TnT's Forward Momentum!

Have you ever seen anyone with a successful restart

I haven’t in terms of hypogonadism, but I wouldn’t expect to hear about it in a TRT forum - once you start on TRT, you’re kind of all in.

I quit a few months ago and my production did come back - still low though. Went back on six weeks ago.

Dang then im probably going to waste my time even trying

Have you already started TRT?

yes I been on it for two years im only 30yrs old

You can try a PCT restart, kind of a hassle unless you have an informed doctor. There’s a HPTA restart thread here

The original cause of low t would determine if the restart is worth trying, and I’m not sure what causes qualify as being valid to try one.

Not much help, sorry.

At this point, my doc hasn’t given many suggestions. Or any - I’m the one who suggested checking my thyroid, due to family history of thyroid problems.

@ChickenLittle, your question is right on. My labs came back on the low end of normal, meaning they won’t do anything. The bugger is the thyroid can intermittently spit out a little hormone, enough to fool the labs, then will quit working for a while. I suspect that’s the case with me, but finding a doc who’ll do more than a superficial investigation is very difficult in my area.

I’m not ready to even look into TRT; my boys need to maintain their employment as long as they can :grin:

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6/28/19, Friday

Quick push session

Warm-up

Step-ups - front/side/reverse x bw x 10/leg
Curls/OHP/laterals/tri ext x 8 lbs x 15 each

Bulgarians (each leg) / flat DB bench press
bw x 8 / 53 x 12
10 x 8 / 63 x 8
20 x 8 / 73 x 4
20 x 8 / 83 x 8
10 x 8 / 83 x 6
bw x 10 / 63 x 16

This was a tiring combo, and I’m feeling it a bit in my pecs and quads today. I did twice as many sets of Bulgarians (I like the traditional name for em) as last time, which shows my knee is healing. The db press’s Carter-esque two sets of a top weight then one drop set gave a nice pec pump, and stretching my pecs at the bottom after the last set was indeed intense.

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I know the feeling!

Have you tried increasing your iodine and selenium intake? Like from food sources? Some extra seafood and brazil nuts. Be careful with the brazil nuts though, too many can be bad for you.

Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll give them a try!

7/1/19, Monday

DB Circuit

Front squats / OHP / RDL / Rows
25 x 10 / 10 / 15 / 15
30 x 10 / 10 / 15 / 15
35 x 10 / 10 / 15 / 15
45 x 10 / 10 / 15 / 15
55 x 10 / 10 / 15 / 15

DB curls
25 x 46 total

DB triceps extensions
55 x 51 total

I’ve been landscaping lately and energy to train has been harder to come by. This circuit created a good cardio pump and gave me an idea for my next circuit… it’s gonna be fun :grin:

3 Likes

7/5/19, Friday

Deficit deadlifts / rope skips

135 x 10 (sg) / 20
165 x 5 (sg) / 25
195 x 5 (sg) / 25
225 x 5 / 25
250 x 5 / 25
275 x 5 / 25
275 x 5 / 25
275 x 5 / 25

Step-ups
20lbs (in backpack) x 50/leg, no rest

I did a lot of physical labor this week so ended up bookending the weekdays with lifting. The deficit deads are feeling great, and I was happy to reintroduce jumping rope. The step-ups were a nice leg burnout and cardio blast. I really like pairing a bilateral and unilateral exercise, one heavier and one light.

After too much agonizing and fighting the inevitable, I’m going to an upper-lower split, three days each week. Back in March, an article about it resonated with me while simultaneously reminding me of someone here’s statement (maybe @TX_iron?) who said he finds full body workouts recovery-invasive. I love full body lifting, but I love recovering even more.

6 Likes

Paul Carter responded to Stu in his big thread and summarized the research that he’s read. He said that training each muscle once per week is sufficient. Twice might be slightly better, but three times has diminishing returns. I’ve settled into a push/pull split done three times a week and I feel great. I think you’ll enjoy your new split. It falls right between training once or twice per week.

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Man I used to love them but yeah I just feel drained instead of energized after a while & sessions become a drudge. I didn’t however, mind pushing one big lift hard and doing easier full body type assistance stuff, like a heavy deadlift session seasoned with some body weight dips, curls and leg raises (like 531 Forever is laid out).

