Shadow Pro Q&A 2.0

Pharma
321

[quote]Tweeder wrote:

[quote]Shadow Pro wrote:

[quote]rhod wrote:
In the optimal setting of 6iu GH a day, do you split it up in two doses (morning 3iu, pwo 3iu) or would you do 6iu at once pre or post wo?

BTW I found humatrope, is it safe to say there is a higher chance of potency since it’s lyophilized with a separate mixing solution? My last batch was norditropin, and my blood work drawn 1 hour after 2iu injection was 248 IGF-1 which is lower than my standard IGF-1 I’ve had tested at different times throughout last year.[/quote]

6iu would be a minimum for muscle gains (I wouldn’t say optimal but it’s a good amount to grow)

If you’re dieting do 3iu on an empty stomach in the morning and 3iu 60-90min preworkout. For mass gaining purposes do it post workout and before bed (or middle of the night when you wake up to piss).

If it’s real humatrope (Lilly) then it’s the best GH that you can find. Your igf levels should be a lot higher than normal if it’s real GH. If you used another brand before and your igf levels were low then chances are it’s fake. [/quote]

What would be optimal? 8,9,10,12iu/day? I’m sure you have heard of the trend/protocol where people do 10iu EOD or 3x a week on a mass accrual phase. Do you think this was JUST with chinese stuff or have you heard of people doing it with Pharma GH? I have heard one guy from back in the day that was heavy in the scene/sport say 6iu EOD was considered a lot/living on the edge!(This is referring to the mid 90s)
Id be interested in looking into the prospect of 10iu Pharma EOD as opposed to 6-8iu daily.

My suggestion for testing IGF levels to the fella who inquired is take more than 2iu and test then. Try 4-6iu and see if IGF is in the 400-600 range.

Have you tried Genotropin or Norditropin? What are your thoughts? I remember previously you mentioned liking Humatrope and Serostim best.[/quote]

It’s hard to give an exact number, but I would say 10iu is a good start (although it’s a little rough on the bank account) I did 18iu for a few weeks and felt the best I ever felt in my life, amazing recovery and no aches or pains with a fuller look to the muscle… It was a bummer to go back down to my usual 8-10iu. I don’t believe it doing it every other day, I think you need it in your system at all times even at a small dose.

The only pros I know who are doing 6ius or less is because of the cost, I promise you if you offer them unlimited GH the dose would go up immediately.

I’ve tried these brands, they didn’t seem to be as good as the Serostim or humatrope but again there are a lot of fakes out there.

322

[quote]Reed wrote:
Do you believe that at some point gear no longer gives you additional gains just extra sides. Let me try to clarify. I have been told for years on this board and in person that there is little point in going to higher than 750-1000mg of Test because you just won’t see any addition gains only extra side effects. But, then there are people who say the real “magic” doesn’t even start until 2 or 3g is surpassed. What is your take on it? I have never ran more than 1g of a compound at a time sl this is strictly educational nor do I know if I could ever justify running that much.[/quote]

It’s hard to say so I’ll tell you my take on this based on my own experience over the years.

My rule is that everytime I hit a real plateau (a REAL plateau meaning even after manipulating diet, training & different types of gear). This is the time I increase my dosages and everytime I do this I have grown significantly.

Also, take into consideration I’m doing everything perfectly “by the book” taking out any other reasons or considerations for a plateau before deciding to increase my dosage. Saying this, I do believe your body is an adjustable tool… It will always get used to a certain dose and at this point it won’t be effective anymore in encouraging new growth.

So when you get to a true plateau you have two options:

  1. Get off juice and let your receptors clear.

  2. Increase the dose to continue seeing progress

For “normal” people I would always suggest option number 1 because even if they lose a bit while they’re off, they will gain everything back and more when starting again. For me, going back and losing muscle is not an option because I have some big freaks to keep up with so for the most part I’ll keep increasing the dose and only come off 1 time in the year.

323

I’m doing hgh serum testing tomorrow, apparently IGF-1 levels only elevate on longer term use. My 3 weeks of 2iu a day might not have been enough for a permanent elevation. The test is not expensive (45 bucks) so I’ll do this a few times with different sources of pharma gh to see which one are the real deal and which ones are fake.

@Tweeder
I have had a few Norditropin and the problem I see here is that they are pre-mixed. So this offers a lot of opportunity for the product to degrade before it gets to you (especially when shipped from overseas).

I just got a humatrope pen and the somatropin and mixing solution are separated, which I believe is a much better basis for having potent gh. So perhaps the preference is partially based on this too.

324

[quote]Shadow Pro wrote:

[quote]Tadeu Personal wrote:
Master Shadow, two quick questions for u:

  • I gonna take TEST-C Mon-Thu and HCG Mon-Wed-Fri, is there a problem if on monday I mix the TEST with the HCG since both will be injected in the glutes?

