It's here. Today is the final day of the scheduled Brodyssey. So it's time to see how it all added up.
Generally, first, I never skipped a workout, nor did I ever cheat on my meal plan. However, due to scheduling issues, I took one extra rest day, and due to an illness, I ate less than my prescribed calories one day. Barring these unavoidable caveats, the macros, sources and workouts were exactly as prescribed.
I did complete both big ass books. I did invest the time/energy into writing as I intended (minus my sad little sick day). I never missed a supplement.
So, on the whole, as an exercise in making goals and meeting them, the Brodyssey was a complete success.
On to the results. Physically first. My weight dropped from 197 lbs to 186 lbs. My waist grew from 33 in to 34 in. My cold bicep flex grew from 15.5 to 15.8 and my chest circumference changed from just over 45 in to just over 46.
My 1RM for every lift practiced increased, some (such as isolation lifts) increased by 20-30 lbs, others (primarily large compound lifts) increased by over 100 lbs. My deadlift, in particular, moved from 315 lbs to 430 lbs.
I, as well, as a few others, noticed that my physique became more tapered, and V-shaped down to the waist, implying a growth in the lats and shoulders. There is visibly more muscular definition in my stomach and quadriceps. There is more visible vascularity in my upper arms and forearms.
Approximate body fat percentage is now 13%, down from the original 16%.
What do these results mean? First of all, on the positive side, it means that it is indeed possible to lose fat while building muscle simultaneously, which is ground-breaking. It's huge for me, in particular, because genetics and personal commitment levels are different from individual to individual, so even though it might be more easy or more difficult for any other person in the world, it is, at least, possible when not on an illegal performance-enhancing drug.
Also, positively, myofibrillar hypertrophy occurred at a much higher rate than normal. I grew in strength very rapidly.
However, sarcoplasmic hypertrophy did not occur as quickly as I would have liked. Size gains did happen, but were marginal at best and negligible at worst (with the exception of the erector spinae muscles of the lumbar back, which added an entire inch of thickness to my waist even while losing more than ten pounds of fat, but is easily explainable since this program is the first time I tried a progressive overload system to the deadlift since I began lifting). At least I did not lose any muscle mass.
Bottom line: this training method, Hypertrophy-Specific Training by Bryan Haycock, does unarguably cause hypertrophy, but does so in a myofibrillar way much more efficiently. In terms of sarcoplasmic hypertrophy, other programs have demonstrated superiority with my body, including Sagi Kalev's Body Beast and Leo Costa's Big Beyond Belief. Use this program to get much stronger, but pick something else if you want to get bigger.
I never got tired of stews, and I never made the same stew twice. On the whole, I found myself less hungry during the day, more satisfied and energetic, and with the exception of my food poisoning incident with the downtown goose, with more vitality and healthiness. I attribute this mostly to the higher intake of saturated animal fat, and close adherence to a macronutrient ratio of 40% fat, 40% protein and 20% carbohydrate. When it varied, I made sure to take in excess calories only of fat or protein, not of carbohydrates. It also might have something to do with the organic nature of the food I made myself being my primary source of nutrition.
As the Brodyssey continued, I found reading and writing to be easier and easier. This may be due to the constant increase in reading and writing, or it may be because of the nootropic supplementation. Either way, I feel as though resulting story I've written so far, and the ease with which I finished this last book are tangible evidences of an improved memory, creativity and cognizance.
Even though the 30 days are over, some of these particular challenges are not completed yet. I haven't yet finished the second cycle of HST, and I will continue until it is done. It should end conveniently when I finish my bottle of Anabeta Elite. When it is done, I will take a week off of lifting, as prescribed by many sources, and then continue this bulk with a different program with a focus on sarcoplasmic hypertrophy.
I have not yet finished the story I am writing. It should take about seven more active days of writing to finish the first draft.
I will finish all of the current bottles of supplements I am on, before doing a short fast and starting a new cycle.
I will continue reading fiction every day, and nonfiction as often as I enjoy.
What did I learn? The most important things I learned came not from about any of the specific trajectories of improvement I chose, but instead from the very concept of reaching goals. The absolution of commitment, the unwavering discipline, and the uncompromising resilience that the human mind is capable of, are things that I am more familiar with. They are things I believe that all people should be more familiar with.
Most important takeaway: Any change you want to make in your life is possible, no matter how big or small it is. If I can do all of this crap as an experiment in a month, then you can do any one of them, or whatever else you choose to do. Decide to do it, make a plan, break the plan down, visualize the end, and take a small step every day, and you will get there, no matter what.
What happens next?
The Indeigogo campaign ends today for Virility Vitamin, and although we did not reach our goal, we did raise some money which is going directly to ingredient acquisition. There will be many more opportunities for donation, contribution and participation. I know that the money will be raised, and I won't give up until we get there. I have quite a bit more planned coming up in the future.
Speaking of the future, this blog will remain active, although there will not be a new post every day. I will continually update it about the company and the product and my own self-improvement journey which will never ever end. I will update it with supplement reviews, workout program results, diet ideas, book reviews, movie reviews, motivational insights, and a million other possible things aimed at the masculine pursuit of perfection.
I had a great time doing this, and I got a lot out of it. Thank you for staying tuned, and I hope you learned a little bit along with me.
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