[quote]dinomachino wrote:
Day 12 - 203 lbs, Day 13 - 204 lbs, Day 14 - 205 lbs… noticeably carrying more water in the abdominals, especially after two 3700kcal 400g carbs days on the weekend, but clearly adding some quality weight. Will put up some pics later this week.[/quote]
Sounds like you’re doing great so far, and your detailed log is much appreciated. Good job!
I have to say that your progress log may turn into a perfect template for newbie users (perhaps myself one day), and maybe even a good indicator of what to expect from a first Test-E cycle for someone with a solid physique foundation and years of training/diet experience. Hopefully it will steer newcomers to gear on the way to cycle correctly.
I’ll likewise be watching this thread closely, so keep hitting it hard and keep up the good work.
Mike, your words are extremely inspiring, and much appreciated. I will be sure to deliver.
Today is Day 15. I got the bac water so started HCG today, 250iu 2x per week until the end of week 10. Definitely experiencing some pre-gyno symptoms, nips protruding a bit and somewhat sensitive. I’ve upped adex to .5mgx3 per week and will stay here unless this subsides.
Although this is only day 15, my endurance is through the roof. I’m hitting 90 minute 30 set workouts daily, no rest days, and not running out of gas. Strength if about the same, rack deads 455x8 this morning, squats 405x8 two days ago.
Rear double bi from this morning, not the best shot: http://i.imgur.com/UcjyeiG.jpg
Day 17, back down to 201 lbs. This is expected, I had speculated that the additional 3-4 lbs was from water weight / undigested food, and I’m now confidant that was the case. Still up 3 lbs from the starting point and just as lean.
Rear lat spread from this morning (and no I didn’t shit myself, that’s sweat): http://i.imgur.com/ccOe7ad.jpg
Day 21, took the 7th pin this morning, based on the results so far, and considering I’ve been told it really doesn’t take full effect until week 5, this is starting to look like it’s going to be ridiculous. Noticed a good 2 reps on everything this morning during my leg workout, definitely more overall size in both my legs and arms.
Day 18 - 201 lbs, 19 - 202 lbs, 20 - 205 lbs, 21 - 208 lbs; day 18-20 were all 3600-3700 kcal days; considering it’s physically impossible to gain weight at this pace, I’m clearly holding water and lots of undigested food, so the next 3-4 days will be kept in the 3000-3200kcal range.
The gyno symptoms I was starting to experience seem to have subsided.
Rear lat spread from yesterday: http://i.imgur.com/626UNmP.jpg
Don’t freak out about the water weight man, stay the course.
That lat spread is beastly, good work
Today is day 25. I cleared out some of that excess water, stabilized at 205 for the past few days. Nips often feel hard and sensitive, despite increasing adex to .5mg x3 per week, but not too concerned. Starting to feel the strength gains kick in, but haven’t truly tested myself, as I’ve been sticking with a hypertrophy based routine.
More endurance and intensity, better pumps, and can hit compound lifts a lot more often without feeling overtrained. Tomorrow is legs, going to test squat strength, hit 405x10 (parallel, not ATG) last week.
Today is day 30. Sitting at 204-205 the last week or so, time to really up the calories. I was doing around 3200kcal, 275p, 350c, 70f, going to up it to 3400kcal by adding 50g of carbs. Starting to feel gradual strength gains coming on, endurance is still through the roof, currently no symptoms of side effects other than a slightly reduced tolerance for people’s bullshit. Set a PR this morning, hack squats ATG with 4 and a quarter per side, 10 reps, after some pre-exhaust. ALL IS GOOD!
Pic from this morning: http://i.imgur.com/Y3vASdG.jpg
Great progress pic, you’re doing quite well it seems.
From all the logs that I’ve read, this seems fairly typical of a Test E (or C) cycle by the 4 week mark. The endurance is up, strength is increasing, and the mental shot strongly kicks in by this point. Likewise, from all accounts, it seems that week 5 is the magic spot where the gains really start to become visually noticeable, and from there it’s full bore till week 10.
