Benoit23's Epi/Halo First Cycle Log

Benoit23 said:
Day 49 and the end of week 7 - had another great chest workout. One week left and feeling great. Will continue to log through PCT. Not necessarily glad to see the cycle come to an end in a week, but will be nice to shoot a load bigger than a Mosquitos again. Will be running nolva at bedtime 20mg all 4 weeks of PCT along with 1 cap of UM and 3 caps of e control split throughout the day.

Was as planning on running the e control starting day 6 of PCT and running it all the way through and 1 week after (one bottle gets 30 days and that's all I have). That sound good?
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Maybe start a couple weeks in to PCT so it will last a couple weeks after nolva and UM...just to be sure there's no estro rebound.
 
ebfitness said:
Maybe start a couple weeks in to PCT so it will last a couple weeks after nolva and UM...just to be sure there's no estro rebound.
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Sounds good I'll start it about day 13 of PCT then and run it out 2 weeks after then. No harm in waiting to add it until almost 2 weeks into PCT?
 
Day 50 - back

KILLED IT ON DEADS!! Did 345x3 on 7th set after 315x4 for 4 sets, 325x4, and 335x4 ... Boom that's about all I have to say today. ;)

Heres es a couple updated back pics
 

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Day 55 - currently at work but had another great arms list late last night to close down the gym. Sad that it was my last arms lift on the gear. Really wish i had switched to doing bi/tri split a long time ago ... the pump is unreal. Anyway its FRIDAY and CHEST day. Doesnt get much better. 3 more days :(
 
Benoit23 said:
Day 55 - currently at work but had another great arms list late last night to close down the gym. Sad that it was my last arms lift on the gear. Really wish i had switched to doing bi/tri split a long time ago ... the pump is unreal. Anyway its FRIDAY and CHEST day. Doesnt get much better. 3 more days :(
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Refreshing to see someone doing chest on a day other than Monday (International Chest Day).
 
Day 56 - it's finally here, my last day on cycle (PCT begins tomorrow)

Took all my final measurements this morning and here they are:

Before (day 1) ..... After (day 56) - all unpumped and unflexed measurements except specified bicep

Weight: 158.8 ..... 174.8 (+16lbs)
Chest: 38" ..... 40.5" (+2.5")
Bicep (flexed): 14.5" ..... 15" (+.5")
Bicep (relaxed): 12" ..... 13" (+1")
Waist: 34" ..... 34.5" (+.5")
Neck: 14" ..... 15" (+1")
Thigh: 21" ..... 22.5" (+1.5")
Calf: 14" ..... 14.5" (+.5")

Along with these body measurements, everyone of my power lifts increased. I am never one to do 1RM so I don't have specifics for this, but that being said, in the end I was doing 215x5 on bench (up at least 10-15lbs), 170x5 on military (up around the same), squats I rotate between regular and smith but def up as well, and biggest by far was my deads getting 345x4 on 7th set last time where as before I had never even got 315 once.

Overall I think this was a successful run. As I said many times I had never attempted a bulk before so I have no clue how those measurements stack up to the average, but I'm very very happy with them. My chest/back looks so much fuller along with my legs those are the biggest areas I noticed.

I seriously have ZERO sides to report from the entire run. There were days when I was really dragging, but then again I always go very hard. I think I took 2 rest days the entire cycle. May just treat myself to one today to end it. Hopefully PCT will go just as smoothly as the cycle did.

Would love over to hear feedback from people on what they think of those before and after stats and if that is good progress or not???

now to start PCT and my new intermittent fasting diet tomorrow staying around maintenance cals for 5 weeks, go to Cali for 10 days, then come back and run a cut hoping to preserve as much of the muscle I gained as possible while getting my damn 8 pack back (man I miss it, but I think in the end it will definitely have been worth it)

Thanks guys! Love the IML products and hope you enjoyed my first ever log!
 
Benoit23 said:
Day 56 - it's finally here, my last day on cycle (PCT begins tomorrow)

Took all my final measurements this morning and here they are:

Before (day 1) ..... After (day 56) - all unpumped and unflexed measurements except specified bicep

Weight: 158.8 ..... 174.8 (+16lbs)
Chest: 38" ..... 40.5" (+2.5")
Bicep (flexed): 14.5" ..... 15" (+.5")
Bicep (relaxed): 12" ..... 13" (+1")
Waist: 34" ..... 34.5" (+.5")
Neck: 14" ..... 15" (+1")
Thigh: 21" ..... 22.5" (+1.5")
Calf: 14" ..... 14.5" (+.5")

Along with these body measurements, everyone of my power lifts increased. I am never one to do 1RM so I don't have specifics for this, but that being said, in the end I was doing 215x5 on bench (up at least 10-15lbs), 170x5 on military (up around the same), squats I rotate between regular and smith but def up as well, and biggest by far was my deads getting 345x4 on 7th set last time where as before I had never even got 315 once.

Overall I think this was a successful run. As I said many times I had never attempted a bulk before so I have no clue how those measurements stack up to the average, but I'm very very happy with them. My chest/back looks so much fuller along with my legs those are the biggest areas I noticed.

I seriously have ZERO sides to report from the entire run. There were days when I was really dragging, but then again I always go very hard. I think I took 2 rest days the entire cycle. May just treat myself to one today to end it. Hopefully PCT will go just as smoothly as the cycle did.

Would love over to hear feedback from people on what they think of those before and after stats and if that is good progress or not???

now to start PCT and my new intermittent fasting diet tomorrow staying around maintenance cals for 5 weeks, go to Cali for 10 days, then come back and run a cut hoping to preserve as much of the muscle I gained as possible while getting my damn 8 pack back (man I miss it, but I think in the end it will definitely have been worth it)

Thanks guys! Love the IML products and hope you enjoyed my first ever log!
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Great log, and those are GREAT results, brotha! Glad you enjoyed the products!
 
Just thought I'd give a quick update....

Yesterday was my first day starting my IF diet and let me tell you those meals felt HUGE, especially the 50% total caloric intake post meal one. I had based it off 2500 calories and running (+15training, -30% rest splits). I immediately dropped the number to 2200 and recalculated all off my numbers haha. That being said, doing the 16 hr fast isnt difficult at all, at least much easier than i expected. Will still probably make some more tweak over the next week or so to get it dialed in, but I'm really excited for this I think the results are going to be amazing.

PCT update... not sure if it was the whole switching the diet, taking caffeine/bronkaid, adding UM, adding Nolva but I normally fall instantly asleep around 11pm and i seriously laid awake until 2-3am it was awful. Felt fine this morning waking up at 615am still, but dont want too many nights of not getting that recovery sleep. I wasn't jittery or anything and didnt take the EC combo too late (last dose at 4:30) just couldnt sleep. Had a little heartburn too, not sure if that was diet related or due to the nolva???

Anyways we will see how tonight goes, hopefully much better. Anyone have hartburn/sleep issues from the nolva? would it be better to dose it somewhere else? I took it right before bed (id say empty stomach but I had eaten that monstrous meal at 8 lol so i dont think that was the case)

PS. Did chest as my workout and got 225 x 3 on bench press for my 6th and 7th reps. Had never even tried it before so thats another PR. Weight is at 177 now.
 
Benoit23 said:
Just thought I'd give a quick update....

Yesterday was my first day starting my IF diet and let me tell you those meals felt HUGE, especially the 50% total caloric intake post meal one. I had based it off 2500 calories and running (+15training, -30% rest splits). I immediately dropped the number to 2200 and recalculated all off my numbers haha. That being said, doing the 16 hr fast isnt difficult at all, at least much easier than i expected. Will still probably make some more tweak over the next week or so to get it dialed in, but I'm really excited for this I think the results are going to be amazing.

PCT update... not sure if it was the whole switching the diet, taking caffeine/bronkaid, adding UM, adding Nolva but I normally fall instantly asleep around 11pm and i seriously laid awake until 2-3am it was awful. Felt fine this morning waking up at 615am still, but dont want too many nights of not getting that recovery sleep. I wasn't jittery or anything and didnt take the EC combo too late (last dose at 4:30) just couldnt sleep. Had a little heartburn too, not sure if that was diet related or due to the nolva???

Anyways we will see how tonight goes, hopefully much better. Anyone have hartburn/sleep issues from the nolva? would it be better to dose it somewhere else? I took it right before bed (id say empty stomach but I had eaten that monstrous meal at 8 lol so i dont think that was the case)

PS. Did chest as my workout and got 225 x 3 on bench press for my 6th and 7th reps. Had never even tried it before so thats another PR. Weight is at 177 now.
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Nah, my guess would be the food/new diet...metabolism going crazy.
 
