First timer: Opinions and advice?
Hey guys, nice to be here. This is my first post, so thanks for taking it easy on me ;) I've tried to include as much detail as I could here.
Age: 36
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 193
Body fat: 17%
Training history: Spent a lot of time lifting weights and gaining quite a bit of muscle up until two years ago when I switched my athletic focus to cycling. I occasionally hit the gym for a light lift, more or less for some maintenance strength in upper body - but, primarily my training focus is on the bike cranking the legs. Train daily and race 1-3 times/week doing 150-250 miles/week.
Cycle experience: Newbie. Currently 2 weeks into first cycle. Have learned a lot from a friend who has much more experience, but, feeling like I've learned a bit more here on these forums.
Goals: I've never been able to get "lean." I've weighed much less, but, never been able to achieve a lean body composition. I'm not interested in bulking up at all, no need to add any additional un-needed muscle mass. I'm working to lean out and need to drop another 10 lbs, and of course increase strength and stamina on the bike.
Current Cycle: 250mg test cyp @ 125mg two times/week. 50mg Anavar daily, split into two doses. Aromasin twice/week on days test is pinned.
Had my bloods done before starting cycle:
Testosterone,Free and Total: 519
Free Testosterone (Direct): 10.1
IGF-1: 172
Estradiol, Sensitive: 14.1
DHEA: 250.9
There's much more data, but, not sure what else is relevant to include here?
My diet is very clean and somewhat strict. I've done an MRT test and found foods that should be removed from my diet and have done so. About 60 days ago, I cut out all meat products from my diet with the exception of fish, cleaned up my diet even more and began practicing intermittent fasting (only eating between 2pm-10pm). I've felt phenomenal and feel like it's helped in bettering body composition. Over a period of about 6 weeks I was able to drop about 10 lbs of fat.
My questions are related to bettering my cycle dosages to help with leaning out as well as improving endurance/strength for cycling, which I know is a bit different than most goals around here. I know I'll need to get some bloods done again here soon to see where everything is at - recommended timing on during cycle bloods?
I've read that Aromasin should be dosed either once or twice per day vs twice per week?
So far in this cycle, I've felt more powerful on the bike and definitely feel like I've got a boost in stamina. The recovery has been quite good as well. Power has not exceeded where it was before, but, it's still early season.
Thanks all for taking the time to read and comment, much appreciated.
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RustyhookerTwo weeks on cycle currently.....
Kind of like jumping in the lake first and then yelling to everyone that you can't swim.
Are you really that shocked Rusty? Its always the same thing every single day:(
RustyhookerNot shocked. Just old school. I picked the brains of old dudes thoroughly so everything was smooth. Any issues and mentally prepared. I guess i dont understand the new age mentality yet. Lol!
Good work having pre-cycle blood levels taken. Getting lean requires hard work for some people; less work for others with better genetics, but it still takes a great diet and lots of cardio exercises to burn calories, more calories than you're consuming, it doesn't take AAS to get "lean". That's a lot of compounds, with potential side-effects to put into your body when you're simply looking to get lean. Ideally, you'd want to already be lean before beginning AAS. If you are, you'll be much happier with your results.
Since I see you've already started, my guess is your mind's made up. Get blood tests taken while on cycle to see how well your Test Levels went up, and also to check your Estrogen Levels. Then after you've completed your PCT and some time has passed, have your Test Levels checked again to see how well your body came back to your original, pre-cycle Testosterone, Free and Total Levels of 519. Good luck
I'm not a fan of using AAS just to drop a little weight get a little bit of strength. Completely unnecessary and most often backfires in the long with people using AAS for that purpose. Rebound after cycle is usually pretty bad and people end up worse than when they first started. Red flag going up for me is you are a real avid biker and still sitting at 17% BF. If I biked that much I would be really skinny. Maybe you have a bum thyroid so I would get that checked out first if you haven't already.
Anyway, I am not bicyclist, but a bodybuilder so you guys may be completely different. Just looking at your goals though I see that being easily accomplished with diet and good training regime which at least I believe would set you up for better results in the long run. Using AAS as quick fix usually backfires.
Went back and checked over my labs - I did get my Thyroid TSH, T3 and T4 levels checked as well. All of which appear to be within normal ranges from what I've found.
TSH: 3.540 uIU/mL
Thyroxine - T4: 1.38 ng/dL
Triiodothyronine - T3: 3.6 pg/mL
Thanks again
You might want to consider getting a few more thyroid tests done
Your TSH although in range, is a mite high.
Good to know about the AAS. As far as the BF goes, as mentioned - I've never been able to be lean. Always struggled hard to lose BF even when I've worked hard and kept the diet on point.
At the end of cycling season last year I probably got down to 15%. Diet has a lot to do with this of course (wasn't great last year), I've changed it significantly and it seems to be helping quickly. It hasn't been "on point" through the winter months and wasn't great last season either - and really just starting to ramp into the high volume of riding.
Thanks for the info, I appreciate the wisdom my friend!
Check this out if you looking to drop a quick 10lbs.
https://www.eroids.com/forum/training-nutrition-diet/weight-loss/the-fas...
Thanks! I'm really just about 100% there. Being that I removed most meat from my diet two months ago, I mostly eat veggies with a little fish occasionally. Many calories have been coming from rice, however. Tough to stay away from carbs and be a cyclist. Only drink tea, no coffee and do use coconut oil. Going to try adding the glutamine and leucine as suggested.
In the last 60 days I did drop 10 lbs quick with the increase in training and diet change. For the last 2 weeks I've just been stuck and the weight hasn't moved.
Again, thank you very much for the info - great post!
time for a refeed then to reset insulin sensitivity and get metabolism back on track.
I would be careful with the Aromasin at that low of a dose of test. Especially this early on. Bloodwork and how you feel will tell you how much to take. We are all different but when I was on 500mg test and 12.5 mg Aromasin eod I crashed my e2 and felt horrible. I switched to a low dose .25 of Arimidex daily once I came back and was smooth sailing.
Why the low dose of test anyway?
Should the Aromasin not even be taken this early on in a cycle? I've been feeling really great, more energy and more focus.
What's a good recommendation on retesting levels as far as time line? 4-6 weeks from beginning of cycle?
I didn't realize that 250mg was such a "low dose." Going off the recommendation of an acquaintance who has more experience than I (as a competitive body builder) and he suggested I simply start with 250mg/week- keep doses low and avoid any sides. Sounded like a good place to start.
I'm all for increasing test dosage as long as it doesn't come with any negatives, and have read that intense endurance efforts could be greatly aided with higher doses.
Thank you for your insight, much appreciated!