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What’s up everyone. New to this board however not new to forums. Found this forum based on a recommendation from a gym buddy. In 43, 5’6”. Approximately 189lbs right now and about 17% bf. Been on a bulk for over a year and currently cutting for a buddies wedding here in September. After which I’m looking to bulk through mid summer until my first bodybuilding show next Aug hopefully. I’m a critical Care NP my trade so I’m prettt in tune with my body and labs.
Been on TRT for about 2-2.5 years. Running around 190mg/week with eod pinning along with IM L-carnitine 500mg daily which I’m not sure I’m seeing much outside of whole body tingling during exercise. Looking to up my dose of Test for this next bulk to around 350mg weekly and see what I can bring to the stage.
I appreciate everyone’s guidance and suggestions. This group is invaluable from what I’ve been exposed to thus far. Looking forward to interacting with everyone. Cheers!
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Welcome, and good for you for the game plan to get on the stage! I'm impressed by anyone with the guts to actually do the thing, especially us among us old guys.
I'm a bit confused by your timeline. Do you mean you plan to bulk through mid-summer next summer, in advance of your August show? If so, you would be looking at a very short prep. Or do you mean that your plan is to bulk through mid-summer this summer (which would be like two weeks ago) and then cut? Like Strap says below, if you're sitting at 17% you have a ways to go. I find cutting hard - 20% down to 12% is straightforward. But I always struggle getting down to 10%, to say nothing of lower. I'm currently cutting and getting close to 10%, but probably still around 11% or 12% at 192lb (weekly average), which is where I (and most of us, really) get stuck. If I want to get down to 8-10%, I need to lose another 8lbs or so. I have stalled out between 190 and 192, and so I'm planning a two month reverse diet/health phase, increasing calories back up to my usual maintenance of 2900-3100 over the course of a month from my current deficit of 1900-2100kcal/day, and holding there for another month before I hit the deficit again after the holidays (trying something weird: a cut on "wet" compounds - test, deca, plus 25mg proviron daily to maintain libido) for 12 weeks. Then another 2 month pause/reverse diet before I begin the May-September summer cut. I hope with that three-stage diet I can get down to 6-8% for the first time in my life. This is sort of a trial run for getting truly lean for a show, which I have never managed before, but would like to do before I turn 45.
All of which is to say, unless you're one of those blessed souls for whom the fat just pours off, you might want to plan the cut for your August show as a more long-term project if you're starting from a higher bodyfat (not that 17% is high, it is just high for starting a prep).
Good luck and welcome!
What’s up brother. Thanks for the insight. Sorry if I wasn’t clear. I have been on a bulk for the last year. Eating around 3000cals/day. Got up to around 185.5lbs before I started a small mini cut. Cut cals to ~2400 cals/day which is around my maintenance. And starts 20 mins LISS cardio 3x/week. Weighed 180.6 this morning. Going to continue my cut until my buddies wedding on Sept 5th. Might cut through Sept. then starting Oct. I’m planning to increase calories back to 3000. Trying to keep fats around 70g, and lean bulk until around April. Then I’ll start a very slow prep until my show. I haven’t decided on a show yet because 2027 dates aren’t released yet but planning a slow 6 month cut.
Like I said earlier. I had been running TRT through a clinic based out of D.C. for around 3 years. I just ordered some Test E from sources here. So once that comes, I’m hoping to blast 300-400mg weekly with eod pinning through my bulk. Then might add in some primo towards the end of my cut.
Because of my Type 1 diabetes, my endo already has me on Tirz. Considering microdosing Reta in its place for my cut but will see.
Doing a show is one of my life goals. I’ve always wanted to do one but training got derailed in my early 30’s due to my T1DM diagnosis. Had a lot of issues controlling glucose levels. It took a long time to get that in order. Now I have a Dexcom and insulin pump which helps a lot. So I figured no better time than the present to accomplish this goal. So that’s my plan.
Did the GLP help with the diabetes? My father developed type II and they put him on tirzepatide right away and it worked very well on his A1C. Now if I could only get him to eat a little better and lift some weights now and again…
That timeline and plan makes more sense - I was likely just misunderstanding. I’m also on TRT from a clinic, covered by insurance on account of low testosterone. It is great in that it covers my baseline and then I can add extras procured from sources here to push things further now and again. I usually order my own on-cycle bloodwork to monitor essential markers (lipids, CBC/CMP, hormones), and use the doctor ordered, biannual bloodwork to run the full gauntlet including the fancy ones like APOB, Cystatin C, GGT etc. Definitely helps me stay on top of my markers.
Primo is great, very mild. Couldn’t hurt to add it when you push your test up. I don’t aromatize much at all so I don’t need an AI, but I’m currently running my test and primo at a 3:2 ratio (350 test weekly, 280 primo). It has helped me retain muscle mass while I have pushed calories lower and lower, with no real sides or negative impacts on my bloodwork.
Welcome, again, and best of luck with the prep!
Tirzepatide is good. I’m a type 1 but unfortunately I’m also resistant to the insulin that I give myself so I’m in it to help with insulin sensitivity. I definitely see a difference in my glucose trends when I’m in it vs when I’m not. I’m on 5mg weekly. It definitely kills appetite and makes me nauseated at times so I can see where it works to help lose weight. Makes it hard to get the calories in during a bulk. Interestingly enough, when I’m cutting though, and on less calories, I’m still always hungry so idk. Probably psychological but who knows.
That’s good to hear about the primo. I definitely think it’ll be beneficial during my cut/prep phase so I’ll do more research and go from there.
I appreciate all the info.
So you're aiming for lightweight class given your stats. Awesome!! Start getting bf towards 10% ...1...buddies wedding....but keep it at 10% so you're not losing mass to get stage ready. Figure 20week plan counting down to prep week. Then its not a drastic chore. 4weeks out sub 6% then cut to stage.
Might in a few months when you're going to adding mass....post up your ideas. With the stats and cycles prior. Then folks can understand your skill level.
Welcome to eroids!!
Appreciate the recommendations. I’m a type 1 diabetic. Got on TRT initially because my test was on the lower end (328) and was very symptomatic. So been running TRT dosing for a few years. Not sure why but TRT had my on 18g/week, along with 0.5mg anaztrozole 2x/week along with wnclomiphene 25mg/week. Started doing medical research via my sources and found no benefit of enclom. During TRT so dropped both and just ran eod test C ever since. Last test levels were 1488 and E2 was 92 which is around 16:1 ratio and I’m not having estrogen sides so been rolling with it.
Looking to hit around 12% for the wedding. Then hoping to lean bulk on around 350mf test E for 12-16 weeks then re-evaluate based on goals. I considered adding mast or primo but have been making gains on TRT dosing of test so figured less is more and stay with test for now.
Those numbers mean your on cycle and high estrogen builds fat. 700ish is trt....
So let me ask you. What is acceptable range for Test:estrogen ratio? From my understanding, anything under 20:1 test:e2 ratio is acceptable as long as you’re not feeling any estrogen effects. Where do you typically like to keep your e2 around? Do you follow a standard number range or just go off of feel?
That’s suppose to say TRT clinic had me on 180mg/week. Lol. Not 18g. Sorry I’m messaging from my phone and am not in the habit of proof reading for hitting submit. My bad!
I have to add. Training is 4x/week right now. Doing an Upper/Lower split. (Ie. Upper A, lower A, upper B, lower B). Can’t really do more than that because I work 12 hr shifts and have a new born at home. So time is valuable. Been training pretty consistently for about 4-5 years now after getting my blood sugar situation figured out after a long bout of issues. Went from 195lbs and 28% bf to now 180lbs and around 16-17%.