Including one that I use.

That's right, I've been using Ergopharm's AMP in a "stack" with Avant's HEAT as part of my weight-loss program. I used Cellucor's thermogenic originally, but my coffee and energy drink intake made taking most thermogenics redundant. Because HEAT and AMP don't use the normal thermogenic pathways, they have more of an effect for me. I don't think it's significant; it helps, but exercise and eating right are far more important. To put  it simply, I'll keep taking them -- as long as they're legal.

What I don't get from AMP is any sort of "amphetamine" effect. I'm not wired, not jittery, and certainly not more awake. I don't get the ephedrine-like sweats or flush. So why is Don Catlin, the scientist and MLB consultant that 'discovered' THG, going after this drug? Patrick Arnold makes it.

Arnold has always been something of a pariah outside the insular world of performance-enhancement. Inside it, he's a rock star. That bothers a lot of people and the climate of chemical McCarthyism makes it easy to target Arnold or others. In my conversation with "Dr. X", one of the makers of THG, in "The Juice", I got at the attitude that these "body hackers" have. They're not in it for money or glory, but merely because they can. AMP probably wouldn't give it's creator the rush of something like THG or DMT, but it's not bad either, to find something that actually works and isn't on the governments extensive controlled list.

Then again, AMP and its active ingredients are bound to make the next revision. There's no good reason, but they don't need one. Saying something is bad is enough in our faith-based drug testing system. Forget tests, results, and science when it's easier to grandstand and draw an ethical line in the sand (all while shaking the grant cup for another government handout.)

Like andro, ephedrine, and prohormones, the government is going to act quickly to take our AMP and with it, a small but untrivial piece of our freedom. I take AMP and while it's still within the original rules of my experiment, I'll continue to do so. Then again, there's always something coming next. Arnold has a little vacation coming up, but like the others in the BALCO case, we'll hear more from him in the future.

***

For those wondering why I've been silent for the most part over the last couple weeks, it's not because I quit the project. I did have a physical setback (shoulder injury) that limited my workouts, but I'll be back in the gym soon. I also bought a bike now that it's warm enough and look forward to adding a bit of Lance Armstrong to the program (ha!). My blog/silence has mostly been due to a rethinking of the spirit of blogging. The attention economy that underlies blogging is in a state of flux, so I've taken a step back both here and at my blog at Baseball Toaster to figure out how it fits in the Will Carroll Media Empire. (Yes, that's a joke.) I'm sure I'll write more about this later, but I'm trying to re-focus my energies and the great early season baseball has helped me do it.

Of course, blogging here at MLBlogs is easy - so easy that it's hard to resist. Expect more soon as I continue my experiment.

Second, I want to wish my grandmother a happy birthday. Almost all of what I do, here or anywhere, is because of her love and support.

Finally, I'll be back with more frequent updates soon. The hardest part about blogging is also the hardest part about my current project. It's hard to do day in and day out. Travel, illness, and the vagaries of life have gotten in the way, but things are looking to normalize soon. I promise, I'll have more for you to read about and discuss soon.

Don't you wish you had one for life?

Life goes on, no pause feature, and while that's a good thing, it does make us prioritize things. I'm certainly not going to complain -- my dog is doing well after a scare, I got to head out to the World Baseball Classic last week, and the Team Health Reports are done at BP. What isn't done is my plan, but it hasn't gone by the wayside.

While I haven't been in the gym as heavy as I like, putting me slightly behind plan on that, the diet is still in effect and I only had one small conscious lapse -- In-N-Out Burger. Hey, I was in Anaheim, I had to do it. It's okay to blow out a diet now and again, you just have to pay for it later. Right now, I'm still down 22 lbs, WAY ahead of where I thought/hoped I'd be. I even had to buy new jeans and even those are loose (the next size down was a bit tight and I'm not a fiscal optimist.)

One of the neatest side effects of the workout came up in Anaheim. While waiting on the van to the airport, I literally ran back inside to use the restroom, then ran back. As I sat down -- of course the van came while I was gone -- I realized I wasn't out of breath, my knees didn't ache, and a smile came to my face.