  • Sometimes I miss a meal for one reason or other and I try to compensate it by drinking a protein shake in the middle of the night… Do you think it would be beneficial to do it anyways everyday to help in recovery, building new tissue, etc? I always get up twice every night to take a piss and it would not be an issue like setting the alarm for 3AM or something…[/quote]

The HCG is suspended in water not oil, DO NOT mix water and oil together for an injection. You can do it in the same day but it has to be separate injections.

It depends on your diet, MAG-10 in the middle of the night is a good idea. I often do this in my off season.

[/quote]

thanks for the advice… will do that

325

Thank you, sorry my English is very bad,
good for the recovery clomid give much indesirrable effect and if not me, can you do a recovery without clomid, if yes what would be the best
thank you Shadow

326

Liking the new article shadow. Interesting read.

While some of the physique guys ride the ‘potentially natural’ line quite closely, some are just outrageous. I mean Mike O’hearn claims to be natural, dude is 270lbs on stage!

327

Well fuck me!

Just as well you post anonymously, you’re going to piss off a LOT of people with that article!

Good read though, and honestly I think anyone who would believe otherwise is very naïve. In a perfect world we’d just legalise AAS use for all sports and level the playing field. Guys could be open about their use and I bet we’d see less health problems too.

328

some how, some way, there would still be people bitching and moaning about something, like, “it’s not fair I have a phobia of needles!”

329

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Hello Shadow,

First of all thank you for a very informative and interesting thread, I have been following T-Nation for a while but have now decided to sign up because of you!

The reason I’m posting is I would really appreciate your advice/opinion on my diet and training In general. I am 19 years old (male) and I have been training for around a year now. I have stuck to a basic full body for the majority of the year gaining strength on compounds.

I have gone from weighing 120-140 pounds, but still a long long way off of my desired physique. My strength isn’t great, although I feel I could of made better progress if my diet was on point (something I’m still struggling with). Bench is at around 70kg for 3x5, squat 100kg 3x5 and deadlift 120kg 3x5 to give you an idea.

I am no longer concerned with strength and want to gain as much possible size. Although I hear size comes with strength…I have been training in the “hypertrophy” range (higher reps 8-12) for the last few months in order to try gain mass but noticed hardly any gains

As you can probably guess by my weight I find it hard to put on weight, and right now I feel like I’m stuck I’m a rut with regards to my diet and training! On top of this there is lots of contradicting information online, I don’t know how I should be eating or training!

I have attached pictures(not the best), please could you help me!

Thank you again.

330

[quote]rhod wrote:
I’m doing hgh serum testing tomorrow, apparently IGF-1 levels only elevate on longer term use. My 3 weeks of 2iu a day might not have been enough for a permanent elevation. The test is not expensive (45 bucks) so I’ll do this a few times with different sources of pharma gh to see which one are the real deal and which ones are fake.

@Tweeder
I have had a few Norditropin and the problem I see here is that they are pre-mixed. So this offers a lot of opportunity for the product to degrade before it gets to you (especially when shipped from overseas).

I just got a humatrope pen and the somatropin and mixing solution are separated, which I believe is a much better basis for having potent gh. So perhaps the preference is partially based on this too.[/quote]

That’s a great idea. When I did my tests I had already been on the pharma GH for a long time at a much higher dose so it made a large impact on my igf levels.

Let me know what you find out.

I prefer mixing it myself, it’s always hit and miss with the premixed. It can be exposed to extreme heat during shipping so it’s too much risk.

331

[quote]patrick34 wrote:
Thank you, sorry my English is very bad,
good for the recovery clomid give much indesirrable effect and if not me, can you do a recovery without clomid, if yes what would be the best
thank you Shadow[/quote]

Use nolvadex throughout the cycle and 5 weeks post cycle 40/40/40/20/20 and 2 bottles of AlphaMale

332

[quote]Pinkylifting wrote:
Liking the new article shadow. Interesting read.

While some of the physique guys ride the ‘potentially natural’ line quite closely, some are just outrageous. I mean Mike O’hearn claims to be natural, dude is 270lbs on stage! [/quote]

I think he’s making a lot of good money from the industry being a “natural” athlete, it must be all of his Magnum products, lol(absolute garbage). He’s a good dude and actually pretty smart, he’s one of the few people making money from the industry.

Think about it, if he competed as a pro he wouldn’t make a dollar from the IFBB stage… So he’s going about it the right way.

Damn, I’m mean today, someone must have taken my carbs away.

