Been nearly 2 years since I’ve maintained a regular lifting routine.
During the last year I’d really let it go with working from home (still doing so), building a home for family and the stress that came, eating like crap and regular alcohol consumption.
Wheww, I’m going to be judged here but I came for honest opinions so I’ve got to be honest with you all.
I’m 34
5’7 210lbs
Dexxa scan says 32% bf
I stopped TRT during this past year and level WAS 162ng/DL
I cleaned up my diet, doing some intermittent fasting and zero alcohol for over a month (honest).
Got back on trt same time and hitting the old school gym in town.
I’m currently using 250mg enanthate every 5 days and
50mg oxandrolone daily. Both are compounded and prescribed so Im not concerned with it being faked.
I’m 2 weeks in and planning on 10weeks total.
I should mention I had all labs and physical and all looked well except for the low T and cholesterol needed lowered. My primary care and hormone clinic said I was good to take the anavar for up to 12weeks?
In the past I have used test in small doses, and one oral dbol UGL run years ago. Saying my aas experience is relatively minimal.
If diet and training are good what would any of you expect from the initial 10weeks?
I’m feeling pretty good and optimistic I guess getting back on the wagon now I didn’t realize how far I’d fallen off till busting ass and seeing that mirror. It’s going to be a mind game for a bit.
I lost about 10lbs early on and after adding the oxandrolone+ test increase, the weight is staying consistent per scale.
Honestly, not a ton. But you will get far better results within the first couple months after a layoff than at any other time, so this is no reason to change your game plan.
You can probably recomp okay but for most people these results drop off quickly (around the 3 month mark). Still, it is possible for a short period - particularly when you first get back at it after a layoff.
I would recommend actually dieting as it seems you have some muscle, but are fairly high on the BF%
for far more detailed information than mine, this thread (Realistic TRT Recomp Progress) will hold a lot of answers you are probably looking for.
I could be mistaken with this logic too but I was thinking due to my high fat % if I rush the weight loss I would have some excess skin. Id like to get back around 185 ideally over a longer time frame.
Speaking with the experience of everyone who’s ever tried to lose weight ever, you won’t lose weight too fast lol. Going from 210 to 185ish won’t yield much, if anything, for excess skin. There is very little that can be done to avoid excess skin, but I don’t think you are at a point where that is a big concern (if you were 20-30lbs heavier, i would say this is more of a concern though).
so you’re averaging 2700cals per day? this is not much of a cut, but it is sustainable for sure - which is arguably more important than cut intensity. You can cut carbs out if you want, it makes counting macros easier - you just need to be able to manage re-incorporating carbs effectively when you eventually stop going no carbs (unless you’re expecting this diet to truly become a lifestyle.
This makes it sound that you are more interested in a cut, considering you’d need to lose 25lbs or so. Keep in mind that if your DEXA scan says 32% and you plan to lose 25lbs, this is only ~8%BF lost so you still won’t be that lean - but if that’s your goal, no issue.
You could always log your training here (Training Logs) if you were so inclined - get some more opinions than just mine… I’m just one dude and there’s a whole network of well-experienced members you could lean on
My thoughts come a little late into your “come back.”
IMO, I’d start TRT (around 160mg/wk) and ease back into a weight training routine and see what “muscle memory” gives you with a maintenance diet. When your strength plateaus, I’d start a slight deficit diet, like eliminating a 50 grams of carbs.
The next week start the 250mg/wk of testosterone and just 20mg/day of Anavar for 8 weeks. See if you can have strength progress the entire 8 weeks. If you haven’t plateaued continue 2 more weeks. If you have plateaued, go back on TRT for 8 weeks.
Then drop another 50 grams of carbs and restart 250mg/wk testosterone with 30mg/day of Anavar for 8 weeks this cycle.
This. I think it’s a terrible idea what you’re doing. For starters TRT is not something you cycle. If you NEED it, use it. But do it properly. Next… no way in hell should you touch anabolics without first setting yourself up in a program you will maintain, prove you can regain discipline, and get your habits in line first. I think you are doing yourself a disservice but you asked for honesty. You CAN do this with hard work and lifestyle changes. I believe it,… do you?
You’ve got enough body fat stored and are detrained enough to sustain this type of training for a while. But once the weights get heavy you are going to need those carbs for energy. Frankly I don’t see why everyone is so terrified with carbs these days. You need them just as much as you need the other macros.