I'll get my measurements up for next month -- doesn't make sense to do it now. Life intervenes, but staying on plan means that not only is the plan working, it's becoming life itself.

(Next time - more on supplements, pink drinks, Jamba Juice, and cardio.)

Alex, a great reader with a job nearly as cool as mine, had a great question. I'll share as today's post.

Alex asks -- "I trust that everything is going well for you.  Between the Cubs  incident, the Barry Bonds scandal (can it be called a scandal at  this point?), and what I’m guessing is the busiest time of the year  for you, I hope you're holding up okay.

"I've had a thought skirting around the back of my mind for awhile  now.  You're doing an exercise/dieting/supplement regiment to make  huge fitness gains.  But isn’t it possible that the gains a world- class athlete (a Bonds, say) needs to become a better world-class  athlete is so difficult impossibly difficult to achieve that  chemical intervention is necessary for such improvement to take  place?  Or to put it another way, exercise/dieting/supplements have  a massive impact upon your fitness level, and can bring you from a  poor level of fitness to a superior level of fitness.  But can they  take you from a superior level of fitness to a superhuman level of  fitness?"

I've looked at your blog and haven't really seen an answer, so I thought I'd ask.  I'm sorry if this question's been answered elsewhere- like, say, in The Juice (which I'll be picking up next week). I don’t doubt that I’m wrong about this.  I'm just curious about the reasons why I'm wrong.

Will: Great question! The answer is that  percentage gains are harder as someone nears a genetic maximum ---  except no one's ever hit that genetic maximum. Look at body  builders, or sprinters, people we would say are much closer to that  maximum than Bonds. He certainly didn't look or perform like them; he  performed like a baseball player. Now, the flip side to percentage gains is that 1%  of Bonds is much larger than 1% of Armando Rios (who tested positive in 2003 and has been implicated in the ongoing BALCO saga), so he actually  doesn't have to do as much to make those type of gains performance wise.

As Jay Jaffe showed in "The Juice" and Nate Silver showed in "Baseball Between The Numbers," there's no statistical evidence that performance-enhancing drugs of any type show up in the numbers. I'm not saying there's not an effect, just that people smarter than me can't find it statistically. If Bonds and others risked their health and reputations for a gain that could be seen as statistical noise, that's not an advantage, that's stupidity.

Off to the World Baseball Classic. Save me a seat, Mr. DuPuy!

For those linking over from Fitness Buff Radio, welcome! Catch up, then take a look around MLBlogs. There's always something worth reading around here.

Tests, MRIs, interviews, sprints, weights, and measurements are all just a small part of what goes into figuring out if this player is going to become an NFL player. It's an interesting process, one I was happy to hang out and see with my colleage Aaron Schatz. I also got to have coffee with Peter King, a highlight. People would be surprised to know just what a big baseball fan he is!

I also got to meet up with Pete Williams for the first time. Pete is a co-author of Core Performance and at his book signing, a couple guys from Athletes Performance stopped by. They mentioned that some of the guys at API were following my quest, so it was interesting to hear that the very people that help me do this are watching the process. I'm hoping to get out to API in Tempe or LA sometime this winter to put the "finishing touches" on this transformation.

The weekend and the week's media attention kept pushing workouts back. I missed Friday's workout and will be forced to "double up" tomorrow morning, but I've done my core work. What I need is a set of dumbbells ... anyone at Bowflex or Powerblocks want to set me up with those sweet quick-switch weights?

Nearing the end of the month when we'll remeasure and reweigh, but the results so far are good. The first month of living chemically will likely be a big success.

That left me with Wednesday's double workout. Yes, double. Doug let me know that it was reasonable to double the workout since I wasn't working the same muscle group - one was pushing, one was pulling - but that it would hurt. I can deal with some pain and I certainly had some aggression to get out. The workout went well, up to the point of the dumbbell curls, where I was simply out of gas. The double had robbed me, so it's something I'll revisit when I head in on Friday. Biceps are going to be a big challenge.