333

Shadow,

It may be a broad question and depends on the evolution, but I would like to share further nutrition changes:

Week 3

Meal 1
1.5 Mag-10
1 avocado

6 Indigo/6 Micro-PA 30’ before meal 2

Meal 2 preworkout
1 scoop whey CFM
1 tbsp organic butter
1/2 cup rice cream

Intraworkout
3 Plazma

Meal 3 post workout
6oz lean beef
2 cups basmati rice cooked
1 tbsp coconut sugar or manuka honey

Meal 4
6oz white fish
1 cup basmati rice

Meal 5
6 oz white meat
1 tbsp EVOO or organic butter

Meal 6
6 oz white meat
1 tbsp EVOO or organic butter

Week 4
meal 1, remove avocado
meal 4, remove 1 cup basmati rice

Week 5
meal 2, remove 1/4 cup cream of rice
Meal 3, remove 1/2 cup basmati rice

Week 6
T3,clen or eca

Week 7 to week 12
Build up T3,clen or eca and do nutritional assessments when reach plateau.
I keep training 7 days per week.

Am I right? the last thing to remove is Plazma from intra and make some tight adjustments week 11 or 12.

334

[quote]Yogi wrote:
Well fuck me!

Just as well you post anonymously, you’re going to piss off a LOT of people with that article!

Good read though, and honestly I think anyone who would believe otherwise is very naïve. In a perfect world we’d just legalise AAS use for all sports and level the playing field. Guys could be open about their use and I bet we’d see less health problems too.[/quote]

It’s not that I’m making millions from this so I might as well piss a few people off. If they ban me from the federation I’ll make my millions claiming I’m a natural athlete haha.

On no serious note. I agree with the legalization of AAS for professional sport, people are grown adults and can choose what to do with their bodies. I think Lance Armstrong contributed much more to society than any of these assholes at WADA would do in 10 lifetimes…

335

[quote]eatliftsleep wrote:
some how, some way, there would still be people bitching and moaning about something, like, “it’s not fair I have a phobia of needles!” [/quote]

I have a phobia of needles… A phobia that the pharmacy is going to stop selling them to me.

Anyone else get that deer in the headlights face from the pharmacist when you ask for these? Or the head shaking when you show them a prescription?

336

[quote]station95 wrote:
Hello Shadow,

First of all thank you for a very informative and interesting thread, I have been following T-Nation for a while but have now decided to sign up because of you!

The reason I’m posting is I would really appreciate your advice/opinion on my diet and training In general. I am 19 years old (male) and I have been training for around a year now. I have stuck to a basic full body for the majority of the year gaining strength on compounds.

I have gone from weighing 120-140 pounds, but still a long long way off of my desired physique. My strength isn’t great, although I feel I could of made better progress if my diet was on point (something I’m still struggling with). Bench is at around 70kg for 3x5, squat 100kg 3x5 and deadlift 120kg 3x5 to give you an idea.

I am no longer concerned with strength and want to gain as much possible size. Although I hear size comes with strength…I have been training in the “hypertrophy” range (higher reps 8-12) for the last few months in order to try gain mass but noticed hardly any gains

As you can probably guess by my weight I find it hard to put on weight, and right now I feel like I’m stuck I’m a rut with regards to my diet and training! On top of this there is lots of contradicting information online, I don’t know how I should be eating or training!

I have attached pictures(not the best), please could you help me!

Thank you again.[/quote]

Thanks for posting, I can help you out for sure.

Can you please post your current diet, supplementation and training program so I can see what you’re doing and make necessary adjustments.

337

[quote]Shadow Pro wrote:

[quote]station95 wrote:
Hello Shadow,

First of all thank you for a very informative and interesting thread, I have been following T-Nation for a while but have now decided to sign up because of you!

The reason I’m posting is I would really appreciate your advice/opinion on my diet and training In general. I am 19 years old (male) and I have been training for around a year now. I have stuck to a basic full body for the majority of the year gaining strength on compounds.

I have gone from weighing 120-140 pounds, but still a long long way off of my desired physique. My strength isn’t great, although I feel I could of made better progress if my diet was on point (something I’m still struggling with). Bench is at around 70kg for 3x5, squat 100kg 3x5 and deadlift 120kg 3x5 to give you an idea.

I am no longer concerned with strength and want to gain as much possible size. Although I hear size comes with strength…I have been training in the “hypertrophy” range (higher reps 8-12) for the last few months in order to try gain mass but noticed hardly any gains

As you can probably guess by my weight I find it hard to put on weight, and right now I feel like I’m stuck I’m a rut with regards to my diet and training! On top of this there is lots of contradicting information online, I don’t know how I should be eating or training!

I have attached pictures(not the best), please could you help me!

Thank you again.[/quote]

Thanks for posting, I can help you out for sure.

