New to the dark side... I will never go back!

[gettingbetter]

I've been training my ass off for the last 15 years, mostly bodybuilding but lately I've switched to more functional training. I'm not a beast in the gym by any means but I'm well rounded, can run, do real pullups, jump high and you know, I would qualify myself as an athlete. I played soccer and hockey at good levels during all those years, training 6 times a week and never taking time off.

At 33, I felt very lethargic so I went to the doc to see my hormone levels. Didn't get the results back but the MD said I was fine. Being a douche, I decided to take matter into my own hands. I read that most people that train hard have their hormones depleted and I felt it was the case with me. I wouldn't call it a full fledge depression but lately, life seemed rather grey. The daily grind, daily commute to work, working out because I had too etc... I knew a bit about roids from reading threads and profiles as well as scientific studies.

Long story short, I pulled the trigger on Sustanon (dated product I know but I like the science behind it) and got it a few weeks ago. Frankly, I don't think I want to come off... ever! I have energy, passion, aggression, I play more with my kids and my wife (different games mind you). My libido is through the roof and I feel better now than at 25! And that is on very low (but supraphysiological) levels.

My performances in all the sports I play as improved dramatically! I can train twice a day, I'm never sore, always have energy and passion in the gym. I have more confidence at work (I'm surrounded by college students and well, let's just say it keeps thing interesting) Frankly, I feel alive! Even financially I'm much more aggressive in the investments I make and so far, that change of pace has paid.

I did gain weight but not too much since I'm as bulky as I want. I'm much leaner and muscular but my strenght is amazing.

In any case, I think TRT should be pretty much mandatory for anyone nearing 35.

[falco]

Wanting to be superman forever will have a price.

[pestosterone]

How do u train twice a day and never b sore? Are u lifting or what?

[gettingbetter]

I will cycle off as I don't want to ruin my health but I feel so good right now it is hard to describe...

As for training twice a day, you just do what you normally would but split it in halves. I read most of Dr Squat's (Fred Hatfield) books when I was younger and it is basically the fundation of my training. Yes, there is weight training, plyos, HIIT etc.

I do something similar to Evander Holleyfield when he was prepping for a big fight:

http://www.sportsci.org/news/news9709/hatfield.html

Sprinters tend to work out two or three times a day too... I just wake up at 5, go to the gym, get home at 6h30, drop the kids to school, workout again at lunch times and play sports or video games in the evening. Fuck the wife, go to bed rinse, lather repeat :-)

[pestosterone]

Ha sounds good to me.

[Jizmo]

Wanting to be superman forever will have a price.

the dangers from running 300-600mg test year round are fuck all

there are studies on that
no negative health effects apart from slight cholesterol worsening, which doesnt even increase mortality by 0.0000001% if diet isnt utter shit and systemic inflammation is avoided

[a_pupil]

the dangers from running 300-600mg test year round are fuck all

there are studies on that
no negative health effects apart from slight cholesterol worsening, which doesnt even increase mortality by 0.0000001% if diet isnt utter shit and systemic inflammation is avoided

how is this avoided?

[gettingbetter]

avoid gum disease (seriously)

Low dose ibuprofen apparently works too.

Most important: avoid sugars!

[Jizmo]

avoid gum disease (seriously)

Low dose ibuprofen apparently works too.

Most important: avoid sugars!

fuck no, no ibuprofen or aspirin!
that stuff wrecks your intestines... there are thousands of deaths from NSAIDs every year. i think its even the highest cause of mortality in the US...

unless you use coated aspirin ("baby aspirin"), that actually lowers risk for stroke too...
but there are studies showing less muscle growth with aspirin use, because it lowers temporary inflammation (which actually is a good thing, because it results in muscle growth) caused by working out too.
so i would not use that when trying to gain muscle. maybe when cutting you can use it regularly, aspirin also mildly works as an uncoupler, causing you to expand more energy.

youre dead on with the sugars though... sugar is probably the most toxic thing you can ingest without knowing...

that being said, for chronic inflammation to occur you need to constantly have elevated blood sugar and insulin levels.
i think fasting for at least 12 hours a day is the best thing you can do without putting in any real effort to completely attenuate chronic inflammation...

[gettingbetter]

fuck no, no ibuprofen or aspirin!
that stuff wrecks your intestines... there are thousands of deaths from NSAIDs every year. i think its even the highest cause of mortality in the US...

unless you use coated aspirin ("baby aspirin"), that actually lowers risk for stroke too...
but there are studies showing less muscle growth with aspirin use, because it lowers temporary inflammation (which actually is a good thing, because it results in muscle growth) caused by working out too.
so i would not use that when trying to gain muscle. maybe when cutting you can use it regularly, aspirin also mildly works as an uncoupler, causing you to expand more energy.

youre dead on with the sugars though... sugar is probably the most toxic thing you can ingest without knowing...

that being said, for chronic inflammation to occur you need to constantly have elevated blood sugar and insulin levels.
i think fasting for at least 12 hours a day is the best thing you can do without putting in any real effort to completely attenuate chronic inflammation...

