So I have an unusual body. I’m currently at 20% body fat but all of it is accumulate at the belly. I mean everything. My arms have definition, chest, legs except for the belly.
I’ve been training for 18 months and happy with everything except for the gut. I’ve started a test/ primo cycle to get rid of this crap. My exercise and diet are on point. At the moment doing 5 days lifting and 5 days cardio ( 20 minutes).
Years ago I had gyno surgery so I aromatise easily. Question is shall I add some AI into the programme? I’ve been researching that 0.5 armidiex twice a week should keep my E2 under control.
I live in the UK so an estrogen sensitivity test is not a viable option unless I go private. Perhaps further into the cycle but in the mean time what does this forum suggest? I’m two weeks into the cycle have not experienced any issues but understand it’s still early. Want to prevent any issues further down the line.
I agree. Trust me I’m on deficit and eating enough protein. The way I see it increasing my muscle will increase calories burnt per day and instead of losing fat and muscle without steroids I will focus just on the fat with steroids.
My cycle at the moment is 500mg test / 400mg primo on a 20 week cycle. Introduce anavar for the last 8 weeks.
I know you didn’t ask for it, but most of the time i see wording like this - its to cover the problem… so I’m going to poke.
What are your daily macro goals?
What exactly have you eaten the last 3 days, include food weight please.
In other words: you’re using gear to preserve muscle during a cut.
Do i have that right?
Only critiques i have are:
-Lower test to whatever dose you’ve been able to tolerate without AI. You don’t want to exacerbate this issue. Probably under 200mg for you (guessing, id start with 150 if i were you).
-What is your PCT plan? Or are you going back to TRT?
Don’t really have a pct plan, yet. What I do have is a year plan and will be doing a blast and cruise in that year.
I’ve gone with this ratio because primo 400mg is a semi decent dose and to not screw my E2 I’ve ensured I’ve got slightly more test.
How would I know if I need add an ai? Some people don’t experience any symptoms. Right?
What do you think about ratio test : primo.
On my mobile so reading your response in pieces.
Breakfast: Whey powder with cereal (100g) Almost pure fiber.
Lunch: 400 grams of chicken with a portion carbs. Usually 100g of rice or sweet potato.
Evening: fish with salad.
Don’t have the macros at hand but I’m having 2400 in calories.
Yes mate.thats the idea preserve muscle during a cut and hit that fat tyre from all angles.
You would know because you’d be experiencing symptoms
I think as long as you’ve got enough test to not crash estrogen, you can run primo however high or low you want… the two would act quite independently.
I would consider going even higher on protein when you blast as you can utilize more of it.
My eyeball macro/calorie counter is telling me that food intake looks light for 2400 calories unless you’re missing some foods on your list, so if you aren’t weighing/tracking that, i strongly suggest doing so.
But assuming I’m wrong, your calorie count seems okay for your goal, so long as you aren’t very light weight. If you arent seeing bodyweight change by about 1lb per week, you’ll want to cut calories further - or add more cardio.
This isn’t that unusual. I am shredded everywhere but my belly. I have an okay six pack, but everywhere else is leaner. Guys tend to store more in their belly than women.
A few guys are lucky, and have more even body fat distribution. I think this is a minority though. It is IMO a large genetic benefit. There are a few guys that I know that have this lucky trait. They get to have abs at a higher body fat level. Not only that, but they get the abs with bigger arms and legs to go with it (since they are storing a bit more fat there).
I don’t think estrogen is the reason why you store fat on your belly BTW. It is just genetics.
Do you have high estrogen symptoms? Don’t mess with an AI until you do.
If you do, my recommendation is to start really low with the AI. I’d start with half of what you propose (0.25 mg of Adex twice a week). See if that dose relieves all symptoms. If so, keep it there. If not, then try the 0.5 mg twice a week.
People tend to underestimate how strong Adex is. I think part of that is that the tabs come standard at 1 mg each. The issue here is those were not designed for men on steroids. They were designed for treating women with breast cancer, with the goal of eliminating almost all estrogen. So women with breast cancer are taking 1 mg/day of Adex, and they almost always feel terrible during this treatment.
get a fasting insulin test. it should be below 5.
I am currently 25% BF, and as you all around belly, arms/legs/chest are low fat.
if your fasting insulin is high you need to address metabolic health. a large dose of oatmeat in the AM won’t help you with that.
I would suggest a reduced carb diet with mainly red meat some fruit/honey around the workouts. I had good results on this (still in process)
Starchy foods, rice, grains, carbs are all bad for diabetes. Get rid of seed oils while you’re at it. The perfect diet for somebody with diabetes is a carnivore diet, because there’s no carbs.
You can think of type 2 diabetes as, excessive carbohydrate syndrome. I’d much rather have my body use fat for fuel, because it helps me lose weight, while cutting carbs out of my diet.
definitely kill seed oils + animals which convert grains into linoleic acid, like chicken/pork.
the cow magically does not do that.
I used to be pure carnivore/keto, but what I learned that carb injections, coming from fruit/honey/maple syrup around workouts are super beneficial. my fasting glucose went from 100 to 70 when I added some ‘good’ carbs around breakfast/lunch and my a1c + fasting insulin improved.
insulin spikes are beneficial for muscle growth too.
if you already have diabetes, going pure carnivore for some time might a good thing too
As always, you get blood work, and if e2 is high, matched with symptoms you can’t live it, then you can consider taking an AI.
I would not take anything that alters your e2 levels without assessing with blood work first. Side effects you “think” are e2 related are often caused by something else.
