Q&A with Shadow Pro


Shadow, I’ve read through the whole thread and you’ve touched a little bit on the subject I’m very curious about.

When leading up to a show I am not 100% sure when to cut out all Anabolics. Leading up to my last show about a week or two ago I was just running Tren A/Test P/Mast P and albuterol. I did the last injection about 4-5 days before the show thinking that would be OK in regards to water retention (plus I was running water pills/dieuretics) but that didn’t work out very well. I compared pics to a previous show where everything was cut 7 weeks ahead of time and I was definitely dryer, though I don’t think leaner, and definitely smaller.
My mid-section looked very bloated and distended. I couldn’t tell if it was due to excess water (obviously didn’t look that dry), distended gut from AS use, too much heavy ab work, not enough cardio (almost none), serious stress and depression (devastating break up about two weeks before the show)or a combination of all of that. I was 100% absolutely not ready to step on stage, mentally or physically.

I see you recommending use of T3 and clen up to the time of the show, but my concern is all the muscle wasting from T3 and clen.

I’m trying to prep for another show just under 4 weeks from now, Still on Tren A/Test P/MastP and was going to add in some winny (I know not a lot of time on it) and then maybe run T3/Clen for 2 weeks before the show since that’s about all I’ll have time for.

Questions:
Should I push the date back and go for a show a little later out? The only reason I’m weary of that is because this has been a very long cycle for me.

When should I cut out AS use to be as dry as possible?

When should I add/cut out T3/Clen?

I know I have some serious areas to work on, but I feel like this is a start. I included a pic since you said that helps you have a better idea of what’s going on.

I also plan to cut greek yogurt based on your recommendation.

Thanks in advance. You’ve been very helpful.

[quote]Shadow Pro wrote:

I’m a big believer in carbs and I think that you can slowly build up tolerance over time and eventually you’ll be able to have more in your diet. It doesn’t happen overnight and you need to give it time. You will have to be willing to accept that you’ll have a bit of extra water retention to begin with but this will only be in the beginning. In the long run it will help you to get better gains and have a more sane lifestyle.

I’ll keep it simple: give this a try.

Lower your fat to about 40-50g daily (coming from red meat meals or mct oils)
Carbs - start daily at 125g and then every 5 days increase it by 25g/day.(2/3 of carbs intraworkout from Plazma) ingesting your carbs while you train will insure that your body is soaking them up and using them to recover and build muscle. By timing them like this, the chances of gaining fat are very little. Keep increasing the carbs every 5 days as long as you don’t see any fat gains. If you do, stop there and let your body adjust to this amount. Could be 300, could be 600… Very individual.
Protein- keep the same for now.

If you have to spend your money on 1 supplement ONLY I would say in your case to buy Plazma.
Add 2 sessions of HIIT, it will help speed your metabolism as your body is adjusting to the higher carb diet.

If you want to add a cycle to this, let me know and I’ll add something appropriate.
[/quote]Woah! I have been following this thread since the beginning and didn’t see that reply. My bad. I will give a try to the macros you’ve gave. Still a little bit scared about getting fat. I will try to find a good fat caliper to measure my body fat every week (to see if I should continue to increase my carbs intake, or decrease). I have a very crappy one in plastic they give as a free gift on bodybuilding.com that says I’m 6% with the 3-sites equation…

Regarding steroids, I have to admit that I bought some gear very recently. I read an article of Bill Roberts where he was saying that DBol and Trenbolone were two compounds acting very good together even at low doses each. I wanted to know your opinion about that and also how would you build up a cycle with these quantities:

3x10mL vial at 250mg/mL Test enanthate
2x10mL vial at 200mg/mL Tren enanthate
100 pills at 10mg DBol
100 pills at 25mg Clomid
100 pils at 20mg Nolvadex
10 000IU HCG

oh and I’m also looking to buy some Arimidex since I know I’m prone to gynecomastia (I had little lumps when I did Test months ago). At first I was thinking about doing Test E/Deca/DBol but I thought replacing the Deca by Tren could help having leaner gains (with proper diet of course).

Third question : do you aspire when you pin and do you think it’s a necessity to do it?

Thanks.

Hi!
I’m totally confused now about right t3 dose.
Case is, that everywhere we can read “xx is optimal dose, dont go higher because muscle catabolism” , “its stupid to take more than xx, it gonna eat your muscle and mess with your whole body” etc.
But the problem is that right dose in my opinion is very individual and there’s no chance to estimate is it enough/too much without some blood test.

