Is Primo Worth It?

Pharma / TRT
41

Well I have a question I think primarily @weightliftingwithoutlimits will be best for asking as he is a powerlifter

So I’ve decided not to discontinue deadlifts as I do enjoy them however there is one issue here… well two

So my 1rm isn’t high, about 405, so I like to do multiple sets of 5-10 reps with 315. Problem is my grip is typically the first thing to give way before my CNS or lower back/traps fully fatigue. Given I’m not in it for pure strength and more the hyper trophy/bang for buck aspect of the exercise, I assume perhaps straps would come in handy for grip giving out prematurely (I have small, small, small hands)

Secondly, I have numerous callouses on my hands from prior boxing/martial arts at a young age, guitar playing and weightlifting. A few weeks ago one of the callouses burst in the gym… whilst doing deadlifts, I haven’t given it time to heal so I keep bursting the callous when lifting appreciable amounts of weight, it’s now to the point that each burst accompanies quite a bit of blood and pus from the afflicted hand, today this limited my grip to the point (as it does hurt) that I’m giving way after 315x4, and had to drop down to 215 and lift with my fingers hooked to the bar rather than having my hand all around the bar… I assume gloves and an acceptable way around this (temporarily… until the wound actually heals?)

42

I know you didn’t ask me, but… I’m of the belief that straps are necessary for particular lifts, as grip and firearms are unable to carry the same load as your back or hamstrings. Otherwise those muscles will only progress as much as your forearms and grip allow. I personally will do all warm ups, and 1-2 working sets without straps, but once my grip is noticeably fatigued or I go up more in weight, I go to straps. The amount of weight difference is unreal.

Hands are tough to recover from. Neosporin around the clock and gloves at the gym? Taking a bit of time off from pulling exercises would help if that’s an option.

43

I appreciate that man. Do you think part of that has to do with being on TRT? Or just that Primo gains are more sustainable in general?
Primo cycle will probably run me $400 more than Tren, but I’m just worried I won’t be satisfied with the results either. Which scares me. I don’t mind spending the money if the results are satisfactory.

44

It’ll be tough, but for back I guess I can just hook the Pulldown machines and dumbbells with my fingers, use lighter weight for pump

For me grip is a limiting factor even prior to fatigue of the wrist flexors… I find when lifting or attempting heavier weight my grip sometimes instantaneously gives (even if using a hook grip)

What difference could I expect straps to make?

If 1rm was solely affected by grip strength and not pulling strength could I notice perhaps a 10lb increase? say I perform sets with 315 (so 315 x 10-8-5) would I now be able to do say 325 x10-8-5? I know the difference is individual however what was the difference for you anecdotally?

I’m thinking I’ll start with heavier weights and then take the straps off and rep 225 for like 20-25 reps for 2 sets for grip.

I’ll probs start using a belt too (for when I go above say 160kg for reps) as I’m relatively light (say 74 kg at 5’4) and lifting 2-2.5x bw for 5-10 repetitions doesn’t seem like the smartest thing for me (an injury prone individual) to be performing without a spotter/anyone present to help me in case of injury, the extra intro abdominal pressure may perhaps lessen overall chance of injury

Honestly, grip is typically also the first thing to go for rowing variations, lat pulldowns and sometimes even curls, it’s damn frustrating, esp since I put in extra work for grip (accessories). My hands are quite small, as specified prior… as in, my thumb BARELY reaches my first knuckles when wrapping my hands around an Olympic bar, my feet are relatively large though… been size 10 since 6th grade. Fingers are also tiny, but on the grip machine (hand dynamometer) my hand strength is around 50… not strong, but suprising for my tiny hands, and I’ve always been able to put arm wrestle many bigger than I, I attribute this due to boxing, martial arts and gymnastics as a child and my overall level of muscular development compared to the average individual within my age demographic… that and leverages, my father also tends to have insane pound for pound strength (Supposedly in his late teens/early twenties he worked himself up to a 225 bench for 2-3 reps… at a bw of 50-55kg, 5 ft 8…) very thin but strong in relation to weight (I’ve seen pictures, his bf% seriously couldn’t have been above 8%), he never took training particularly seriously either (no scheduled program, didn’t eat much, only worked chest, arms and occasionally back)

45

I have small hands and not all too far from you with grip strength. I was RDLing 315 for reps or 10/8/6, and grip strength went out first each and every time. I forgot straps this week. With straps, I can do 405 for close to the same reps, and feel as though my hamstrings get way more worked.

Things like lat pull downs, rows, any of that when going heavy, it’s inevitable that grip will give first. I don’t use them every workout, or for every exercise though. I go back and forth with using them and not as I want my grip strength to increase as well.

46

600 TT with me running 30 mg SQ every 3 days. My doc told me to up it to 40 mg Q3 days… checking labs in 2 weeks to see where my TT is

47

You can RDL 405 for 10… holy shit…
Do you weigh like 300lbs and deadlift like 700?

Are you a giant?

Have you been lifting for like seven years?

Gotta say, while RDL’s are great, I prefer SLDL’s with hamstring activation as the sole benefactor. More chance for injury, but DAMN do they tear up my Hammies, so much that I don’t do them as the DOMS tends to last about 6-7 days

With my level of hypermobility I can bring the bar all the way down, so it’s like a 100kg weighted touch to my toes with knees completely unbent

#deathtospinalhealth

I’d be ecstatic if I can hit 430-450 as a 1rm with straps, that’d be a 10% or so increment without extra training yaaayyyy

48

Haha, no, I wish! Just always been one of my better lifts. I’m pretty small, but my legs have always been relatively strong compared to my upper body. I’m 5’10 and 197 today (week 2 of PCT so have lost a few pounds). I have been lifting for 9 years straight now, 5-6 days a week, with no off times except a 4-6 week break when I had my first kid. I don’t go on vacations, trips, or do anything to throw me off. Pretty anal about everything, it helps having a wife who has competed and still into the same lifestyle (she wakes up at 330am every day to go to the gym before work).

