40 years young - first cycle

[newuser1212]

Hello,

Stats:
5’10"
175lb (current - previous 156lb)
BF - unknown?
(edited to add pic from last week)



A little backstory. About 10 years ago I was over 260lbs and never lifted a day in my life. I started a journey and lost 100lbs in 5 years doing cardio and just eating less calories. However, this left me with very little muscle mass and some extra skin, but not too much. For the last 5 years I have been lifting 5-6 days a week very constantly and over the last 3 years my nutrition has been on point. My diet consists of chicken breasts, brown rice, some veggies (I do use a super foods green powder), some fruits, sweet potato, lean ground turkey, and eggs for the most part. I got as far as I could lifting naturally and changed my body to what I felt was the max I would get out of being natural. I hold ALL my extra fat stores in my belly and lower back (I can grab about a handful from my lower back. I also have wider hips which doesn’t help.

I decided to put on some mass naturally and clean, but even eating over 3k a day I never really was able to achieve what I wanted at my age. I decided to talk to someone I know and we decided to start me on a test e 500mg/week cycle. I am 8 weeks in and have gone from 156 to 175lb eating the same clean foods at around 3k a day. I am noticeably fuller in my legs and my frame, especially my upper body area. My area of concern is always my midsection which has increased a bit. I notice my fat is a bit more there during this cycle (I’m assuming it’s either test bloat or just water retention with some added fat?). I am running also .5adex EOD currently to assist with this but I’m not sure if it’s making a difference or not.

With 4 weeks left, I am considering eating at a deficit while continuing to progressively overload on lifts in hopes to use the AAS to my advantage. However, after reading and doing some research, it appears that cutting mid cycle isn’t the best idea in achieving overall results/goals. I have HCG planned already for post cycle.

Currently my macros are:
3000 calories split into 45p/35c/20f - I also drink about a gallon of water a day as well. I take a pro-biotic w/digestive enzyme supplement before meals as well.

I guess I am just looking for some thoughts/suggestions etc from others with more experience on what I should finish with. My GOAL is to put on mass then, hopefully, cut it down after without losing much of what I gained.

So any comments, or critiques, would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

 

[awm1981]

So 2 things first that weight you gained is either water or fat. Very little of the 19 pounds you have gained over the past 8 weeks is actual muscle.

The second is you worked so hard to get to 156 pounds. Not sure your bodyfat % at that point but you basically just undid a fair amount of work in 8 weeks.

If you are holding a lot of water your estrogen could be high. What did your pre-cycle bloods look like and mid-cycle bloods? Are you estrogen levels in the healthy range?

 

[newuser1212]

I don't have the labs with me but everything was normal pre- . I haven't had a chance to get tests done in the middle due to work, etc but they were within range if I recall correctly.
So basically it could have been a waste to try to build muscle using a cycle? I did cut before to TRY to lose the rest of my midsection but I was so skinny up top it looked completely unhealthy. That's why I'm considering a 4 week cut at like 2k cals to drop the water/fat.

 

[stevesmi]

you don't have enough of a base for steroids yet. i'm not sure what is going on here at all but you have a lot of room to put on muscle mass naturally.

also your diet is completely off the rails. when you eat in a deficit and count calories you destroy your metabolism. please stop doing that. obviously it isn't working. you really need to get on a proper diet and workout program for another 2 years minimum before steroids. i highly recommend getting in touch with me for a 1 on 1 consult and we can go over all this

 

[newuser1212]

you don't have enough of a base for steroids yet. i'm not sure what is going on here at all but you have a lot of room to put on muscle mass naturally.

also your diet is completely off the rails. when you eat in a deficit and count calories you destroy your metabolism. please stop doing that. obviously it isn't working. you really need to get on a proper diet and workout program for another 2 years minimum before steroids. i highly recommend getting in touch with me for a 1 on 1 consult and we can go over all this

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. I have spent several years lifting and eating as good and clean as I can, usually (when off aas) around maintenance which was around 2400-2600 but my body just doesn't change or add muscle. I just feel fat and bloated all the time. At 40, my test levels prior to were low so it made sense to me that it was clearly affecting my ability in the gym, etc. I am just at a loss.

 

[stevesmi]

Thanks for the feedback. I appreciate it. I have spent several years lifting and eating as good and clean as I can, usually (when off aas) around maintenance which was around 2400-2600 but my body just doesn't change or add muscle. I just feel fat and bloated all the time. At 40, my test levels prior to were low so it made sense to me that it was clearly affecting my ability in the gym, etc. I am just at a loss.

like i said we need to figure it out and we aren't going to do it by continuing to do the wrong things. drop me a visitor message when you are ready to stop wasting time

 

[newuser1212]

like i said we need to figure it out and we aren't going to do it by continuing to do the wrong things. drop me a visitor message when you are ready to stop wasting time

will do once I find out where to send a "visitor" message.

 

[awm1981]

I don't have the labs with me but everything was normal pre- . I haven't had a chance to get tests done in the middle due to work, etc but they were within range if I recall correctly.
So basically it could have been a waste to try to build muscle using a cycle? I did cut before to TRY to lose the rest of my midsection but I was so skinny up top it looked completely unhealthy. That's why I'm considering a 4 week cut at like 2k cals to drop the water/fat.

So its not a waste trying to build muscle with a cycle. Thats why we cycle steroids. The thing is there is no way on gods green earth you added 19 pounds of muscle in 8 weeks of test. My point is you are eating 3K of calories. Who gave you that diet? Obviously the combination of training and nutrition isnt working. It would help to touch base with Steve. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different results. You said it yourself you have been training for years off and on and eating clean and you cant get anywhere. Steroids are not going not help that.