So I’ve made blood test , results below:

  • at 75 mcg t3 - 7,8 pmol/l (norm 4- 8,3)
  • at 150 mcg t3 - 11,6 pmol/l (norm 4-8,3)
    So as You can see at 75 mcg I dont even reach top end of a normal level. Only at 150 mcg I reached level above normal.
    My friend on exactly the same pills were above norm at 75 mcg.

In that case, is there any reason to stay at 75 mcg? or maybe 150 in my case will be right dose? I have no idea what blood serum level should I expect and try to reach. Maybe consider something between (like 100-125 ?) Just wanna add, i cant feel any side effects at 150 mcg.
Thanks for any help ! :wink:

Shadow - need your input here.

Stats:
Age: 54
Ht: 5-7
Wt: 02-14: 189lbs; current: 170lbs
BF: 02-14: 30.5%; current (I know it’s less because I’m starting to see veins & abs)
Fat-free mass: 02-14: 129lbs; current: ?? (If I had to guess, maybe 23%)

To get a better idea of my body comp history, click this link: Box

Goals (main goal is to lose fat without losing lean mass):

Short-term:
150-155lbs - that means another 15-20lbs to go. At that weight, I would gauge bf will be around 14% if and only if I will not lose too much LBM!! Then, do clean bulk to add some lean mass back, rinse/repeat.

Long-term:
Want to add mass but without all the fat game associated with bulking.
10% bf or less
Wt: 185-195

I am also interested in an overall health and antiaging anabolic and fat loss combo HRT (pharm-grade TRT/hGH) but am unable until I hopefully resolve some current health issues. I look @ HRT as the finishing touch to recomp. I use a DEXA scan to monitor my recomp progress.

What diet, training, and HRT (when and if possible) would you recommend to achieve my goals?

What have I done so far to achieve my fat loss goals?

Since it made no sense to do a bulk to add lean mass when I am >15% bf, I tried many things over the last few years (i.e. intermittent fasting, keto). The one & only diet regimen that has worked is alternate day calorie restriction or every-other-day dieting. I lost 19 pounds in approximately 90 days, the most consistent and dramatic loss ever in my history.

I thought I could eat without worrying about counting calories while on IF/keto. What a crock that is, I was only fooling myself. Maybe some with gifted metabolisms, perfectly-balanced hormones, and half my age can do that.

I failed because I still ate a surplus of calories OVER TIME. Keto is great, but you really need to watch FATS; at 9 cals/gram those suckers will balloon you up in no time - and that’s what happened.

Bottom line & basic rule is that unless I’m eating at a caloric deficit, weight and bf will increase no matter how hard I train, do IF, keto, etc.

I feel that unless I’m on a ton of AAS, a caloric deficit seems the most important part for losing fat in my case at least.

I have been training more consistently now, picking up where I left off in my mid-20s which was the last time I was probably <15% bf. 4x’s/week + cardio 2-3x’s/week. Because of a lumbar injury and shoulder impingement, I can’t do barbell squats nor much shoulder press work. Maybe HRT will help.

In any case, with this much bf on me now, I am insulin resistant, therefore, going low-carb (100g or less) is the mainstay for now. It has been impossible to add mass without adding twice as much bf.

I should also mention that I take thyroid meds (T3 and Armour Thyroid) for a hypothyroid condition.

So, the alternate day calorie restriction has worked great, however, I’m going to have to go even lower on my down day calories to lose more weight. I am at a standstill now at 170. If I could skip the weight loss and just switch to a recomp of 170 with 10%, I’d like that better, but that ain’t gonna happen. Another thing: the only way this works is if I keep track of every calorie.

Kcals & Macros:
refeed (maintenance) days: 2100-2300 kcals (55% fats, 30% protein, 15% carbs)
“fast” days: 750-850 kcals (70% protein, 15% fats, 5% carbs) - basically, a semi-protein-sparing modified fast. Of all the macros, I feel protein is most important. I average 135g/day which is just over 1g/lb of LBM. I consume a ton of supplements to offset the lack of micros on my “fast” day.

I appreciate your time and input to help me reach my goals. It’s been a long struggle.

