Am I ready for a cycle?

[fat1]

I am 36, 5'7", 155#. My journey started 2 years ago at 230#. Old fashioned eat less + work more = get small, took 9 months to lose 80#, I have kept it off for the last 18 months. My regimen has been less than 2000 cals per day and weight training 6 days a week WITH cardio 45 mins (climbing actual stairs with weighted backpack) for the last 2 years. A few months ago I bought a power rack and hopped on to the allpro routine full body 3x week with the carido on off days and for half the duration. Overall I am pretty solid except the midsection has some loose skin and a permanent (I think) bulge from several abdominal surgeries.

It is nearly impossible to accurately measure body fat with all this loose skin but based on some pictures of other people I would safely say 15-17%.

My strength numbers are pretty low (due to the low cal diet for years) and are somewhat out of whack considering I just started squatting a couple months ago but here are my 10RM if it is all relevent. The big 4 are:

Squat 180
bench 130
Deadlift 150
OHP 65

I should also disclose I was formerly hyperthyroid and took radioactive iodine, I am now recently diagnosed hypothyroid (high TSH levels) but am awaiting results for free T3 before beginning any medication.

Once all that is sorted am I a good candidate for a basic test cycle? My goal is to be about 170 at 10%-12%. I want people to know I work out. I don't want to cycle on and off for the rest of my life, I see conflicting info about being able to keep gains but since I believe I am well below my genetic potential I would like to get there and then continue to put in the work to stay there as I have the last 2 years. Is it possible? Is it realistic? I am no better than anyone else so I have to imagine the benefits are so great and the feelings so rewarding that it is natural instinct to want to continue cylcing so there is always that aspect of it. Please advise.

if it is advisable that I would be a good candidate, what would a good basic cycle look like? Obviously I would like to minimize the number of required chemicals being acquired and introduced but the must haves. I don't know why but I feel strongly with no evidence whatsoever that I will be prone to gyno and acne. The former is obviously unacceptable but the latter can be dealt with. Thank you for your time.

 

[stevesmi]

no you need to build a base. your lifts are less than my warm up

 

[fat1]

I agree, I need to eat more, I think once I get the thyroid sorted out I will be able to do that. Right now if I up my weekly calorie total from say 14k to 19k I gain about 3 lbs and an inch on my waistline. The weight I have no concern for, I monitor the waistline mostly and cannot tolerate an increase. I think most of that is all mental but I dont think a 32" waistline at 170# is unobtainable even without gear.

 

[25homes]

Def need to build base. . Could run sarms triple stack from sarms1 but no aas

 

[Zyglamail]

I agree, I need to eat more, I think once I get the thyroid sorted out I will be able to do that. Right now if I up my weekly calorie total from say 14k to 19k I gain about 3 lbs and an inch on my waistline. The weight I have no concern for, I monitor the waistline mostly and cannot tolerate an increase. I think most of that is all mental but I dont think a 32" waistline at 170# is unobtainable even without gear.

I agree you need to build more mass/strength naturally.

Your clow, steady state cardio is also not ideal. Some long steady state is fine but it should not be your staple. You need some high intensity interval cardio.

As far as your thyroid goes you need a comprehensive supplement plan, iodine and selenium are crucial for proper thyroid operation.

 

[fat1]

The cardio is down to 2 or 3 days per week and only for 20 minutes vs 45. The overall volume of work has been reduced and is organized into a better program than what I was using the 2 previous years. Right now I have been working on eating more to build mass/strength. I will run a few more cycles of allpro before switching over to 5x5. Diet is pretty clean and on point, adding cals gets tough as mentioned before but is something I am working on. Thank you all for the advice so far

 

[broscience]

Your not ready at all yet to use aas. Please dont think about using aas u til you have built a strong foundation. That foundation consists of:
Lifting consistently and reaching plateaus and breaking them and reaching a point where natural causes cant get you to pass those plateaus anymore
AND
Learning how to eat correctly and discipling yourself to diet accordingly to your goals.
The ladder is harder said then done and it takes alot of people some real soul searching til they finally have the discipline to diet correctly.

After thats in place your ready to RESEARCH about anabolic compounds.

After you research and ask people on the forum and gain a good some good knowledge then your one step closer.

Money: if your money aint right and your going to half ass it then dont even think about it. Go take some creatine and a hamburger and call it a day chief.

Thats all i gotta say about that
Sent from my SCH-I605 using EliteFitness

 

[RickRock13]

Yeh, nowhere near ready at this point bro. Just keep hitting it naturally and eating right to build a good natural base

 

[dylangemelli]

you definitely are not even close to being ready as everyone else has stated... you have a lot of work to do... you need to get yourself in the proper condition for all of this... what you can do is start off with a sarms cycle to help you get moving in the right direction... read my articles here Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMS) - Evolutionary.org... here is the stack

1-12 Ostarine 25 mg day dosed once a day in the a.m. SARMS1.COM - The best Selective androgen receptor modulators
1-12 S4 50 mg day... split doses... 25 mg in the a.m. and 25 mg in the p.m. SARMS1.COM - The best Selective androgen receptor modulators
1-12 GW-510516 (CARDARINE) 10-20 mg day… dosed all at once 30 minutes before workout… SARMS1.COM - The best Selective androgen receptor modulators
5-12 HcGenerate n2bm.com
1-12 “liquidex" n2bm.com
1-12 Yohimflame n2bm.com
3-7 9-12 Albuterol 12-18 mg day ag-guys.com

Mini pct 13-16

Hcgenerate ES n2bm.com
gw-501516 20 mg day SARMS1.COM - The best Selective androgen receptor modulators

 

[Race121]

With all the medical procedures/thyroid issues, have you had any bloodwork that gives you any indication of fairly current testosterone levels?

