Ask Physiolojik Thread

[NH_Watts]

@flipcollar

Addressing bench and ohp technique can often help

This is so right. I was doing some shit wrong for years including having my hands too wide for OHP. It didn’t start bothering me until recently but that was probably because I was doing a lot of wide grip pull ups. I did a few months of shoulder rehab to get mobility back and give them a break and now have a modified pre-hab I do before bench or shoulder lifts. I also mostly only do hammer pull-ups now (or if prone have my hand much closer like shoulder width) and brought my hands to the innermost knurling on the bar. No more shoulder pain.

To note this all started while doing incline benches improperly and letting the bar come down too far and hit my chest. I felt it immediately.

[unreal24278]

Not close but I do go down there on a semi regular basis as I have close family that lives there. I tend to go down there in the autumn months (im actually going there in like 3-4 months from now)

That being said given the fact that I’m gonna be touring areas I haven’t been to next time I go to the USA, I’m totally open to going to visiting Denver. If I was going in the winter (which I probs will go again after I graduate. I’d go to the plumas mountains for the massive snowstorms)

[physioLojik]

I will be in Brisbane in the middle of May. @unreal24278. And for sure. You’re more than welcome to visit here.

[unreal24278]

I’ll check, I legitimately might be in Brisbane in the middle of May. If not I’ll visit Denver (that’s if you’re comfortable with it)

[charlie12]

@unreal24278

New York

Hmu.

[unreal24278]

Will do, I’ll be around long island. Whereabouts are you.

Keep in mind this is like a good 5-6 mths away

[charlie12]

I’ll have to email you. I do not like pinpointing my location.

[unreal24278]

K I now have tutanoa. ProtonMail was irritating to navigate on my device. Email in bio

So @physioLojik Dr Sir. From what I remember I believe you cruise at 300mg because you’re literally larger than Arnold Schwarzenegger was in his prime. Do you intend to stay on 300mg lifelong (just curious) or dial it back to like 200 or so when you get older.

Damn… Arnold is now 71!!! Looks bloody good for 71. Sylvester Stallone looks even better tho, tis like his body doesn’t age #hghandotherantiagingtherapy+ahefty"trt"regimen

[physioLojik]

@unreal24278 haha actually I’ve come down to 200 recently. Probably stay here awhile.

Stallone and Arnold both use a fairly large amount of growth and metformin so they avoid a lot of aging issues.

[charlie12]

If fasting glucose is under 85 is it still safe to take metformin? I can wait till am older. Am 42.

[ChickenLittle]

From my understanding, Metformin doesn’t actually lower bllood sugar. It increases insulin sensitivity Low risknof hypoglycemia

[Voxel]

Sounds exactly like I was sleeping when things were the worst. There were two positions I’d sleep in, imagine laying flat on your back, then folding your elbow 90 degrees. Rotate inward so your forearm touches your abdomen. That was one position.

The other was the exact same thing, except now lift your arm from that position so that the forearm is above your head. Effectively, if this was your left arm, your left ear is touching your left biceps.

I focused a lot on not doing this, and I’m in a lot less pain now.

[unreal24278]

Do you think you’ll size down with the lower Cruise dose?

[unreal24278]

Dr Mr Sir @physioLojik does weight lifting over time lower RHR similarly to cardio? Or is it only aerobic training/conditioning that causes an increase in stroke volume

[imteedup]

All jokes aside… Serious questions.

Doctor read his bp at 140/100, five mins later the dr read 120/90.

Conditions could be due to a few factors. He is on Creatine, Protein, Test Booster and two weeks ago his cycle of clen stopped.

I told him to wait before taking clen again. Monitor his bp for a week and then if no changes and numbers are still high. Get off creatine or testboosters. I will work on getting the ingredients of the test booster.

What would you recommend?

