Whats something you wished you knew before your first cycle?

[adrenalytic]

Yeah, that’s the realization I had to come to very fast after asking the basic questions. I made my decision and well here I am. It’s a tough decision for sure though.

It should be tough and not taken lightly. It's life altering. I agonized for months weighing pros and cons. I would never have considered it in my 20s or 30s but being mid 40s and secure enough in life that I ultimately decided that this is the trajectory I want to take.

 

[BigDadd7]

It should be tough and not taken lightly. It's life altering. I agonized for months weighing pros and cons. I would never have considered it in my 20s or 30s but being mid 40s and secure enough in life that I ultimately decided that this is the trajectory I want to take.

I started in my 40s after my natural test dropped.

 

[strixsir]

Some combination of your training, recovery, and diet are bad. Probably all three. Drugs don't fix this.

and worse is that IF he did dial in his Diet, training and Sleep to a decent degree and still ended up with up this current physique in 3 years....

Then Taking Test at supraphysiological dosages Wont Do much for him comparatively to others.

he simply does not respond well to anabolic stimulus .

in exercise science studies, there are are some 20% folks who are non responders to a standard 8-12 week set program, They Do respond (but still less than the avg responder) when the volume is upped to 15-18 sets but imagine having to do 70-80% more but still getting lesser amount of output than the avg man.

 

[Auth]

Hello im looking to start a 500mg test e cycle for 20 weeks. I would like to hear from everyone elses experience.

Based on your current physique 500mg is too much stick to the basics you can make solid gains with less dosages and correct diet and training.

 

[Scottomus]

It should be tough and not taken lightly. It's life altering. I agonized for months weighing pros and cons. I would never have considered it in my 20s or 30s but being mid 40s and secure enough in life that I ultimately decided that this is the trajectory I want to take.

It took me 10 years to start, even though i bought my first vial of test at 20! Put on nigh 70-80bs natty in that timeframe.

 

[hellerhiwater]

lol what if I told u ive been training for 3 years on and off. my newbie gains are long gone

newbie gains arent necessarily tied to a set number of trips to the gym or time, they're tied to stimulus.

you almost certainly still have the newbie gain "potential" as it seems like you have not hit it really hard consistently enough to get them in the first place, respectfully.

and even if you did get a bunch of newbie gains in the very beginning, people who take a long period of time off can get a similar effect not just from "muscle memory" but from the status of going from negative/zero stimulus, to lots of it.

so basically, dont be discouraged, you are young and obviously havent hit it hard for a consistent period yet. you would be absolutely BLOWN tf away by what you could accomplish in 6 months with a halfway structured eating and training plan.

i wish you the best on your journey. you do not need test to grow, and when the time comes if you're looking to compete or sell your body for money (like being a "fitness" content creator) you will be in a much better position to tolerate and utilize PEDs

last thing, i respect and appreciate your intellect and patience. many young people in your position dont have the wisdom and clarity of mind to consult anything or anyone before they start injecting stuff, so you're ahead of the curve and deserve recognition for that.

 

[hellerhiwater]

I have experience showing beginners how to train effectively. I can probably even guess how you're fucking up right now. I see it every day at my gym. Beginners make a lot of the same mistakes.

not necessarily a beginner but im interested in hearing about those common mistakes and any general advice you give to beginners

 

[adrenalytic]

not necessarily a beginner but im interested in hearing about those common mistakes and any general advice you give to beginners

One of the biggest things that comes to mind is the ego lifting. I see a lot of guys doing half reps or forced reps with weights that are simply too heavy for them but they do them because they think it makes them look cool.

If you are not getting full range of motion on a lift, you are doing it wrong. If you are having a spotter force more than half of your reps you're using weight that is too heavy. Drop the weight, perfect your form and focus on full ROM.

Another big one is not pushing to true failure or close to failure. It's no mystery that hypertrophy and mTOR signaling is triggered by stimulating the muscle. The greatest stimulus happens when you approach failure within 5 reps. The problem with this is that most people don't know what their true failure point is and end up quitting the lift long before they've reached 5 RIR (reps in reserve). They quit when the lift gets a little difficult but that's the point where you need to push through. This is where you're going to achieve the greatest stimulus. Maximal recruitment of muscle fibers is the goal and this happens when you begin to feel the burn.