I did say close to those reps at 405, I rarely go that heavy though, and I never do regular deadlifts. I could probably hit 7-9 for a first working set of RDL at 405. I squat 315 for reps of 8-10 usually and rarely go heavier. I only go heavy on leg press for the most part as my legs are stronger than the rest of my body by a mile.

49

Agree with singh. High dose primo (700/wk) has become my go-to cycle. Was actually running one a few months ago, but had to cut it short due to nerve issues causing weakness on the right side - completely unrelated to the primo or lifting. I have done this same cycle a few times now and while expensive, I get the results I want from it and it is easy to keep what I gain. Being on TRT probably helps as well, but the initial gain from primo + whatever I stack with it (has been tbol in the past, was trying out dbol this time) definitely gives me more quality to keep. The only side I see is increased shedding up top - if any of it has been permanent, it has only been to make my widow’s peak a little more prominent. Which I am not convinced it’s even done that, since both of my uncles have very prominent widow’s peaks, and neither has ever been a lifter, let alone used gear.

Wish we could share sources, I get mine from a well-known supplier and am paying less than $100 per vial for 100mg/ml.

Also, most people say you have to do a longer cycle to get anything from primo and this may be true at the lower doses most people use (200-400mg). At higher dose (700), you can do a standard 8 week and still see good results (which would also save you a little cash).

1 Like
50

Good UGL primo can be had for a reasonable price these days, but it’s just a matter of how damn much you need, you know? At 100mg/ml even if it was the same price as test you’d still be putting a lot of oil in you and it adds up. For me to justify the cost and time (and endless pinning) it would need to be pretty magical. And believe me, I have tried to talk myself into it on more than one occasion. Even considered buying raws to home brew. Can’t do it.

1 Like
51

The stuff I would be getting is $125 per 200mg/ml bottle, with claimed no PIP at 2Ml or less. So it’s not terrible. But still far more costly than a Tren and Mast Cycle, with inevitably less results. Although if those gains don’t stick as well on Tren, that becomes the concern (along with the sides). I still have a few months to decide thankfully. Won’t be running until spring.

Have you run Tren? If so, how would you compare the progress you made on both ?

52

This.

Whats the use of saving money running a cycle with Tren or Nandrolone when you wont be able to hold onto those gains.

Try it once off, at a high enough dose and if legit Primo, you will see that the gains can be magical, in regards to being keepable.

Primo literally had no sides, and I’m one of those people that gets an endless list of sides from most drugs. Most gains from Tren have not stuck for me, just keep expectations moderate on Primo and you will be happy. Then you can come off and stay off with your newly gained keepable muscle. If you plan to stay off, I wouldn’t use Tren because its so suppressive, who knows if you’ll recover or not.

SB

2 Likes
53

@Singhbuilder damn dude you are really making me want to try this now… what would you consider the minimum effective dose? 800mg week?

54

Yeah I used ~750-800mg and found it effective. I may be a good responder to it, but I think it should work for most people if the dose is high enough.

SB

55

Isn’t that just a huge amount.of oil to be injecting week after week? I’m imagining synthol levels of lumps all over the place

56

I read someone suggest that Frank Zane will have only utilized Test and Primo back in the day. How accurate that is I have no idea but it definitely piqued my interest and I am keen to see the effects it has on users of this site so anyone running it please keep me updated.

57

It works out to about 1ml a day, rotating through glutes, quads and delts, each site gets hit once a week which isn’t too bad. Glutes will take up to 3ml and quads 2ml, so delts can take 1ml.

SB

2 Likes
58

I use 700mg per week. First time I ran it I injected 1 ml every day, alternating back and forth between glutes, which kind of sucked - constant ache in both glutes.

Last couple times I’ve ran it, I injected 2ml every other day, alternating glutes. This allows long enough for the soreness to go away before pinning the same side again. I get some minor PIP/soreness from the UGL I use, but doing it this way keeps it minimal. Of the stuff I’ve ran, primo is one of the more painful (though not a patch on the 400mg/ml test e I used, that shit was charlie horse in a bottle). Mild/minor PIP/soreness, but still moreso than my normal test e (250mg/ml). For that reason, I only inject it in my glutes - glutes seem to cope with PIP better than quads or delts.

Injecting like this keeps the amount of oil down, allowing one injection to dissipate before the next one comes in (or at least as far as I can tell, that is).

59

I agree. However I mixed mine with EQ so I never had any PIP, in glutes or quads. Your way is fine too. I use a 21g needle in the glutes however, its the only way 3ml can pass through without my hands shaking.

SB

60

I use 23g. I’ve tried 27g, but my hands were shaking too much that I felt like I would snap that thin ass needle off in my butt…no bueno. Read somewhere (on here maybe, who knows) a guy claiming to shoot primo through slin pins. Wasted most of an ml trying that.

Have you tried primo separate from EQ? How did you like the two together? I’ve tried EQ one time, and came to the conclusion it was either fake or severely underdosed. I got zero weight gain off it, and the classic EQ side effect (huge appetite spike) was nowhere to be seen.