The shipment somehow got turned around and is on the way back to the sender… on the plus side, they’ve already sent a replacement order, with UPS this time. Wow, talk about customer service!
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Me too.
One set of studies showed decreased benefit from exercise while taking metformin, yet another study showed increased benefit… the 2nd study was specifically with older people, so that may have been a factor. I’m still looking into it.
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Quick update: New PR for a single set of pushups: 40, for a total today (well, yesterday now… eep, it’s late) of 100. That is NUTS. Now we’ll see if I can do the same tomorrow… er… today… 
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Curious have you tried Empfit st1?
Yep! My first stack was Emperor, EF ST1, EF ST2.
Now it’s EF ST2, EF ST3, Beast Within
Nice! Which stage would you recommend for optimal recovery/sleep, I’m asking because I see you as someone who would have the best data and opinion to know because you use a fitness tracker. I wanna test the same with my WHOOP band
I actually didn’t see much difference in sleep before, during, or after my first EF rotation, to be honest. I’ve spent years dialing in my sleep stuff, so I wouldn’t expect major changes at this point. I tried a deep sleep peptide, and even that had no discernible effect.
What did make a difference was the amount of exercise I was able to do on EF, and that’s impacted my sleep for sure… but it’s specific to days when I really push it, which was also the case before EF.
I’m ordering more lab tests before my lab rat starts on the SARMs, to make sure I’m covering all of the things that can potentially be affected.
That got me thinking about something, and that is the ubiquitous instruction to “talk to your doctor” before doing X.
I’ve seen people (friends, family, etc) ask their doctor about a specific supplement, or a blood test, or something of that sort, and either be told it’s not recommended or they have no idea what it is, or worst of all… “you don’t need that”.
Meanwhile, I have never been rejected for anything I’ve asked for… not custom bloodwork, not highly-regulated pharmaceuticals like zopiclone or modafinil… and for years I couldn’t figure out why.
It finally came to me last night.
Before I see a doctor, I do my homework. I understand what I am asking for, I can explain what I hope to achieve, and I then ask my doctor if they can think of anything I may have overlooked, specific to my own health. I do not just say “what should I do?” or “should I do this?”
I have a congenital heart defect, and so I see a cardiologist every 2 years. Fortunately for me, my cardiologist is also a fitness buff so I can ask him questions related to that and I get actual answers, not just generic canned responses.
He was able to give me advice about weight lifting and supplements, specific to my heart condition, including tacit approval for specific supplements and types of lifts because I could demonstrate that I understand the risk profile and that I am responsible enough to stay within the limits imposed on me.
So it’s not “ask your doctor and expect them to think about everything”, it’s “do your homework THOROUGHLY, then ask your doctor if there’s anything that you missed”.
And, FFS… don’t start the conversation with “I was browsing WebMD and…” 
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Got my lab results back, this stood out…
Total T is high enough, but SHBG is crazy high, so that’s gotta be skewing some stuff. Unfortunately, the next appointment the doctor has to go over the results is Aug 16th so I’ll find out then if my understanding of the numbers is right.
Until then, I’m just waiting for the temperatures here to drop back down to normal-ish levels so my lab rat and I can start exercising again… then, let the SARMs begin. 
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My doctor manually scheduled me in for tomorrow, just based on those results. Guess they couldn’t wait lol.
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Since you have oura ring like me I would like you to ask one thing.
This night was not that successful I have a readiness of only 69 for an unknown reason, the lowest heart rate of 58, and an average HRV of 35.
I have had a plan to work out today but from those numbers, I am in big doubt.
What would you do?
I take it easy any day I have a readiness score under 80, especially when my sleep & hrv scores indicate I didn’t have good recovery the day before.
Last night I slept terribly… Readiness score of 78, sleep score 79. I woke up with a headache, feeling as though I’d been up watching TV or YT all night. What I actually experienced was tons of dreams, and when I synced my Oura this morning… sure thing, 2:30 of REM vs just 1:26 of deep sleep.
This you are calling terrible?
For me, Readiness 78 and sleep 79 are above average.
Damn I have never had REM 2:30
My max is probably 2:10 once or two times and around 1:40 is nice to have but most of the time the day when I listen to subs I have like 1:10.
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I’ve spent YEARS hacking my sleep, simply because it is the single biggest factor in how I feel each day, which of course impacts EVERYTHING else.
My readiness scores are usually in the mid-80s, sleep scores are about the same. FWIW I didn’t mean that my score was terrible last night, just that I didn’t feel great when I woke up.
Often I’ll roll out of bed feeling just awful, and my ring practically congratulates me on getting such good sleep… 
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What are your biggest hacks?
Nothing crazy at all - 2g of a magnesium blend (though I’m not expecting to be absorbing all of that), 250mg l-theanine, 500mg GABA, with a mug of sleepytime tea, about an hour before bed.
Right after I brush my teeth etc I will pop a sublingual 3mg melatonin tab.
I aim to avoid screens for the last hour before bed, and we have fairly low-intensity low-blue lights throughout the house, except for the cool white built-in under cabinet lights in the kitchen, which don’t seem to bother me all that much actually.
I find my eyes get super dry when I wear a sleep mask, so I’ve taken to just covering my eyes with a damp wash cloth at night, which also helps with temperature. I use 34dB earplugs allegedly rated for a shooting range, but if the class-action lawsuit going on with 3M is any indication… I don’t think I’d suggest trusting your hearing to little foam bits. Works for blocking out nearly all noise on my already quiet street though.
Finally… I had some hypnotic sleep triggers installed years ago, which work automatically, but can also be triggered manually… those knock me out within a minute unless I’m really worked up about something.
Back in the day I used to take a supplement called udream, which was AMAZING. But, the Canadian company that made it has since gone out of business, something about undisclosed traces of Zopiclone in it lol… Anyway, out of everything I’ve ever tried, that was the best sleep for me.
edit: I definitely plan to get Paragon Sleep at some point, but I’m 100% committed to my EF stack right now, and I have no available slots for a new sub.
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Very interesting.
I have also many experiments under my belt with many sleep supplements.
Melatonin above 1mg makes me more sleep but also headaches many times when I wake up.
Magnesium also with too much my sleep time is longer but also headache. Less dosage has a strange effect that my cognitive abilities the other day are often somehow hindered.
Gaba tried a few times but with no significant success.
Sometimes using a sleep mask and fortunately, having a quiet bedroom but in any case, earplugs are always close to me.
Also tried like four different sleeping teas and then a mixture of a few ingredients (Magnesium etc.).
So after many experiences, I have ended up without anything.
Only use one app with binaural tones to make delta and theta waves if I can not get sleep.
Your headache is probably from too much melatonin or magnesium saying from my own experience.
That’s been my sleep routine for 2+ years now, with Oura data every night since June 2020. The headaches correlate to REM sleep far above the amount of deep sleep, though that’s not the proximate cause of course… something led to the increased REM.
My best sleep is when I get at least 90 minutes of deep sleep, with a roughly equivalent (or less) amount of REM.
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Yes, this range between 1:30 - 1:50 for both is my good sleep as well.
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