Junk volume is another big one. Guys think the longer they spend in the gym the better. Not so. Once you've stressed the muscle to the point of mechanical failure, you're basically done for the day. The muscle got the message to grow. It's time to go feed it and relax. By adding more exercises you might see a little bit more growth but at a certain point the curve flattens by a great deal. Now, if you're an advanced lifter and competitive, I won't tell you not to do 18-30 sets per muscle per week (I'm guilty) but as a beginner or even intermediate it's just not necessary and possibly counter-productive. You're just accumulating unnecessary fatigue and risking injury.

That's just some stuff off the top of my head.

 

[hellerhiwater]

One of the biggest things that comes to mind is the ego lifting. I see a lot of guys doing half reps or forced reps with weights that are simply too heavy for them but they do them because they think it makes them look cool.

If you are not getting full range of motion on a lift, you are doing it wrong. If you are having a spotter force more than half of your reps you're using weight that is too heavy. Drop the weight, perfect your form and focus on full ROM.

Another big one is not pushing to true failure or close to failure. It's no mystery that hypertrophy and mTOR signaling is triggered by stimulating the muscle. The greatest stimulus happens when you approach failure within 5 reps. The problem with this is that most people don't know what their true failure point is and end up quitting the lift long before they've reached 5 RIR (reps in reserve). They quit when the lift gets a little difficult but that's the point where you need to push through. This is where you're going to achieve the greatest stimulus. Maximal recruitment of muscle fibers is the goal and this happens when you begin to feel the burn.

Junk volume is another big one. Guys think the longer they spend in the gym the better. Not so. Once you've stressed the muscle to the point of mechanical failure, you're basically done for the day. The muscle got the message to grow. It's time to go feed it and relax. By adding more exercises you might see a little bit more growth but at a certain point the curve flattens by a great deal. Now, if you're an advanced lifter and competitive, I won't tell you not to do 18-30 sets per muscle per week (I'm guilty) but as a beginner or even intermediate it's just not necessary and possibly counter-productive. You're just accumulating unnecessary fatigue and risking injury.

That's just some stuff off the top of my head.

thanks for the insight. one of the thins ive been focused on lately is reassessing how close to failure i am.

back when i very first started about 20 years ago, my dad who was a bodybuilder told me "lift it until you cant anymore but lower the weight if you cant get 8-12." that became gospel but recently ive become like self-conscious about being a bitch maybe

so all the noise about rep slowing being indicative of failure is whats tripping me up. on 90% of movements that i do, say im doing 12 reps. 1-10 will look virtually identical, 11 will slow a tiny bit, 12 will slow a decent amt, and 13 will either not budge or i cant get past half the ROM.

for some reason my body doesnt like "ease" into failure and it just abruptly happens so ive been worried im just a little bitch who has never actually trained to failure. my go-to rectification is drop sets, rest-pause and/or rep goals.

i know this isnt the best place for this side chat, and if you read all of this i appreciate you taking the time. if you've got the time and desire to share, id be interested in your thoughts about that.

 

[adrenalytic]

"lift it until you cant anymore but lower the weight if you cant get 8-12."

That's pretty good advice. I'd just be careful not to go to failure on every set. It's very fatiguing and not necessarily the best strategy long term as you will need to take frequent deloads. I try to go failure on my top set first then do some back off sets to near failure with 85% of the weight. This keeps my CNS fresh and being enhanced I don't need to deload nearly as much. Maybe every 8 weeks and I'm good.

o all the noise about rep slowing being indicative of failure is whats tripping me up. on 90% of movements that i do, say im doing 12 reps. 1-10 will look virtually identical, 11 will slow a tiny bit, 12 will slow a decent amt, and 13 will either not budge or i cant get past half the ROM.

Does this vary across lifts or is it pretty typical regardless of exercise/muscle group? I know on bench press I'm the same way. The first 5 feel great then 6 is a struggle, 7 starts to break me and 8 is a grind. 9 would be abject mechanical failure. But we're talking heavy weight here.

But take something like a lat pull down and I can grind out partials (still effective on this particular exercise) for 10 more reps after mechanical failure.

Don't laugh but creatine can help here if you don't already use it. I take 5 grams pre and 5 grams post. Helps me eek out just 1-2 more reps.

Another thing you could try is just simply drop the weight a little and see how many reps you can get. You won't harm yourself if you end up with 20 instead of 12. In fact, one tip might be don't even count the reps until they start to slow down. Consider the easy ones warm ups that don't count.

my go-to rectification is drop sets, rest-pause and/or rep goals.

love me some drops sets and myo reps. These achieve exactly what I've been saying. The more time you spend in that near-failure zone the greater the stimulus.

and if you read all of this i appreciate you taking the time. if you've got the time and desire to share, id be interested in your thoughts about that.