Day 3 of PCT - slept much better last night so thats good. Probably because I was so tired from it being my very low carb day. Weighed myself this morning just for fun and I was down to 173.6 (down about 2lbs from the 158.8 - the 177 i posted was from weighing mid day so it was off from my typical time I weigh) ... anyway just wondering will it be typical for me to shed some lbs pretty fast this first week of PCT? Water weight mostly im guessing? First time doing this so just curious what to expect.

Back workout later tonight!
 
Benoit23 said:
Day 3 of PCT - slept much better last night so thats good. Probably because I was so tired from it being my very low carb day. Weighed myself this morning just for fun and I was down to 173.6 (down about 2lbs from the 158.8 - the 177 i posted was from weighing mid day so it was off from my typical time I weigh) ... anyway just wondering will it be typical for me to shed some lbs pretty fast this first week of PCT? Water weight mostly im guessing? First time doing this so just curious what to expect.

Back workout later tonight!
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The fact that you're just running maintenance cals AND starting a new diet...yeah, you'll prob be shedding some water weight pretty fast.
 
ebfitness said:
The fact that you're just running maintenance cals AND starting a new diet...yeah, you'll prob be shedding some water weight pretty fast.
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Pretty much what I figured, I'll be judging more on how my lifts continue to progress than the scale.
 
Finishing up the first week of PCT. Weighed in at 171 this morning but that was after a low carb day. Crazy how fast I have cut water, actually already feeling decently pretty cut. May not even need to really run a cut cycle may stay at maintenance or even try to lean gain a little more after. If I can keep this weight up the next four weeks I will definitely be able to say I gained all lean mass while remaining te same body fat or maybe even losing some. Strength is still right where it was on cycle, even feel like I'm continuing to gain definitely not dropping. Here some updated pics as of today...
 

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Benoit23 said:
Finishing up the first week of PCT. Weighed in at 171 this morning but that was after a low carb day. Crazy how fast I have cut water, actually already feeling decently pretty cut. May not even need to really run a cut cycle may stay at maintenance or even try to lean gain a little more after. If I can keep this weight up the next four weeks I will definitely be able to say I gained all lean mass while remaining te same body fat or maybe even losing some. Strength is still right where it was on cycle, even feel like I'm continuing to gain definitely not dropping. Here some updated pics as of today...
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Shredz!
 
Yesterday (Monday and Day 8 of PCT) - Chest (sorry EB haha) ... ended up getting 225 x 4 for all 7 sets of bench, was only able to get 215 x 4 sets 1-5 and 225 x 3 on the 6th and 7th set previous chest day. Went up weight on a few of my other accessory chest lifts too. Cant believe I'm maintaing strength so well and even gaining still. Weight is around 174-172 depedning on if I weigh after a high/low carb day, will continue to monitor that but hopefully I have my calories dialed in now on this IF diet to maintain it, but like i said, even though i dropped 4 pounds really fast, I think it was all water because I definitely have not lost any strength.

Nothin negative to report, still lackin a little in the sex drive department, but hopefully that will change as I continue to take the nolva and UM. Will start E control Friday and run it out 2 weeks past the last Nolva/UM dose. I saw on a lot of other threads that people dose nolva at 40mg for the first 2 weeks then 20mg last 2, hopefully I didn't mess anything up by just doing 20mg all 4 weeks thats what I'd always seen suggested on these threads ... would anyone suggest I run it longer than 4 weeks? or do you think I'll be good with just 4 weeks still being that I ran an 8 week cycle and all...... just curious!
 
Benoit23 said:
Yesterday (Monday and Day 8 of PCT) - Chest (sorry EB haha) ... ended up getting 225 x 4 for all 7 sets of bench, was only able to get 215 x 4 sets 1-5 and 225 x 3 on the 6th and 7th set previous chest day. Went up weight on a few of my other accessory chest lifts too. Cant believe I'm maintaing strength so well and even gaining still. Weight is around 174-172 depedning on if I weigh after a high/low carb day, will continue to monitor that but hopefully I have my calories dialed in now on this IF diet to maintain it, but like i said, even though i dropped 4 pounds really fast, I think it was all water because I definitely have not lost any strength.

