"Old" newbie looking for test cyp advise from vets

[Zyglamail]

I've just been in an extreme lean phase prior to moving into a bulking phase, I needed it, I needed to shed body fat from late night snacks and crappy overall diet on the run.

I'm "basically" following the initial phase of the P90x program taken a bit to the extreme and since I have not hit a "bonk" and I've had the energy to continue, I've kept it there and kept shedding the lbs.

My typical diet includes instant oatmeal for breakfast, protein drink mid-morning, turkey or roast beef on whole wheat roll with mayo and lettuce for lunch (no chips or anything else), then protein shake mid-afternoon, then usually mahi, grouper or cod with a bag of either steamed broccoli or green beans, then a protein drink right before bed.

I've really gotten used to this diet and it's working, but know I will need to re-introduce red meat, lots more chicken with egg white omlets and turket bacon.

I think I can adjust my diet and eat the required protein/carbs/good fats and meet the 3k plus calories goal and I no longer have any bad eating habits, so it's just upping everything I'm already eating and introducing more red meat and chicken along with good carbs.

on some days I will substitue the turkey for chicken and even more rarely I will substitute lean roast beef and I will also throw in pasta 3x a month or so for dinner instead of fish, but I really love fish.

If your diet is really as clean as you say then your in good shape. You cant overlook the power of homeostasis though. You body will adjust to survive and that means famine as well. If you cut cals too much for too long your bodies metabolism will slow down. Thats why when dieting its always recommended to shoot for just a couple pounds a week to try and avoid your body from slowing its metabolism.

In addition to that use workouts that offer prolonged fat burning benefits like HIIT/tabata cardio or simply do xfit workouts, they will have you burning fat for up to 24 hours after a workout which P90x just isnt gonna do.

 

[d_rson]

It sounds like you came here for advice, but continue to defend your position. 1700 cals are too low, period. You need to do research on diets and get that in place.

And again, what are your goals?

 

[JimboNewbie]

i'm confused why everyone thinks P90x is cardio intense...having completed it, I can tell you that there is days of cardio in the program, but most days are not cardio intense.

There are days, like plyometrics and kenpo which are ALL cardio, but the others are a series of 12-20 exercises over 60 minutes with 8-10 reps to failure on target areas.

I've not been on here long enough and don't have the experience to start arguing with anyone, but I'm convinced (at this moment in time), that the 60 minutes spent with the chests and back, sholders and arms, legs and back, core synergistics, chest, holders and tri's, back and biceps and ap ripper x, if done correctly, WITH the correct weight, is an intense program. I't's absolutely NOT for building extreme mass, but that isn't one of my goals.

Zyg, not looking for the magic bullet, looking for that drive to push me to consistently use the wieght, and up the weight which forces me to failure at 8 reps and at 43, I thought this would help, not do it for me. I've been doing it the entire program, but my failure wieght now has peaked and is no longer increasing.

I would put my intensity and drive against most men my age, and I do understand there are FREAKS out there that are 55 that can run circles around me.

Also, my running of the last 5 months or so has been nothing but plug-in 3 mile runs, to get some additional cardio, so no longer doing those long endurance runs because my knees are not going to take the miles.

 

[JimboNewbie]

d_rson, I'm not defending my current diet, I fully intend to up my intake PRIOR to taking on any cycle and i thought my goals were clearly stated I'm not understanding your post.

 

[d_rson]

And again, what are your goals?

Last time I'm going to ask. Gain muscle, lose weight, lose lot of weight, gain strength without weight gain...Specific - what are your goals.

 

[JimboNewbie]

If I had to choose one of the goals you've listed, I would have to choose gain strength with moderate gains with definition.

I'm in the public and known in my business, in the end, I really want slow retainable definition and growth once I come off-cycle.

I've lost the extra weight, gained definition, and a Primo/HGH cycle sounds best to me, but in my position, I've ruled out my ability to get good verifiable primo, so this stated cycle was my second choice based on my admitted limited knowledge, so I posted to get feedback on my thought process.

 

[Zyglamail]

i'm confused why everyone thinks P90x is cardio intense...having completed it, I can tell you that there is days of cardio in the program, but most days are not cardio intense.

There are days, like plyometrics and kenpo which are ALL cardio, but the others are a series of 12-20 exercises over 60 minutes with 8-10 reps to failure on target areas.

I've not been on here long enough and don't have the experience to start arguing with anyone, but I'm convinced (at this moment in time), that the 60 minutes spent with the chests and back, sholders and arms, legs and back, core synergistics, chest, holders and tri's, back and biceps and ap ripper x, if done correctly, WITH the correct weight, is an intense program. I't's absolutely NOT for building extreme mass, but that isn't one of my goals.

Zyg, not looking for the magic bullet, looking for that drive to push me to consistently use the wieght, and up the weight which forces me to failure at 8 reps and at 43, I thought this would help, not do it for me. I've been doing it the entire program, but my failure wieght now has peaked and is no longer increasing.

I would put my intensity and drive against most men my age, and I do understand there are FREAKS out there that are 55 that can run circles around me.

Also, my running of the last 5 months or so has been nothing but plug-in 3 mile runs, to get some additional cardio, so no longer doing those long endurance runs because my knees are not going to take the miles.

First and foremost you have to understand what cardio means. It means different things to different people.

Aerobic conditioning (which is most of what p90x cardio workouts are) is counterproductive to adding strength and size.

P90X's anerobic workouts (like plyo) is more anerobic BUT its too long so intensity drops and it reduces the overall effectiveness of the workout in terms of producing metabolic changes.

The lifting routines are biased toward isolation exercises. Isolation exercises do NOT stimulate a systemic whole body hormonal response like compound heavy lifts do.

The above 3 reasons are why you are not getting any stronger, the program is not designed for long term, elite strength and endurance building period.

I understand what you are after because I am about the same age. At 35 yr's old I was 5'10 and 265 at about 12% bf which is a pretty respectable size. Now in my young 40's I simply do not want to be that big, I want more endruance both aerobic and anaerobic so instead of spending an hour and a half simply pushing weights, I spend about 20 minutes concentrating on a heavy compound movements (oly lifts) and then run through an xfit style metcon which takes anywhere from 3 to 20 minutes or so. I know xfit isnt real popular around here because a lot of folks here strive for size and I can respect that, I did once as well when I was younger but my goals have changed. You sacrifice strength and/or size for cardio. You dont see many super lean power lifters. You dont see many bodybuilders that are as strong as a powerlifter and neither of them have the cardio conditioning of a triathlete. All of the above folks have goals and train specifically for them, you cant have it all and this is why d_rson keeps asking you for specific goals.

Now, another reason your likely not gaining strength is because your cals are too low. You cant lay down great track times in a car with no gas and you cant build muscle if you dont have the fuel for your muscles. After that, as I outlined above, p90X is not optimally designed to build aerobic, anerobic or strength/size. Sure, it does an OK job but in reality its a poor substitute for a xfit style workout.

So at the end of the day you can add some juice and cals and likely progress a bit more with p90x but your still going to dead end progress with a lot of room for improvement because you are limited by the p90x training. I will admit, p90x is not easy if you are out of shape but in the training world its really a bicycle on training wheels.

Also, at your age, if you are serious about using AAS I would highly consider going on hormone replacement therapy. You dont need to have test below lab minimum, it will be legal and doctor guided, human grade hormones and your bloodwork will be monitored. The amount of test your looking to run is not out of line which what you may be able to get via HRT.