Newbie intro + which compound(s) for pwo recovery?

[t-bill]

Hello,

UG newbie here, longtime strength training enthusiast. 34 yrs old, lifting on and off since college, historically horribly slow pwo recovery & really poor nutrient partitioning => been at around 160-70 lbs@ 5’11", 13"-14" arms (cold), 32" waist, 20-25% body fat for most of my adult life. Last 18 months, I reduced training volume, upped daily protein and carb intake, and got on low dose trt (100 mg/week) . After 1 yr on TRT I tried a 20mg/day var cycle for 6 weeks while remaining on TRT - really liked it, bust through plateaus faster

Improvements over last 1.5 yrs - bodyweight up to 225, arms up to 16.75", (waist up to 34"). Accompanied by strength gains - from 2 chins @ 170 lbs to 8 chins @ 225 albs, bench up from 200 to 325. Endo & local anti-aging MDs won’t even consider >100mg/week, so considering self-medicating. I prefer pharma grade and have access to it via overseas travel. Cost not a concern. Would rather not do sln or gh unless I have to - don’t want organ size or facial structure/features to change much.

Next trip abroad is in 2 wks - what compounds should I look into to help me become proportionally thick and juicy?
(goal: 250lbs @ 18% bf, 18” arms) my pwo recovery still sucks - 4 days to recover from 2 sets of chins

 

[Bigmurph6]

Whats up brother welcome to ugm. Im going to touch on some of the things that you talked about once I get a chance. I just wanted to say welcome and you can hit me up anytime with questions im here to help

 

[Bigmurph6]

So you have had decent gains in the last 1.5yrs. The key thing that you changed is your diet thats where the key to your gains are. With the right diet you can achieve the goals that you’re looking for. With gear added to a good diet you will definitely reach your goals faster.
What kind of cycle are you planning on running. You can stick with a basic Testosterone cycle and get the fast recovery and protien synthesis that will push you towards your goals. I would definitely reccomend to check out Proviron its a great compound. It will free up alot of the Testosterone your using and will help keep estrogen at a good level.
How is your workout set up im trying to understand why your having trouble with your recovery time.

 

[t-bill]

Thanks bigmurph

Diet was definitely key to the gains, part of th challenge for me was to let myself hit caloric surplus regularly-mentally very difficult because I was quite fat till about age 15. But the reduced volume was crucial too.

I’ll look into proviron, will it increase free T by lowering SHBG? I ask because I naturally have very low shbg, so low that before getting on TRT even with a total T in the 150s (normal low being 249),my free T came up “normal”, just above the normal low value. This was part of the reason why I kept the var so low.

My weekly routine includes 2 lift days spaced evenly. Day 1 is dead hang chins 3 sets x 8 reps (most recently). Day 2 is 2 sets x 7-8 reps bench on smith machine + 1 set overhead tri extension 8/20 reps.

That’s it! As crazy as it sounds, this is what works for me. If I up the volume even by 1 more set on the compound lifts, I inevitably am unable to fully recover for the next week’s workouts-I can tell because pushing for one more rep or just a bit more weight ends up becoming a futile effort, and often I end up regressing.

In my college days, I could bang out 15-20 sets compound lifts on any given workout day. But now if I dare do anything past 4-5 sets total recovery takes 10 days or more.

I’m pretty good about getting ~7 hrs sleep on weekdays and 10+ on sat and sun. Also I get a decent amount of pre workout carbs (50-60gm) along w bcaa.

The level of inflammation I get 24-72 hrs pwo is kind of insane, especially given the low volume. Often it is accompanied by a fever, some sort of a minor eye infection, runny nose, allergies, etc. and of course massive bloat. of course 4-5 days pwo this all goes away, body come back to life, and that’s when I can tell I’m ready to lift again.

Low T was part of the problem. Not low anymore due to trt (@650 right now) but I’m going to see what difference it would make to go from 100mg weekly to 125/150mg e3d (want to get around 1000). Cortisol also a suspected issue so I mega dose on phasphatdylserine 1g daily split over 4 doses, definitely has helped prevent muscle loss when in caloric deficit.

Similar 4 dose split for 2400mg EPA only fish oi for heartl, 3000 mg nigella sativa (for liver), and 200 mg Benadryl (pwo allergies).
Oh also 1 mg arimidex the day after my shot to prevent an estrogen spike.

Next week I’ll be in a country where pharma gear is otc and very inexpensive, so I’ve started making a list- var/tbol, and sustanon, and perhaps proviron if that will help too), won’t be getting ancillaries since on trt, and have a lot of clen and ketotifen on hand.

The plan is to cruise on 250-300 mg/week (Sustanon), and cycle va/tbol 4 weeks on 8 weeks off. Would love to get your input on the approach and any suggested changes, thanks for your help!

 

[escapewithniko]

You can stick with a basic Testosterone cycle and get the fast recovery and protien synthesis that will push you towards your goals

In addition to Testosterone, are there any other recommendations that you have that also focus on fast recovery and protein synthesis?

 

[Bigmurph6]

Multiple compounds help with recovery and protien synthesis. What exactly are your goals that you are trying to achieve. Are you looking to put together a cycle or stay natty

 

[escapewithniko]

Hopefully my inquiries don’t seem absent-minded: I am looking to stay natural, but am curious…are there any cycles that could be considered natural?

My goal is to put on 20 lbs. of muscle mass (started at 155 lbs. / 70 kg) without sacrificing my waist (which is under 30 inches / 76 cm) over the span of 2 years. Regarding my lifting, I hope to join the 2-3-4 club. If there are any other questions, please feel free to continue here or PM me.

 

[Bigmurph6]

Your inquiries are always welcome here.
I would say a cycle of low fat low carbs high protien. If you want to stay natural thats the basic macros.
If you’re looking to use steroids because there is nothing anymore in the stores or at gnc type places besides bcaa creatine and protien that really does anything.
I would reccomend to stay natural though your better off. You just need to eat and train like an animal and it takes time but set your goals and you will eventually get there.
If you do want to take the plunge into annabolics don’t go any further than just Testosterone. It would be even better if you could get it prescribed and do blood work. If this is what you want I will get more into a beginners cycle.

 

[escapewithniko]

Wow, thanks. This is super informative. No thank you on the information regarding a beginner’s cycle. i feel that staying natural is my best course. Just like you stated, I already am at low carbs (90 g) and high protein (220 g) at 2,200 total cals. I am currently progressing towards my goals, so I will stick to this before my training demands more calories/ energy. Thanks once again.

 

[Blast23]

Careful staying low carb for too long unless you are going refeeds. Low carb diets done for an extended period of time can result in both leptin (satiety hormone) and insulin resistance. When running a very carb restricted program, you will likely benefit from two high carb refeeds per month. Each refeed will extend over a period of three days, which will accommodate leptin rebound, which is what you want.

To avoid begging tje question, what does a three day refeed look like, here is the answer (though you will have to ascertain for yourself the actual amount. Im going to use 1000 grams of carbohydrate for the sake of argument).

Its time for a refeed. How do you know? You’re grumpy, lethargic, joints are sore and performance in the gym is suffering. You decide to add 1000 grams of carbohydrate over the course of 3 days. Add 300 on the first day (390 total), 600 on the second day (690), and finally 100 (190) on the 3rd day. Then go back to your low carb program. This will benefit your metabolism and your psyche. Further, it will very much benefit your overall recovery from training.