Interestingly, a friend of mine is starting his first cycle of Test soon, and due to the typically slow start associated with a long ester, he has opted to use Test Propionate for 8 weeks instead. I’ll keep an eye out and see how that works out by comparison.
I have a friend who is also starting his first cycle, he used dbol to help kick start the growth, but other than that it’s the same cycle I’m using. He’s 2 weeks in and claims to have gained 12lbs, I’m trying to explain to him how that is physically impossible, and to not get his hopes up (would require 3000kcal over maintenance per day, without even considering the limits of protein synthesis rates). You seem to corroborate my point, as 2 weeks in the cycle has barely taken any effect if any at all.
So I pose an open question to anyone. How much total weight gain is possible during a 10 week cycle of test at 500mg per week? How much is typical? What’s the highest documented amount you have ever seen? And I’m talking pure lean mass, no fat, no water. My assumption is that 12-15 is a reasonable goal, 20 would be near amazing, and 30 ventures into impossible territory. Thoughts?
Any plans to compete? You look like you could do some damage mate
[quote]lemony2j wrote:
Any plans to compete? You look like you could do some damage mate[/quote]
^^^this, looking great man. You have the exact physique im aiming for, inspiring and keep up the good work.
Thank you!
I would love to get on stage, but I KNOW I won’t place quite yet. It’s hard to tell but I have a lot of excess skin on my stomach and lower chest. The additional size is helping to tighten, but long term would need the $10K plus for a tummy tuck if I ever want lower abs. Again, I was 250lbs at 14 years old.
Today is last day of week 5, aka day 34. Average daily kcal is now around 3400, and taking in 400g of carbs daily. Been sitting at 206-207 the last 4 days, 8-9 lbs of from the starting point, at least 6-7 is lean mass. Endurance is still very high, strength is up from the starting point, but nothing drastic.
Been training every day, no rest days for at least 2 months, probably not a good idea. Although strength is fine, aches and pains are starting to accumulate, especially lower back tightness. Going to add in one weekly rest day sometime this week.
Hitting chest this morning, I’ll post some pics later.
[quote]dinomachino wrote:
Thank you!
I would love to get on stage, but I KNOW I won’t place quite yet. It’s hard to tell but I have a lot of excess skin on my stomach and lower chest. The additional size is helping to tighten, but long term would need the $10K plus for a tummy tuck if I ever want lower abs. Again, I was 250lbs at 14 years old.
Today is last day of week 5, aka day 34. Average daily kcal is now around 3400, and taking in 400g of carbs daily. Been sitting at 206-207 the last 4 days, 8-9 lbs of from the starting point, at least 6-7 is lean mass. Endurance is still very high, strength is up from the starting point, but nothing drastic.
Been training every day, no rest days for at least 2 months, probably not a good idea. Although strength is fine, aches and pains are starting to accumulate, especially lower back tightness. Going to add in one weekly rest day sometime this week.
Hitting chest this morning, I’ll post some pics later.[/quote]
first of all great gains made thus far, 6-7lbs of true lean mass in under two months is awesome. Maybe come in totall around 10lb lean gain when completely finished but even at where you stand now thats great progress. Much better then when i did my first cycle and had a shit diet, ended up 20lbs heavier with maybe 5-7lb lean gains. Jealous that you can handle 400g of carbs daily that is fucking awesome, for a more carb sensitive individual like myself that is a dream! Im not one to talk as you have been in the game much longer then me, but im sure at least a day of rest will help you out tremendously and help prevent injury and or any aches/pains. I myself take saturdays off weekly to allow for sleep and refeed. And finally in regards to showing, man i still think you could do well. let the size tighten everything up and get on stage! you look great. Although i understand where you are coming from i myself was 190-200lbs 9 year old diagnosed with cushings syndrome so im dealing wih trying to solve the same problem. keep us updated and once again keep up the great work.