[quote]Shadow Pro wrote:

[quote]alvertos wrote:

[quote]Shadow Pro wrote:

[quote]alvertos wrote:
thank you very much for your detailed answer,much appreciated!i will put down a new program based on your suggestions and i will try to imrove!about clen i already have it so how would you use it if you were me?[/quote]

The way you were using it is fine but lower the dose.
[/quote]

thanks man i will get back to you soon with some progress pics!off topic how big is G4P in pro circles?i know kai has done it and also its common in amateur B.B…i dont want to offend you if you dont want to talk about it just courious![/quote]

Haha, I’m the wrong guy to ask about this subject… I stay as far away from getting into other peoples business as I can. I don’t want to see or hear what the guys are doing, I have better things to worry about…

Let’s leave the steroid forum for advice on juice and leave the boys and their weird shit on the porn sites.[/quote]

well said!do you think training 5 days in a row and rest on weekends is ok or 3 on/1off,2on/1off is beter for me/?remember i am natural(well for the moment i just start the clen,maybe start anavar in september)

First, I thought this whole thing was complete BS when shadow first posted but I was wrong. For that I do apologize.

Shadow, two questions if you can:

  1. There’s a lot of talk about how older bodybuilders and now the eastern European guys prefer heavy androgen cycles compared to high test. What are your thoughts on this? Did/do you prefer high test + eq/deca/dbol in the ‘offseason’ or high test, comparatively, basically year round? I’m using high tren/mast now with low test and will be removing the mast for npp and am happy with the results so far. Would love your input.

  2. The age old question. Loss of appetite with orals. I tried dbol once. Lasted a week. Dmz I lasted two. Couldn’t deal with the loss of appetite. I know this is very individualistic as far as if it is a problem and people always defer to GHRP as a fix but I really hate adding drugs just to battle side effects. Any input?

Shadow Pro,

What do you do about bad acne? I get it on the back of my head and back even on low doses of test.

Hi there I just wanted to know what the absolute best cycle is for putting on lean muscle mass…I’ve heard loads about tren and equi and masteron but I wanna know from a pro and is it really worth taking insulin or is it just no point in terms of the danger …I know that different things work for different people but what have you found to be your best bulking course

Shadow,

Offseason use of anti - estrogens. What are your thoughts on anti e’s during offseason.

I’ve always had the best luck and more growth using either none or the least amount possible. Even during a course of higher test i try to keep anti e’s low to get the most gains. ( ex. .5 mg adex every 3rd day or aromasin 12.5 mg eod) i keep my offseason cycles pretty simple (ex. Sust 750mg week, deca or eq 500 mg week, dbol 30-40 mg daily, 3-4 iu hgh daily) nothing crazy and try to gain as much as possiable on lower or modrrate doses ( im 40 now and been competing since i was 17) but i do notice with my age now, i tend to hold more water and notice sides more.

Probably cause of my experiance and doing this so long. But im not sure if i should increase my anti e’s or just hold the extra water and focus on getting rid of it the final week before a show.

Thanks for your time and honesty.

Shadow Pro,
I do have a question regarding fertility. I have been cycling for about 4 years now. In the past I would 12-16 week cycles all test based. I took about 6 months off of gear. I rebounded easily. I am currently 20 weeks into my current cycle. Began with test at 500wk and tren e at 400wk. After 10 weeks I dropped the tren and stayed solely with test at 250wk for 3 weeks, then I added and am currently using primo 600wk, and keeping the test at 250wk.

I have 4 more weeks of primo, then I’m gonna run just test @ 250wk until September. So, I am curious as to the effect this may have on my fertility, and do I need to come off to get my wife pregnant again. I was off for 4 weeks last time she got pregnant. I have no reservations about staying on, and feel that for me it’s really the only way to go, however if I need to come off to get her pregnant I will. I’ve heard so many conflicting opions on steroids and fertility. Your help is greatly appreciated.

[quote]Batman00 wrote:

[quote]Shadow Pro wrote:

[quote]Batman00 wrote:
I heard if you pin one muscle group like crazy, it irritates it and will cause growth with training of course. [/quote]

Infections and scar tissue sound like fun.[/quote]

Yeah thats not good. And I have found no sound evidence anywhere that this has any validity.

A fucking Ninja Turtle? LMAO [/quote]

lol, that’s the first thing that popped into my head when I was thinking of a description… Round and full.

[quote]Yogi wrote:

[quote]Shadow Pro wrote:

[quote]Yogi wrote:
Shadwell,

What do you think about short term GH use? Do you see any value in adding it to a 12 week cycle? My cycles tend to be fairly modest (1g of test-ish, a little dbol here, a little anavar there) but I’ve always been intrigued as to whether adding a couple of iu of GH daily would make much of an impact.

