Tag: megsquats

Buff Chick Supplements Review

by liftbakelove4 Comments on Buff Chick Supplements Review

I spend most of my time outside of work and testing beauty products training for powerlifting competitions (see my last competition recap here) and am very into fitness and health. I’ve been using supplements from Buff Chick since they launched and wanted to share my thoughts on everything I’ve tried so far in one post. As always, thank you so much for being here, and it would mean so much to me if you subscribe here or on Instagram @liftbakelove for new posts!

Only one of each supplement pictured but this is a small subset of my collection!

Buff Pump – This is the product that got me hooked on Buff Chuck, and it’s really amazing. It’s caffeine free, which is great for me since we workout in the evenings. It’s made such a huge difference in my workouts to help me have enough energy to get through them and give them my all. It also has helped me with motivation to go to the gym when I really don’t feel like it, because I will take the pre-workout exactly 30 minutes before we want to go and then then I feel like I need to workout to “not waste it.” Unlike other pre-workouts, this doesn’t make me feel weird, jittery, or shaky. My favorite flavors are the Watermelon and Icy Blue Razz. The Sour Lemon is fine but I don’t think I’ll get it again once I get through my current bottles. I am not a fan of the Cherry Limeade at all – it tastes like sour medicine to me and I’d much rather have the other flavors.

Buff Chick Supplements Creatine – According to the website, studies have demonstrated Creatine supplementation supports strength and power output during intense resistance training. I add this to my Gatorade Zero every day (I use the powder which is much cheaper and no plastic bottles!), and I can confirm that it has absolutely helped my ability to push through heavy lifts and high volume sets way better than I ever have been. It’s $25 for about 3 months worth, which ends up being $100 per year (or less depending on if you can grab it with a 10% off code or other sale). The Icy Blue Razz flavor is also great if you want to drink it by itself and don’t mind paying extra for the flavored version. I actually prefer mixing the unflavored into other things so I’m going to stick with that one for the cost savings, but I’m definitely not sad I have the Icy Blue Razz.

Buff Reds and Buff Greens – I feel so much better after I drink either of these (or both together), and I wish I remembered to drink them more often. They help with my soreness after hard workouts and give me more energy without any caffeine. I’m a big fan of strawberry lemonade and love how the reds taste. I don’t like the taste of the greens as much but it’s still good and totally masks any vegetable flavor. Both mix into water super easily without any grittiness and mix well with each other or with the creatine.

Buff Whey – I am very picky when it comes to protein powder and have generally hated every one I’ve tried for being too powdery, too sweet, not great macros, or some other reasons. But I love Buff Whey – I have the Strawberry Banana and Birthday Cake flavors and am super happy with both of them. I actually make the same smoothie with them – a cup of protein milk, half of a frozen banana, and one scoop of protein powder. The powder blends in so easily, and there’s no weird texture or aftertaste. The smoothie is almost 40 grams of protein for less than 250 calories which are incredible macros, especially given I try to hit around 125g of protein a day. I’m likely going to pick up the Fudge Brownie in their next sale and already have Iced Cappuccino on deck to try once I get through more of the ones I have already.

Do you have any favorite supplements or protein powders? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks as always for being here! As always, some links may be affiliate links that support the blog, but all reviews/opinions are completely my own and unsponsored.

STRONGER BY THE DAY WORKOUT PROGRAM REVIEW – 120 DAYS IN & USAPL Meet Recap

by liftbakelove9 Comments on STRONGER BY THE DAY WORKOUT PROGRAM REVIEW – 120 DAYS IN & USAPL Meet Recap

I spend most of my time outside of work and testing beauty products training for powerlifting competitions now that we are back in the gym, and the program I’ve been following for training is Stronger By The Day. It’s is a 4 day a week workout program created by MegSquats that is focused on strength and powerlifting movements. It’s $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year for the in-the-gym program. It also includes a full at-home workout program, an extra workout day every week, warm ups, and access to a Facebook group with other lifters running the program. For transparency, I did win a free year of the program in 2019 but have become a paying customer since then.

Wearing all Buffbunny, my favorite activewear

I did a 90 days in review of this program in early 2020 after I had recovered from a back injury and was beginning to prep for a powerlifting competition. As happened with most things in 2020, the competition got cancelled, the gyms closed, and we had to figure out something else for the last year and a half. Luckily Stronger by the Day added a home workout program, and we also discovered the amazing home HIIT workouts from The Team Plans. Because of that, we didn’t start from zero going back into the gym in June, but I was definitely a long way off from my pre-COVID lifts (as you can see from day Day 1 numbers here).

