Over the past twelve months I’ve used several varieties with very similar results, reviews of these will follow in later posts. However, the fat burner I’ve read the most positive and negative reviews for has been BSN’s Atro-Phex. I’m a big fan of BSN supplements; No-Xplode, Cellmass and Syntha 6 are regulars in my supplement cupboard so I was very intrigued to try out Atro-Phex for myself.

Most supplement companies now allow you to buy sample packs where you can try at a small cost, rather than paying out for a full pack to find either your stomach can’t tolerate it or you body has other reactions…headaches etc.

Regarding Atro-Phex I don’t think you can class the seven tablet sample pack as a good grasp of what the supplement will deliver, rather it gives you a chance to test your bodies tolerance and from that you can descided wether you would like to purchase a months’ supply.

Below I’ve listed the notes I initially made in my training journal on my sample/tolerance test of BSN’s Atro-Phex…

Day One:

• 7:00 – Just taken 1 x Atro-Phex on an empty stomach…let’s see what the hype is all about then.
• 7:30 – No crazy effects yet, got some odd flavour (Rasberry Keytones?) hic-ups going on though…fruity???
• 8:00 – Had a couple of pieces of dry brown toast and some water, a few odd noises in the stomach region to start with but all gone now. For the second batch of the day I think I’ll try the double dose…
• 10:30 – Protein shake with 5grms of creatine.
• 12:30 – Atro-phex x 2
• 13:oo – Wholemeal pasta, tuna, broccoli, peas.
• 16:30 – More bloody wholemeal pasta, tuna, brocolli, peas.
• 19:15  – Chicken fajitas, *no cheese or cream.
• 23:30 – Off to bed (tell a lie, after typing fell asleep on sofa…1:30am finally in bed, bloody hate it when that happens)
  Note: 5 litres of water consumed throughout today

Day Two:

• 8:00 – 2 x Atro-Phex on empty stomach.
• 8:20 – Got the thermo feeling in the stomach and feelin slightly twitchy.
• 8:45 – Protein shake, 5grms creatine, two slices of brown toast.
• 9:30 – Feeling a little mischievous, not hyper…odd feeling, kind of cool though.
• 11:20 – 2 x Atro-Phex on an empty stomach.
• 12:00 – 300grm cottage cheese and a apple.
• 15:00 – Protein shake with 5grms creatine & banana.
• 16:45 – Still got that odd mischievous feeling going on.
• 17:00 – Chicken breast, steamed broccoli, jacket potato
• 19:30 – Feeling very tired even though I haven’t trained today.
• 23:45 – Off to bed.
  Note: 5 litres of water consumed throughout today

As I mentioned earlier, you really don’t get a good sense of this particular product through a seven tablet sample pack. However you do get a good chance to test your own tolerance without spending out on a whole month’s supply. The results I felt during this two day test has given me enough to warrant testing the product further, so stay tuned for a more updates.

It’s worth noting here that one of the points that was constantly raised throughout numerous reviews I read for Atro-Phex is need to consume at least 3.5 litres of water a day. Many of the negative reports I’ve read have been based on the fact that this hasn’t been done. A key element of Atro-Phex is that fact that it acts as a diuretic which will dehydrate you very quickly if you don’t keep the water coming in through your system.

* A diuretic is any drug that elevates the rate of urination and thus provides a means of forced diuresis – explanation courtesy of Wiki.
* The results listed here and in further follow-up posts are based on my own individual experiences with Atro-Phex and should not be the basis of trying the supplement for yourself. Do you own research, make up your own mind and ALWAYS read product labels in full…basically use your head…

Well I won’t burden you with all the details, but its been a constant ‘head against the wall’ feeling for the past month or so. Dealing with constant training niggles that come with the onset of age (usual groans and moans there I guess) and worst of all dealing with narrow minded individuals who can’t see past their own goals and objectives…and at the same time, don’t care who they step on to achieve these…

…as a wise man once said to me, “…life can be a real bitch sometimes, but in that challenge holds the victory” which says it all for me. Dealing with these set backs is part of the battle and getting through it all holds the victory…

So, besides these little distractions training is back on track and everyone here at Room 13 is gunning for the the New Year. We are currently working on a couple of video projects that will hopefully be live in early 2010…

Don’t forget that you can always stay up to date via our Facebook page or by following us on Twitter.

That’s about it for now, will check back very soon with a complete update…and some handy hints to keep you training whilst enjoying the odd treat through the holidays…

Trying some new exercises, playing around with my diet and seeing what works and what doesn’t. I’ve been loosely monitoring my body stats over the past couple of months and its been interesting to see my body hydration and how it fluctuates. Its hard to not get to wound up in numbers and percentages when your trying to achieve a certain goal, whether its adding mass or loosing body fat. I’ve even gone so far as to remove scales etc from anywhere that I use on a daily basis, instead they stay in a cupboard and only come out once a week.

So thing are going well, stats where looking promising…well going the right way at least, which is always a good sign. Then, guess who pushes it that little step to far? Yep, that’s right, yours truly…

Just an ordinary morning like the rest, I’d got up at 7:00am, sorted the kids out and got them off to school. I got down the gym for around 8:45am and feeling up for a hard workout…by this time the No-Xplode was doing its thing and I was ready for tearing it up.