He is a smoker and a gym goer. No cardio

[john_german]

@unreal24278 @physioLojik

would be cool if you could answer me, here is the dialogue again so far:

@john_german

hey doc,
what is your opinion on staying on a supraphysiological test dose for extended periods of time (6-8 months)? I’m on TRT @160mg test-e/week, but for most of the year (6-8 months) I’m blasting at 500-600mg test-e, then I go back for a few months to 160. my bloods are all fine, I have no sides so far (been doing this for 2 years now). is this sustainable long term? what do I need to worry about?
last year I was at a cardiologist checking my left-heart wall (I dont know the english term) and it was 13mm, so slightly enlarged (10-12 is normal according to him, but 13 he said was absolutely fine and normal for TRT patients - he didn’t know about the blasting).

Also what do you think about mk677 if you are familiar with it? was thinking about stacking it to my blast @20mg every day.

@unreal24278

Many athletes have an increased thickness of the left ventricle (I’ve seen reports of supposedly NATURAL athletes (mostly ultra endurance and powerlifting athletes) having LVWT of up to 16-19mm, that being said the majority of individuals, even athletes will fall between the 10-12mm

The cause of athletic cardiomegaly is due to prolonged increase of cardiac output, thus the chambers of the left ventricle enlarge to compensate for frequently increased cardiac output. There’s two types of LVH, concentric and eccentric. I find the heart to be a fascinating organ, so if you wish for me to explain all this jazz in detail shoot me an email (in my bio) and I’ll be more than happy to talk about it.

Anabolic steroids tend to cause LVH through various mechanisms, and tend to exacerbate the LV hypertrophic response in response to intense weight training/ athletic activity. That being said, androgens appear to have a direct effect on the myocardium, cardiac myocytes contain androgen receptors, many actions of AAS are mediated by AR binding thus AR binding to cardiac myocytes = cardiac hypertrophy. The extent of the LVH will depend on lifestyle, genetics (someone with familial inhereted HCM will have a fucking huge heart on AAS lol, with equally huge arrythmogenic potential). Other mechanisms are, but not limited to, high blood pressure via excess sodium retention and other mechanisms caused by AAS, beta adrenergic receptor upregulation, oxidive stress and increased free radicals circulating in the body, (tachycardia induced cardiomyopathy for those extremely sensitive to this effect), individual amount of AR in cardiomyopathy and indirectly a shitty lifestyle, diet and whatnot will correlate with how big you’re heart gets on AAS.

Various supplements can help with oxidive stress and antioxidant dysfunction induced by AAS, I like Curcumin, coq-10, grape seed extract, garlic (I love garlic due to the taste lol), hawthorn berry and more, however just because you’re taking these supps doesn’t mean you’re risk free).

What’s the issue with an enlarged heart? If the left ventricular walls themselves become too thick, the amount of blood the heart can pump becomes impaired, or if it becomes too stretched (weak) the same occurs. LVH is arrythmogenic and increases you’re risk for deadly arrythmias like v-fib. What’s you’re resting HR? Most who have athletic cardiomyopathy will exhibit bradycardia. Do you have symptoms such as arrythmias, chest pain, synocope upon exercise, shortness of breath, swelling of the legs etc. The individuals (natural) I know who had HCM ( not family or related to me in any way ) only found out after they went into cardiac arrest, their ankles started swelling up etc. You need to get you’re cardiac function and output tested, a halter moniter might be good to see if you have any arrythmias throughout the day.

How many blasts have you run? What’s the highest dose you’ve used?

AAS aren’t harmless, it irritates me when people completely gloss over the potential cardiac risks. Be informed, stay smart, be safe.

Post could’ve been longer but I don’t want it being so ridiculously long you won’t read it lol

In my non professional opinion LV enlargement is only clinically significant if its associated with cardiac dysfunction. Other things that can cause LVH are (but not limited to) various cardiotoxic drugs (amphetamines, doxorubicin, cocaine), excess alcohol consumption, being a fat person, diabetes, being PREGNANT (although I don’t think you have to worry about that lol) and more

