Forum Statistics

Threads
27,576
Posts
541,630
Members
28,554
Latest Member
pbtom
What's New?

Anonymous confessions of a different kind of guy

J

jay_victor

Member
Jan 6, 2019
21
6
Welcome to my rambling journal...

Late starter, turned to the iron at 40, 7 years ago. Never been athletic or strong, although did a fair amount of team sports in my 20's

Still a beginner and still weak and skinny. With a beer gut.

Training daily while doing 16:8 fasting. Training fasted. I have a power rack in the garage, and train alone in the mornings

3 days per week doing major lifts - resembles strong lifts, but more of a pyramid approach to reps and sets. I play with the rep counts between 6 and 12 to keep moving via progressive overload.

4 days per week on a parallel program that has some skipping, some body weight (press up, dips, chin ups), and some circuits I've put together. Looking to work in some farmer's walks on my non-lifting days. New toy is a stick welder, so looking to make up some handles for this. Will see what I can do.

Using whey post work out, and have been on creatine. Progress has been slow, but kids are old enough and now have a settled life in a new home, so here's hoping I can find consistency. Anyhow, this is where I'm at today:

6'4", 220
Squat: 285
Bench: 190
OHP: 110
Deadlift:390

Goals are to be functional mainly, such as things like 10 full pull ups, squatting double body weight, etc. Not interested in mass for the sake of it, although a more esthetic look is ok by me.

Finally.... the burning question of hormones. Having a beer gut is a mofo because that little bitch is quite the estrogen factory so I'm told. Would explain a lot.

Just being realistic, I haven't got another 10 years to scratch around so it's hello T for me. Plan to stick to T only and not likely to go beyond the 200-400 range ever. We'll see how that goes :D. On the gel right now and it feels amazing. Just an experiment for now.

Here's the thing that gets me though. The gel has been like where have you been all my life? I've always been a bit beta in appearance and behaviour to be honest. When you're like that you're always trying to think how to 'act tough' or 'appear alpha'. I actually think I got quite convincing at it, and had some people fooled. There is a whole world out there of beta boys trying to pretend to be alpha. As soon as the T hits, this all goes away by itself. You don't need to pretend any more, you live it.

I understand why it's an anti-depressant now. It takes away your fears. Without fears there is no anxiety. I have never been good with really hot women. If they see me and show an interest, I always start overthinking. Never grew out of that. But now I see the difference. The T has given me calm around them, and as soon as I see one, I'm like OK, cool, next. They pick up on that and it amplifies attraction.

What no one seems to talk about enough is that men are becoming something else these days - test levels are plummeting starting from when records began earlier in the century, and even faster since the 80s. You see it when you look around. . It's a sad state of affairs when men are robbed of their birthright. What's behind it? Who knows, but it's getting worse quickly.

Quick question. Mike Wiedenbach says unless you can squat 2 x body weight stay away from test. Is he right? I'm going to break the rule for sure, just curious
 
PillarofBalance

PillarofBalance

Strength Pimp
Feb 27, 2011
17,066
4,640
Did you have any blood work done before going onto trt? Was that gel prescribed?
 
DungeonDweller

DungeonDweller

VIP Member
Mar 21, 2017
1,534
1,334
Most guys seem to need TRT as they get older. If your T is low you need T, whether you squat or not.
 
J

jay_victor

Member
Jan 6, 2019
21
6
Did you have any blood work done before going onto trt? Was that gel prescribed?

I have not done blood work yet. I guess from my point of view I have reached a belief that T is good for me. In the UK you can get it online by filling in a form saying how terrible life has become and making up a number for your test levels.

Most guys seem to need TRT as they get older. If your T is low you need T, whether you squat or not.

My question was more in regard to using T for performance in the 2-400 range. It's not so much a question of need, more of choice. If someone told me my levels were normal it wouldn't change anything. It makes sense to me to try it out in an informed way and look at the impact on my life. I will get blood work for sure at some point to check nothing bad is happening.
 
Mike_RN

Mike_RN

Senior Moderators
Staff Member
Aug 13, 2013
2,643
2,919
Low T is Low T and I don’t squat at all ;). If you could get labs it will help especially to make sure estrogen is well controlled.
 
macgyver

macgyver

TID Board Of Directors
Nov 24, 2011
1,996
1,672
If you have been working out (even on and off) for 7 years and can not even bench your bodyweight, your problems are BIGGER than low-t. Even with zero-t you should be able to get enough of a training response to make more progress than what you have.