So did you get bloods done yet while on cycle or not? If you are retaining water and bloated or if blood pressure is elevated, etc you really should see what your estrogen is. For me .5mg arimidex every other day was not enough for 500mg/week test. It may be fine for you but no idea if thats the case without bloods.

Dont just follow pre-canned diets and workout routines. You need to track what you are doing and what you are eating and tweak things until you start seeing results. Its the only way you are going to progress whether you use steroids or not.

Not bashing you man just trying to help!

 

[newuser1212]

So its not a waste trying to build muscle with a cycle. Thats why we cycle steroids. The thing is there is no way on gods green earth you added 19 pounds of muscle in 8 weeks of test. My point is you are eating 3K of calories. Who gave you that diet? Obviously the combination of training and nutrition isnt working. It would help to touch base with Steve. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different results. You said it yourself you have been training for years off and on and eating clean and you cant get anywhere. Steroids are not going not help that.

So did you get bloods done yet while on cycle or not? If you are retaining water and bloated or if blood pressure is elevated, etc you really should see what your estrogen is. For me .5mg arimidex every other day was not enough for 500mg/week test. It may be fine for you but no idea if thats the case without bloods.

Dont just follow pre-canned diets and workout routines. You need to track what you are doing and what you are eating and tweak things until you start seeing results. Its the only way you are going to progress whether you use steroids or not.

Not bashing you man just trying to help!

Oh, definitely appreciate the honesty. I will touch base for sure. And i never thought a majority of that was muscle, of the 19 i figured MAYBE 3 lbs was muscle, the rest fat or water.

 

[awm1981]

Oh, definitely appreciate the honesty. I will touch base for sure. And i never thought a majority of that was muscle, of the 19 i figured MAYBE 3 lbs was muscle, the rest fat or water.

Yea thats my point too like after your cycle is done and you hit PCT the strength dips, some of the water retention goes away, and you are left with maybe 1-23 pounds muscle and the rest is fat so just try to slowly gain or even maintain your weight if you can so what you add is lean muscle. Focus on your body fat not the scale.

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Yea thats my point too like after your cycle is done and you hit PCT the strength dips, some of the water retention goes away, and you are left with maybe 1-23 pounds muscle and the rest is fat so just try to slowly gain or even maintain your weight if you can so what you add is lean muscle. Focus on your body fat not the scale.

1-3 pounds muscle

 

[newuser1212]

Yea thats my point too like after your cycle is done and you hit PCT the strength dips, some of the water retention goes away, and you are left with maybe 1-23 pounds muscle and the rest is fat so just try to slowly gain or even maintain your weight if you can so what you add is lean muscle. Focus on your body fat not the scale.

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1-3 pounds muscle

For sure! Thanks again.

 

[Mobster]

That's way too much fat and water which means the diet is the issue.

 

[Hrt4life]

What kind of training regimen are you using.(split, sets, reps) At 3000 cals and 500 mgs of test you should no be having such a hard time gaining muscle if you're really getting after it in the gym. You're obviously going to put on more fat with that diet but it seems like there could be some kind of issue with training also.

 

[tomphoenix]

Concentrate on only 3 lifts. Squat, deadlift, bench press. Your performance enhancing drug use should be test. Whatever kind. Keep it simple. Drop your anti-Es. Duchine noticed this many years (decades now) ago. Anti-E's hurt muscle growth.

Forget your simple 3k/day diet. Eat more and use a weight gainer if needed. Hit many more cals and make weight training a priority in life. Yes, you have to work. You have a family life. But you need to PROGRESS in weight training. Your lifting weight MUST increase. If you don't get stronger, then you're wasting your time. And yes, there are many programs to help you set your goals properly

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Duchaine... Was typing too fast.. Wish they had an edit option here

 

[awm1981]

Don’t drop your AI....

 

[Hrt4life]

Concentrate on only 3 lifts. Squat, deadlift, bench press. Your performance enhancing drug use should be test. Whatever kind. Keep it simple. Drop your anti-Es. Duchine noticed this many years (decades now) ago. Anti-E's hurt muscle growth.

Forget your simple 3k/day diet. Eat more and use a weight gainer if needed. Hit many more cals and make weight training a priority in life. Yes, you have to work. You have a family life. But you need to PROGRESS in weight training. Your lifting weight MUST increase. If you don't get stronger, then you're wasting your time. And yes, there are many programs to help you set your goals properly

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Duchaine... Was typing too fast.. Wish they had an edit option here

Im not sure this is great advice. This approach I'm sure works for you, but I don't think this would work for everyone. For me, it would have me simply spinning my wheels. Weight gainers are shit, and should only really be used by high school athletes with lightning fast metabolism. At 40, they're a recipe for being fat and sloppy. Lowering your AI might be a good option but dropping it altogether is risky. And at 40, and someone new to lifting, I would be really careful about doing heavy deadlifts.

 

[Super User 4]

Im not sure this is great advice. This approach I'm sure works for you, but I don't think this would work for everyone. For me, it would have me simply spinning my wheels. Weight gainers are shit, and should only really be used by high school athletes with lightning fast metabolism. At 40, they're a recipe for being fat and sloppy. Lowering your AI might be a good option but dropping it altogether is risky. And at 40, and someone new to lifting, I would be really careful about doing heavy deadlifts.

Totally agree with you bro!