Evening folks. I’ve been into fitness since my teens, my pops got me into it as a kid. He has CP, and there was no PT when he was younger so they threw him in a gym. That’s what drove me into the medical profession. I was always a hard gainer, but in my early 20’s I did decent in natural shows because I was lean, but always small.
Fast forward, I’m 37, good life, two great kids and another on the way. The last one was tough to get.My wife ended up on some meds and on our last try, our little girl was conceived and will be here next week! I never got tested but was close.
Last month I went fro routine lab work, asked my doc to include a few more measures. Serum total was 298, free is 11. Symptoms similar to everyone else in this forum. Big thing was I have a hard time reaching orgasm, which I know is a symptom. I always confused ability to get an erection with good libido, but now I know that is not the case, libido is very off.
Personally as well, I’m fed up with working my ass off for 20+ years for diminshing gains. Talked with a local doc, tried 12.5mg clomid every day. No symptom change in a few weeks. He will put me on 150 mg test cyp a week, delivered in 3 doses per week. New to the forum but love reading everyone’s thoughts, and glad to see the commradery.
What i am having a hard time with now is that I know I’m out of natty shows, but would love to compete again. Is 150mg adequate for someone who’s personal goal is bodybuilding or should I realistically incorporate other assistance?
So, this is dependent on you. No one can really predict your test levels at a given dosage until you have some labs under your belt while on TRT. I don’t know if you have any old labs around, but looking back with current knowledge can be surprising. I was low T in my early thirties, possibly late twenties and had no idea. Neither did my doctor apparently, because I have old labs from then showing it but no one said anything back then. I was a competitive strongman, so I get where you are coming from to an extent. I can tell you that my shoulders are a completely different animal on TRT, mostly in a good way.
Depending on your outlook, blast and cruise would be a viable scenario for you, and no particular risk if you don’t get too crazy on the blast. But you may find that you grow like crazy for a while just at TRT dose. Having decent test levels will change your training world.
Appreciate the reply. It’s just been tough making the jump knowing the shows I loved would be out of reach if I transitioned to TRT. Now the symptoms outweigh the desire to want to stay TRT free only for competition. When I talked to my wife about going this path and she encouraged me, that’s what did it for me. I’ve spoken to Defy in Fla and am transitioning to a local Doc in New York, he wasn’t easy to find but I’m happy to eventually see someone in person. What are some groups that people like if my l local guy doesn’t seem as knowledgeable?
They test a lot of things, I’m not sure exactly what these days and I never competed anywhere that tested. Strongman doesn’t test for anything unless you are at WSM, and there it’s only for certain stimulants like cocaine.
WNBF and INBF do a lie detector test with a list of banned substances. Winners will be tested but I believe just for testosterone ratio. My guess most supplements or meds to increase LH and FSH have made their way to their banned list
I am not an expert on that, @The_Mighty_Stu or @BrickHead would know more than me about the specifics of competing in BB with TRT. I just assume I am doing something untested if I were to feel a need to compete again, which is all I did before anyway as a natural.
I did some untested powerlifting competitions as a natty. I figured nobody really cares how well I place other than me, and the people who place below me.
There isn’t anything wrong with being competitive, but I see all the time that guys are trying to drop 15 lbs of water to compete in a certain weight class, and paying extra to be tested, when they total 1200 lbs… Just doesn’t make sense to me. Just go and lift IMO. I have also competed a weight class up being 2 lbs over the next lower. I could drop the weight on the treadmill or sauna, but I just don’t care, hell I could have just skipped the meal and drink before the weigh in.
I suppose people also yell at little league T-ball coaches and refs. That stuff just never makes sense to me. I figure the cutting weight and such will be important if I am putting up elite numbers, but until then it just seems silly to me.
You can do a lot with 150-200mg. Granted it’s going to be hard to compete with someone using triple that but the beautiful thing about TRT is if you decide to experiment with those higher dosages periodically you have an advantage over those not on TRT doing it. You sound passionate about bodybuilding but you’ll find that TRT is going to improve so many things in your life you’ll be mad you didn’t do it earlier. Most of those things you won’t even know are problems until they aren’t any longer. Welcome aboard. It only gets better from here.
Now that I am on TRT, I think why not do a cycle (already done one). I am not going to do anything crazy, but a bit of performance enhancement makes the TRT so much better. Why not be jacked if the risk is low?
It is important to be responsible, and have at least the time on to be only on TRT. I am thinking for the next two years I am going to do half on half trt, then taper down from there. Don’t plan on using more than a gram a week as a max, and will not take anything that has a high probability of messing with my PP.
Something to remember is that it’s not the dose you take, it’s where your levels end up. No reputable doctor is going to give you shots and then not gauge if the minimum needed amount administered is putting you where they’d like you to be.
And as was already mentioned, you can’t do Wnbf/Inbf even with Doctor’s notes. This was a big issue when Brad was competing, we had to find federations that understood that you’re talking about a medical issue, often times something that affects individuals from their teen years for the rest of their lives. When guys who “self administer” gear for years suddenly realize that they can’t come off and still look as good, they usually lower their doses and tell everyone listening that they’re on HRT while avoiding that it’s only because of what they chose to do on their own for years. It’s this very common situation that explains the Wnbf’s stance on it.
I actually had my own T-levels checked a couple of years ago, just for curiosity’s sake. I was well in my 40’s, knew that I was never going to compete again, and was wondering if a doctor would say that I “needed” a boost. Well, my #'s were just about 900, so no gear for me! -lmao
900? I was going to say thanks for the response but I feel a “kiss my ass with your superior levels” is more warranted hahahaha! Good for you though, seriously jealous.