thejumpingsheep
Member
Workouts are ok. The weights are probably akin to 1st year but given calorie deficit, those numbers make sense. Yes lack of gains are most certainly due to caloric deficit. You are likely catobolizing (destroying) muscle as fast as you gain it.
In general, during a huge cut, the goal for many isn't to gain but to maintain. So I think that if you are shedding 2lb a week and your strength is not dropping, you can call that a success.
If you want to make gains while cutting you will need to adjust that deficit to something more reasonable. Maybe 500cal a day with maybe one day a week replenishment (full calories). This will go a long way with fatigue and stress. Another major thing to watch out for is sleep. Good sleep, not just any sleep. Tossing and turning is not good sleep. Get a fitness tracker that tracks sleep and keep a close eye.
Obviously gear can help under the right conditions but not at that big of a calorie deficit. That deficit will blunt the gear impact. Also as other stated, the problem here is you will likely aromatize test at a high level making it less effective.
I will say this, if it was me, knowing what I know now, I would bring that calorie deficit down to 400-500 and then go on TRT. But I have a lot more experience and that matters. In general, when it comes to big cuts for us normal people, I recommend slow and steady but thats just me and its how I did it. I respect folks who want to do a fast cut and bulk after. Its an option that works for some. But if you are exhausted and bored maybe you should change things up? If for no other reason, mental health?
As for injections, I actually think you should start with small doses but I would go into muscle not SubQ. Why you ask? To train the muscles... it takes a while for muscles to adapt to gear. Virgin muscle will get sore and complain when you start. So it actually make sense to do smaller pins early on to start training them for bigger doses later. Increase dose of pins as muscles adapt until you can do just 1 per week in a muscle with no issues.
SubQ does work for some folks. It worked fine for me at low doses but really its not needed. The differences are minor and SubQ has its own problems. If you have bad blood flow and the oil sits there too long it can cause irritation, swelling, and other issues. This happened to me when I tried to inject too much SubQ. It went away eventually but it took more than a week. Nothing is risk free. I would reserve SubQ for other stuff. Eventually you will probably want to mess with HGH/HGHS, healing compounds, GLP agonists (even if you arent fat), and PCT and those will want SubQ.
Finally note its highly unlikely you need AI at TRT doses. Do get some AI meds just in case but 95% odds you wont need them. Dont panic if you see E2 at around 40-50 (doubtful at 140mg/wk). It might be over reference range but it really isnt dangerous. If you feel gyno sides then sure, take an AI but otherwise, E2 will likely make you feel better, not worse. Especially joints and tendons. It also helps with skin.
Last edited:
