What's up everybody. Just thought I could create this thread in the preparation for my 6 week Indigo-3G Cycle. I plan on keeping an extremely detailed log including, training logs, meals, weight change, measurements, and some pictures of progress from week to week and workouts to show you how hard I'm going with Indigo-3G. I'll probably be back in a little with a background of my training, diet, and progress that I've had up to this point.

My journey to where I am today really started when my freshman year of high school rolled around. I hate to say it but the fact that I was going to be spending 8 hours a day in the presence of the opposite sex drove me to change.

Throughout my childhood I was always a little more chubby than my friends, and that only increased leading up to my high school years. In 8th grade I believe I was about 180-185 pounds. I was no where near that neat little curve your doctor shows you during the yearly physical before going to summer camp.

My continuous rise in weight was mainly attributed to my diet. My physical activity level was great due to the fact i played sports year round and was thankfully a good athlete and got to play most of each game. How I fueled my body was just plain vile.

Staples of my Fat Boy diet included bagels, cream cheese, bacon, sausage, burgers, fries, chicken fingers, and chocolate in any form but preferably in M&M form. After playing basketball on weekends I would have a bagel toasted with mayonnaise and turkey breast plus some chips/pretzels on the side. Carbs and protein yes, but not really your Surge Recovery.

When I got to high school my diet began to change as my physical activity rose slightly. I began to lean out somewhat. I kept to 3-4 meals, eliminated snacking, and added veggies and fruits. I was still enjoying my lucky charms in the morning but I was still taking good baby steps and change was coming.

As high school wore on my diet became more restricted. At one point I began to count my calories like a high school girl, lost 10 pounds, but was weak. Throughout high school I was in shape, but I wasn't strong...Until I found out about Peak Performance.

Before my senior year ended I went on a hardcore paleolithic diet. I think I ate bread one time in about 3 months. It was baseball season, generally lower physical demand, and I didn't have a need to consume a lot of carbs. I wasn't strength training and focused all my energy on my favorite sport.

Lucky for me I secured an internship at one of the top 10 gyms in the US, and I know that was Men's Health that ranked it, and we might hate against some aspects of Men's Health, but this gym is legit. Once I started there I learned what it really meant to train and the importance of getting strong. I learned how to deadlift (my fav), squat, bench, push a prowler back and forth and back and forth, and do pull ups like my life depended on it. Coming off of the paleo diet I was in a prime time for muscle building. I ended up packing on 16 pounds of lean mass. I went from 170 to 186 with only a 1-2% body fat increase.

It was at Peak Performance where I was swept off my feet by strength training. That internship has turned into a passion for getting strong, staying healthy, and learning whenever I get the chance. I am back at Peak this summer to keep on training and learning. I thought it would be a great time to try INDIGO 3G and I look forward to the journey.

Looking forward to following.

What is your strength at right now? Bench, squat, dead, overhead press?

@ashylarry i have only recently tested my 1RM in bench and deadlift. Keep in mind I've only been training for about 1 year right now, so these lifts probably aren't going to blow anybody away. i work my ass off though.

Bench: 205 lbs
Deadlift: 400 lbs
Squat: 275 lbs (haven't checked in a little while)
Overhead press: 135 lbs (again haven't checked in a little while)

I'm still figuring out a training program for while I'm taking Indigo. I am currently training with some of the staff at my gym Peak Performance. These guys are strong as hell and I always get an elite workout with them. These guys have trained everybody from professional basketball Players to models. I put on 16 pounds of muscle with these guys last year so I might stick with them. I'll keep you updated obviously though.

Been thinking about nutrition with Indigo 3G and just wanted to throw some ideas out there. But first I'll give you an overview of what i do with my diet right now:

Meal 1: (Omelet)
- 2-3 eggs
- 1-2 egg whites
- 3 cups spinach
- 1/4 of a pepper
- 1 cup blueberries
- 2 tbsp Half & Half
- 2 tbsp Almond Butter

- Meal 2: Morning Snack
- 1.5 oz Almonds

Peri Workout:
- 1 scoop Surge Workout Fuel
- 1/2 scoop ON Whey
- 5g Creatine Monohydrate

Post Workout: Scivation XTEND
- 10 g BCAA
- 5 g Glutamine

Meal 4: Lunch
- 10-12 oz of chicken breast
- Maybe some veggies

Meal 5: Afternoon Snack
- 2 tbsp Half & Half (Coffee)
- 2 tbsp Almond Butter
- Maybe 2-4 oz of sliced turkey

Meal 6: Dinner
- 12-14 oz chicken breast
- 2 cups of green Beans
- 1 cup of Broccoli maybe
- 2 oz cashews (dessert yummm)

dinner is usually my last meal of the day because i finish it later int he day and don't really have time to get hungry again. ideas about what to do with I3G coming up next

Are you trying to lose weight?

