Test and prop cut/strength log

[MN87]

lol don't understand the comment above me in the slightest, but anyway

Squat 565x2
DB Shoulder Press 120x5

I've worked a makeshift schedule out in my head, and if I continue squatting EOD and progress stays exactly constant as it has been, I would be hitting 585 for 2 next Monday (and for 3 on Wed). Regarding shoulder presses, I could probably do the 125's for 4 or so next time, so if I choose to do em next workout I will do so. However, the shoulder presses gave me some impingement, so I don't know if I want to.

Feeling very unconditioned and winded after I finish my sets... not sure if this is from the bloat or from the tren. Moonface... has arrived. Its disgusting. On the other hand, my pec inflammation continue to subside, but I can still feel a weird feeling when I try inclines, so I'm taking it easy with that.

I have one week of tren left, and 2 weeks in general. Starting to wonder if I'll be able to train bench at all for the remainder of the cycle. If not, it's not the worst thing in the world. I can always recoup my strength gains in between my next cycle. Depending on how bad my impingement flares up, I might start training my OH EOD for the next 10 days or so and leave other presses for another time... we'll see.

Also wanna say that my cramping has for the most part disappeared since drinking more Powerades.

 

[MN87]

You know my answer, go for 565 baby! I had a minor groin pain during a squat and lunges session but it subsided by the next workout, hopefully that'll be the case here. I remember playing through a pulled groin for football, one of the toughest pains to overcome because you simply can't run on it. You can't take those long strides but it all worked out and ultimately figured out how to heal without rest, just lingered around a long time.

I change up my feet technique every calf session to work different heads but I haven't tried the bent knees approach. I'll give that a run on sunday.

Never heard of or researched those two things so I can't help out there. I never suffered any major injuries, only got the concussions. Lucky me huh?

Yeah I felt it very slightly at one point in warmups today, but it left quickly. I went back to the gym Friday when I first got it to do some cardio, and it disappeared immediately. I guess it just needed a little bloodflow.

 

[MN87]

A big concern of mine nowadays is post cycle therapy (pct). Specifically, calorie intake on it. I had always intended my cycle to be a cut and to use post cycle therapy (pct) as a chance to switch back to bulking. I started my cycle weighing (roughly) 185... at the time my maintenance was 2500 cals/day. So, in order to cut, I started my cycle at a mild deficit (2250/day) and then reduced it once again to 2000/day 6 weeks into the cycle. That's where I've been since.

If this was a natural cut, I'd simply add 250-500 calories to put myself back above maintenance, and this would put me into lean bulking mode. But, since I've been juicing, I've definitely added alot of muscle mass and recomped, which elevates my basal metabolic rate and obviously increases my caloric needs... so this extra LBM needs to be accounted for and my old strategy simply won't cut it.

Does anyone have any advice re: how to boost my calorie intake to account for this problem? At this point I am thinking that I need to add anywhere from 500-1000/day calories to stay on the safe side. Losing strength is NOT something I want to take a chance for, and I need to account for this added mass... obviously, I want to stay lean, too.

If I go as high as 1000, I probably won't do it all at once. I'd probably add 500/day on my last week of the cycle and the rest immediately upon going into post cycle therapy (pct).

Thoughts?

 

[Bulldog2103]

I haven't a clue what that dude is talking about either but good luck with that bud.

Nice work on the squats, 6 plates is right around the corner as is 600. I have similar concerns regarding pct. We've never done it so it's hard to know exactly what to expect. With that said, I plan on erring on the safe side and upping my cals to about 3500 daily for maintenance. I will also add a more intense cardio regimen so that I can minimize the fat gain as much as possible. I'd rather gain a couple dirty pounds then lose my newfound size and strength as I can always adjust to take off more fat at a later time.

I think so long as cals are kept clean and we do cardio that we can maintain where we are while our bodies restore themselves. Plus you will be losing bloat rapidly as well so the added calories will still have you looking better then you do currently as you will tighten up i'm sure after two weeks of pct.

 

[MN87]

I haven't a clue what that dude is talking about either but good luck with that bud.

Nice work on the squats, 6 plates is right around the corner as is 600. I have similar concerns regarding pct. We've never done it so it's hard to know exactly what to expect. With that said, I plan on erring on the safe side and upping my cals to about 3500 daily for maintenance. I will also add a more intense cardio regimen so that I can minimize the fat gain as much as possible. I'd rather gain a couple dirty pounds then lose my newfound size and strength as I can always adjust to take off more fat at a later time.

