Did my "Natural" Myogenesis Experiment Succeed?
Natural Myogenesis Experiment: Final Results?
The question mark in the title is there because I want to leave some wiggle room in case I keep growing. While I feel like it's time to do the wrap up/results video, I'm also not completely sure that I'm "done." So, if more growth occurs, I'll update. But, at this moment I feel I have enough data to show a "result." So, here it is:
Throughout the "growth phase" of this experiment I felt the tell tale signs of rapid muscle growth. If you've ever done a very successful cycle or had a big growth spurt when you first began training, then you know what I'm talking about- you aren't just sore after a workout, but you can feel an exceptional "tightness." This is your expanding muscle pushing against the casing that surrounds it- the fascia. You find yourself needing extra sleep- like "take a nap now!" and then when you wake up, you look leaner and tighter. This is because extra energy is being diverted to growing muscle and likely new neural pathways- both in the brain and to the muscle itself. Like I say, if you've experienced it, you know.
The images you are about to see are pretty average, lol. View with an open mind, I'm no genetic great or even a serious amateur bodybuilder. So, without further ado, did it work?
The basics of the experiment are: A couple weeks of ketosis to get ready to fast, a 12 day "dirty" fast to prep stem cells, a recovery period post fast to fill back out, then a growth blast for 12-21 days. This is the same basic schedule I use when relying on slow release oxytocin to produce myogenic growth. I take the oxytocin in decently high doses only during the growth phase to mature the prepped stem cells. The purpose of this experiment was to see if a combination of "natural" substances (via subcutaneous injection) could produce the same myogenic growth as a round with slow release oxytocin or aas under the same conditions.
I weighed throughout and took video at certain points to show the progression. Typically I experience good fat loss during the fast, duh. And, I usually gain about 10 lbs of good "bulk" during the growth phase using oxytocin. My estimation is that 2-3 lbs of this is typically lean tissue with the rest in glycogen, mineral retention, and of course water and a little fat. How did my results stack up using the natural stuff?
In the vid on the left I weighed 224.5 lbs in light sweats (all numbers taken this way- same outfit etc) at the gym before the first keto phase. By the end of that phase and before fasting, I stilled weighed the same. I had been this weight for months by the time I started fasting. During the fast I got down to a 205 lbs morning weight, 207 in video. After returning to eating (note: I attempted keto, but ended up having low carbs during this phase- 100-150 per day and normal maintenance calories nothing special) My bodyweight settled at around 212 lbs. It got there just from introducing normal food back in. And, it stayed there for 2 weeks while I rode out the "deep quiescent" post fast phase where you cannot grow no matter what you eat. When the scale started to rise a bit, I knew that phase was over and began the growth phase. There were a couple false starts where I had to go back and re-formulate a product etc. But, overall, as you can see from the vids and dates, the growth phase was about 2.5 weeks but spread out just over three weeks or so start to finish. I ended up at 222 lbs. And, like I say, I may not be done yet.
But, I felt this was a good time to call it. Yeah, in my humble and not so objective opinion, it worked. While the vid on the far right may be a little washed out looking- making me look not as lean as the darker vid where I weighed 212, note the small veins in the lower part of my side delt showing in the 222 vid. Also, I had absolutely no pump in the 222 vid- just decided to get some evidence while I was thinking about it. The 212 vid I may have had a slight pump and the lighting is different- but with my cheap phone/camera I couldn't get it just so. So, you'll have to use your own judgement. I'll say this- I sure as heck didn't put on 10 lbs of fat from 212 to 222! And, look at the before and after from the very beginning to the end- from 224.5 to 222 and I look reasonably bigger, fuller, and leaner at 222 though I'm 3 lbs lighter!
You may note that a lot of the benefit took place before even starting the growth blast. This is from the fasting- everyone thinks you'll lose a ton of muscle. Here's why I didn't: 1) I'm on generous trt, currently 225 mg/week microdosed daily. It isn't the be all end all, but it helps. You can fast and not lose muscle without it, but it's a nice safety net to avoid excessive catabolism, I won't lie. 2) I got "fat adapted" before fasting- keto, good, deep keto. Get the body adapted to burning fat vs. glycogen and the body will pull from fat stores while fasting vs. glycogen stores (muscle). Look at the difference between the first vid and the post fasting vid at 212 lbs- to my eye, it looks like I only lost 12 lbs of fat and water and kept all the muscle.
But, to go up another 10 lbs after already looking leaner and fuller? Even better. For this growth phase I took the following subcutaneously: Ecdysterone/plant sterones 40-150 mg/day, genistein 35 mg/day, DHEA 35mg/day, epicatechin 8 mg/day (sometimes injected, sometimes sublingual), lemon myrtle ? mg/day (sorry, no conclusive number on this oddball and I wasn't consistent with taking it). I took the following sublingually or orally- vitamin D3, K2, and NAD+ sublingual. Generous creatine and TMG (though I fell short of goals on creatine), some extra protein where I could. High calories, high carbs- around 4000 cals per day and 400-500 grams of carbs honestly. Carbs are key- see study.
Some of the hiccups were because I was fiddling with the formula of my main substance- subQ ecdysterone, genistein, DHEA combo. I finally got the formula user friendly/relatively painless at about the midpoint of the experiment. I stumbled on the perfect ratio of benzyl alcohol/glycerin to pull out excessive plant fiber and make filtration a snap. Holy heck is it much better!
So, it's been a good learning experience all around- to keep the experiment going I HAD to figure out the subq ecdy, lol. So, that was good motivation. I can't honestly tell if I'm 100% still growing or not- I'm going to give it 5-6 more days and if the scale stays put, then I'll know I'm done. I'll then likely take a few days to use some slow release oxytocin to be sure that all the prepped stem cells have been harvested and begin the process again. The snowball effect, one layer of muscle at a time. Moving forward I have no issue using some peptides and other substances as I feel I have made my point. I will continue to use all of these items from this experiment on my next growth phase- but likely alternating the subq ecdy with oxytocin eod to get the best of both worlds. The release from injection site is so slow that both will be in the system at the same time and I'm curious...
As usual, I hope some of this made sense and there's something interesting or useful you can glean from this. No patreon vid this week- but several free vids up there now showing how I make this and that and a little behind the scenes info on the complexing etc. Check that out if interested, hit like if you like it, subscribe for more and I'll see you back here next week!
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