Also, your diet is pretty low in carbs, isn't one of the main purposes of Indigo-3G to help with carb uptake?


Just some observations.

so I'm struggling with trying to figure out how to proceed while taking I3G.

I currently eat a cup of blueberries every morning and I will stop that about 3-4 days before starting on I3G. Right now my macro breakdown is about 35-40% fat, 40-50% protein, 10-15% carbs. All of my carbs come from the blueberries and peri workout SWF. obviously I want to increase carbs while taking I3G, just trying to figure out how to do it.

My best idea that I have come up with is introducing new carbs every week or every 2 weeks. I was thinking I might give I3G a week by itself to see what happens while all other variables stay the same. But after the first week my carb progression might look something like this:

Week 1: No Change
Week 2: Add 1 scoop Surge Workout Fuel (32g carbs - New daily total = 150-160g)
Week 3: Add 1 Sweet Potato (35-40 g carbs) / 1 Cup of Rice (45 g carbs) (New daily total = 190-200)
Week 4: Add 1/2 Cup oatmeal to breakfast (30 g carbs) (New daily total = 220-230 g carbs)
Week 5: (Maybe) Add a Finibar (40 g carbs) or Surge Recovery (45 g carbs) (New daily total = 260-270 g carbs)
Week 6: (Maybe) Add a Finibar (40 g carbs) or Surge Recovery (45 g carbs) (New daily total = 260-270 g carbs)

week 2,3,and 4 seem like reasonable amounts of carbs for me but weeks 5,6 might be pushing it. when i start getting over 230 g carbs I usually put on fat at an astonishing rate. These plans are obviously tentative and could change once i get a few weeks into the Indigo supply.

what do you guys think?

@ebomb that's my current diet while NOT on indigo, new post is what im planning to do WITH indigo

and in my Indigo-3G planning the sweet potato or rice would be post workout while the Finibar would be pre workout and the Surge Recovery would most likely be post (and if i used the Surge i would switch the sweet potato or rice to pre workout)

Personally, I'd suggest eating no carbs until you pre/intraworkout SWF (so maybe push your blueberries back until postworkout in preparation). If you stay carb-fasted until periworkout, you can probably add more carbs and concentrate your I-3G dose within that time. That way I'm guessing you will be able to get the I-3G some carbs to repartition, without really risking huge fat gain.

As long as you eat all of your carbs by a couple hours before bedtime, your muscles will probably soak them up so you likely won't have to worry about much (if any) fat gain. I think a decent first step might be to either add a scoop of SWF or eat half a Finibar preworkout, then keep the blueberries postworkout or substitute some Surge Recovery or white rice/ a potato for them. If you aren't eating more than .75g carbs/lb bw, and then only periworkout, you shouldn't need to worry about fat gain.

From there, you can consider adding minor amounts of carbs if your body can handle them well (I'd advise jumping 20-25g per week rather than 40-50g). Also, maybe switch from half/half to the heavy cream (or whatever else it was called) for any preworkout meals to avoid the carbs in that. Just some thoughts, but I'm personally having great success with concentrating carbs periworkout (and I do blow up if I eat a lot of carbs), so I think that might work.

@big mac are you talking about my new plan with indigo or my current diet?

about the blueberries, i thought we weren't supposed to consume any blueberries while taking I3G because they could inhibit the absorption. the carbs i plan to eat are going to be Surge Products, sweet potatos, rice, oatmeal, and maybe Finibars if things go well.

and with pre workout carbs I've never been a guy to use them much, I just sip on some SWF about 10 minutes before my workout. so i think the first place i am going to add carbs is going to be peri workout and post workout. but thats just me.

what do you think of not changing the diet for the first week though? are you going to jump right into upping carb intake?

I guess I was talking about both, to some extent. Let me clarify a bit. What I was thinking for the moment is that you should try to shuffle when you are eating things, but not what you are eating.

Your current nutrition plan is light on postworkout carbs, and I'm guessing you'll want to take advantage of the postworkout depletion when your muscles are hungry for carbs by throwing some I-3G and a carb source in there. It's smart to cut the blueberries when you start the I-3G, I was mainly speaking of shuffling them to a post-workout meal up until you cut them so that you can just sub a 'safe' carb source for them without having to mess with your carb timing as well.

