I just watched a YT video featuring JP (as in @trainedbyjp) on first cycles. During it he mentioned 'needing to up the dose to grow'. To be fair to him he's REAL BIG on nutrition. But I had to think about my own use for a second. I've written the numbers many times before over the past year. But I'll cover this again. The touch on why I think some do up the dose and why.
So the heaviest I've ever been was a fraction (like less than a 1/2lb) under 300 (I was 299.6). One buddy got real excited for me and wanted me to eat some more cereal so I could say I was 300lbs. Heck, I probably was later on after a drink ha ha. Anyway, if not that on that cycle I do remember sitting down and working out what my highest gear intake was and it totaled 765mg. My most recent cycle was close at 735mg (I hit 294lbs- mostly water weight - up from my normal 280lbs. I started that cycle at 284lbs). Most of mine are less- probably around 600mg total. It's also worth noting I'm NOT a bodybuilder but a strength athlete. So, other than my protein intake, I don't worry about being lean or needing above average condition. I only need to be strong for what I want to be strong for. I DO try and do some cardio conditioning when I'm heavy (or heavier) otherwise it becomes just uncomfortable.
So, in my example, I'm not taking 2x, or even 3x what I took back in the day (I think I was about 300lbs that one time in 2009 or so) in order to get close to or past my previous high. So it occurs to me that we might think of reasons why some do seem to add more and more.
1) Number or cycles per year. I average 1 (around 10 weeks or so). Only one time did I do two. One cycle, which I wasn't keen on, was 16 weeks. If you run long cycles or worse if you blast and cruise) OR if you run multiple cycles per year then I'm guessing do more or less the same thing doesn't work. There's arguments about receptors, clearance times and so on all of which, by some degree, must have some effect.
2) So-called Homeostasis. In essence the body only slowly adapts and us lifters and builders, with gear, force it to change. The harder we force it the more it resists and so the more we need to force it harder (or, as in this thread, with more gear). I suspect, genetics aside, allowing about 9 or so months between cycles as I grew to where I am now, allowed my body to adapt. Typically, if I had 6 or so on cycle pounds (as I averaged in the early ones) it took me 2-3 months or 90 days to completely adapt to the change.
3) Food. JP is big on a LOT of food forcing adaption. Trust me, I can eat pudding with the best (see my occasional big belly and understand ha ha) but it can and often is a chore to get on a bulk. Imagine doing that 3x a year like some. Food becomes a soulless task. Gear can and does, in some kinds, help with appetite. Bulking and upping the dose to do so excuses the food.
4) That feeling some get. Like many a drug addict - what once you got high from is now merely 'ok'. Ditto, for many, that feeling of being ON. For a LOT of guys (more so once you get past 30) they like how they feel on roids (all kinds - even Tren). If only in a small way they become 'uber' versions of themselves off. And if you do 2+ cycles a year I suspect doing 500mg of test each and every time wont cut it as far as how you feel. I've said before the one and only time I can say 100% I felt 'on' was the first time I used cheque drops for a comp. Even then less from consuming it as such and more running up and down yelling like a prat when I won a lift during the time it lasted.
There will be others. Feel free to add some
So the heaviest I've ever been was a fraction (like less than a 1/2lb) under 300 (I was 299.6). One buddy got real excited for me and wanted me to eat some more cereal so I could say I was 300lbs. Heck, I probably was later on after a drink ha ha. Anyway, if not that on that cycle I do remember sitting down and working out what my highest gear intake was and it totaled 765mg. My most recent cycle was close at 735mg (I hit 294lbs- mostly water weight - up from my normal 280lbs. I started that cycle at 284lbs). Most of mine are less- probably around 600mg total. It's also worth noting I'm NOT a bodybuilder but a strength athlete. So, other than my protein intake, I don't worry about being lean or needing above average condition. I only need to be strong for what I want to be strong for. I DO try and do some cardio conditioning when I'm heavy (or heavier) otherwise it becomes just uncomfortable.
So, in my example, I'm not taking 2x, or even 3x what I took back in the day (I think I was about 300lbs that one time in 2009 or so) in order to get close to or past my previous high. So it occurs to me that we might think of reasons why some do seem to add more and more.
1) Number or cycles per year. I average 1 (around 10 weeks or so). Only one time did I do two. One cycle, which I wasn't keen on, was 16 weeks. If you run long cycles or worse if you blast and cruise) OR if you run multiple cycles per year then I'm guessing do more or less the same thing doesn't work. There's arguments about receptors, clearance times and so on all of which, by some degree, must have some effect.
2) So-called Homeostasis. In essence the body only slowly adapts and us lifters and builders, with gear, force it to change. The harder we force it the more it resists and so the more we need to force it harder (or, as in this thread, with more gear). I suspect, genetics aside, allowing about 9 or so months between cycles as I grew to where I am now, allowed my body to adapt. Typically, if I had 6 or so on cycle pounds (as I averaged in the early ones) it took me 2-3 months or 90 days to completely adapt to the change.
3) Food. JP is big on a LOT of food forcing adaption. Trust me, I can eat pudding with the best (see my occasional big belly and understand ha ha) but it can and often is a chore to get on a bulk. Imagine doing that 3x a year like some. Food becomes a soulless task. Gear can and does, in some kinds, help with appetite. Bulking and upping the dose to do so excuses the food.
4) That feeling some get. Like many a drug addict - what once you got high from is now merely 'ok'. Ditto, for many, that feeling of being ON. For a LOT of guys (more so once you get past 30) they like how they feel on roids (all kinds - even Tren). If only in a small way they become 'uber' versions of themselves off. And if you do 2+ cycles a year I suspect doing 500mg of test each and every time wont cut it as far as how you feel. I've said before the one and only time I can say 100% I felt 'on' was the first time I used cheque drops for a comp. Even then less from consuming it as such and more running up and down yelling like a prat when I won a lift during the time it lasted.
There will be others. Feel free to add some