All the creams and gels in the world will not fix why you are only where you are at. Testosterone (within normal reference ranges) is not as big a player in muscular growth as many make it out to be. Fixing your test levels will not do much for you if you dont make some other adjustments.

FWIW....I found I had my test levels BELOW the bottom of the scale 3 years after returning to the gym after a decade off. Not just low....like below the bottom reference range for Free test. By the time I found out why I felt so terrible, I had gotten up to squatting 500, was closing in on a 600 lb deadlift and was benching close to 400. (this was at aprox 195lbs aprox 12-13%bf. I had also dropped about 7" on my waist and added quite a bit of LBM back to my frame. I then found out the past 3 years I not only had lot-t but was also Hypo-thyriod.

If you have true low-t, by all means seek treatment. But dont think for a minute that is your biggest issue. Sounds like there are much bigger problems fundamentally which only you can answer.
 
J

jay_victor

Member
Jan 6, 2019
21
6
If you have been working out (even on and off) for 7 years and can not even bench your bodyweight, your problems are BIGGER than low-t. Even with zero-t you should be able to get enough of a training response to make more progress than what you have.

I do appreciate you taking time, and I can feel that you are doing so in the interest of truth, so thank you. For now I'm going to put my responses on hold, but I guarantee you a response later down the line.

Low T is Low T and I don’t squat at all ;). If you could get labs it will help especially to make sure estrogen is well controlled.

Yes I will do that for sure, will be interesting

Anything above 200mgs is not TRT.

In answer to this, and other statements, I don't mind what it's labelled what I end up doing. I'm not going to label it. Injections are preferred to me having read up about all the pros and cons, but gel I can get now so gel it is.

I'm going to use T. It may end up being 100, 200 or 400. I will work it out. It maybe be for 1 month, 1 year or forever, I don't know. But I'm going to use T.
 
R

Realize

VIP Member
Sep 7, 2010
451
135
I didnt see what your diet looks like. Maybe try eating before training and your numbers should go up. Also if you want to get rid of the beer gut, I would suggest to give up beer or at least drink less and do cardio.

As far as the T it looks like you have your mind made up. Good luck!
 
DungeonDweller

DungeonDweller

VIP Member
Mar 21, 2017
1,534
1,334
You've researched Testosterone Replacement right? You are aware of the side effects, some of which are harmful if they get out of control?
 
J

jay_victor

Member
Jan 6, 2019
21
6
I didnt see what your diet looks like. Maybe try eating before training and your numbers should go up. Also if you want to get rid of the beer gut, I would suggest to give up beer or at least drink less and do cardio.

As far as the T it looks like you have your mind made up. Good luck!

Thank you very much for the positive message. When I'm in a training phase my lifts go up ok, but training has been very sporadic and interrupted by injury, travel, and periods of low self esteem and boozing. When I'm clean my diet is fine, with lots of healthy foods, no booze and no sugar. The usual levels of protein with whey shakes to get me up to the required level. I'm not a believer in steady state cardio and prefer HIIT and circuits.

I've had periods of over 1 year off booze on a great diet, and while I've lost body fat and gained muscle, the belly has not shifted. I've had it since being a teenager. Even when really active in team sports, it never went down. My belief is it's a hormonal thing.

You've researched Testosterone Replacement right? You are aware of the side effects, some of which are harmful if they get out of control?

I always research the crap out of everything. The mis-information is crazy by the way. Most side effects of TRT level T doses are around 1% to 2% if you look. The risks of fatty liver and visceral fat are much higher actually.

I'm aware you have to check the impact on rising PSA and estradiol, and to watch the red blood cell proliferation (hematocrit),but cancer and heart disease risks are unfounded if you read past the media hysteria. As I always said, I'll be doing bloods along the way to watch these things

Welcome. Yes get bloods done.

Thank you for the welcome!

I have found a UK company called Optimale who will supply Sustanon, 4 x 250mg ampules (1cc) for £90 per month, including quarterly bloods. This means I can effectively go up to 250mg per week. Because I'm on a scrip for gel already, they will give a reduced initial fee.
 
Who is viewing this thread?

There are currently 0 members watching this topic

Top