 

[Zyglamail]

I should also disclose I was formerly hyperthyroid and took radioactive iodine, I am now recently diagnosed hypothyroid (high TSH levels) but am awaiting results for free T3 before beginning any medication.

Im gonna touch on this a bit but you have already caused yourself some major thyroid damage. Do you understand why radioactive iodine is used?

The thyroid basically has iodine receptors, iodine is the main elemental building block of thyroid hormones. When someone has a hyper thyroid they give them radioactive iodine because they know it will be directly absorbed by the thyroid and in turn the radiation will damage the thyroid reducing its output.

This is akin to amputating your arm because you have a broken wrist. Its barbaric medicine at ts finest.

Now you say you have a high TSH and that your doc says you are hypothyroid (ie underfunctioning thyroid). Do you know why that is? Because the radiation damaged your thyroid and in its damaged state your elemental (ie non radioactive) iodine levels are low so combined your thyroid simply can not do its job.
You and your doc both likely dont realize that TSH is a poor indicator of thyroid function. TSH is not just a measure of the thyroid trying to produce more T3, TSH is also released to stimulate sodium-iodide symporter cells. Basically TSH is released to cause new iodine receptors to be created so the bodies iodine can be gathered and converted to T3. Damage your thyroid with radioactive iodine and you damage the cells that have symporters, of course your body is going to try and recover from that damage by increasing TSH to cause more symporters to be made.


Id bet big money your problems all stemmed from iodine/selenium deficiency to begin with and they will never clear up until you become sufficient in those nutrients. No amount of medication will fix your thyroid but supplements can.

You can blindly follow your doc and simply mask symptoms for a while or you can try and fix yourself. Do yourself a favor and get the book "Iodine: why you need it" and save yourself a lot of money and misery.

 

[smalljohn]

Im gonna touch on this a bit but you have already caused yourself some major thyroid damage. Do you understand why radioactive iodine is used?

The thyroid basically has iodine receptors, iodine is the main elemental building block of thyroid hormones. When someone has a hyper thyroid they give them radioactive iodine because they know it will be directly absorbed by the thyroid and in turn the radiation will damage the thyroid reducing its output.

This is akin to amputating your arm because you have a broken wrist. Its barbaric medicine at ts finest.

Now you say you have a high TSH and that your doc says you are hypothyroid (ie underfunctioning thyroid). Do you know why that is? Because the radiation damaged your thyroid and in its damaged state your elemental (ie non radioactive) iodine levels are low so combined your thyroid simply can not do its job.
You and your doc both likely dont realize that TSH is a poor indicator of thyroid function. TSH is not just a measure of the thyroid trying to produce more T3, TSH is also released to stimulate sodium-iodide symporter cells. Basically TSH is released to cause new iodine receptors to be created so the bodies iodine can be gathered and converted to T3. Damage your thyroid with radioactive iodine and you damage the cells that have symporters, of course your body is going to try and recover from that damage by increasing TSH to cause more symporters to be made.


Id bet big money your problems all stemmed from iodine/selenium deficiency to begin with and they will never clear up until you become sufficient in those nutrients. No amount of medication will fix your thyroid but supplements can.

You can blindly follow your doc and simply mask symptoms for a while or you can try and fix yourself. Do yourself a favor and get the book "Iodine: why you need it" and save yourself a lot of money and misery.

Gotta love zyglas well informed posts. Thanks alot!

 

[fat1]

No, I went for wellness check last week lipid panel, thyroid panel,etc. I asked for testosterone and estrogen levels but apparently that request fell on deaf ears. My TSH was high and they gave me synthroid but I told them I would not take it without T3 or reverse T3 readings (T4 was normal) and again asked for testerone and estrogen levels. They took more blood monday but I have not heard back from them yet. Thank you for the replies. I will post again if I ever receive testosterone results

 

[Zyglamail]

No, I went for wellness check last week lipid panel, thyroid panel,etc. I asked for testosterone and estrogen levels but apparently that request fell on deaf ears. My TSH was high and they gave me synthroid but I told them I would not take it without T3 or reverse T3 readings (T4 was normal) and again asked for testerone and estrogen levels. They took more blood monday but I have not heard back from them yet. Thank you for the replies. I will post again if I ever receive testosterone results

Keep in mind there is a direct and well documented connection between thyroid function and low testosterone levels. Most people who have low test also have an under-functioning thyroid. Yes it may well be within lab range but its not functioning optimally and if the thyroid isnt functioning optimally it affects all other hormonal systems.

 

[fat1]

I have ordered the paperback version of this book from amazon. Thank you

 

[gymrat827]

Synthroid wouldnt be bad, id take a low dose til things are figured out.

As for aas, sarms, supps.....

Id go for hcgenerate and Need2slin for now. Both will still help with your thyroid issues and build more muslce than you currently have on your frame. Once you get your TSH/thyroid is better you could move to a sarm cycle like Dylan laid out.

After that you should be ready for real tes. But using the supplements and than the sarms would be good building blocks for you. You should be able to push/pull a lot more weight and be ready for some tes. So another year of lifting with 1st a good supplement stack and than a sarm stack......than bring on the oils.



GL bud