Anyways, consistency is key in your case. Whatever you decide stick to it and have short and long term goals and a way to achieve them. Good luck.
Depends on what is good for you.
If you are able to do somne 3000kcal deficit by pumping out a few hours of cardio daily, the result would be good.
Doing the regular 500kcal deficit with no cardio bullshit, with the amount of fat you have now, there will be very little difference in photos after 10 weeks.
It is very individual because what some call training, others call warmup. What some call “cardio” others call “walking between the isles at the supermarket” and what some call a “calorie deficit” others call “mass diet”.
You can do a lot in 10 weeks and you can do very little. That will depends on how much you are willing to put in. In my experience, HOURS of cardio a DAY, is what determines the success of a cut. Or you can just fast for 2-3 days straight, then eat 1 day and back to fasting, if you are not willing to put in the time.
Another big mistake is wasting hours in the gym. You wont be growing so why waste time? An hour of strenght training burns like 10mins worth of calories on any cardio equipment.
You wont be growing so why waste time? An hour of strenght training burns like 10mins worth of calories on any cardio equipment.
What the fuck?
Did I seriously just read this?
This is shit advice.
If you think caloric output within a session (ie during the exercise) determines if success or not - you are not fit to give advice.
Resistance training has many benefits, namely maintaining muscle (probably the most important fucking thing in a cut), increasing BMR.
Hours of cardio? I hope VLISS, otherwise that is typical druggy advice.
Strength training burns more calories than cardio. There are numerous studies pointing to this fact. I’m not linking them here because I don’t feel like it. A simple google search will point you to the right direction.
In my experience being in a caloric deficit is what determines the success of a cut. Doing HOURS of cardio a DAY just makes you more hungry and want to eat more. It is my proposal that if you’re in an extreme deficit, the less cardio you do, the better off you’ll be, both mentally and physically.
In my experience, trying to maintain strength intensity and not volume while being in a deficit will give the best results if you want to maintain muscle while losing fat (though you’ll lose both muscle and fat, it’s just a matter of how much of what).
Hank, i appreciate your advice like 99% of the time, truly, but I think you are an outlier when it comes to dieting.
You’re the person who can eat an absolute fuckload of food daily without getting fat, which means that eating a standard diet for most people would yield a massive calorie deficit for YOU, but not for us normies lol.
You also have an active lifestyle, active job, constantly physical demands and some help from numerous AAS compounds - all of which lend a huge hand in how you are able to diet. Still, many people do not have these factors they can lean on, which makes your advice a bit misplaced for some. Most people don’t have the time, or ability, or will to pump out a few hours of cardio either.
Based on your lifestyle and standard calorie intake, you could starve yourself for 2 days and generate like 15,000-16,000 calorie deficit, meanwhile it would take me 4-5 days to do the same. I’m not saying it doesn’t work for you, I’m saying that you aren’t like most people (hardly a bad thing).
Hoping this doesn’t come off as disrespectful in any way
I was thinking the same thing. That tub, the overall open layout. The window may be a bit revealing? 9/10.
There are studies that lead one to believe all sorts of things, that in practice are not true. I don’t believe these studies. Cardio type exercise is better (by far) than resistance training for burning calories.
I do disagree with Hank though on the hours of cardio thing. I do agree that adding LISS most days of the week will improve results for most people trying to lose fat. The reason for that is that it makes hitting the required deficit easier for most people.
If I was giving OP advice, I would tell him to shoot for at least a 500 kcal deficit. Shoot for at least that, and if 1000 kcal deficit is there, I wouldn’t eat extra to be at only a 500 kcal deficit. 10 weeks of doing this will not have OP shredded. There is a lot of fat to lose, but the good news is that he can make drastic improvement, since he is currently pretty fat (no offense, you also have a lot of muscle).
I am aiming for this now and going to stick this out for 12 weeks.
Im basically trying to keep my ass moving most of the day and 5 high volume workouts a week.
Reflecting more I realize 10 weeks or whatever I had in mind isn’t long enough to make a dent. Im trending in the right direction and motivated again. I don’t have to look good for the beach or reunion or some unrealistic bs. Just gotta keep at it and play the wait game.
I am happy I posted tho bc I want to have some more accountability and share whatever progress is made in a few months.