The key has been sensible eating, consistent workouts, and smart supplementation. I'm not losing a significant amount of weight -- still dealing with some creatine bloat and increased water intake -- but the jeans that had gotten slightly tight around the hips slid off last night without unbuttoning or unzipping.

It's not advisable to skip a day, but it's not the end either. Too many people get defeatist if they're not following their program to the letter, if their results slide behind their goals, or if they get discouraged or distracted. Something's better than nothing in almost every case. It's not time to get defeatest or desperate in the first month of a year of living chemically.

The form I'm using, an esterized version, is very quick acting. Creatine is one of the most widely used supplements in sports and is very misunderstood. It helps with both muscle fueling and recovery, working in ways that are better described elsewhere. The danger is that the very action of creatine forces the person to "superhydrate." Combining dehydration with overheating can be deadly; creatine's been implicated in several deaths among wrestlers.

The supplement, CE-XL from iSatori, works very quickly, as I've said and kept my legs from being quite as sore as my arms. Still some slow onset soreness from a very heavy leg workout yesterday, but nothing like the "oh my god" soreness in my arms. Friday, I had a hard time straightening my arms, so it looked like I was running anytime I moved!

The other thing I'm fighting is genetics. My parents are both athletic, with my dad still a good tennis player and my mom a national level swimmer back in the day. Brian Giles, however, has a brother who's as physically gifted as him. I'm still trying to find out more about Giles' parents -- Geoff Young of Ducksnorts pointed me to a bio of Giles that said his father coached in Little League, but I'll bet one or both parents were athletes. There's a genetic proclivity we all have for certain things, be it running, baseball, bodybuilding, math or music. I can ride a bike all day and I'm never going to be Lance Armstrong.

What we all have to do is get to our "genetic maximum" right? I'm not so sure. Genetics contribute and certainly everyone can't do everything, but the human body is a pretty amazing thing. The genetic maximum is likely so high that no one reaches it. Heck, we're just a few years away from altering the genes themselves.

One week down and I can say my energy level is SIGNIFICANTLY higher. Some of that is simply feeling better about myself; I've set a goal and am working diligently towards it. The rest is probably endorphins. The next couple weeks will be interesting -- will the new supplements help (more on this soon)? Will I get past the muscle soreness that would prevent some people from continuing? At what point will there be visible results? How will the two workouts (heavy weights plus core) synergize? How will I maintain flexibility? How can I increase the cardio I'll need to burn more fat? (This is the big weakness I have going so far ... the thirty minutes of cardio isn't enough.)

All interesting questions, I hope, and interesting answers in the coming weeks. As pitchers and catchers report, we'll find out more about how baseball players are answering questions about conditioning and supplementation under the new drug policy (and what's up with Mark Prior's shoulder!)

"Can I mix my various supplement powders together?"

The answer from Justin is yes. So the four separate things that I drink (Amino Vital, whey protein isolate, and two new ones -- Creatine ester and Leptigen) could be mixed together. The problem is that the tastes might not go well together. Vanilla, two fruit punch, and lemon doesn't sound like a tasty treat.

Honestly, the powders and pills are one of the hardest parts of this. I hate chalky powder drinks and some of these have a decent taste and others have a tinge of dried vomit to them. It's the results I want, not the taste. If I want taste, I'll try a nice cup of Starbucks Gold Coast.

A quick update on weight: I'm actually up a pound. I wish I could say it was lean muscle being added, but it's water weight. I'm drinking FAR more water than I normally do, which is probably a good thing in the long run.

There are some great systems out there, such as Weight Watchers, that simply the math and make sure that the diet is sensible. Others, like GI or Nutri/System's GI based plan, take more involvement. I have a caloric cap and use common sense to make sure everything else stays reasonable. 1600 calories of bacon or ice cream is 1600 calories, but it's hardly healthy.

Here's today's plan. I'm at a 1600 calorie a day cap right now as I'm "shocking" my body into using fat as energy.