Can you please post your current diet, supplementation and training program so I can see what you’re doing and make necessary adjustments.
[/quote]

Honestly, I don’t have a set meal plan, but my diet is pretty consistent -

Breakfast - Muesli and scoop of syntha 6 whey

Morning snack - almonds and a piece of fruit (sometimes I don’t eat till lunch)

Lunch - chicken veg and carb source whatever I fancy

Dinner - whatever is made for me (I live with parents) but always a solid protein source and veg

Post workout - scoop of syntha 6 and something small like a PB sandwich

Currently doing a PPL routine 5-6 days a week generally focusing on a compound at the start of each workout them followed with 4/5 accessory exercises - I.e push would look like -

Overhead press heavy as I can for 6+ reps
Db bench 3x8-12
DB fly - 3x8-12
Machine chest press - 3x8-12
Dips a few sets to failure
Tris to finish

Currently only supplements I’m using are whey protein (BSN syntha 6) and a multivitamin. Sometimes a pre workout (actually a lot lately been feeling super tired after work)

Appreciate the advice. I feel like a little bit of guidance could massively help me get on track!

338

Hello Shadow,
I plan to do my first treatment, I was advised to take an oral, oral tbol but what is the best dosage for the oral not the liver suffers too? which lasted? my goal dry mass
my weight is 80kg with 15% BF, go to 85kg remaining low in BF

339

[quote]station95 wrote:

[quote]Shadow Pro wrote:

[quote]station95 wrote:
Hello Shadow,

First of all thank you for a very informative and interesting thread, I have been following T-Nation for a while but have now decided to sign up because of you!

The reason I’m posting is I would really appreciate your advice/opinion on my diet and training In general. I am 19 years old (male) and I have been training for around a year now. I have stuck to a basic full body for the majority of the year gaining strength on compounds.

I have gone from weighing 120-140 pounds, but still a long long way off of my desired physique. My strength isn’t great, although I feel I could of made better progress if my diet was on point (something I’m still struggling with). Bench is at around 70kg for 3x5, squat 100kg 3x5 and deadlift 120kg 3x5 to give you an idea.

I am no longer concerned with strength and want to gain as much possible size. Although I hear size comes with strength…I have been training in the “hypertrophy” range (higher reps 8-12) for the last few months in order to try gain mass but noticed hardly any gains

As you can probably guess by my weight I find it hard to put on weight, and right now I feel like I’m stuck I’m a rut with regards to my diet and training! On top of this there is lots of contradicting information online, I don’t know how I should be eating or training!

I have attached pictures(not the best), please could you help me!

Thank you again.[/quote]

Thanks for posting, I can help you out for sure.

Can you please post your current diet, supplementation and training program so I can see what you’re doing and make necessary adjustments.
[/quote]

Honestly, I don’t have a set meal plan, but my diet is pretty consistent -

Breakfast - Muesli and scoop of syntha 6 whey

Morning snack - almonds and a piece of fruit (sometimes I don’t eat till lunch)

Lunch - chicken veg and carb source whatever I fancy

Dinner - whatever is made for me (I live with parents) but always a solid protein source and veg

Post workout - scoop of syntha 6 and something small like a PB sandwich

Currently doing a PPL routine 5-6 days a week generally focusing on a compound at the start of each workout them followed with 4/5 accessory exercises - I.e push would look like -

Overhead press heavy as I can for 6+ reps
Db bench 3x8-12
DB fly - 3x8-12
Machine chest press - 3x8-12
Dips a few sets to failure
Tris to finish

Currently only supplements I’m using are whey protein (BSN syntha 6) and a multivitamin. Sometimes a pre workout (actually a lot lately been feeling super tired after work)

Appreciate the advice. I feel like a little bit of guidance could massively help me get on track!
[/quote]

Pinkylifting posted an article with a training program called the strong bodybuilder, it’s a few pages back. You can give this a try, it is a good mix of strength and hypertrophy work that would work well for you.

As for your diet, it’s kind of all over the place… Try something like this.

Meal 1: 1 cup oats, 10 egg whites, 1 scoop protein powder (get your parents to buy the cartons of egg whites), 1tbsp mct oil.
Meal 2: MAG-10 (1.5servings)
Meal 3: 6-8oz of chicken or white fish, 1cup rice, 1/2 avocado
Meal 4: intraworkout: 3 servings Plazma
Meal 5: MAG-10 (1.5servings)
Meal 6: 6-8oz of lean steak, 1.5cups of rice OR 10oz of potato, 1/2 avocado

340

[quote]yona34 wrote:
Hello Shadow,
I plan to do my first treatment, I was advised to take an oral, oral tbol but what is the best dosage for the oral not the liver suffers too? which lasted? my goal dry mass
my weight is 80kg with 15% BF, go to 85kg remaining low in BF[/quote]

Can you give me some more info about yourself. Your history of training, diet, supplementation etc… And post a current picture then I can help you better.

Thanks.