@john_german

thanks for your response. my resting heart rate is indeed low, about 50-55 - it has been this way for more than 7 years for sure (I started anabolics/TRT 2 years ago, so way before that), it did not change when I started TRT.
My blood pressure is about 135/75 most of the time.
I also do have arrythmias (at least that what my blood pressure thing tells me, and I also can feel it sometimes, but never ever chest pain, shortness of breath, swelling legs…
Last year in May I had a full check-up at the cardiologist (I told him about TRT) including sonogram/echo of heart and he told me everything was perfect except the slightly enlarged LVH at 13mm. I will go back after the current blast to see if blasting is responsible for the growth or my heart ventricle or maybe it was at 13mm before I ever started TRT/AAS… As I said, I did have the low resting pulse (I am pretty athletic and have been all my life) and arrythmias sometimes way before ever touching any anabolics.

I started TRT 2 years ago, since then I’d say I was about half of that on 160mg of test-e, the other half blasting on 400-500mgs (first time 3 months, second time 6 months, now already 3 months).
I’m 29, about 5’10 and 190lbs, fairly low bodyfat (about 12%, sixpack still visible, currently bulking).

[unreal24278]

What kind of arrythmias do you have. PVC’s, PAC’s, afib, sinus tachycardia? The term arrythmia is quite broad.

You might’ve had a LVWT of 13mm prior to anabolic usage… However 13mm isn’t particularly dangerous in the absence of symptoms or measurement of serious cardiac dysfunction. Whatever the cause is, high doses of anabolics certainly won’t help haha

My blood pressure thing has called me out on an irregular heartbeat twice (I was breathing normally then suddenly pulled a valsalvour manouver to see what would happen, second time I was measuring my BP and I stood up while measuring causing a spike in my HR (I have sympathetic nervous system dominance and likely POTS, thus standing up without a beta blocker causes a 40+ bpm increase in my HR, so say it goes from 50-90 or 60-100, 70-110 etc), however my halter moniter demonstrated I supposedly didn’t have a single irregular heartbeat throughout the day.)

Blasting for the purpose of seeing whether it’ll further exacerbate LVH is an absolutely retarded idea, as is blasting 500mg/wk for the majority of the year. Unless you’re a competitive athlete of some sorts the cons far outweigh the pros.

What do youre arrythmias feel like? Describe the feeling

[flipcollar]

@physioLojik

@flipcollar hey man. I’ll be in the Dallas area end of March if you’d like to match up. Email is in my bio.

sent you an email

@unreal24278

I’ll be in Texas because of the Guadeloupe river which sounds fun

I haven’t done a river trip in years, but that’s always a fun time. Last time I went down there, I got suuuuper drunk (still in college) and totally got lost on the river. went down it like an hour past where the rest of my friends got off. Drunk me had to figure out how to find them after.

That’s a few hours from me. I’d definitely meet up with you if you can get to within about an hour of Dallas. Might be able to meet in the middle or something for a meal.

[john_german]

@unreal24278

13mm prior to anabolic usage… However 13mm isn’t particularly dangerous in the absence of symptoms or measurement of serious cardiac dysfunction. Whatever the cause is, high doses

I have no idea about the types of arrythmias, I sometimes just have an irregular heartbeat. I don’t feel it, I just recognized it because the BP device pointed it out and then I felt my pulse with my hand and could notice that the heartbeats weren’t perfectly regular.
In Europe we cycle a lot longer than in the US/UK, but more moderate dosages. A standard beginner cycle here is 8 months 250 test-e/week, whereas in the US its 500 for just 3 months. I also know 2 people who have been on 400mg test/week for 5 years+, without any negative side effects (they get bloods and go to the cardiologist regularly). Therefore, my cycle this year is 8 months with 500mg test-e (if my blood pressure (currently 135/80) and bloods stay in check, I test every 3 months - HK, HDL/LDL, liver all within reference range so far).

[anon10035199]

@physioLojik When you say “weak upper back” are you referring specifically to the traps? Mine ARE weak. I have started doing some heavier rack pulls in hopes of building them up. Also some heavy farmers walks. I am actively making sure to stretch all everyday.

My shoulders feel good for now, I think that I put too much pressure on them doing dips. I need to reevaluate my form on that. Thanks again.