For breakfast, a large bowl of Total vanilla yogurt cereal with light soy milk (450c).
Snack: 10 cups of coffee. (Cups in this sense is the physical measure. I have big mugs.) (0c).
(There's some debate on the actual caloric count of coffee. Some have 0, some have 10. I think there's some assumption of sugar and cream. I take mine black.)
Snack: 2 cans of Monster Lo-Carb (20c)
Lunch: Powerbar and water with Amino Vital (240c).
Post-workout: Powerade Advance (130c).
Snack: 2 glasses of protein shake (200c).
Dinner: Penne with chicken and broccoli (290c)
(This is from the Kraft South Beach prepared meal series. Surprisingly  tasty and not bland as I expected. I didn't even need to salt it.)
Snack: 1 glass of protein shake (100c).

Total: 1430 calories. Never hungry. Lots of protein, some green vegetable, low fat. I'm actually a bit down on veggies from where I'd like to  be, but I was crunched for time at lunch and went for the Powerbar instead of rice, broccoli, or salad.

(Edit: I forgot to add in here that I'm drinking copious amounts of water in addition to what's listed. Water is key, so I'm embarrassed I forgot to list it, despite it's zero calorie contribution.)

As always, looking for comments and suggestions.

** Ok, this is a baseball blog site, so I have to make a baseball comment. Barry Bloom thinks Barry Bonds will play in 110 games or less. No one in the media is closer to Bonds than Bloom, so I can't tell if this is a real concern, over and above anything we already had or if this is a means to lower expectations. We started the Team Health Reports over at Baseball Prospectus and this is the kind of thing that vexes me. How can we tell what the real story is? I personally figured Bonds for around 500 plate appearances with a lot of early exits since Steve Finley's a solid fourth outfielder who would be better than Bonds defensively. Batting Bonds in the 2 slot would be a nice way to add some ABs and still getting him out early. I'm glad we scheduled the Giants THR as one of the later ones!

Today was my first serious workout with personal trainer Doug Walker from The Training Station. His "intermediate workout" may not look like much on paper, but (like everything!) try it and see. By the time I left the gym, my arms were like rubber. Doug pushed me and I pushed myself but more importantly, I started. This whole thing is tough because like everyone, I have the inertia of sitting behind a desk, typing and watching TV for a living. My kitchen is steps away and I love to eat.

I know now that ignoring my health is the fastest way to lose it and that inertia works both ways. It's as exciting to know I'm getting healthy, to feel the pump in my triceps and shoulders, as it is to drink a nice Scotch. (I'll still take a dram of Auchintoshen over a pyramid set, but ...) I know that drinking a protein shake might not have the same taste as a Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper, but in the long term I know which one will get me what I want. Believe me, it's very easy to just sit here in the Steelcase Leap and write.

As you can see by the workout, it was chest, shoulders, and triceps. I used to nearly live in the weight room when I was in high school and college. I was smaller than everyone (I was 5'5 when I finished high school) so having any kind of strength or endurance advantage was what I needed. I'm very, very tight and have been ******* down water and AminoVital and protein in hopes of keeping some of the soreness out, but I know that when I wake up tomorrow, I'll be cursing Doug's name.

What's important is that I've made the first two steps:
1. I made the decision.
2. I started.

The next step is the most important: I've got to keep going back, keep working at it, and keeping the commitment I've made. There's no failure in sight here. I knew from the very decision. Tony Robbins reminds us that the word 'decision' means 'to cut off all other possibilities' and that's what I've done. There's a long way to go on this journey, but I know the results will all be worth it.

(First - an aside. I meantioned in a previous post that I wouldn't be doing Pilates despite the endorsement of Ryan Klesko. The reason is not that Giles doesn't do Pilates, but that Klesko began doing Pilates to stay a baseball player, not to become one. It's a great maintenance routine, but not one that will get me to the goal. The principle of specificity is going to force me to concentrate on burning fat, adding muscle, and making swinging a bat a big focus. Luckily, I have a batting cage handy!)

Here's the current supplements I'm on:

Cellucor D4: The thermogenic I started with was good for kick-starting the fat burn, but has lost its effectiveness quickly. Part of the problem is me. I take in what one biochemist I spoke with last week called "a disgusting amount of caffeine." Thermogenics are mostly low-grade stimulants and I simply take more stimulation than most. My coffee intake is probably doing the same thing. I have some Avant HEAT, which is very good and will be subbed in soon. Some have had some problems starting a workout cycle when on HEAT, one of the reasons I've held off.

