Powerlifter here. What do you guys think is healthier long term for a person set on lifting heavy a$$ weight, using moderate cycles, blast and cruise style (on trt currently, haven’t blasted yet), or maintaining a higher bodyweight to lift big.
Obviously if you want to lift the most, you would do both, and really roll the dice on health, but I’m thinking AAS might be a healthier option than weighing 50 lbs more. Not sure how much gear you would need on average to match 50 lbs of BW?
BTW, I am 5’10" 220 lbs ATM. My scale tells me I am 24% BF, and the matches the US Navy Calculator. My best lifts for SBD are 222.5 kg, 150 kg and 250 kg. I think I probably have more in the bench and dead currently, but would really struggle to improve that squat ATM (not been squatting much lately).
I would like to total 680 kg (1500 lbs) in the next year or so, but at a body weight closer to 200 - 205 lbs.
I’m not sure I understand the point. If you are 50lbs heavier you are competing in a heavier weight class and therefore need to lift even more weight to be competitive no? Also, if you put on 50lbs of mass naturally its going to have to happen very slowly or else you are just getting fatter.
That being said… if you are just comparing AAS use to somebody who is slightly obese I would say it depends on lifestyle. This is just my non scientific no fact based opinion but if you are active and just overweight I would say AAS are more dangerous. If you are sedentary and overweight then that may be a different story.
I treat PLing as an individual sport mostly, but have lifts I really want to achieve, and I could go the route of eating more to achieve them, or AAS to achieve them. Obviously I would look better on the AAS route, but I am mostly interested in big lifts.
I thought of this because of a CT Fletcher video a while back where he was saying for someone who is going to get to inhuman strength no matter what that he thought AAS was healthier than being bigger. Now I think he took the get huge and use a ton of AAS, and I don’t want his health outcome at all, but it was an interesting idea to me.
Fat will make you stronger. I would guess 50 lbs of straight fat would make my bench go up a bunch. 50 lbs on bench would not surprise me. Squat will also go up by getting fat. Deadlift, not so much.
Mostly by improving leverages. Your range of motion is reduced on bench as you gain weight. In the squat you get some help if your belly hits your quads at the bottom (helps you stay upright, and gives a bit of a boost).
In strength sports they call it a power belly, and it actually does make one stronger (in most cases).
I think technically if one lifts more than another under the same conditions that lifter is stronger.
I get your point, and understand it from a BBer’s perspective. I think PLers maybe think a bit different.
Same thing goes for form, a lifter might not have the muscle and power of another lifter, but if they lift more weight because their form is better, they are stronger at the lift.
In some cases yes, in others no. In some cases the range of motion is the same, but the fat acts as a platform to push off of. Squat is a good example of this, you still have to get the hip crease below the top of the knee, so same range of motion, but having a wider torso, and being able to use the belly to push off of the quads can help.
In the bench it is mostly reduced ROM, but some leverage change too.
Running one or two milder cycles a year coupled with a reasonable TRT program is going to end up being net healthier than carrying around another 50lbs for for a bunch of years. The other thing you need to consider is this: if you want to stop cycling at any time you just…stop cycling. If you want to lose those extra 50lbs you gained? That’s 18mo of hard dieting.
The fat does a lot of positive things for the lifter, not least of which is better joints. I feel a lot better at 275 lbs and body fat in the low 20’s than 240 lbs and significantly lower bodyfat. It changes leverages, it changes internal pressures, and just carrying the weight around has a training benefit.
What is the top limit to a milder cycle? Test only? I suppose it is subjective, but I would not want to get to the point in which my on weight vs TRT weight was a bunch different (after the first cycle or two of course).
I know some monsters out there that blast and cruise with a cruise of 500 mg of test per week. I would consider that a mild blast. The blasts they run are outrageous.
In strongman the cruise (no one called it that when I was competing) was 1 gram a week. I don’t advise that, it’s excessive. You can imagine what the “Blast” would be. Depending on your experience you would probably blast 500 - 750 mg and not have any issues. Probably.
For starting out it would be a 500 mg/wk cycle. Maybe even 400 mg/wk. I am on TRT, so there is time to figure this out. I also, don’t want to show up to Christmas with a moon face.
I am acquaintances with the american record holder in the squat in the 242 lb weight class. His lift is bullshit (high), but the gear that dude runs is crazy. Handfuls of Dbol, on tren all year.
Since you’ve already got plenty strength, theres no need for massive immediate gains, I wonder whether equipoise would give steady gains and avoid the danger (high in your case) of tearing a muscle ? Im aware a lot of powerlifters just use Test/bol, cos they like the water retention, but don’t you guys worry about blood pressure, cholesterol etc ?
I meant to add your buddy the record holder has probably built up a degree of Tolerance over the years, so he probably NEEDS those crazy amounts of AAS just to feel anything.
Most people that know him think he will not live past 50. He is kind of a moron in general. I don’t see him any more because he moved to a different state to avoid a warrant.
He was nice in person, but I guess he was a total tool bag if you were close to him.
He told me he probably sleeps around 20 hours a week due to insomnia from the tren mostly. I think he feels it, but I also I think to be squatting 900+ with wraps at 235 you need a lot.