The typical bro-mantra tells us that anything less than 6 months is pointless, but I just can’t justify the expenditure. I could maybe stretch to a 12 weeker + PCT if there was going to be a significant benefit.

I have never used GH before, in case you were wondering.[/quote]

Thank you for asking this… And just when I thought you’d disappeared from the thread you come back with a quality question.

I DEFINITELY think it would give great benefits, even in a 12 week window. When using GH, usually the longer you can stay on the better it is but using it for 10-12 weeks will give you some nice benefits. What you could expect to see is fuller and “rounder” look (like a ninja turtle) it’s hard to pinpoint it but it’s the only drug that will give you this unique look. If you are using a quality GH(pharm… No Chinese BS) you will see these changes almost immediately… Most people report finding tighter skin with a better tone, fat loss and the ability to increase calories without gaining fat. You will notice an huge difference in recovery from training and better sleep quality. One of the biggest things I’ve found for people who are serious in the gym is that it helps a lot with existing injuries… I have always had shitty knees and I never have any issues when I’m on GH.

As for dosage, I would start with 6iu/day (to see these specific benefits that I listed) for people who are just looking for fat loss or skin improvements when 3-4iu will be sufficient.

So it does work in short term for sure, it’s optimal to stay on it longer if possible but I think taking it for a short period is better than skipping it all together.
[/quote]

Don’t worry big fella, I’ll be popping in and out to keep it interesting!

So 6iu for 12 weeks it is then. Looks like I’m going to have to start doing some overtime. 12 weeks of that’s going to cost me like Ã?£800![/quote]

£800 for 12 weeks, pharmaceutical? 1.52/iu… Are you sleeping with the pharmacist? If you are thinking about generics I don’t think I’d go with it, that sounds extremely cheap to me. 99% of the generics are not real so save your money and wait until you can buy the real thing. It seems ridiculously expensive to switch to pharm GH but it’s also insane to pay money for viles of sucralose and whatever kind of other shit they stuff in there.

Years ago when I decided to make the switch and spend more on GH was the year I made a huge jump in my career… And a huge hole in my bank account.

The difference isn’t something subtle, you notice it right away clear cut differences… Your reaction will be “WOW!” And you won’t be stuck wondering if it is/isn’t working. You can continue to waste money on generics or try and find a source for pharm, you’ll be happy you did. There is a smalllllll chance you can land some decent underground kits but have them tested in a lab before wasting more money.

[quote]Mc777 wrote:
I copied the article. I do not see references, although if you try to look up info on collagen synthesis and steroids, this has pretty much been tossed around and accepted by many forum members.

Increase skeletal muscle & collagen synthesis with certain AAS


(originally posted by AnimalMass)

While injecting test increases protein synthesis by roughly 50 times, depending on dose and time, most bodybuilders forget that it will reduce collagen synthesis by more than 50% – more like 80%, giving you the collagen synthesis rate of a senior citizen. Since collagen makes up tendons, bros are very prone to injury if they continue to lift very heavy, unless they cycle off T and let their collagen synthesis get back to normal. It’s like having the skeletal muscle of a gorilla with the tendons of a very old man.

Winstrol increases collagen synthesis. It will give you bigger tendons. However, your body compensates for this by making them more brittle, weaker, and more prone to injury. I can’t tell you how many bros work out anaerobically and become injured while on winstrol. Guys who lift in the 1-5 rep range while on winstrol, to baseball players who sprint all out from a stationary position – winstrol should be the LAST drug they choose. Most of them like winstrol because they don’t get the weight gain from it but it is very detrimental to bros who train for any sport anaerobically. Tendons tear easily on it.

Also, the drugs I mention increase collagen synthesis while also increasing collagen cross-linking integrity, making for a much stronger tendon.

Winstrol, on the other hand, will dramatically increase collagen syn, but ironically it decreases collagen cross-linking integrity, thus making a much weaker tendon.

You can plan a cycle of AAS which will increase collagen synthesis and skeletal muscle growth at the same time. The key is the drug(s) you choose.

Deca, Equipoise, Anavar, and Primobolan will ALL increase skeletal muscle while at the same time dramatically increase collagen syn and bone mass and density, leaving you with a substantially reduced chance of becoming injured than if you choose to use AAS like sus, cyp, or enth.

While testosterone will increase bone mass and density, even at supra-physiological levels, the result is weaker tendons due to inhibition of collagen syn.