Hell ya man. I love talking shop. I basically have no life but work and gym life haha.

for some reason my body doesnt like "ease" into failure and it just abruptly happens so ive been worried im just a little bitch who has never actually trained to failure.

the mind does prefer to protect itself from pain. I'm not saying you're a bitch but it could be that some primal fear in the back of your mind is preventing you from pushing as hard as you need to be. I always tell my clients on a final set "if I don't see your face turning purple and your eyes popping out of your head I'm going to keep edging you for more reps".

They usually fear disappointing me more than the pain so this tactic works for in person training haha.

My point is, you might have some mental block that you need to psych yourself out of. If you truly believe it's not a muscular limitation I would look to maybe meditation and learning to calm your mind. Work on your mind muscle connection. Once you get more in tune with your body pushing to failure becomes automatic. You will know when you're firing on all cylinders.

i know this isnt the best place for this side chat, and if you read all of this i appreciate you taking the time. if you've got the time and desire to share, id be interested in your thoughts about that.

I'm sure OP could learn a thing or two from this side bar, doubt he'll mind. And you're welcome bro, like I said, I love talking about this shit and sharing ideas.

 

[AverageGymRat]

1. Steroids aren't magic for fat loss. You need to meal prep and track your food. You don't get lean via the magic combo with perfect ratios of tren/mast/tren but keep eating like a normie or "as long as you get 1g/lb protein the rest doesn't matter" or some nonsense.

2. You can't train as hard as when you are natty or you will either get an acute injury or repeated chronic pain that will completely halt long term progress. Each session should feel like about a 4/10 to a 7.5/10 difficulty, even if there are a handful of 10/10 sets on easier less complex exercises. 9/10 or 10/10 RPEs on big lifts should be done maybe once a month or less.

3. Free weights aren't better than machines. Use more machines, especially if you do want to train to failure.

4. EQ is underrated. Use it.

5. Direct glute training. Doesn't matter if you are doing powerlifting, bodybuilding, olympic lifting, or anything else. It's important for both knee and lower back health, performance in squatting and pulling motions, and in modern bodybuilding having hard looking glutes is more important than even abs in assessing whether somebody is shredded.


That's about it. I wish I'd started meal prepping from day 1 of my lifting journey, even though the first 5 years were olympic lifting natty, I just ignored nutrition and ate frozen pizzas and wendys and bullcrap all day.

 

[AverageGymRat]

M

My question, is considering I have little muscle mass according to everyone on here and i still have to lose fat, why cant i hop on a test cycle? the whole problem is my muscle mass why not speed up the process of building muscle while im on reta aswell to burn fat?

the main concern is my recovery, training and diet? hemce why you guys advice against a test cycle?

I'm assuming you aren't trolling so I'll give you a detailed good faith answer:

You still have a lot of low hanging fruit newbie gains. Blasting this early is harmful because it's going to mask and obfuscate things, making it difficult for you to figure out exactly what you need to optimize. You're introducing a variable that will induce progress largely automatically, but everything in training/bodybuilding is more multiplicative rather than additive. If you add gear in too early, it's going to be hard to figure out what other things you're doing wrong and that's going to make it hard to optimize those things to get that multiplicative effect from the gear.

The guys who blow up from gear the most are always the ones who figured out everything with diet/training/lifestyle while they were still natural. Look at Jack Kinsey Clough on instagram, for instance. Guys who still haven't really figured out training/food/lifestyle stuff yet often add in gear and get pretty poor results. If you're going to go down the path of injecting exogenous hormones, you need to treat it as a serious commitment due to the relatively high probability of side-effects. Those side effects can be absolutely worth it if you're actually making really great gains, but you won't necessarily be doing so if those other variables are insufficiently optimized.

Here's what I would do: Upload a few videos of your training, write out your training program, and post some pictures of what you would typically eat in a day. Forum members are really likely to help you. Then you maybe make some modification to training/diet/lifestyle for about 3-6 months, you get better results from this than had you added gear, and THEN you add gear and start to actually look like a bodybuilder.

Good luck! I'm not saying "bro you must bench at least 3 wheels before you get on gear", but your physique tells us that everything else is most assuredly not in check just yet.