TRT and muscle gain?

[PHD]

Lately I’ve seen a lot of miss information on social media and even In here about TRT (testosterone replacement “therapy”). It’s just that “therapy”. You aren’t going to gain 15-20 pounds of muscle on a therapy dosages. Heck you won’t even gain that if you took as much testosterone as Dallas McCarver took (RIP) you will be lucky to put on 2-3 pounds a year of lean actual muscle a year. Now yes you may gain 30-50 pounds but guys that’s not muscle.

This is why I preach putting on lean muscle. See when you gain that much weight and then you start dieting, either show prep or just regular diet. Your new found muscle will be the first to go. It’s not matured muscle and you will strip it first. This is why when I’m in prep I take my prep nice and slow 23 plus weeks is optimal for me to keep my new found muscle and to do what we call grow into your prep. Yes you can actually gain new muscle in prep but that’s all dependent on the type of training you do and you’re diet.

Hope this little bit of information helps clear up some misconceptions about TRT. Have a great day UGM

 

[SemperFi]

Thanks for sharing @PHD. From an overall view I completely agree. There is no doubt that a therapy treatment should not be treated as a ‘mass producing’ solution. On the flip side the good news is there is scientific studies and andecdotal evidence that lean mass gains are possible even in the absence of regular resistance training on a simple TRT dose for obvious reasons. I know of one study that attributes 4lbs of muscle gain without residence training with a TRT dose and another showing a 20% muscle mass increase in 6 months but I think this one included regular exercise.

I began TRT approx 6 years ago and had not ran a typical cycle about 7 years prior to that. I trained extremely hard and was anal about my diet. My first year on TRT I put on 14 solid pounds and 7 the following year. By the third year I was much closer to where I was in my younger days. You are right that this was not all actual muscle and my body fat % did decrease also but some of that could be attributed to the actual increase in weight because of the muscle increase. I wish I was more coherent about my actual lean muscle gains but at that point in time I was more focused on the overall health benefits and the well being increase that I was experiencing from TRT. I did not see or track lean muscle gains until my third year but at that time I was full throttle back in the cycle game.

I think many time we have false expectations or overstate our results because we want to be better than we are in the moment. I certainly can state that I am guilty of those. It is good to have posts like yours to get us thinking about what we can really achieve.

A few pounds of muscle increase is no small feat. And individuals should be proud for that accomplishment. Imagine what can be accomplished in a few strong years at just a few pounds a year.

 

[Stratfordave]

Great post! I have had very similar experience as it relates to TRT (200mgs Test cyp x wk). I started when I was 38 and 42 now. I was fortunate to put on mature muscle playing college football and primary focusing on strength movements for years, even after football. Even with moderate cycles a few times per year, I’m pleased with 3-4 lbs of lean muscle per year while trying to keep BF under 15%.

 

[SemperFi]

Here are a few studies concerning replacement doses and potential muscle growth.

Effect of testosterone on muscle mass and muscle protein synthesis - PubMed

We have studied the effect of a pharmacological dose of testosterone enanthate (3 mg.kg-1.wk-1 for 12 wk) on muscle mass and total-body potassium and on whole-body and muscle protein synthesis in normal male subjects. Muscle mass estimated by creatinine excretion increased in all nine subjects...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Effects of testosterone replacement on muscle mass and muscle protein synthesis in hypogonadal men--a clinical research center study - PubMed

Testosterone replacement in hypogonadism has long been known to promote nitrogen retention and increase body density, but the mechanisms of nitrogen retention and body composition changes are poorly defined. We measured body composition and muscle protein synthesis in five hypogonadal men before...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article/82/2/407/2823214

 

[MBTJR1980]

Great post @PHD and excellent studies from @SemperFi! You both post so much great shit here and i find it very helpful as much as we like to think we know it all none of us do. Theres always more to soak up into our brains and proves how amazing the human body is :+1:t2:

 

[PHD]

Just goes to show every”body” is different. Have to find what works best with your body. Good info