Warmed up, and hit the smith machine…

No just rewinding quickly, I’ve had a semi-weak lower back for sometime after numerous skating injuries and a rather lovely mountain bike prang a few years back…

So, back to the present you’d think I’d know better and concentrate on building strength in the lumber region. Nope…being the dumb fuck I can be, I fell fowl to the most common reason for injury in the gym, basically not thinking. It wasn’t ‘ego’, I don’t believe that belongs in the gym, let alone in everyday life and I try to rid myself of it on a daily basis. I was feeling strong, I had been working on my core more in the past couple of months than anything else…so just wanted to see what my one-rep max could be on dead lifts.

…at this point anyone who trains with weights regularly is now going are you fucking mad, one-rep max with a trick back, you dumb ass.

You know what? you all absolutely right, never have I been more annoyed with myself than today. I built up slowly and got to 120kgs (264lbs) easily without any twinges and tweaks, so added another 10kgs (22lbs) and again all felt good…a little pressure in the hips but nothing that got alarm bells ringing. So here I was 130kgs (286lbs) on the bar lifted with minimal problems, not at all easy, but no immediate alarming signs of potential failure. At this point I was confident I could add another 10-15kgs and be at my max.

I added 5kgs to the bar, got myself in position and started to lift…felt a slight burning in my left hip, but instead of stopping which I should of done I lifted through to straighten out. It was at three quarters of the way through the movement I know I’d made a mistake push this. Finished the movement and lowered the bar, and immediately hit the treadmill to try and walk off any start of stiffness…this wasn’t going to help.

So for the next 24 – 48hrs it’ll be hot and cold packs…and making plans for strengthening the lumber area. Your only as good as the weakest part of your body, and today I know I could have lifted heavier but the lower back wouldn’t have none of it.

Moral of the story, no matter how amped you feel when hitting the weights…keep your head on your shoulders and lift with your brain as well as your muscles…

I must admit, I was exactly the same when I was told about NO-Xplode by BSN, and if it hadn’t come from a trusted source I may well of never tried the supplement for myself. However, I started doing some of my own research and saw common thread throughout…this stuff actually works! People where admitting to amazing focus and getting dialed into there workout straight away, not having any energy dips and being able to blast through their training.

So, I had a look on the BSN website to see if this wonder supplement was available in this country and where I could get it from.  I found that the UK distributor of BSN products is a company called Trio Nutrition. On their website you’ll find a complete range of the BSN products, along with the now infamous NO-Xplode.

Now a large tub of NO-Xplode will set you back £34.99, which is by no means cheap, especially if you’re on a limited budget like most of us are. On top of this the last thing you want to do is spend that money on a product and all its hype to find that it either doesn’t live up to its legendary status or for some reason its a little to potent for your stomach…which can often be the case with these cutting edge supplements. So, thinking outside the box, the clever guys and gals at Tri Nutrion have made a sample pack available which gives you a chance to try some of their products without the cost. At £4.99 this is a great way to try out not only NO-Xplode, but a whole range of BSN products.

Needless to say I gave it a go and ordered my sample pack…

A few days later I had a delivery of a fat Jiffy envelope full of BSN goodies, ranging from the hefty ‘Hy – Pro’ bars to some awesome peanut cookies, Cellmass and the long awaited No -Xplode.

First impressions are a little daunting when you read on the back of the sample pack instructions on testing your tolerance. So, I wanted to leave testing this until I had a typical training day…which was today.

Depending on my work rota, I like to work out first thing in the morning if possible, which doesn’t give room for gathering energy from a breakfast or shake and I always tend to flat spot about 15 minutes into a workout and the remaining session becomes just a case of punching out the reps and going home for some much needed protein.

Well I followed the instructions and tested my tolerance accordingly, and all seemed to be fine. However, I wasn’t to pleased with the flavour; orange had a very medicinal tang going on, but I have it on good authority that raspberry is a good flavour to go with. After reading everything about NO-Xplode I wasn’t to sure what to expect, had a few gurgles from the stomach, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Its recommended that you take NO-Xplode 45 -60 minutes before your workout, and so after doing this I was standing around thinking “suckered once again, same old talk”…how wrong could I of been.

Its hard to explain the feeling you get once you start shifting the weights around, the pump in your muscles is just amazing. I was working triceps, notoriously one of the weakest parts of my body and a workout I never look forward to. Today it was a whole new story, I was focused and into it so hard that I really had to force myself to ease up before I go heavier then I should and injure something. It’s a struggle to put it into words the results the feeling you get from this stuff…so much so now that I’ve built it up in writing this piece only to stumble on closing…

…the bottom line was I felt stronger, lifted heavier and didn’t get the massive energy flat spot I normally get when doing weights first thing on an empty stomach. I became extremely focused at the job in had along with an energy I had never really had that early in the morning.

If you fancy giving NO-Xplode a try, why not get yourself a sample pack, I’ve listed some useful links below.

• Tri Nutrition (BSN Distributers in the UK)
• BSN Supplment samples
• NO-Xplode

Why not come back and let us know your results…

After a fairly short, but intense session of kettle bells, skipping, dead-mans walk and ab work, the aches and pains are making there presence known. I have localised pain at the base of my calves, the glutes feel like iron…real buns of steal feeling…can’t help tensing no matter how weird it feels. Worst of all are my abs; being punched in between leg raises and then having a medicine ball bounced off my lower abs and obliques is starting to make itself felt.

The thing I’ve noticed when training abs is its not the post 24 hours that is the issue, its the following 48 hours…so its going to be fun and games tomorrow. Unfortunately its that old cliche, no pain no gain…obviously its the level of pain you have to consider of course.

As twisted as it my seem, I do like this feeling after a good training session, it’s a good marker that you’ve pushed yourself that little bit further…

Rest day today and then hitting it hard again tomorrow morning…