said if you take fishoil, take it atleast 4-6 hours after xgels.
Q7: Should I avoid anything while using Ara?
There are some things that should be avoided whilst using Ara. These include:
-Omega 3’s. These counteract Ara in 3 primary ways:
- Displacement: Omega 3s are shown us that they are able to decrease tissue concentrations of Ara, and while this is a good thing long term, it is counter intuitive of Ara supplementation.
- Competitive inhibition: Both fight for COX and LOX enzymes, which means that fish oil supplementation will lower the eiconasoids you actually want increased, notably series 2 prostagladins.
- Counteraction: Fish oil produces eiconasoids that directly counteract some of those produced by Ara. For example, PGE1 is increased with fish oil supplementation, which counteracts PGE2 - one of the primary mechanisms in which Ara works for muscle growth.
-NSAID’s. These inhibit CoX-2 which is the primary pathway in which Ara exerts its anabolic effects. Ergo, using a CoX-2 inhibitor will make your Ara almost worthless
-Anything anti-inflammatory. Cissus, Fish oil etc should all be dosed 4+ hours away from Ara or omitted from the cycle altogether
Q8: What is the recommended dose of Ara?
There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to Ara. Dosages typically range from 1000mg to 2000mg, however lower and higher amounts still seem to produce good results. I recommend starting lower for your first cycle to get the best bang for buck. If you workout 3 days or less, it may be wise to start higher (1.5g+) rather than at the lower dosage. If working out 2 days or less, taking on off days is suggested.
Dose on workout days only if working out 3 or more days per week. Dose prior to a single session, or split the dosage when doing 2-a-days. I would advise against going higher than 2g per day from a cost:benefit perspective.
Q9: Any reasons Ara isnt for me?
If you suffer from any inflammatory condition, Ara use may exacerbate the issue therefore its best to seek medical advice before beginning a cycle.
If you are prone to sore joints, start lower and work up only if Ara does not exacerbate the issues. It may also be wise to avoid combining supplements that also promote sore joints.