sassy69
TID Lady Member
- Aug 16, 2011
- 1,067
- 398
ok so here is my dilemma..i have noticed significant hair loss (thanks to jenner i may have a solution to that), but i am disheartened by all the androgenic effects gear has left me with,...i love the body but i am not loving the lack of femininity i have experienced...
so here is my question..if i quit ( ihave been off for 9 weeks now), will i see a change in my voice, will i see a change in my hair loss/regrowth .. will i see a change in the hardening of my facial features? if i am stuck like this then to hell with it and i will at least keep a hard ass body, but if i could soften back up i would definitely like to go down that road for a while...
also if i do choose to soften up a bit, does that mean i have no choice but to lose all my definition? strength? hardness??
i am sooooooooooo on the fence...
Welcome to the dilemma of every FBB who wants to compete in Physique. I think Tammy Patnode is a great example of an FBB who has been able to downsize fairly gracefully. As a lightweight who had to beef up enough to get a pro card and then think about competing at the pro level, she has had to pack on a lot of weight. On the other side, based on how she's been able to bring in ultra tight legs all the time, I'd venture she has a good metabolism to stay lean anyway.
If you want to soften up, by definition you're going to be giving up a balance of size & fullness. Definition is going to dependent on balancing the muscle loss w/ the fat loss. This is different from cutting for competition where you are all about preserving your lean muscle mass and relying on the chemistry to keep you tight. If the whole reason you lift is because you love it, and then that's the part that you have to alter to drop the size, you may find it very hard. I've been dealing with this challenge for over a year and a half now. Its a huge mindfuck for me because I get a lot of satisfaction and get my "challenge fix" from lifting big. I also get a lot of stress outlet as well as pride in my accomplishments. I like to stand out as a balls-to-the-wall lifter and to look different. For me to drop muscle, I have to switch to high rep stuff. Because of the 30 yrs of wear & tear on my body from lifting, I can't do a lot of HIIT-type stuff w/o just asking for a trip to the physical therapist or surgery. That means I just have to accept that I have to work on my endurance / conditioning, lift light / high rep and do all the things that are completely opposite of how I measured "progress" and "pride in effort". But there's no other way for me. Once I lose the mass - be it both fat & muscle, I will be golden - it will be back to the same type of prep - but making that simple body composition transition sucks. If you are able to reduce your protein intake, increase your cardio - you can burn the size off but keep the fat off too. Once you're at a point of muscle mass that you want to maintain, frankly you can probably do it w/ simple diet and training. But if you want the harder look, you can follow the same AAS protocol, just with lighter stuff. The balancing then becomes NOT growing muscle, but also keeping the fat down as well.
Hope that helps.