Damn its been a while since I updated this thing. Haven't really smashed through any PRs yet, which I'm a little disappointed about. Then again, I'm not really shooting for PRs as much as just trying to get an effective amount of reps at XX% of my 1rm (90+% on ME days, 55-60% on DE days). Not going to try and catch y'all up on each individual workout that I didn't log, and wouldn't be able to remember everything anyways. But here's a quick synopsis of how my cycle has been going so far.
Started out at about 250lbs and my goal was to not concentrate on bulking necessarily, but just put on as much strength as possible. Well, I'm up to 264lbs now, WITHOUT trying to bulk, and that's down from 268lbs a week ago (dropped the dbol and lost a little water). Speaking of dropping the dbol, I had planned on running it another week, but I was feeling like shit (i.e. no appetite, lethargic all day, nauseous at various times of the day) so I completely dropped the dbol. Within 3 days I was feeling much better. The bold cyp is definitely kicking my ass as far as RBC count and blood pressure, so I'm going to give blood this coming week, and if nothing changes, I may drop it. I'm not sure what I'm looking for as far as results from the bold cyp, but if I had to give my judgement on it right now, I'd say that I don't really notice anything different than I would on a test-only cycle, with the exception of being very aware of my blood pressure, red face, dizziness if I stand up too fast or hold my breath, etc.
Here's the weirdest thing about this cycle so far. I look bigger and fuller, and I FEEL stronger on a confidence/motivation level, but I don't think I've gained much strength at all so far. I felt a little broken down earlier this week on ME bench day, so I took 4 full days completely off and expected to have a killer day today on ME deads, but I didn't. In fact, I failed at 525 three times, which REALLY pissed me off. Granted, I had pulled 475 for 2, 495 for 2, 505 for two sets of 1, but I still feel like I should have had enough in the tank to hit 525. It's not even a PR for me, so I fully expected to hit it. I don't know, at a loss for explanations right now.
Anyway, I'm having a blast training purely for strength. I may go back to a power/bodybuilding type routine at some point, but until I hit some major goals (650 dead, 600 squat, 495 bench), I'll be sticking with pure powerlifting for a while.
For those of you who are following this, thanks.