First time posting. Using this to document my lifting progress & steroid usage.
Been lifting for nearly 8 years now. Recently went to the doctors to confirm my suspicions in having low T (IMO) - 362 FTE.
Despite keeping the diet pretty much on point (high protein intake, clean…ish), never missing a workout (currently just over 120 weeks without missing a week of training at least 5 times) and in my opinion training fairly hard, I have always felt I have struggled to put on any decent size. So I said fuck it, I’m sick of making average gains my whole life, I’ll run my own TRT program. So that’s what I’m documenting here.
Some Stats…
Pre Cycle:
-Weight: 97kg
-Bench 1RM: 150kg
Current Stats: (7 Weeks In - 20/4/22)
-Weight: 102.5kg
-Bench 1RM: 165kg
Thanks for posting. I’m going to read, watch and am hopeful I’ll learn something from your experience shared on here. Good luck with achieving your goals and to your health.
Yes I wanted to be quite conservative to see how my body reacted first. So you would advise tapering on and off? Am I tapering too much? Or would you just advise completely against it at my dosages? Thanks
I wouldn’t go on cycle at all tbh. You’ve got muscular development and more than the average pedestrian. If you’re struggling with Low T symptoms, then just do it the right way and do actual TRT instead of playing TT Roulette with a cycle
Ex girlfriend actually was the one to bring it up - just low sex drive with her. It sounds weird but I know my body that well that I just knew something wasn’t adding up. I felt that my effort to progression over the 8 years just wasn’t adding up (strength & muscle growth).
Cheers bro, appreciate it. Definitely not where I want to be. Sitting at around 16ish % BF. I love lifting and getting stronger so there’s never going to be an end point, but I want to put up some serious bench numbers one day.
I’m glad it’s a long-term plan, but I think if you keep running the risk of going on cycle you will find it to be your only option, rather than a desired plan.
I cannot address your perception of your sex drive, but the weight training side I do have an opinion.
Your pic shows a masculine person, broad shoulders and narrow waist. So, visually you check as if you have adequate testosterone.
Your bench press of 165kg (365lbs) 1 rep max is fairly respectable. There are not a great percentage of people doing 5 reps with 315lb in the bench press. You lift like a masculine person.
Your complaint might simply be centered more on your genetic potential than low testosterone. IMO, focus on training optimizing and diet optimizing. But we all have a genetic ceiling.
I am certainly not pretending to be educated on the subject, I’m learning as I go but I’m fully open to any education on the topic. I assumed that since I was at the lower end of the range that I was… and maybe a bit of confirmation bias was involved with the symptoms I was feeling.