To plan a cycle where the goal is to increase skeletal muscle mass/strength while at the same time increase joint/tendon/ligament strength, enough to keep up with the dramatic increase in skeletal muscle, you must choose drugs like Eq, Deca, Anavar, or Primo as the base of your cycle. Testosterone and its esters can be added to your cycle to keep levels within a ‘normal’ physiological range (ie, 100-200 mg/wk) but must not go above this. Since drugs like eq, deca, anavar and primo will reduce endogenous, natural levels of test, these levels may be maintained with exogenous test in the 100-200 mg/wk range. Test at this dose will not inhibit collagen syn, but paradoxically, will help increase it. It is when exogenous testosterone is used > 200 mg/wk that collagen syn is inhibited.

Deca @ 3 mg/kg a week(about 270 mg/wk for a 200 lb male) will increase procollagen III levels by 270% by week 2. Procollagen III is a primary indicator used to determine the rate of collagen syn. As you can see, deca is a very good drug at giving you everything you want – an increase in collagen syn, an increase in skeletal muscle, and increases in bone mass and density. The one thing it does not give you is wood.

Primobolan, @ 5 mg/kg, will increase collagen synthesis by roughly 180% – less than deca and equipoise but still substantial.

Equipoise @ 3 mg/kg will increase procollagen III by approximately 340% – slightly better than deca.

Oxandrolone has over a hundred studies documenting its effectiveness at treating patients needing rapid increases in collagen syn to enhance healing.

These drugs have longer half-lives than most other AAS, so this should be considered when timing your post cycle Clomid use. Here they are:

Deca: 15 days Equipoise: 14 days Primobolan: 10.5 days

Anavar has a half-life of only 8 hours so it should not pose a problem.

GH is probably the most remarkable drug at increasing collagen synthesis. It increases collagen syn in a dose dependant manner – the more you use, the more you will increase collagen syn. It has also demonstrated this ability in short and long term studies. From what I’ve read, hGH at 6 iu/day increased the collagen deposition rate by around 250% in damaged collagen structures. This result indicates that the increased biomechanical strength of wounds to collagen structures treated with biosynthetic human growth hormone was produced by an increased deposition of collagen in the collagen structures.

Eq, primo, anavar, and deca are all good – they increase several biomakers of collagen syn – ie, type III, II, I, procollagen markers. GH just seems to do so most dramatically.

Use of any of these drugs @ supra-physiological levels with a maintenance dose of test will increase collagen syn while at the same time increase skeletal muscle mass. Skeletal muscle mass gains will not be as dramatic as with large testosterone doses but you have to weigh the risk/reward basis for yourself. Also, these drugs do not satisfy the libido like testosterone, but that is not the point of this thread. It is only to demonstrate that you can increase skeletal muscle and collagen syn at the same time with certain AAS – the decision is up to you.
__________________[/quote]

This is interesting and I’ve read and heard similar thoughts on the subject. Any studies that have been done are on regular people using one compounds not a bodybuilder or athlete who would be using several things at one time. There is obviously science behind the thought and I don’t know who the scientists are behind these studies so I’d have to read the material before making comments regarding this.

However, I have seen studies about the effects of GH use with regards to increasing collagen synthesis and skeletal muscle mass. It will definitely make remarkable differences as you stated but it will do this alone without any relation to test or any other drugs.

If you are asking me, I have yet to see a professional bodybuilder that will take home these conclusions and put them to their use. Since building muscle is the first goal for a bodybuilder, I doubt something like 200mg of test and shitload of deca will give you the same results. When you are doing professional sports, injuries WILL happen at some time or another because of the constant stress that we put our bodies through… This goes for any professional sport. I really doubt the recommendation that is suggested here will help eliminate injuries because there’s so many other factors that need to be taken into consideration here and in the big picture these effects that this “study” offers are most likely negligible. It doesn’t take into consideration the ratios of other substances being used and balancing effects that they can create. Bottom line, it’s way too general to be taken seriously.

If there is a scientist here reading who wants to do a study or has input please speak up!

[quote]bigbird61 wrote:
So I’m a soon-to-be user of anabolics. I’m going with a standard test only approach.

I saw you advise 10mg nolva everyday instead of an AI. Can you explain why?[/quote]

Hi Bigbird61 and thanks for joining us here!

If you read back in this thread you will see a lot of information regarding this specific subject. I never said 10mg of nolva is for everyone… It’s my best suggestion as a precautionary measure during a cycle that won’t hurt any gains from the cycle itself. It’s not for everybody, as you will see some guys here like arimidex better which is fine as well.

