Hey, hoping to get some actual words from firsthand experience here.
I’m 33, 5’11”, 220lbs. Arms are 18”. Im built with kinda a wide shoulder frame.
I’ve lifted on and off regularly since I was 16. I was a high level athlete so I know how to train. Even now in my current state which I think is weak I can still get on the bench and rep 315 for 5 or more
Here’s where I’m at:
With age each year I just kinda keep loosing enthusiasm to really train hard. I’m getting married this August, and considering doing a cycle to hopefully give me the boost to look my best physically.
Goal is to hit 19” arms and would be nice to get back to a 405 bench (I did tho is natty when I was 24 and weighted only 195)
I have the test literally sitting here staring at me and I’m too chickenshit to use it. I’m so paranoid about not being able to have kids after or some crazy shit like that. Idk what I’m looking for really, just in my mind I feel like test will make me feel better and train better. I’m just so paranoid about sides.
Btw I’ve read an infinite amount of articles on here and other places on the internet. All it’s done is make me more indecisive
Looking forward to an educated response
If your mentally not prepared then I would wait until you are. You obviously have reservations. You shouldn’t be asking if you should. You should be askin gfor advice on how to proceed.
At 33 your natty test levels are prob still decent. If you do proceed you need to understand that they may not come back to where they are now.
Why not get bloods to see where you are currently?
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Thanks for the quick response. And I agree with you.
As far as labs, should I just be doing a total testosterone test?
Does your future spouse know you’re contemplating this? Is your future spouse ok being married to someone that uses steroids? Do THEY want you to look this way for them?
These are the questions I’d ask myself in this situation.
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You seem to be physically genetically gifted to grow muscle. Most all of us would welcome your genetics.
But, what comes easy is sometimes not valued. You have everything but the drive to be among the very best.
My advice is to stay completely natural until you get the fever to excel. And I mean a bad case of the “I just gotta be the best that I can be!”
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I would run a full hormone panel at minimum.
If it was me I would also run full bloodwork to make sure there is nothing out of line. If there is you can take steps to fix that first prior to taking anything should you decide to.
I would be curious what natural testosterone a person has who can bench press double their body weight. Please get free testosterone levels too, as many say that is the only testosterone that builds muscle.
I believe that muscle building genetics is much more than just testosterone levels.
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This was the reason i chose to wait to use TRT. Had my first kid, then went on TRT. When we wanted a second, i used HCG for several months, wife got pregnant. We were ok, whether we had a third, or not, so i didn’t use HCG, still got wife pregnant.
Not everyone becomes fully infertile on Test, but if this is even a small worry, I would wait, especially if you are having reservations.
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Thanks for the concern. Spouse and I already talked about it, she is a bit skeptical but OK with if I use or not. She her remembers how I looked when we first got together a decade ago, I think she’s also curious of the gear can help me get close to that again haha
Proceed with caution. If you get the competitive bodybuilder bug, that “bug” is a jealous bitch. She demands that she come first.
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I hear you here. I know I’m not quite dedicated enough. In my head I was thinking gear could be a crutch for me not giving my absolute all how I used to.
I just changed up my lifting routing for the month of February. Going higher intensity and seeing if I can keep it up for the entire month and make any notable progress. Last year I went pretty hard and made it to 18.5” arms and then kinda just plateaued with my physique
As far as the test I have here. Can it be stored and used later?? Is there a shelf life on this stuff unopened?
I can’t imagine there exists a bodybuilder that doesn’t have to deal with plateaus. The successful ones work their way through the plateaus, as often and as long as they get.
There was a guy that was about my size and seemed very similar genetics. Once he hit a plateau he would lose interest and quit working out. He would be gone for 6 months or so. He would return noticeably smaller. Then he would make rapid progress toward his previous best shape. People would ask him what his secret was for putting on muscle quickly. But once he faced the plateau, he predictably lost interest and quit lifting weights. Only to return… and so on, and so on. (His secret wasn’t actually a secret. It was the miracle of muscle memory)
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I just ordered a comprehensive testosterone labs. I’ll get results next week to post on here and go from there.
Thanks everyone for the helpful insights
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In a nutshell… this is me the last 15 years
then don’t. do it naturally. you’ll get here it just takes more time/effort to get your 19".
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Got labs in. I did through my medical provider so maybe not all the necessary labs were done, but it was free so 
. Looks like the “hormone panel” was just total testosterone and thyroid stimulating hormone. Not sure what these mean. Probably that I’m an average healthy dude lol
If anyone sees something worth mentioning feel free to chime in.
Testosterone: 461 ng/dl
Thyroid (tsh): 2.2 ulu/ml
Lipids:
TriG- 64
Hdl- 66
LDL- 13
Blood:
WBC- 4.8
Rbc- 5.25
Hgb- 15.5
Hhr- 46%