I think so long as cals are kept clean and we do cardio that we can maintain where we are while our bodies restore themselves. Plus you will be losing bloat rapidly as well so the added calories will still have you looking better then you do currently as you will tighten up i'm sure after two weeks of pct.

Hm, whats your current maintenance? Just trying to gauge exactly how much you'll be adding

 

[Bulldog2103]

My natural pre-cycle maintenance is 2500. I am thinking i'll take in 3500 to start with pct and adjust from there. I'll continue to lift heavy and i'll have all of my pct supps supporting which will hopefully sustain where I am at. By the way I just bought some bulk DAA, they were having a sale at Nutraplanet.

 

[MN87]

Very interesting. We started out at nearly identical bodyweights (and I assume leannesses), strength levels, and our rates of progress have been very similar (different and a bit zig-zaggy, but similar). I'll probably be bumping to 3000 for post cycle therapy (pct) whereas youll be at 3500, so it'll be very interesting to see how our post cycle therapy (pct)s compare in terms of what we keep.

Im also interested to see how our LBMs/BF% compare afterwards, too.

DAA is something I'd probably use after SERM treatment, personally.

 

[Bulldog2103]

Really, why would you wait on the DAA? I want every advantage I can get at raising my natural test levels while I am off so that they will remain high enough so that I can keep my gains and then transition to my next cycle so that there is really no dramatic down period. That's my logic but I haven't read up about it so it's just what makes logical sense to me.

 

[MN87]

Well, cautious as I am regarding PCT and natty level restoration, I do not know if DAA will be necessary for my run this time around. That being said, if I were to run it, I've come across research that says that DAA would be virtually ineffective when stacked with a SERM like Clomid (i.e. one analogy is that it would be like running a SARM while on AAS... it would get overpowered), and that rather it would be better served as a continuous progression of bringing up your natty levels only after SERMS were discontinued.

 

[Bulldog2103]

Hmm, I see. Well that's perfect because i'll test it out alongside clomid/hcg and we can compare notes. For $8, it's worth a shot. But i'll also be on the anti-cortisol and i'm trying to find a good bulk source so that I can maintain that treatment for my next cycle. I don't want it completely suppressed, but i'd like to see the results with it at 20-30% less then it was this cycle, which was without cortisol support supps.

 

[MN87]

Squatted 575 for one and a half today... almost got the second but I folded forward so I missed it. I'll get it next time (Thursday)... aiming for 3 reps this time. Gonna up the cardio for this next week too.

Last week of tren... of the few compounds I have run thus far, it is the only one that has not plateaued my progress. Although I originally intended to start up my next cycle prop only and add tren upon reaching a plateau, I might just stick with tren from the get-go. Plus I am so sick of test bloat, especially when I run it at these levels.

Next week I drop the tren and start a week of test susp/var @ 100/day each. I will up my calories by 500 during this period, which will put me back at pre-cycle maintenance levels. I mean, I'm leaner and more muscular than I was pre-cycle, so you gotta figure my maintenance is at least as high (and probably higher), no?

Also trying to figure out my training/goals during PCT and in between cycles. I will post them one of these days.

 

[Bulldog2103]

Looking good man, i'll be interested to see your pct training regimen. My muscles adapt to whatever i'm doing very quickly so I will not be going light at any point through pct. I'll try and maintain the same weights and reps throughout this period so that when next cycle comes around I will be ready for new pr's. For example, if I were to go lighter for two weeks and then try and push what I am pushing now I would be unable to do so. It's something i've learned about my body so I need to keep constant pressure and tension on it for it to maintain.

 

[MN87]

Well, intensity will remain, but volume and frequency will probably decrease. Instead of EOD or E3D, I plan on doing my squats and presses 2x weekly instead. *Strength of course as always will be a priority, but in a different way than it was on cycle.

For example, I should pretty much have 6p for a couple reps on squats by next week. I'd like to spend my in btwn cycle time increasing my reps w that (rather than weight) and improving my form. Some time I'm sure will be spent chasing the bench gains I've lost cos of my injury, but after that I will probably train bp only infrequently, since I know that I've already exhausted my natty bench gains (so why waste time... i.e. training economization).

I will also be doing strength work to improve weaknesses/imbalances I've been developing. I.e., front squats for calves, rgbp for tris, shoulder and core work, etc.