Weird HGH question. Have had a recent discussion for its use in power lifting. It was recommended for me to use 2-3iu Monday-Friday. Supposedly at this dose would allow for mainly nothing more than increased recovery and MAYBE increased fat loss. Does this seem like a reasonable way to use the drug. Would allow a kit or 2 to really stretch on for a while. May be a very modest dose but speaking strictly for injury recovery and prevention would this make any sense.

[quote]Uncreative123 wrote:
Shadow, I’ve read through the whole thread and you’ve touched a little bit on the subject I’m very curious about.

When leading up to a show I am not 100% sure when to cut out all Anabolics. Leading up to my last show about a week or two ago I was just running Tren A/Test P/Mast P and albuterol. I did the last injection about 4-5 days before the show thinking that would be OK in regards to water retention (plus I was running water pills/dieuretics) but that didn’t work out very well. I compared pics to a previous show where everything was cut 7 weeks ahead of time and I was definitely dryer, though I don’t think leaner, and definitely smaller.
My mid-section looked very bloated and distended. I couldn’t tell if it was due to excess water (obviously didn’t look that dry), distended gut from AS use, too much heavy ab work, not enough cardio (almost none), serious stress and depression (devastating break up about two weeks before the show)or a combination of all of that. I was 100% absolutely not ready to step on stage, mentally or physically.

I see you recommending use of T3 and clen up to the time of the show, but my concern is all the muscle wasting from T3 and clen.

I’m trying to prep for another show just under 4 weeks from now, Still on Tren A/Test P/MastP and was going to add in some winny (I know not a lot of time on it) and then maybe run T3/Clen for 2 weeks before the show since that’s about all I’ll have time for.

Questions:
Should I push the date back and go for a show a little later out? The only reason I’m weary of that is because this has been a very long cycle for me.

When should I cut out AS use to be as dry as possible?

When should I add/cut out T3/Clen?

I know I have some serious areas to work on, but I feel like this is a start. I included a pic since you said that helps you have a better idea of what’s going on.

I also plan to cut greek yogurt based on your recommendation.

Thanks in advance. You’ve been very helpful.[/quote]

Thank you for posting your picture and sharing your info here for me to see.

I’m not here to criticize but the first thing that comes to mind is that you are taking WAY too many drugs for your goal. How long have you been on the cycle of tren/mast/prop and how much of each?

You gave a whole lot of reasons why you didn’t look your best and stress is definitely a huge part of it. It’s very hard to prep for a show if your body has high cortisol levels, it will make you hold water and look soft no matter what you do.

You mentioned that you are on diuretics 4-5 days before the show(this is apparent to me when I see your picture)… This will make you look very flat and put your body in danger. You don’t need to take diuretics until 1-2 days before a show. And with men’s physique you probably wouldn’t need many diuretics and most likely could compete without using any.

As for Clen, it won’t make you lose muscle as it has anticatabolic properties and with the t3, as long as your dosage is correlating accordingly with your diet then you shouldn’t run into any problems. When and if to add it depends completely on the individual and their current state(ex. Bodyfat level, diet, cardio etc.)

I usually recommend (as a general rule) to stop all injectables about 1 week out… Again this is individual and will depend on your sensitivity to the substance and your sensitivity to water retention as well and many other factors.

Cutting Greek yogurt at about 10-12 weeks out is a good idea. And if I were you I would plan for a later show, it seems to me that your mind and body are not in a state to fully engaged and prepared to step on stage right now. The whole process needs to be organized and well thought out. You have plenty of research to do in the meantime.

I am waiting to hear your feedback on the drugs you are taking With regard to the amount of time and dosages. I think you need to consider coming off and clean your body to prepare the best you can for the next show. There is always another show, so don’t be discouraged and don’t rush things.

[quote]tortellini3 wrote:

[quote]Shadow Pro wrote:

I’m a big believer in carbs and I think that you can slowly build up tolerance over time and eventually you’ll be able to have more in your diet. It doesn’t happen overnight and you need to give it time. You will have to be willing to accept that you’ll have a bit of extra water retention to begin with but this will only be in the beginning. In the long run it will help you to get better gains and have a more sane lifestyle.

I’ll keep it simple: give this a try.

