New User / Been on TRT for 7 Months
The after pic is 7 months of TRT, I started in late July 2020. The before pic was me before starting. I'm 39, 6'2", in the before pic I was about 190# and in the after about 215#.
My dosage was 150mg/week of Test C split every 3.5 days, then my doc upped it to 200mg/week of Test C split every 3.5 days the 2nd week of January.
I started out on TRT due to all of the usual symptoms of low T, libido totally gone, ED issues, near constant fatigue, an inability to really concentrate on anything and I could never gain muscle regardless of how much I'd lift. Prior to getting on TRT I never used any gear at all. After starting out on TRT from week 4 - 10 I was feeling amazing with nearly complete symptom resolution then things pretty much tapered off and I stabilized at a slight improvement in symptoms but not totally there. Recently had my dose adjusted up to try and get further improvement in symptom resolution and I'm finally starting to really feel better and more like myself in my 20s.
Now that I feel like I'm getting myself to a good place I'm starting to consider running my first cycle, was gonna go with 500mg/wk of Test C for 16-20 weeks to keep it simple and see how it goes. I've still got some work to do though first with getting my diet and training back on point before I jump in. I've been focused for the last several months just learning and absorbing knowledge, and super pumped I found Eroids, looks like there's a lot of really good info on here.
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That seems like a very high TRT dose to me, but in any case brother You should definitely build a more solid base on while on TRT. Like everybody said dial in your diet and your work out routine and you should see great gains for the foreseeable future without a cycle. No need to cycle while your making gains with not one. The smart way to use gear is for a marathon not a sprint. Like you said enjoy the journey. As long as your making gains it is all good
This has been some great advice from Shred777, Rustyhooker and yourself. I had not previously associated my current TRT dose with being "high", and instead based on everything I'd read up on is that you find the dose that gets you symptom resolution disregarding how "high" the actual dose is. I feel like this is what's working for me (so far) and I'm not feeling like garbage anymore but I'm still fairly early after my most recent change. I go back for bloods the 2nd week of March so I'll see what my new levels are then.
I'm a pretty active guy but not super consistent with lifting trying to gain mass because my past experience is that it's futile for me to really make significant gains with any sort of weight lifting. Even with my nutrition on point in the past putting on any sort of mass felt impossible so I therefore put all of my attention on endurance sports. I've run several adventure races, trained and ran a full marathon, and mountain bike quite frequently in the summer (notice no real emphasis on weights / mass gains). Now that I've been on TRT I'm seeing some modest gains in muscle mass and strength for the first time which is quite honestly mind blowing to me. With this boost in confidence and minor gains I was considering a cycle to turbocharge my ability to really make some gains, with the line of thinking that "more is better".
But the feedback here which has been awesome is to really use the TRT to my advantage now to make the most of it and that's what I need to do. I need to hunker down on weight training to push myself again to see where I can get to and re-evaluate in 6 months.
AnonYour doc just upped your TRT to 200mg a week about 4 weeks ago, you need to bust your ass on that for a while before blasting. Run some cardio and weight lifting on that TRT dosage for a while until you make more progress and then a cycle would be much more beneficial
RustyhookerYou got a long way to go in the gym before a cycle. Build a base muscle first
I don't disagree about still having to make some progress in the gym first. Is there any quantifiable way to measure your base muscle to know what's a good time to start? What I've read is to get to your peak naturally (and in my case it would be my TRT level) before ever jumping on a cycle... I'm not super clear yet on how you actually determine that though.
RustyhookerId figure a high school senior headed to college for football is 230 all natty. Youre on a very HIGH trt level...without bloods i see youre already at cycle doses. Id review your gym vs goals. Im sure youd gain nicely if you push for the goal with diet to match. Trt or cycle is not magic. If it was...id just post up steroid info. At 5ft 4 im typically 215-220 bulked at 210 with abs.
Post up...lets see where your thinking at going
Diet, diet, diet, hardwork, bloodwork, research, diet.
Concentrate (rinse and repeat) for a couple of years first. Get your trt dialed in perfectly, then maximize your gains on trt alone before making things more complicated with more gear.
Thanks for that... waiting a couple of years isn't what I wanna hear but I still value that feedback.
I do need to get my diet cleaned up and make the most of the gains I can make on TRT. I'm still working through getting my TRT dialed in and it's making such a big positive impact for me I'm maybe a little to excited to keep pushing ahead, but first things first diet is the big one for me.
I'm finding it's all about the journey and not the destination with gear.
Wouldn't you rather have a well rounded solid structure from years of preparing? Then a quick fix that will never work. I mean these things take time, you have a long way to go. Accepting this and planning the next step, is your first step. Good luck.