FG - Are you running the GH without any form of test? I’m aware the test would still be in your system (depending on the ester) but shouldn’t you be running the GH protocol in conjunction with high test levels?
I’ll update:
I’m not three days out from my show (carbing up!). I tried dropping weight, I tell you I really did. I really did. But I’ll be damned if I’m not 214lbs and around 5%bf at this point! (Last update can be found 7 posts down on this page: Forums - T Nation - The World's Trusted Community for Elite Fitness when I was 221 at around 12%)
The results of this endeavor have been nothing short of phenomenal. I think I covered most of the positive aspects of the protocol over the course of this thread, so I don’t really have a lot to add there, but I will make a couple of observations:
I do notice an increased sensitivity to carbs recently. I don’t know if this has to do with the GH but I have a sneaking suspicion that it does. I now rather wish I’d followed all of those Metformin threads more carefully. I sometimes get extremely sleepy after eating carbs.
The joint enlargement was not in my head. At least in my knuckles, my wedding ring is nearly impossible to put on or take off now, and I will almost certainly have it resized. Watch band tightness did apparently stabilize, however.
Never got carpal tunnel. Very minimal bloating. May have had some issues with elevated prolactin but every time anything got a little strange I aggressively bumped up my AI and caber, so I never gave anything a chance to actually go bad, if it was going to.
Granted I’ve been on high amounts of many different AAS the entire time, along with a very good diet and training regime, but seriously, the fat loss combined with the muscle gain, jeez, it’s been about as close to the holy grail as you can get. And my diet was not nearly as strict as it probably should have been.
Overall, I cannot say it enough: Good. Good. Stuff.
I am in PCT so if anything my test levels are below normal right now so I am very happy with simply not losing mass and gaining fat. The fact that I am making any positive body comp changes is impressive.
to be honest I sort of fucked up my PCT on this cycle (due to some supply issues and my own trial and error of something with didn’t work out) so I am definitely not at optimal hormonal function right now. I am not too far below normal because everything is still working but just not like it usually does, i assume it is gonna take me a few weeks to get back to “normal” function.
as of today I am still sitting at about 235lbs which is the weight I was at when I came off the gear (after the 2 week clearance of the test e when the water retention went down…I was sitting at about 240lbs on cycle). I’m now on the 5th 8iu vial and I am looking a little leaner (maybe 9%bf which is down 1%) so I am very happy with the results so far. I plan on running the GH for about 6 months so I will be on cycle for the second half of it.
The pinched nerve thing is an issue though and if it doesn’t subside i might have to pull the plug and regroup.
[quote]Cortes wrote:
I’ll update:
I’m not three days out from my show (carbing up!). I tried dropping weight, I tell you I really did. I really did. But I’ll be damned if I’m not 214lbs and around 5%bf at this point! (Last update can be found 7 posts down on this page: Forums - T Nation - The World's Trusted Community for Elite Fitness when I was 221 at around 12%)
The results of this endeavor have been nothing short of phenomenal. I think I covered most of the positive aspects of the protocol over the course of this thread, so I don’t really have a lot to add there, but I will make a couple of observations:
I do notice an increased sensitivity to carbs recently. I don’t know if this has to do with the GH but I have a sneaking suspicion that it does. I now rather wish I’d followed all of those Metformin threads more carefully. I sometimes get extremely sleepy after eating carbs.
The joint enlargement was not in my head. At least in my knuckles, my wedding ring is nearly impossible to put on or take off now, and I will almost certainly have it resized. Watch band tightness did apparently stabilize, however.
Never got carpal tunnel. Very minimal bloating. May have had some issues with elevated prolactin but every time anything got a little strange I aggressively bumped up my AI and caber, so I never gave anything a chance to actually go bad, if it was going to.
Granted I’ve been on high amounts of many different AAS the entire time, along with a very good diet and training regime, but seriously, the fat loss combined with the muscle gain, jeez, it’s been about as close to the holy grail as you can get. And my diet was not nearly as strict as it probably should have been.
Overall, I cannot say it enough: Good. Good. Stuff.[/quote]
Good luck with your show Cortes…i know you can’t really win as a foreigner but i know you are just doing it for the sake of competiting and not for the hardware so I am sure you will get what you are looking for.
the fact that you have managed to get to this point and actually be competing with everything you’v got going on is pretty amazing.
make sure to get some good pics.
FG
[quote]Cortes wrote:
Granted I’ve been on high amounts of many different AAS the entire time, along with a very good diet and training regime, but seriously, the fat loss combined with the muscle gain, jeez, it’s been about as close to the holy grail as you can get. And my diet was not nearly as strict as it probably should have been.
[/quote]
Can you elaborate on these two points. What is a ‘very good’ diet that wasn’t as good as it should have been?
This may come across a bit rude, I do not mean it in that way. I am just curious. I’m not trying to talk down to you.
No problem DOH. On this site, the word “diet” is only exceeded in ambiguity by the phrase “body-fat.” 
Typically, I would eat egg white and oatmeal, for breakfast, lean steaks or sometimes chicken with veggies for most meals after that, along with post-workout yogurt/protein powder/fruits/oatmeal and plenty of fish oil and green food type stuff. And protein powder for when I didn’t have time to sit down and eat. However, there were quite a lot of times when I would eat chicken thigh instead of breast, or for some reason I developed this strong desire for ice cream sandwiches during this diet, and I ate quite a few of them in the first couple of months. We have these really yummy white rice dessert thingies here in Japan called O-Hagi, which I had for more of than I deserved. Also had some BIG cheat meals, like a couple of big assed indian food meals, or there were a few hot dog meals in there. It’s really hard to quantify, now that I sit down and try to do so, but I would say that I stuck strictly to my diet about 85% of the time, when I would have preferred to stick to it 95% of the time.