Lower your fat to about 40-50g daily (coming from red meat meals or mct oils)
Carbs - start daily at 125g and then every 5 days increase it by 25g/day.(2/3 of carbs intraworkout from Plazma) ingesting your carbs while you train will insure that your body is soaking them up and using them to recover and build muscle. By timing them like this, the chances of gaining fat are very little. Keep increasing the carbs every 5 days as long as you don’t see any fat gains. If you do, stop there and let your body adjust to this amount. Could be 300, could be 600… Very individual.
Protein- keep the same for now.

If you have to spend your money on 1 supplement ONLY I would say in your case to buy Plazma.
Add 2 sessions of HIIT, it will help speed your metabolism as your body is adjusting to the higher carb diet.

If you want to add a cycle to this, let me know and I’ll add something appropriate.
[/quote]Woah! I have been following this thread since the beginning and didn’t see that reply. My bad. I will give a try to the macros you’ve gave. Still a little bit scared about getting fat. I will try to find a good fat caliper to measure my body fat every week (to see if I should continue to increase my carbs intake, or decrease). I have a very crappy one in plastic they give as a free gift on bodybuilding.com that says I’m 6% with the 3-sites equation…

Regarding steroids, I have to admit that I bought some gear very recently. I read an article of Bill Roberts where he was saying that DBol and Trenbolone were two compounds acting very good together even at low doses each. I wanted to know your opinion about that and also how would you build up a cycle with these quantities:

3x10mL vial at 250mg/mL Test enanthate
2x10mL vial at 200mg/mL Tren enanthate
100 pills at 10mg DBol
100 pills at 25mg Clomid
100 pils at 20mg Nolvadex
10 000IU HCG

oh and I’m also looking to buy some Arimidex since I know I’m prone to gynecomastia (I had little lumps when I did Test months ago). At first I was thinking about doing Test E/Deca/DBol but I thought replacing the Deca by Tren could help having leaner gains (with proper diet of course).

Third question : do you aspire when you pin and do you think it’s a necessity to do it?

Thanks.[/quote]

Do a 9-12 site caliper test, it will give you a more accurate result. If it’s possible go for a dexa scan.

As for your cycle questions, can you please post a picture and what your goals are. I think we may have discussed a bit about this before but it’s lost in the thread somewhere… So quote this if that’s the case. Let me know what you used and how much.
I’ll wait for your response but if it’s only your first or second cycle then I’d wait on the tren.

I always aspirate before any IM injection, better to be safe than sorry.

Great info here. I’ve read the whole thing and I’m definitely impressed.

So I’m wondering…and not looking for any names…what is your choice between the cost and relative difficulty of getting pharma grade gear vs. the ease of access, yet dubious quality, of UL stuff. Especially when ‘pharma’ stuff is often faked and the UL may be under/over dosed plus it may contain heavy metals or low quality oils. It seems as if there are just no good answers.

I also see that you’re a fan of Masteron. Is this even made in pharma grade anymore or is it all UL?

Last question. What is your best weapon against DOMS? Is it just something you learn to live with?

[quote]wyll wrote:
Hi!
I’m totally confused now about right t3 dose.
Case is, that everywhere we can read “xx is optimal dose, dont go higher because muscle catabolism” , “its stupid to take more than xx, it gonna eat your muscle and mess with your whole body” etc.
But the problem is that right dose in my opinion is very individual and there’s no chance to estimate is it enough/too much without some blood test.

So I’ve made blood test , results below:

  • at 75 mcg t3 - 7,8 pmol/l (norm 4- 8,3)
  • at 150 mcg t3 - 11,6 pmol/l (norm 4-8,3)
    So as You can see at 75 mcg I dont even reach top end of a normal level. Only at 150 mcg I reached level above normal.
    My friend on exactly the same pills were above norm at 75 mcg.

In that case, is there any reason to stay at 75 mcg? or maybe 150 in my case will be right dose? I have no idea what blood serum level should I expect and try to reach. Maybe consider something between (like 100-125 ?) Just wanna add, i cant feel any side effects at 150 mcg.
Thanks for any help ! :wink:
[/quote]

Everyone’s metabolism is different. A dosage that’s good for me is not necessarily the same for someone else. If you don’t have any thyroid issues to begin with then 75mcg should be more than enough. I wouldn’t go any higher before finding out your natural levels first.

How long were you on it? Did you taper up and taper down? Your thyroid function could be temporarily interrupted if you didn’t do this appropriately. Also, is it a pharmaceutical brand? If it’s underground the dose could be all over the place (either too high, or in your case too low) so make sure you have a solid source especially for something like this because it’s not something to play around with.

