I’m 26 I’ve been lifting for a year and a half. I have schizophrenia. Would it be a bad idea to start a cycle with a chronic mental health condition? Im on TRT and it’s been making me feel much better.
IMO, it is a poor choice to start a cycle of AAS with only a year and a half training. You need to consider the risk/benefit of using AAS.
You don’t appear to be responding exceptional to weight training. How would you rate your strength? Are you capable of bench pressing your weight 10 reps? Squatting one and half times your weight 10 reps? Doing 20 pull-ups or chin-ups?
Use of AAS should be a well thought out decision. I have a opinion not shared by many, but it is my opinion that AAS should only be used for those competing in bodybuilding and/or powerlifting. If you’re not competing, why take the risk?
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My strength isn’t that bad but needs improvement. I weigh 165lbs
Bench 205lbs 3x5
Squat 265lbs 3x5
Pull ups 3x8 25lbs
Deadlift 325lbs 3x6
OHP 115lbs 3x6
Also, I’ve been cutting all this time so I lost a lot of weight but didn’t gain much muscle mass.
I started TRT 6 weeks ago
Please don’t start a cycle. Introducing a supra-physiological amount of androgens into your system might exacerbate your condition or affect it in unforeseen ways. You wrote that conventional TRT has been making you feel much better, so ride that horse.
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I’d recommend you do TRT for at least a year.
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trt…
This. At 6 weeks you are just starting to reap the benefits. Ride the TRT wave for a good long time and make sure you are dialed in. That would be the smart thing for anybody let along someone with a mental health condition that could be exacerbated by supraphysiological hormone levels.
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what are your goals?
what exactly did you eat yesterday?
what exactly does training look like each week?
what do you think starting a cycle will do for you?
I’ve been cutting this whole time. I haven’t had a chance to eat at maintenance or bulk. Should my progress be better considering I’ve been cutting?
Has your strength progress been steady, even if it is a little slow? If so, I’d try maintenance a few months to see if your strength keeps increasing.
If your strength has been stagnant, or dropping, I’d recommend a very slow bulk. You don’t want to put right back on the fat you lost.
Bench 185lbs 3x5 to 200lbs 3x5
Squat 245lbs 3x5 to 265lbs 3x5
Deadlift 265lbs 3x6 to 325lbs 3x6
This was over a year and a half. I lost 45lbs.
I think I can try maintenance for a little while
What is your height?
What is your TRT protocol?
Training protocol?
IMO judging by your picture you don’t need to lose more weight. What you do need is to add muscle by eating at maintenance or a very small surplus to fuel recovery and build muscle. Sorry if I come of as harsh but the progress of the main lifts in a year and a half isn’t too impressive. ‘Only’ 60 pounds on the DL and 20 pounds added to your squat in a year and a half? It’s not good but it can be attributed to a number of factors - you were cutting the whole time, you had low T, your training program may have been lacking for a novice…
I would resonate all the others by telling you to stick to your TRT dose and monitor your progress for at least another year or two. If progress is being made while on TRT and eating at maintenance there really is no good reason to add other compounds to the mix that may or may not help bring you a bit closer to whatever goal it is you wish to achieve but will most likely have certain side effects that you will need to manage.
In other words, milk your TRT progress, optimize your training program, diet and recovery and see where you are 2 years from now.
I’m 5’9. I take 100mg testosterone a week. I’m doing Fierce 5 Upper Lower. Thank you for your advice, I will try to eat at maintenance until I stop progressing.
It’s not a bad program but if I was doing it I would switch to the regular deadlift instead of the Romanian deadlift. The RDL is more of a supplemental exercise for the regular deadlift that intermediate and advance lifters use to help them through sticking points in the deadlift. Also for the heavy compound lifts I’d take a good 5-8 minutes rest between sets if they feel heavy. You’ll make faster progress. It’s hard to add weight to your DL if you’re resting only 60-90 seconds as per the program between sets of 8.
Do you have any recent bloodwork to see what your numbers are with this protocol? I’m assuming you are taking Test cypionate or enanthate?
Yes I do regular deadlifts instead of RDL. My testosterone level was 1360 ng/dl. I was tested the day after injecting. I’m taking cypionate
You should be testing at trough, right before your next injection.
Testing at peak isn’t very useful and is short-lived.
IMO, barbell cleans or high pulls are superior to deadlifts. Most here will disagree with me, but I like the additional shoulder recruitment.
I never tried deadlifts until the day I decided to try competitive powerlifting.
My opinion is that one should test in the middle of their injections. It eliminates guys fooling themselves about their levels better than trough.