SportPharma 100% Whey Protein: The vanilla tastes pretty good, like a milkshake. I started slow, mixing it with soy milk and that was fine. Water's not as texturally good, but it's not bad and lower calorie, something I have to watch out for on a 1600-2000 calorie limit with very specific protein/carb/fat breakdowns.

Muscletech Nitro-Tech: This is just more protein, mostly. There's some creatine monohydrate in here and some other additives, but the strawberry's nice. I switch back and forth between them, more for taste than anything else. There's some value to loading the Nitro-Tech, but I'm not doing it. At the point I start using creatine, it will be a creatine esther that doesn't need loading.

VPX Dietex: Listed as a craving reducer, it's actually reasonably effective. I can't tell you why - could be Placebo - but it's not bad. I'm waiting on some Avant Leptigen, which is much, much more effective at this. I'll have more on this once it's in hand.

AminoVital: Think of this as protein Gatorade and you're not far off, though it's much more technical. More people that I know in baseball swear by this stuff than anyone. It's a good pre-workout drink that provides both hydration and available amino acids. You can tell that it reduces fatigue somehow. Good stuff.

ZAND Zanergy: A liquid multivitamin heavy on the B series. Since my caloric intake is way down, this makes sure I have the nutrition I need. Is it better than a pill? No, I just don't like pills.

There are some things I'm going to add -- Avant's HEAT, Leptigen, and SesaThin, a couple Ergopharm products, and a Creatine Esther. I'd love for Muscletech to send me some of their GAKIC and LEUKIC, two high-tech supplements that I'm trying to avoid buying because of cost. I have some pitchers using GAKIC and it's astounding, helping them put real velocity on the ball quickly.

One thing you might notice is that I'm not very scared of taking these and failing a drug test. NONE of these supplements has ever caused a cross contamination positive. Buy from a known manufacturer and a known source and the risk is minimal. Too many people inside baseball are scared now to take something as simple as a Powerbar because they don't have the information they need. It's going to be as big a part of baseball this season as the lack of uppers and the continued fade that old-school steroids make.

Have suggestions? Have a product you'd like me to try? You know where to reach me.

(As always, no product mentioned here should be considered an endorsement by myself, Baseball Prospectus. or MLB.)

I'm using the intermediate level of Mark's Stability Ball program. It's easy, quick, and doesn't leave me sore at the start. Will it get me where I want to go? Not by itself, but it's a darn good start. When I get on the road more this year, being able to have something that's quick, easy, and effective will become even more important. You can check out GoFit's website for more details. The equipment is under $50, also a nice thing.

I'm doing 20 minute stints on the elliptical for cardio. It's boring, but I'm pushing to do two sets at the minimum. It's again, something. The elliptical keeps the beating off my bad hip and worse knees. Once the weather gets warmer, I'm hoping to get more biking in. As a kid, I rode my yellow Free Spirit everywhere and it's probably what kept me in shape ... besides playing football, baseball, basketball (tho I was terrible), wrestling, track, aikido, and chasing girls. (Yeah, that's a sport too, at least the way I did it!)

It'd be easy to sit here in my new Steelcase Leap Chair and not fight for the goals I've set, but this is a decision. No other possibilities exist now. It's only a matter of when do I hit the goals and how far will I exceed them. I'll be headed to The Training Station, a local gym for some work with their weights and trainers on Monday. I'm a bit ahead of schedule for the weights, but I'm chomping at the bit to start seeing more results.

I've been eating very sensibly, with very little snacking. I even followed that Jared guy's advice and did a 6-inch low-fat sub today for lunch. He's from around here ... if he weren't so annoying in the commercials, maybe I'd get him to give some suggestions.

Lots of interest from companies and such in getting involved in the process, so you'll likely see more info on what I'm using and the honest opinion of how they work. I'll  have more on what I stopped taking yesterday in the next post. (If you're a fitness or supplement company and are interested in helping, contact me.)