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Your mental shift from weight lifted to health and functionality is part of what encouraged me to make the leap into programming that I know will be beneficial.

For some muscles and movements, I merely maintain and simply don’t progress if I only do them once a week. Therefore I concur - this rotating schedule of doing each body part every four or five days should hit a sweet spot for me.

2 Likes

Yep, that’s been my exact experience too. I tried to stick with big, full-bodyworkouts, but three times a week was too much.

That’s a very reasonable workout. I’m centering my upper-lower split around two main lifts, a push and pull, and doing assistance to bring up the weak links.

2 Likes

7/8/19, Monday

Upper body/chest press

Warm-ups
BPA - 2x red x 4 x 20
Curls/laterals/extensions/shoulder press - 8lbs x 15 each

Towel pullups
bw x 4
bw x 4
bw x 4
bw x 3
bw x 4
Weak grip. Must get stronger

Flat DB bench
53 x 12
63 x 8
73 x 4
83 x 10
83 x 5
68 x 11
Did 2 more reps than last time with the top set. Progress

EZ bar rows, semi-supinated grip
170 x 7
170 x 7
170 x 8

EZ bar curls / triceps DB ext
80 x 6 / 60 x 20
80 x 6 / 60 x 17
80 x 7 / 60 x 14
Sweet. I got 51 reps of the extensions, so I can increase that weight again.

Lateral raises
13 x 15
13 x 15
13 x 15

Good day. I’m stoked about finally settling into an upper/lower, 3 times/week split.

3 Likes

7/9/19, Tuesday

Walk, 39:39, will update later with distance

7/10/19, Wednesday

Warm-up

Back raises / hanging leg raises
bw x 15 / bw x 10
bw x 12 / bw x 10

Face pulls
30 x 15
30 x 15

Deadlifts - conventional!
135 x 8
185 x 4
225 x 2
265 x 1
295 x 1
315 x 1
335 x 1
355 x 0 (what?! DOH grip failed)
365 x 1 PR!!! (Mixed grip)
375 x 1 PR!!! (Mixed grip)
385 x 0 (moved it but didn’t want to push)
315 x 1 (grip still the weak link)
225 x 10 (SO easy compared to 375!)

So… I got a gym pass this evening and decided to test my conventional deadlift. Since the summer of 2017, I’ve worked out at home and only have the equipment to do deficit deadlifts up to 275 on my (thin spinlock) bar and 40 pounds in a backpack. After two year of not doing conventional deadlifts, I hit a 20-pound PR!!! @mortdk and I have wondered how lots of deficits affect the conventional lift. The answer? Positively :slight_smile:

Amusing factoid - my grip failed at 355, and I’d literally forgotten about mixed grip; I’ve never used it. A woman at the rack next to me was doing sumo deadlifts with a mixed grip, so I figured “what the heck, let’s throw more weight on the bar and see if I can get a PR out of this.” And I did, twice!

Single leg press / laying leg curls
60 x 10 / 80 x 8
60 x 10 / 95 x 8
60 x 10 / 95 x 8
I honestly miss doing regular gym equipment lifts. It felt great to focus on the hams and push with just one leg.

Seated hip abduction / adduction
110 x 15 / 110 x 15
120 x 15 / 120 x 15
130 x 15 / 130 x 15
Just two plates short of repping the stack. There’s also something to be said for the strength gained from real-world work.

Power squat machine
90 x 8
180 x 8
270 x 8
360 x 8
180 x 15
I really like this machine. It pairs well with deadlifts, because there’s no balance required - it’s all push.

Swimming - 500 meters, casual pace, mixed strokes

This was an excellent session. Even if I don’t jump back into a gym, it’s validated the lifting I do at home.

5 Likes

Well done TnT, Quality.

You might have had the 385 if you’ve gone from 365 directly to 385. I think it taxes the body very much to pull at near max lifts so you only have 1 or 2 very big lifts… this I cannot back up by anything other than, that’s how I feel.

There is in fact an article here on TN about only doing deficits in training and then do the regular when hitting the platform. So a very legit way to train.
Next up is 375 deficit at home.
I’m going to incorporate them in my new strength training program. starting out in about a month or so.

1 Like