Day 1 (lbs)Day 120 (lbs)
Squat115226
Bench75115
Deadlift135270
Total325611

The 120 days numbers are from my competition on October 2nd, which was the USA Powerlifting 2021 Washington State Championship. I placed 5th, which I was incredibly excited about given it was my first meet and there were some amazing competitors there. I’m really proud of what I was able to accomplish after only four months of training, which included a few weeks off for vacations and other things, so I ended up doing exactly 50 sessions in those 4 months. I can’t believe I added over a hundred pounds to both my squat and deadlift in that time, and almost doubled my total. I was able to add almost 6 pounds to my total every single workout session. I know I can credit the Stronger by the Day program for that success, and I couldn’t have hoped for anything better given the amount of time I spent training.

KBShimmer in Better Lake than Never with my USAPL medal

Beyond the incredible strength gains, I really love that there’s a ton of variety week to week and block to block so you avoid getting bored. There’s still enough consistency to actually make progress, but it stays fun. I also love how many substitutions are offered to make it easy to work with whatever is available at the gym. And because I’m always wary of getting another back injury, I appreciate that there are core and mobility movements included in every workout, which I find help keep my back feeling great.

However, as I noted with my last review, I still struggled with peaking for my meet since it’s not personalized to you and doesn’t account for things like having a meet coming up. I had switch up some of the sessions to try and prep as best I could (which honestly still worked out just fine!). I also found that the blocks in these months focused way more on squat and deadlift progress, so I made way less progress on my bench than on those lifts. So if you’re prepping for a meet, I don’t think this is necessarily the best program for you unless you’re on a budget. Even with this issues, the program is still definitely one of the most affordable while still being very effective.

I also can’t wait for the team to launch their app which will make it so much easier to use than having to copy everything into the Strong app. I know that’s coming out as soon as they have it ready, and the sneak peaks have made it look amazing. I’m still planning on using the program to prep for my next meet in December, app or no app!

Is there any fitness gear or program you want me to test? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks as always for reading!

Stronger By The Day Workout Program Review – 90 days in

by liftbakelove5 Comments on Stronger By The Day Workout Program Review – 90 days in

Stronger By The Day is a 4 day a week workout program created by MegSquats that is focused on strength and powerlifting movements. It’s $/8 a month and includes an extra workout day, warms up, and access to a Facebook group where you can ask questions and find info from other lifters running the program.

I wanted to give my review now that I’ve been running this program for over 3 months. Some important information up front before I go through my progress and the pros/cons of the program:

  • I’ve been lifting since high school and have been training to compete as a powerlifter in the past.
  • I had a very severe back injury in October 2018 that I spent a year rehabbing and this workout program was my re-entry into powerlifting training.
  • I won a giveway for a free year of this program, but all opinions are my own, not sponsored, and I am trying my best to look at this from the perspective of paying $8/month.

Most importantly for me, this program was exactly what I needed to quickly regain my strength after my injury. These are in pounds and aren’t anywhere near my maxes pre-injury, but for only 3 months, I’m incredibly excited about this progress.

Day 1Day 90
Squat95165
Bench100125
Deadlift125215
And look at these arm gains! This wasn’t even an arm day.

I am confident that with another 3 months before my next competition, I can get my total back to where it was or even higher. Other things I love about this program:

  • There’s a ton of variety week to week and block to block. I never get bored with the workouts.
  • There’s so many substitutions offered for the different movements so if I shouldn’t do something because of my back injury or it’s not available at the gym, it’s super easy to still get the workout done.
  • Beyond the strength gains, I can definitely see a change in my body composition which I’m super exited about.
  • There are multiple exercises included that were given to me from my PT for my back injury (deadbugs, bird dogs, clamshells, etc.), and I’m so thankful that this workout keeps me on track to keep doing them.
  • $8/month is way less than what I was paying for previous programs, and I definitely think it’s worth the price.

Things I don’t love so much:

  • The program is hosted on a website, so I have to copy over everything into the Strong app to track. Since it’s different every week, I need to reenter the workouts every time, which can get frustrating.
  • I don’t always feel like I get to make progress on the accessories because I’m learning new movements instead.
  • There isn’t a good way to transition to a peak for a competition like there was with JTS AI (my last program), so I might need to find an alternative. I believe they’re working on this though!

Did following this program make me happier? Definitely! I love that it’s kept me going 4 times a week every week, and it’s something I look forward to. I highly recommend this program if you’re looking for strength gains and generally getting more jacked!