After reading my last post, Ken says:

"So that's why I scare children. I'm 5'10.5", 160.

Those BMI "ideal weight" stats you cite turned out to be wrong (as you suspected).  That's because the CDC had done its BMI calculations wrong, and overcounted the obesity mortality risk by a factor of 14. So what was categorized as "overweight" actually turns out to be optimal.  "Normal" weight people like me are at slightly more risk for mortality than "overweight" people, and being "underweight" is more dangerous than being "obese".  So the preferable weight categories are, in order:  overweight, normal, obese, underweight.

Check THIS LINK and THAT LINK for more info.

In other words, going after the Brian Giles body is probably better
for you than going after the Ken Arneson body."

Good to know. I feel slightly less obese now that my mind is full(er).

Of course, I'm off a bit. I started at 235 and am down a bit from there, but weight is the least measure to deal with. Brian Giles is 5'10, 205 (listed) but I'll  bet his 205 is a lot different than my 230. It took a couple days to get to a point where I could be measured, weighed, poked and prodded. I did both a laser and a "dunk tank" for body fat measurement, which was an interesting adventure. It was also disturbing in a couple ways. I don't like to think of myself as fat, even though I've gotten that way. Somehow, I still see myself like I was in college - in good, not great, shape. A little self-delusion is okay.

So after the poking, prodding, dunking, weighing, and measuring, we have both some statistics and some facts to deal with. With a known goal, let's see how far I have to go:

Height: 5'10 Weight: 230
Body Fat %: 17.57 (this surprised me. I was ready for a number in the low 20s. Most importantly, it means I'm only carrying around about 13 lbs of fat. That might make hitting Giles' 205 a real problem.) [ed. note: My math *****. The proper answer is 40.4 lbs of fat, which is plenty to lose, though still not enough to get to my "healthy" weight.]
Wrist: 8 1/2 inches (why wrist measurement? I asked and it's used to determine whether a person has a small, medium, or large frame. It's an area that is not affected by fat or muscle gains. For the record, I have a large frame.)
Neck: 18 inches (yeah, try buying shirts)
Biceps: 16 inches (not bad.)
Thigh: 25 inches (again, not so bad.)
Chest: 46 inches (I've been wearing the wrong jacket size for years apparently.)
Waist: 40 inches (Ok, this is the number that most bothers me. I do not like buying jeans that say 40 on them. That's 10 inches over what I was in high school and I clearly remember Jerry Seinfeld saying he could still wear high school jeans. Judging your body by a line on Seinfeld is as stupid as it sounds.)

You can see how these compare to "average" at this interesting link.

Where it got really disturbing is when we sat down and looked at the charts of what my "healthy" and "ideal" weights would be. "Mr. Carroll, your ideal weight at 5' 10 1/2 is 156 lbs." Get the bleep out. You could cut off both my legs and I wouldn't be 156 lbs. After a long illness, I got down to 160 and actually scared children. The idea that this weight was POSSIBLE, let alone "ideal" is simply insane. As my pal Jim Baker said, "I'd have to get TB, AIDS, and amoebic dysentery to get to that weight."

He's right and while it's one thing for guys like me and Jim to rant about this, let's look at it in an even more telling way. There's actually a range of "healthy weights" and for a guy who's 5'10 (and a 1/2, don't forget the half!), the charts say that I should weight anywhere from 139 to 173. If 156 is insane, then 139 is cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. (In my junior year, when I was shorter, I wrestled at the 135 lb weight class.) You measure "overweight" from the top of the range. You're considered "obese" if you're 30 lbs over the top of the range.

Brian Giles, you're obese with two pounds to spare.

Obviously, these charts are meaningless as a guide and I'm much more comfortable saying that trying to match Brian Giles is a good goal than trying to get to 173. I might use supplements and even steroids to get to 205, but I'd have to consider amputation and anorexia to get to 173. The former is healthier.

So now we begin. The first batch of supplements is in hand while super assistant Matt Kleine is working on keeping it coming. I've got my Core Performance workout ready, my meal replacements and low-calorie snacks in the fridge, and you watching my back.

(Next post: What's he taking and what's he doing?)