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/common-painkiller-ibuprofen-extends-lifespan-several-organisms

[Jizmo]

http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/common-painkiller-ibuprofen-extends-lifespan-several-organisms

http://consumer.healthday.com/encyclopedia/digestive-health-14/digestion-health-news-200/aspirin-ibuprofen-and-intestinal-disorders-644754.html

[mazfit]

i need to lower my sugars mine are pretty high when using insulin

[gettingbetter]

Thanks for that article.

Cheers!

[Jizmo]

i need to lower my sugars mine are pretty high when using insulin

with exogenous slin this goes out the window
(exogenous) insulin actually lowers inflammation

if your carbs match up your slin dose you can use it doesnt matter

[mazfit]

ahh good to know

Was watching evan centonpani talking about insulin and health problems with a dr got me thinking

[local hero]

Prostate issues as you grow older are probly the biggest concerne with extended trt, its one of the reasons that trt is almost non existant in the uk

[Jizmo]

just take 5mg cialis ed and prostate issues are completely gone
its even prescribed in the US i think

just get terrible acid reflux from cialis and cant get sh*t OTC here in EU
otherwise id run it twice a week at 10mg year round or so
also no tren/deca dick issues with that and much much cheaper than caber

[mazfit]

by cialis your talking the viagra substitute?

[Jizmo]

cialis is hardly a viagra substitute lol, its way better
 
cialis works for like 3 days. much more useful than viagra because youll never run into timing issues

(that being said ive never taken viagra because i dont need that stuff. but cialis is a great boost for a weekend or some extra fun time coupled with caber)

[local hero]

cialis is hardly a viagra substitute lol, its way better
 
cialis works for like 3 days. much more useful than viagra because youll never run into timing issues

(that being said ive never taken viagra because i dont need that stuff. but cialis is a great boost for a weekend or some extra fun time coupled with caber)

I never knew cialis had any use other than for erections..  I've never tried them or Viagra, would mess with my head too much

[mazfit]

decent to know!

[spiro]

Cycling off trt doses in fear of ruining health lol! The mentality differences are hilarious between guys on this board and other boards. People act like you're going to keel over and die because you do a few ccs a week.

[tstmaniac]

Cycling off trt doses in fear of ruining health lol! The mentality differences are hilarious between guys on this board and other boards. People act like you're going to keel over and die because you do a few ccs a week.

You could shorten your life span in the long run.. To say a couple of CC's a week is healthy longterm is being in denial..

[spiro]

When you get older cut it down to true trt dose that all. When I'm 60-70 I don't plan on running a gram of test and deca year round.

[gettingbetter]

When you get older cut it down to true trt dose that all. When I'm 60-70 I don't plan on running a gram of test and deca year round.

There is a link between IGF-1 and aging my friend. Tenuous at best but still cause for concern if, in the long run, you want to live as healthy and as long as you possibly can. Personaly, I LOVE my life and I want to stay around if I can.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1022448532248#page-1

Besides, you have no idea what my fitness goals are... Look at the volume of what I do and you will clearly see that I'm not a bodybuilder nor do I plan to be.

I'm not saying steroids are unhealthy, I even suggested everyone should be free to use (as in not illegal) very low dose at a certain age to enhance quality of life. I'm just saying the body has many feedback mechanisms that are not fully understood yet. You might down Armidex and Clomid by the mouthful to alleviate side effects but you have no idea what you are actually doing to your body. The HPTA axis is not that simple. Your body might downregulates receptors when "blasting and cruising" year round, hence diminishing returns, as it does on dopamine receptors when using amphetamines...

As for prostate cancer, I've seen studies linking them to DHT or IGF-1, others not, it is not that clear but still, another risk.

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/279/5350/563.short  (done at the university where I work)

So, like in finances, you have to evaluate risk/rewards. In my case, I have the maximum return on investment by doing moderate (for longevity purposes) or light doses (considering the insane amount even recreational bodybuilders are using) and cycling off to enjoy life, cigars, booze and woman during the summer while I have peaked fitness wise around june to give my body a chance to rest and not be so anal about diet and training.

Perfect balance is where it is at my friend but if you prefer to shoot absurd amount of chemicals, some of them probably impure (unless you use pharma grade like I do) go right ahead.  I don't see the point on "being huge" (nobody cares) while taking risk for your health but then again, different strokes....