I agree that it's smart to not do too much at one time. In anticipation of the I-3G, I've already upped my carbs to some extent so that I won't have to mess around with them through the first week. I'm going to hold my macros the same through the first week of I-3G as well, I think that's smart.

Next week is my last week of prep before I start I-3G (I won't be getting it until Wednesday, and I don't want to start mid-week). I'll be using that week to make a couple final edits to my diet- I'll be switching my generic fish oil supp for Flameout, adding FA3, switching in portions of Finibars for some other carbs I've been eating, and throwing some leucine into the mix.

Really, the Leucine is the only revolutionary thing there for me. After next week, I'll not be making any other changes until I've taken I-3G for a week and gauged my reaction to it. I definitely support not messing with any other variables during the first week of I-3G. Let me know if this didn't really clarify for you lol and I'll take another stab at it.

Also, one other thing: I was suggesting that you concentrate most carb consumption postworkout because that will make it a bit safer for you to add carbs without having to fear blowing up. The morning is a great time to eat some carbs because you've had none during the night (presumably, unless you're sleep-pounding Finibars :P), but I find that postworkout after not touching carbs all day (up until your preworkout protocol) is even better.

At that time, you're coming off a solid carb fast, and you've additionally depleted your muscles with your workout, so your body is really going to do some work with whatever you put into it. You know your body the best, though, and you should do what makes sense based on what you know- that's just one way that I've personally found to work as far as increasing carb intake goes. Just throwing ideas out there for you!

hahah sleep pounding FINiBARs!! if they were in the house I probably would be.

totally agree with concentrating carbs in the workout window. I like your idea of switching the carbs to post workout for the next week and a half before starting I3G. i really want to keep the first week of I3G standard. Also ive always learned that the leaner you are the better of a nutrient partitioner you are. so right now I am going pretty low carb in the hopes that by the time i start taking I3G my body will be ready to partition at its max capacity.

and i think its a good idea to increase carbs say post workout first than it is to increase morning carbs. i am going to be tinkering with the previous plan i wrote out more and will probably not stop thinking about it until the day I pop my first dose of I3G.

so do you think instead of adding the morning carbs first I should add the FINiBARs or the Surge to my pre workout protocol?

*also have to keep finances in mind here too. whole food is gonna be a little cheaper.

thanks for the ideas man. ill be hitting up your spill in a sec.

I saw Chris's post in the I-3G spill... looks like good news for your daily blueberries! Does that change your plan at all?

I almost don't want to risk it, but then again I want to keep the daily carbs elevated while on Indigo. If I cut out the blueberries I would probably have to find another carb source. VERDICT....THE BLUEBERRIES STAY!

bigmac i like what you're thinking. im pretty set on introducing pre workout carbs before breakfast carbs now. it might not end up being FINiBARs but we shall see.

Just wanted to hit you guys up with what kind of training im doing as of now.

2 sets of complexes
- Monday: Overhead Press Complex then Front Squat Complex
- Tuesday: Deadlift Complex then Bench Press Complex
- Wednesday: Off
- Thursday: Front Squat Complex then Overhead Press Complex
- Friday: Bench Press Complex then Deadlift Complex
- Saturday: Some Arms
- Sunday: Off

Overhead Press Complex
- Push Press: 2-3 reps (70 kilo)
- Military Press: 3-5 reps (50 kilo)
- Seated Speed DB Shoulder Press: 20 sec (25 lbs)
- Prowler Shoulder Press: 15 reps (80 kilo)

Front Squat Complex:
- Power Snatch: 2-3 reps (60 kilo)
- Front Squat: 3-5 reps (90 kilo)
- Jump Squat w/ Dumbbell: 10 reps (40 lbs)
- Reverse Prowler Pull: 30 m (130 kilo)

Deadlift Complex:
- Power Clean: 2-3 reps (62.5 kilo)
- Deadlift: 3-5 reps (140 kilo)
- Trap Bar Speed Deadlift: 20 sec (100 kilo)
- Low Handle Prowler Push: 30 m (80 kilo)

Bench Press Complex:
- Explosive Push up: 5 reps
- Bench Press: 3-5 reps (145 lbs)
- Speed DB Flat Bench Press: 20 sec (35 lbs)
- Prowler Chest Press: 15 reps (80-90 kilo)

these workouts sucks the life out of you. plain and simple

planning on going on a pretty pure hypertrophy program with the trainers I work out with. as always it should be great stuff.

Hey City,
I'll be following your progress. I was kind of waiting to put up my log to see if there was going to be a seperate Indigo session.