Offseason Week 35 – Blast Week 4
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Bodyweight: 135.8 kg
General Overview
Things are tracking fantastically this week. Progressions across all lifts are continuing to come along nicely, and recovery has been improving linearly behind those progressions as well.
I’m definitely still sore after sessions, but it’s a very different type of soreness now—joints in general are feeling significantly better and force production potential feels much higher. Starting to get that comfort with explosive concentrics back again which is a very good sign things are moving in the right direction.
Food has also been going down an absolute treat. Visually I’ve actually leaned out a little further this week, looking drier somehow despite how much I’ve cranked GH, while also being noticeably fuller in basically every body part. Much happier with how things are progressing visually now and pumps in the gym have been phenomenal.
Overall just starting to feel far more “anabolic” in the gym again—more explosive, explosive through concentrics, fuller, and recovering better between sessions.
Nutrition
Food remains unchanged currently and digestion has been excellent.
Calories may potentially be pushed next check-in if bodyweight doesn’t move much this week, although I do expect it to climb given the latest escalation in drug load.
At this stage food is still doing exactly what it needs to do—performance is high, pumps are excellent, recovery is improving, and body composition is actually trending cleaner despite the amount of food currently being consumed.
Cycle Update
Discussions with coach this week went really well and we mapped out the remaining 4–5 months of the gaining phase.
Around September–October the plan will likely be to pull food back into a very mild deficit to begin taking the “cream off the top” of the body fat. Given where drug load, output, and expenditure will be by that point, calories will still remain very high, so the goal will still be continued progression while improving body composition before prep begins.
Current projections are roughly:
- 143–145 kg around September–October
- High 137s to 139s by December/January at the start of prep
- With hopefully only 13-17kg to pull off in prep itself
That said, everything will remain highly reactive based on condition and performance to ensure each phase is executed as optimally as possible.
Today marked the next escalation in drug load:
- Testosterone Enanthate: 1,260 mg (+420mg) ED dosing to blame for random numbers
- Equipoise: 1,050 mg (+525mg)
GH has also been progressively titrated up throughout the week and is currently sitting at:
Total: 9 IU daily.
So far there’s been minimal to no issues with neuropathy or carpal tunnel symptoms. Hands have felt a little tight upon waking the past few mornings, but nothing remotely unmanageable.
Assuming things continue smoothly, the plan from tomorrow is to move to:
and likely hold 10 IU daily for the duration of the push unless recovery and side-effect profile remain exceptionally manageable, in which case I may potentially trial pushing towards 12 IU.
Interestingly, I’ve never really had issues from a blood glucose standpoint and seem to be extremely insulin sensitive regardless of food positioning. Fasted blood glucose generally sits around 4.3–4.7 mmol/L and I occasionally even get natural post-training hypos where BG dips below 3.5.
That actually happened last week—I felt sweaty and shaky post-session, checked to confirm, and sure enough BG was 3.5.
Even at peak calories last year (~7,700 kcal), fasting insulin sat between 7–10 and HbA1c remained at 4.9%, so from a glucose management standpoint I’m not overly concerned with pushing GH further at this stage.
Current Position and Outlook
Overall, things are moving extremely well now.
Food is stable, drug load is climbing aggressively, recovery is improving rapidly, and growth is very clearly beginning to ramp up. Over the coming weeks there will likely be a further push in food alongside continued escalation where appropriate.
I’m completely dialled in at the moment and very confident the next time I step on stage will be a huge progression over last season.
Excited to keep pushing and see what unfolds over the coming months.
Also curious to hear if anyone has experience using higher doses of R-ALA to help manage GH-related hand neuropathy/carpal tunnel symptoms. Have heard a few people speak positively about it but would be interested in hearing any real-world experiences or insight.