Beginner looking to increase strength with minimal mass

[iclimb]

Hello,

A bit about me first. 42 years old, 5'9" and 175 pounds. BF is roughly 12 - 14% (visible abs, vascular forearms, etc)

I started on Test E about 6 months ago after a blood test showed me with low levels (275). Been doing 125mg every other week. This put my levels back to "normal" for my age (500ish). I noticed some abatement of the low test symptoms I'd been having, such as poor concentration, moderate depression, low energy, etc as well as a minor improvement in muscle tone.

Now I am training again in my two main sports. Rock climbing and cycling. Performance in those sports comes from having good strength and endurance with minimal extra size. Basically, a high strength to weight ratio.

Now that I am training a lot I am thinking of increasing my test e usage and possibly adding something else in, like equipoise.

I've been doing a lot of reading and for my needs, I am not sure what I should do. Best guess from reading alone suggests doing maybe 200mg a week each of test E and equipoise. Or maybe just 250 of test e alone. I really am not sure. I don't want to go nuts, and would like to keep my test levels at high normal, around 900 - 1100.

My diet is very good, and training cosists of either several hours on the bike, or lots and lots of bodyweight and high rep weights or going climbing which is basically like doing pullups all day long. I *rarely* lift heavy.

Can someone give me some guidance? Thanks much.

 

[Stryker1992]

Hello,

A bit about me first. 42 years old, 5'9" and 175 pounds. BF is roughly 12 - 14% (visible abs, vascular forearms, etc)

I started on Test E about 6 months ago after a blood test showed me with low levels (275). Been doing 125mg every other week. This put my levels back to "normal" for my age (500ish). I noticed some abatement of the low test symptoms I'd been having, such as poor concentration, moderate depression, low energy, etc as well as a minor improvement in muscle tone.

Now I am training again in my two main sports. Rock climbing and cycling. Performance in those sports comes from having good strength and endurance with minimal extra size. Basically, a high strength to weight ratio.

Now that I am training a lot I am thinking of increasing my test e usage and possibly adding something else in, like equipoise.

I've been doing a lot of reading and for my needs, I am not sure what I should do. Best guess from reading alone suggests doing maybe 200mg a week each of test E and equipoise. Or maybe just 250 of test e alone. I really am not sure. I don't want to go nuts, and would like to keep my test levels at high normal, around 900 - 1100.

My diet is very good, and training cosists of either several hours on the bike, or lots and lots of bodyweight and high rep weights or going climbing which is basically like doing pullups all day long. I *rarely* lift heavy.

Can someone give me some guidance? Thanks much.

But you want strength with minimal mass so I would say check into primo or anavar........

 

[iclimb]

Yes, I've read about primo and anavar, but I do not have access to either of those where I can be sure of what I am getting. I can only get test E (or cyp) and equi of known quality.

I may be way off, but from what I've read it seems that putting on a lot of mass is as much a function of eating habits and heavy lifting as anything? Like I said, really not sure. Very new to this and despite days of research, still unsure since most of what's out there seems to be geared (pun not intended) towards those looking to increase mass.

 

[GPRO]

Var will be good for you, running it with a (low) dose of test will give good results.
If you can't get var, equipose might do the trick.

 

[Zyglamail]

I may be way off, but from what I've read it seems that putting on a lot of mass is as much a function of eating habits and heavy lifting as anything? Like I said, really not sure. Very new to this and despite days of research, still unsure since most of what's out there seems to be geared (pun not intended) towards those looking to increase mass.

Mass comes from hypertrophy and to you train specifically for hypertrophy if thats what you want. You gain strength, you train for strength, which generally means low reps (<5). Hypertrophy will add some strength with an emphasis on mass. Strength training will build strength with some mass as a side effect.

Strength, just like mass, may come easier with AAS but then you still have to know how to keep it.

At 175lbs you should be able to get to 150lb overhead press, 325lb backsquat, 250lb bench and a 400lb deadlift without the use of AAS and if you cant get their unaided I would suggest against using AAS because you wont be able to keep what you do gain anyway.

 

[moya]

high reps are more for bodybuilding bro... keep your lifting heavy and use lower reps to build strength, trust me, i am a powerlifter...
mass is produced mostly through your diet though... i eat quite a bit because i burn a lot of calories at work and am very active... so i eat a lot of carbs for fuel...
when you tell us 'my diet is good', that tells us nothing... list it out and we can help you a lot better...
as far as aas go, i run pretty good doses for a guy my size and i dont blow up... simply because of my training style and diet... i run my cycles primarily for strength... i would say (assuming you are ready to cycle) that since you are cruising on test permanantly, you would probably get more if you ran somthing other than test... although you could bump it up a bit as well...
14 weeks eq @400 would be the minimum that is usually suggested, though it is one of the few compounds ive never used...
start doing some weighted pull-ups for low reps, cant go wrong with those...

 

[rouss]

I asked a similar question a month ago. > about 10 people said add anavar to test. . Its $$$$

 

[moya]

well, yes... but to get stronger, training is more important than the type of juice you use...
unless you plan on competing in somthing, any of the more 'milder' aas will do... personally i stay away from the more expensive ones, and i do compete....

 

[Stryker1992]

Mass comes from hypertrophy and to you train specifically for hypertrophy if thats what you want. You gain strength, you train for strength, which generally means low reps (<5). Hypertrophy will add some strength with an emphasis on mass. Strength training will build strength with some mass as a side effect.

Strength, just like mass, may come easier with AAS but then you still have to know how to keep it.

At 175lbs you should be able to get to 150lb overhead press, 325lb backsquat, 250lb bench and a 400lb deadlift without the use of AAS and if you cant get their unaided I would suggest against using AAS because you wont be able to keep what you do gain anyway.

Well said. T-bol would be another option or is it just those two compounds you can get????

 

[stevesmi]

keep in mind if you increase your test injections then you could cripple your rock climbing and cycling times.

thats extra water weight and an increase in HR. testosterone does convert to estrogen remember.

stick to your HRT dosage and just cycle harder, I cannot honestly tell you any other solution to become a better cyclist.