The desperate plight of a hard gaining ectomorph

[Poppy]

Wasn’t being negative about the lifetime thing. I chased a 500 lb bench press (in a meet) since high school. In my 40’s 460 was as close as i got. It just isn’t going to happen for me. Woulda…shoulda…coulda…ancient history now.

 

[Mossy1985]

You was still chasing a goal and got pretty close brother. I feel like you should always set your goals higher. It’s like striving for perfection and settling for excellence.

 

[BX-madman]

Fuck that. Thats 500 in my book.

 

[Poppy]

@BX-madman @Mossy1985 thanks for the positive comments gentlemen. I took my eye off the prize one too many times over the years. I’ve said it before… you guys (on this site) are way way more educated and focused than I was. It’s rubbing off on me though!

 

[SidTheSlothh]

I will take that into consideration. I did legs yesterday and felt stronger than usual under the bar, was able to do reps of 225 which I was unable to do while on cycle due to flexibility limitations. My sex drive has also been pretty high it’s almost as if I feel like I never got off the testosterone now.

Staying true to my diet still but it gets tougher and tougher each day. I wake up early in the morning for breakfast and have to force myself to eat and am now gagging on eggs each morning trying to get it down lol.

 

[SidTheSlothh]

I have always felt that chasing weightlifting goals while in the service is very difficult. I look at my time in and it was very frequent that we were out in the field for weeks and away from home for months on training. You can’t lift weights in the field nor can you eat good at all, you go pretty much malnourished. The constant running and calisthenics for morning PT would force those to consume more calories to make up the calorie loss. And lastly, it is hard to hit the gym after work when you did PT at 6 in the morning and didn’t get off until 17-1800 on a REGULAR day. Anything over a 300 pound bench press is impressive to me, I have yet to hit over 225.

 

[SidTheSlothh]

I have been tracking how much sleep I have been getting for the past 6 days and I have yet to break over 5 hours. I know a very small portion of the population runs on little sleep, but I just can’t help but think this has to be detrimental. And most of the time I feel fine after I wake up. Trying to get this sleep study done in the next few weeks.

I have also tried numerous over the counter sleeping pills and none of them affect my sleep. None of them keep me asleep. I have no issue getting tired and falling asleep I just can’t stay in it for more than 5 hours. If this is just how I am and it doesn’t have a negative impact on my then great I am living longer, but we’ll see

 

[Mossy1985]

Try eating a big meal and smashing a shake on top of it. Works for me every time. I nap a couple hours most days on top of my regular sleep.

 

[Dirtnasty]

Ever since going to third shift sleep has been biggest issue well minus the ones I was bringing upon myself.

 

[JLee]

Sleep is huge. That’s when your body repairs itself. I work a swing shift. Week of days and a week of nights. I notice major differences in strength on lifts depending on when I do them and the amount of sleep I get. If you can’t can’t at least 6 try to squeeze in a nap. Maybe that will help.

 

[SidTheSlothh]

Unfortunately, I am not capable of napping unless I get under 3 hours of sleep. My body feels fine after 4 something hours but maybe it’s because I’ve been used to that amount all these years

 

[JLee]

That definitely sucks

 

[SidTheSlothh]

If it’s a cause of hindering progress then yeah it really sucks… If it is just 100% that my diet was the only factor and not my sleep, I’d be happier running on a little amount

 

[JLee]

Your sleep affects everything. Not saying food is not important but sleep I believe is #1. Some people can function fine on 5 hours or less, personally I can’t. Just something else to consider

 

[Dirtnasty]

I mean if your body doesn’t let you sleep longer then you can’t control that. I mean Vince McMahon is pretty jacked for only sleeping like 3 hours a night some people just run differently. I personally would love to get 9 hours of sleep a day but unless I get a day shift 8 hour job that isn’t in the cards for me right now

 

[SidTheSlothh]

That is why sometimes I really enjoy the little amount of sleep that I get, I don’t even use alarms. I went to bed at 0100 then got up for work at 0430 and all was good. I feel like I have more time to do things that I want to in life outside of work hours. Many people I know require 8 to 9 hours of sleep and those poor bastards gotta go to bed around 2100 to wake up at 0430… and for those who work long hours well that doesn’t leave much personal time in the mix

 

[SidTheSlothh]

So I started my cycle at 152 pounds and I am still hovering around the 179-182 weight range. I uploaded two pictures in the don’t be a pussy thread. Do you guys think that that looks like 25+ pounds of body fat in comparison to my initial photos in this thread? Do you think I gained mostly fat and a little bit of size? I feel like I look thicker all around, but whether that thickness is muscle underneath the fat or just simply fat I am unsure. I prefer the hard truth over an easy lie lol

 

[Dirtnasty]

You def look a lot better than you did. Just keep up the work on tracking the everything and I still feel a good bit of time to dial in a trt dosage would wonders for you before trying another cycle

 

[SidTheSlothh]

Will do. So 5 days ago I put up 195 bench for 3 sets 5, 4, 3
Did the same weight today and increased reps to 7, 6, 4. Since my reps went up I’m going to continue doing what I have been and see where it takes me. My PCT ends next Monday so I am going to try and get bloods done that week.

 

[Poppy]

I hate swing shifts…mine was month on month off, not a real swing shift. I can’t imagine doing it every week.