I'm also gonna focus less on hypertrophy work like I did in some instances this cycle round (i.e. back and trapwork) and will instead focus on conditioning and dynamic lifts like oly lifts and such.

 

[MN87]

Front squats for quads, not calves. Won't let me edit it.

Oh yeah, toss in a DNP cycle somewhere at the end of the year too. sorry bro but once I have my mind set on something... You know how it is!!

 

[Bulldog2103]

I hear you, but just make sure you check out the horror stories before you do so so that you can objectively decide. Is that still associated with vision sides? I know I read something to that effect at some point. Also, just know that as your temperature rises your body doesn't have a defense mechanism to slow it down so if it were to get too high all there is to do is take an ice bath and hope and pray.

Most fat burners raise temperature by about a half degree, this shit seems to raise it multiple degrees. That's dangerous, what if something misfires or sends the wrong signal and it rises 6 degrees? I don't have all of the facts and science behind this compound but man, I just feel there are far better alternatives for fat loss without the risk.

It's like the difference between tren and metribolone, they are both awesome but metribolone can kill you. It will put mass on you like no other but at the expense of your organs and well-being. Just take the results of tren, it's not as dramatic but it'll get you there. Essentially, forget this other shit even exists and do an eca or clen and t3 stack.

 

[MN87]

Haven't seen anything about vision sides, but I'll definitely continue to investigate the stuff. Right now it's just a very intriguing idea but truthfully I don't know enough about it either way to form anything concrete.

The idea also appeals to me mostly because I feel that I haven't cut up as much as I wouldve liked to on this cycle... But again, as we've said before, it's really impossible to gauge anything with these levels of bloat, so who knows. I could very well be exactly where I want to be, but only post cycle therapy (pct) will tell.

Interesting aside: I've taken the exact opposite approach from you going into post cycle therapy (pct), and have dramatically raised cardio for this next week. But ill be raising my intake to precycle maintenance come my last week. So I take it you decided not to extend your cycle after all?

 

[Bulldog2103]

I'm going to be a good boy and see through the original plan in regards to cycle length. My body feels fine so there is no doubt in my mind I could go another 6+ weeks if I saw fit but i'll just use that as good knowledge for the next cycle. So long as I accomplish my strength PR's I will feel good about everything and can go into recovery mode in peace.

From what i've seen thus far MN, you are probably exactly where you want to be but it looks like it will take 2-3 weeks of post cycle therapy (pct) to reveal itself. Just trust the process, hit the sauna and keep your calories clean and i'm sure you will see some pretty dramatic changes. If you are carrying extra fat afterwards I would look into the Aromatase inhibitor (AI) you were using (aromasin?) and perhaps conclude the source wan't spot-on with dosing. I know your test dose was high which can lead to alot of estro conversion but with your cals below maintenance and newly added muscle mass I would highly doubt fat gain would be possible with an Aromatase inhibitor (AI) that did its job.

 

[MN87]

I think so too, but its just a bummer for the time being ya know.

Maybe my body just doesn't respond to Aromasin, cos I went through 3 different sources at 25mg each and none of them accomplished what they were purported to do... still, makes me worry that the PCT meds may not be on point either.

Never doing anything but pharma meds from here on out, and maybe I'll try Arimidex next time instead.

I will say though, that on the rare occasions that my diet does slip, my body is much more sensitive to visible reactions than when I am natural. Did you see that effect too?

 

[Bulldog2103]

Yes, I notice day to day effects that are more heightened then when natural. It can be in a good way or a negative way but there always seems to be alot going on either way. I also noticed that I became much more sensitive to red meat, it left me feeling more lethargic and made me feel as though I was A) on the brink of throwing up or B) that acid reflux may occur. None of these things occurred but I felt on the brink of both for multiple hours after consumption.

I agree that you should go with pharma grade meds from here on out so that you aren't left even having a question in your mind about the potency. It's far too important to have that wildcard out there in play. The letro worked well for me when I used it early on during cycle but as soon as I experimented with clomid for ball-restoration purposes I figured I might as well cut out the Aromatase inhibitor (AI). And by the way, clomid does keep ball size intact while on cycle. I used 25mg's EOD and they are full size and ejaculate volume is slightly above natural levels.

 

[MN87]

I'm ok with the Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) use to be honest. While we're on the topic, I plan on starting my Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) blast this Friday. Just 7 days though, and if the HMG gets here in time I'll throw that in too.

I've been noticing that I've been getting acid reflux type feelings recently too. Never got it before at all. Wonder what the deal is.