Nothin negative to report, still lackin a little in the sex drive department, but hopefully that will change as I continue to take the nolva and UM. Will start E control Friday and run it out 2 weeks past the last Nolva/UM dose. I saw on a lot of other threads that people dose nolva at 40mg for the first 2 weeks then 20mg last 2, hopefully I didn't mess anything up by just doing 20mg all 4 weeks thats what I'd always seen suggested on these threads ... would anyone suggest I run it longer than 4 weeks? or do you think I'll be good with just 4 weeks still being that I ran an 8 week cycle and all...... just curious!
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20 mgs all the way through is fine. And it won't hurt to run it a little longer if you want, but running E-Control for a while after will extend the PCT anyway. Either way, you're good.
 
ebfitness said:
20 mgs all the way through is fine. And it won't hurt to run it a little longer if you want, but running E-Control for a while after will extend the PCT anyway. Either way, you're good.
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Thanks EB!
 
Day 11 PCT - going to just be abs and cardio as it's my rest day for the IF diet, but yesterday was Back and I PR'd on deads!! 350x2 on the 7th set after 315x4 for 5 sets and 335x4 on the 6th!! Kinda mad I didn't try 355 or 360 even, but next time! So I think it's safe to say def no loss in strength so the weight I'm Droppin must be all fat/water! Weighed in at 170 this morning!

Tried to upload the video from my phone of me gettin 350x2 but doesn't seem to work the same as uploading a pic and I can't figure it out. O well!
 
Benoit23 said:
Day 11 PCT - going to just be abs and cardio as it's my rest day for the IF diet, but yesterday was Back and I PR'd on deads!! 350x2 on the 7th set after 315x4 for 5 sets and 335x4 on the 6th!! Kinda mad I didn't try 355 or 360 even, but next time! So I think it's safe to say def no loss in strength so the weight I'm Droppin must be all fat/water! Weighed in at 170 this morning!

Tried to upload the video from my phone of me gettin 350x2 but doesn't seem to work the same as uploading a pic and I can't figure it out. O well!
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Prob has to be loaded from youtube or another vid sharing site.
 
Day 13 of PCT - weight right at 170 exactly this morning. Think I have the diet pretty much zoned in on maintenance now. Great shoulder workout last night. My bf% is definitely lower than it was pre cycle at this point as I'm starting to see new veins all over up in my caps and traps when I shrug now. Love that shoulder day pump, attached pic from it below. Fasted cardio here in a couple hour and then abs. That's all for today. Still no sides.
 

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End of week 3 of pct - dropped quite a few pounds and really leaned out but haven't lost any strength from the cycle. Lovin every minute of it. Here's an updated pic and I'm getting my bf% tested Wednesday I the bod pod. May also get skin caliper done as I had a pro competitor tell me I may be too lean and the bod pod wouldn't be accurate? Anyone know anything about that or ever used one?
 

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Benoit23 said:
End of week 3 of pct - dropped quite a few pounds and really leaned out but haven't lost any strength from the cycle. Lovin every minute of it. Here's an updated pic and I'm getting my bf% tested Wednesday I the bod pod. May also get skin caliper done as I had a pro competitor tell me I may be too lean and the bod pod wouldn't be accurate? Anyone know anything about that or ever used one?
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If you have access to both, I'd give them both a shot to get a ballpark number.
 
Got the bod pod and skin calipers done this monring at my local College's Exercise Physiology Dept ... weight is 162 and bod pod BF was 6%, calipers was around 4% (+/- 3% variation the guy said on that) ... so looks like now that PCT is basically over with I gained around 5-6 pounds of solid muscle and lost around 3-5% BF... I don't know what my BF% was before since i didnt get it tested, but I know it was significantly higher ... probably 9-11% if I had to estimate. All my lifts are still where they were on cycle for the most part and I've kept my strength gains.

Thinking about looking into doing a Mens Physique contest in the real near future while I have my BF% so low and am lookin the best I ever have. If I can't find one, I will probably try to lean bulk up 5-10 lbs the next 4-5 months and hover around 8-9%BF for awhile and then prepare to do one next spring.

This will likely be my last post! Thanks IML for the great first cycle!
 
Way to go, Bud! Great log and results. Congrats on the lbm gain and fat loss. What more could a person want, especially from a 1st cycle? Looks like you did it right!
 
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