Howdy, New Guy Here

Hi

Found this forum about a week ago and have been lurking and reading and decided to finally post. This is an awesome site, very impressed with the amazing amount of information here.

My situation is I’ve been weight training since early March and have seem some amazing gains. I’m not a total noob, I did lift weights regularly for about 16 months about 5 years ago, but with no formal training I never got the results I expected. I’ve always been a regular cardio trainer.

Fast forward to now after 4 months with a personal trainer and have really made some great gains. I am 36 years old, 5’6 and 180lbs, back in march I was 209 lbs and have lost the weight from good diet and of course weight lifting :slight_smile: I lost 4 inches on my waist alone, have improved my posture and my overall strength has increased a few hundred percent at least. I hit the weights about 3-4 days a week and do cardo on the other days with a day of total rest.

I’m looking to take things up a notch, I still have a spare tire I wanna get rid of and would like to well…get ripped. Right now I’m starting to look defined, people are making comments at how good I look, etc and I feel strong.

Basically I’m a mesomorph body type, maybe with a little endomorph mixed in, so weight loss is difficult, but muscle gain is not but obviously I need to burn fat. Also I wanna really build my chest, this is the “weak” part of my body that is the hardest for me to build. All other muscle groups are gaining nicely, but chest has been lagging for me.

I’m also waiting on the results from a 18-panel blood test, the whole shabang…testosterone, estrogen, Gh, thyroid…etc, very interested to see the results.

Now I’m really not expecting any of the results to be “abnormal.” I dont think I could have made the gains I have in 3-4 months with low t-levels, but we’ll see. Depending on where they come in I may be a candidate for HRT (says my doctor).

Either way I’d like to boost my testosterone a little to burn as much fat as possible, so right now I’m looking at OTC supplements. I just ordered Alpha Male and REZ-V, I also take CLA, drink protein shakes and take fish oil capsules everyday. I have a very healthy diet, lottsa protein and whole foods, complex carbs, veggies and lean meats.

I’m not sure if I want to juice, but it’s an option depending on the test results, which I have not received yet. Still unclear on the ramifications of it, but am learning reading this site. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with wanting to have the t-levels of a 21 year old.

That’s it, any input is appreciated.

Congratulations on your fat loss, and welcome to the Nation.

First, welcome to the boards. Second, I can’t believe you are looking to juice. People’s lack of effort blows my fucking mind. You JUST said you were making great results…you’re eating clean and you’re lifting heavy and you’re still making progress, so why the hell would you even consider juicing when you haven’t even come close to reaching your natural potential?

Look, I’m not going to wax poetic on why you shouldn’t do it, especially if you really were a beast and you were at a roadblock. But you’re not, and your only excuse for trying it is you want the same magic pill millions of people want when trying to lose the weight and keep it off! You are progressing, and you’re doing it right, so just keep doing what you’re doing and stop looking for an easy way out.

[quote]acelement wrote:
First, welcome to the boards. Second, I can’t believe you are looking to juice. People’s lack of effort blows my fucking mind. You JUST said you were making great results…you’re eating clean and you’re lifting heavy and you’re still making progress, so why the hell would you even consider juicing when you haven’t even come close to reaching your natural potential?

Look, I’m not going to wax poetic on why you shouldn’t do it, especially if you really were a beast and you were at a roadblock. But you’re not, and your only excuse for trying it is you want the same magic pill millions of people want when trying to lose the weight and keep it off! You are progressing, and you’re doing it right, so just keep doing what you’re doing and stop looking for an easy way out. [/quote]

Well I’m not sure I would consider getting my testosterone levels to a level a 20 year old would have as juicing per se. I’m not looking to juice up massive amounts and would prefer to notch it up a little naturally with supplements.

However if for some reason my levels are low I dont see why taking some to get them up is horrible, I just dont think that would be abusive, maybe I’m wrong, you make very good points.

I think it’s important to note the difference in connotations between HRT and doing a cycle (juicing). Specifically because TheShield is talking about doing the former.

Ain’t nothing wrong with doctor prescribed HRT. Nothing wrong with steroids either, I guess, so long as you know what you’re doing.

Shield: Do you really need all those supps? I mean, I’m all for supporting Biotest, but my results sucked until I stopped using supps as a crutch and got my diet and training to get my results for me, and then added supps back in.

[quote]Otep wrote:
I think it’s important to note the difference in connotations between HRT and doing a cycle (juicing). Specifically because TheShield is talking about doing the former.

Ain’t nothing wrong with doctor prescribed HRT. Nothing wrong with steroids either, I guess, so long as you know what you’re doing.

Shield: Do you really need all those supps? I mean, I’m all for supporting Biotest, but my results sucked until I stopped using supps as a crutch and got my diet and training to get my results for me, and then added supps back in.[/quote]

Believe me, I’m not going to be someone’s mother, you should be able to do what you want…HOWEVER, he is clearly making considerable progress, implying that he’s still progressing naturally. There’s NO reason for him to juice if he’s still progressing, and it’s not worth the health risks for a quick fix. It takes hard work and dedication, so my suggestion is to keep it up and get back to us when you’re at your genetic limits, at which point the Internet as we know it probably won’t exist :slight_smile:

Welcome to T-Nation.

Myself personally I believe in doing as little as you can while you’re getting results. For instance, lose as much weight as you can without HRX, V-Diet what ever, when the results stop add HRX when those results stop try the V-Diet. Same goes with gaining, don’t start out with creatine and get as big and stong as you can, once those results stop add creatine. The point is don’t waste supps/juice when you’re getting results, wait until you’re no longer getting the results to start something. You’ve got a lot of ceiling before your natural ability to grow ends with have only been in the game a short time, don’t waste a good cycle this early.

Also, if you’re losing weight you’re on a calorie restriction right? You’re not going to build any decent muscle while you not taking in more fuel than you’re burning.

Calm down a bit, you cannot get big and ripped at the same time, newbie gains sure but those will stop. Get ripped then get big, don’t put the cart before the horse.

Good luck.

I was on a caloric restrictive diet initially but have tapered off that as my weight training has become more intense, now I’m staying at about 180 but I think it’s because I’m building muscle. I’ve started jogging 3 times a week which should help, the cardio on the eliptical was getting too easy.

I think baring any major imbalances on my blood tests I am going to take the advice here and stick to natural supplements and keep it up.

Thanks for the advice guys

[quote]TheShield wrote:
I was on a caloric restrictive diet initially but have tapered off that as my weight training has become more intense, now I’m staying at about 180 but I think it’s because I’m building muscle. I’ve started jogging 3 times a week which should help, the cardio on the eliptical was getting too easy.

I think baring any major imbalances on my blood tests I am going to take the advice here and stick to natural supplements and keep it up.

Thanks for the advice guys

[/quote]

Good deal! 3-4 years down the road if you’re still in the game and the results aren’t what you want then rethink the juice, right now the sky is the limit for you. Best of luck.

so you are taking fish oil and snake oil right?

lol…I guess so

Just started the REZ-V today, going on Alpha Male tomorrow