Despite all of this, my bodyfat just kept going down, and down and down. And, as my overall mass remained pretty well unchanged most of the time, as well, you can connect the dots and see what was happening. I guess I could REALLY look incredible if I had stuck more strictly to my diet (training was good, I think), but I was getting such excellent results that I guess maybe I was not fully motivated to, if that makes sense.
One more thing I forgot, I did almost zero cardio this time around, whereas I about killed myself with cardio two-a-days my first show (last year). Overall this was a much more pleasant experience (boo!! cheater!!!)
[quote]FuriousGeorge wrote:
Good luck with your show Cortes…i know you can’t really win as a foreigner but i know you are just doing it for the sake of competiting and not for the hardware so I am sure you will get what you are looking for.
the fact that you have managed to get to this point and actually be competing with everything you’v got going on is pretty amazing.
make sure to get some good pics.
FG[/quote]
Thanks for the support FG! Yes, as a whole, it’s been a very, err, ascetic experience (FG and I are referring to overall life issues, and not just this show).
Although I did find something out. I WILL be placing this year. Yeah, they told me when I was 5 weeks out. Thanks a lot for letting me know nice and early!!! I certainly would have been more serious overall had I known this.
That said, I still intend to make everyone else look tiny and weak 
I will, indeed, get pictures. Hopefully the new baby lets my wife take them!
Cortes,
Congrats on your fantastic dedication and results. I always appreciate reading your feedback and experiences.
I am curious if you have been following the new research Christian Thibaudeau and the Biotest crew have been buzzing about recently. The assertion is that pre-workout carbs is the way to go to maximise gains and minimize bodyfat. They are claiming amazing results spanning the gamut from strength, recovery, elimination of joint pain and steroid like growth from the new protocol. CT now asserts that post workout carbs are not required and suggests having a meal about 1 hour after training (or amino pulsing with Casein hydrolysate protein powder 1 hour after training and eating a meal 15 mins later).
No doubt you have a good feel for what works with your particular physiology, but these are interesting assertions from a pretty reliable source - CT.
[quote]Cortes wrote:
No problem DOH. On this site, the word “diet” is only exceeded in ambiguity by the phrase “body-fat.”
Typically, I would eat egg white and oatmeal, for breakfast, lean steaks or sometimes chicken with veggies for most meals after that, along with post-workout yogurt/protein powder/fruits/oatmeal and plenty of fish oil and green food type stuff. And protein powder for when I didn’t have time to sit down and eat. However, there were quite a lot of times when I would eat chicken thigh instead of breast, or for some reason I developed this strong desire for ice cream sandwiches during this diet, and I ate quite a few of them in the first couple of months. We have these really yummy white rice dessert thingies here in Japan called O-Hagi, which I had for more of than I deserved. Also had some BIG cheat meals, like a couple of big assed indian food meals, or there were a few hot dog meals in there. It’s really hard to quantify, now that I sit down and try to do so, but I would say that I stuck strictly to my diet about 85% of the time, when I would have preferred to stick to it 95% of the time.
Despite all of this, my bodyfat just kept going down, and down and down. And, as my overall mass remained pretty well unchanged most of the time, as well, you can connect the dots and see what was happening. I guess I could REALLY look incredible if I had stuck more strictly to my diet (training was good, I think), but I was getting such excellent results that I guess maybe I was not fully motivated to, if that makes sense.
One more thing I forgot, I did almost zero cardio this time around, whereas I about killed myself with cardio two-a-days my first show (last year). Overall this was a much more pleasant experience (boo!! cheater!!!)
[/quote]
Thanks for the reply Cortes.
You’re very helpful. Good luck with your show!
Can you lay out the revised protocol?
Cool. I can comply with my lady friend’s little knickers imbued with a dash of her sweet musk, but the cash is a deal breaker
BBB:
[quote]Cortes Wrote:
Pumps in the gym are just incredible. I feel like superman. Yes, a lot of this will be due to the AAS, but, much like the fat-loss above, there is something just a bit more going on, as I have used AAS for long enough at this point to be able to make a distinction. I do an IM shot of GH before training (all other shots are done IV) and sometimes I just have stop everything because the pumps are SO full and intense. It’s actually a problem at times, as I cannot spend as much time as I would like on deadlifts and such because the back pumps become so bad that they just cripple me.
[/quote]
So instead of the outline below, are you saying that the dosing schedule can be more routine (EOD) while still maintaining the benefits of pulsing? Would you still have some days of 4 x 3iu, 5 x 2iu and 6 x 2iu spread throughout the day. Also, what percentage of IV vs IM injections would be optimal?
A ‘BBing analogue’ would look something like this:
Day 1: 4 x 2iu spread throughout the day.
Day 2: Nothing
Day 3: nothing
Day 4: 5 x 2iu spread
Day 5: Nothing
Day 6: 4 x 2 iu spread
Day 7: Nothing
Day 8: Nothing
Day 9: Nothing
Day 10: 6 x 2iu spread
Day 11: Nothing
Day 12: 5 x 2 iu spread
Day 13: Nothing
Day 14: 4 x 2iu
Day 15: Nothing
Day 16: Nothing
Day 17: 6 x 2 iu spread
Day 18: Nothing
Day 19: Nothing
Day 20: 5 x 2iu spread.
Day 21: nothing.