[quote]mcs2012 wrote:
Shadow - need your input here.

Stats:
Age: 54
Ht: 5-7
Wt: 02-14: 189lbs; current: 170lbs
BF: 02-14: 30.5%; current (I know it’s less because I’m starting to see veins & abs)
Fat-free mass: 02-14: 129lbs; current: ?? (If I had to guess, maybe 23%)

To get a better idea of my body comp history, click this link: Box

Goals (main goal is to lose fat without losing lean mass):

Short-term:
150-155lbs - that means another 15-20lbs to go. At that weight, I would gauge bf will be around 14% if and only if I will not lose too much LBM!! Then, do clean bulk to add some lean mass back, rinse/repeat.

Long-term:
Want to add mass but without all the fat game associated with bulking.
10% bf or less
Wt: 185-195

I am also interested in an overall health and antiaging anabolic and fat loss combo HRT (pharm-grade TRT/hGH) but am unable until I hopefully resolve some current health issues. I look @ HRT as the finishing touch to recomp. I use a DEXA scan to monitor my recomp progress.

What diet, training, and HRT (when and if possible) would you recommend to achieve my goals?

What have I done so far to achieve my fat loss goals?

Since it made no sense to do a bulk to add lean mass when I am >15% bf, I tried many things over the last few years (i.e. intermittent fasting, keto). The one & only diet regimen that has worked is alternate day calorie restriction or every-other-day dieting. I lost 19 pounds in approximately 90 days, the most consistent and dramatic loss ever in my history.

I thought I could eat without worrying about counting calories while on IF/keto. What a crock that is, I was only fooling myself. Maybe some with gifted metabolisms, perfectly-balanced hormones, and half my age can do that.

I failed because I still ate a surplus of calories OVER TIME. Keto is great, but you really need to watch FATS; at 9 cals/gram those suckers will balloon you up in no time - and that’s what happened.

Bottom line & basic rule is that unless I’m eating at a caloric deficit, weight and bf will increase no matter how hard I train, do IF, keto, etc.

I feel that unless I’m on a ton of AAS, a caloric deficit seems the most important part for losing fat in my case at least.

I have been training more consistently now, picking up where I left off in my mid-20s which was the last time I was probably <15% bf. 4x’s/week + cardio 2-3x’s/week. Because of a lumbar injury and shoulder impingement, I can’t do barbell squats nor much shoulder press work. Maybe HRT will help.

In any case, with this much bf on me now, I am insulin resistant, therefore, going low-carb (100g or less) is the mainstay for now. It has been impossible to add mass without adding twice as much bf.

I should also mention that I take thyroid meds (T3 and Armour Thyroid) for a hypothyroid condition.

So, the alternate day calorie restriction has worked great, however, I’m going to have to go even lower on my down day calories to lose more weight. I am at a standstill now at 170. If I could skip the weight loss and just switch to a recomp of 170 with 10%, I’d like that better, but that ain’t gonna happen. Another thing: the only way this works is if I keep track of every calorie.

Kcals & Macros:
refeed (maintenance) days: 2100-2300 kcals (55% fats, 30% protein, 15% carbs)
“fast” days: 750-850 kcals (70% protein, 15% fats, 5% carbs) - basically, a semi-protein-sparing modified fast. Of all the macros, I feel protein is most important. I average 135g/day which is just over 1g/lb of LBM. I consume a ton of supplements to offset the lack of micros on my “fast” day.

I appreciate your time and input to help me reach my goals. It’s been a long struggle.
[/quote]

Can you please post a photo? At the current bodyfat you mention,the first thing you want to do is lose bodyfat and get under 15% before going thinking about starting HRT .

By the sounds of it the keto and fasting isn’t working for you because you mention you are gaining fat.
“I thought I could eat without worrying about counting calories while on IF/keto. What a crock that is, I was only fooling myself. Maybe some with gifted metabolisms, perfectly-balanced hormones, and half my age can do that.” You are absolutely right about that. In order to lose fat you need to be in a calorie deficient state.

In order to help you better, please give me this info. What type of cardio are you doing? Since you aren’t squatting, I’m assuming dead lifts are out as well, can you give me an example of how your training looks? Current pictures? I want to see where the bodyfat actually is and not where you assume… Like i mentioned before I’m here to help not criticize so don’t be embarrassed or shy to post current pics, I want to help. List of current supplements? Where are your fat sources coming from?