Rear lat spread this morning: http://i.imgur.com/2Zh15dj.jpg
Steadily climbing, was 208 today. Rack deads this morning 455x10, felt smooth as fuck.
“Jealous that you can handle 400g of carbs daily that is fucking awesome, for a more carb sensitive individual like myself that is a dream!”
A combination of low fat intake and intense high volume training demand this much carbs. I skipped one carb meal yesterday and woke up this morning with insane hunger, good reassurance to me that a high intake is needed. Prior to the cycle my normal carb intake was 200-300g on training days, often going down to 100g on rest days, where I gradually increased them to the current level of 400ish.
Out of nowhere, for the last three days lifts have been incredible. Not a massive increase in strength, but the ability to squat / dead-lift each once every 4 days with at least 405 with no signs of over training or need for additional recovery. I associate some of this with joining a new gym and being motivated by the new surroundings, but without a doubt I feel the test is starting to peak. Broke 3 records this morning: 1) Squat 405x12, wasn’t even to failure; 2) Squat 455x6 (clean, but not the best ROM), drop to 315x12, drop to 225x12; 3) Leg Press 28 plates x 8, never have gone above 26 plates before.
Still 208, still eating roughly 3300 kcal per day.
[quote]dinomachino wrote:
Out of nowhere, for the last three days lifts have been incredible. Not a massive increase in strength, but the ability to squat / dead-lift each once every 4 days with at least 405 with no signs of over training or need for additional recovery. I associate some of this with joining a new gym and being motivated by the new surroundings, but without a doubt I feel the test is starting to peak. Broke 3 records this morning: 1) Squat 405x12, wasn’t even to failure; 2) Squat 455x6 (clean, but not the best ROM), drop to 315x12, drop to 225x12; 3) Leg Press 28 plates x 8, never have gone above 26 plates before.
Still 208, still eating roughly 3300 kcal per day.[/quote]
damn man looking beast!! Great to hear the test is really startin to kick in and those are some great numbers your putting up. Such an awesome feeling when you see your previous records shattered with such ease and at this point in your cycle those records could be broken again in as little as a week! great job man and keep us updated!
This is a summary of weekly averages for the first 6 weeks of the cycle, tomorrow starts week 7. I was able to get up to around 208 and felt lean, but over the past week I’ve ballooned up to 214, and definitely feel like I’ve now added some fat! Was 208 friday, 211 sat-sun, then 214 this morning; averaged around 3700 calories over those 3 days with tons of sodium (most has to be water). Today I’m starting a 4 day recomp, keeping calories around 2800-3k, doing 40 mins of cardio per day, and using lighter weight and circuit training. Should get me back down to 209-210, then will go back to the normal scheme.
kCal Pro(g) Carbs(g) Fats(g)Wgt(lbs) Cardio(Weekly Total Min)
3023 303 310 54 197 60
3270 312 361 55 201 100
3307 311 365 57 204 105
3110 291 341 57 206 75
3387 302 389 65 206 90
3417 316 370 70 209 105.0
Luckily back down to 212 today, will probably stay with the recomp for 2 more days, should get back down to 209.
Today is the last day of week 7. After a few days at 211-212 went back on the normal diet, then on Saturday weighed in at 215, then this morning 217. Hard to get a grasp on the true weight with all this fluctuation, but appears that the gains are in full swing, seeing at least 2lb increases per week over the last few weeks. Definite size added to my triceps and quads, like a fucking inch on triceps!
Still doing the whole body twice over 8 days split, which arms 4x per 8 days.
1 - Shoulders Tris
2 - Legs Bis (sometimes skip bis)
3 - Chest Tris
4 - Back Bis (sometimes add in forearms)
REPEAT
Average diet from the last week: 3300kcal, 300g pro, 365g carb, 60g fat. Ideally this would be more like 265/375/75.
Haven’t been using adex much at all, no signs of gyno, just a lot of bloating and water retention.
