Do I or Don't I

[Rewind]

Ok here goes. I'm 43 yrs. old 5'7" 180 lbs. BF% - NOT SURE. I'm definitely a newbie and learned about this site through a friend in Europe on a business trip. Here's my story and I apologize if it offends anyone or I'm outta line. Been reading the site for about a week now and trying to stay within boundaries, so be patient. Been lifting on and off since I was 18 yrs. old. Definitely not genetically gifted nor vascular. I would say my body type is mesomorph leaning towards endomorph. I started lifting continuously and seriously about 2 years ago. I play competitive softball, but at my age found it hard to keep up with the younger kids. It's been during the last two years that I really got serious about it and worked diligently towards finding a correct eating regimen. I would tend to say I stray more towards the compulsive side and conform hardcore to my diet. Here is what I'm doing right now:
6:30am
• One teaspoon of Glutamine
• 2 tablets of L-Arginine 500

7:15am
• 6 egg whites (boiled) with 2 yolks (24g protein, 3g carbs, 224 calories)
• 1 cup of oatmeal (10g protein, 54g carbs, 300 calories)
• 1 multi-vitamin
• 3 – 1000mg tablets of fish oil
TOTALS – 34g protein / 57g carbs / 524 calories

9:15am
• 35 to 40 grams protein shake (220 calories)
• 1 medium banana (1g protein, 30g carbs, 138 calories)
TOTALS – 41g protein / 30g carbs / 358 calories

11:45 – 12:15pm
• ¼ lb. of chicken or turkey breast (fresh cut in ¼ packages from lunch meat counter) on whole wheat bagel (whole wheat bagel from BJ’s)
TOTALS – 39g protein / 75g carbs / 480 calories

2:45pm
• 25 – 30 gram frozen meal.. I use South Beach.
• 1 – 4oz. snack size of Breakstones 2% milkfat cottage cheese
TOTALS – 35g protein / 32g carbs / 330 calories

5:00pm
• 30 – 40 gram whey protein shake
• 1 teaspoon of Glutamine
• 2 tablets of L-Arginine 500
• 2 – hydroxycut tablets
TOTALS – 40g protein / 220 calories

Immediately following workout about 7:15pm
• 1 – 20oz. bottle of Gatorade
• 30 – 40 grams of protein
• 1 teaspoon of Glutamine
• 5 grams of creatine
TOTALS – 40g protein / 35 carbs / 370 calories

8:45pm
• Fish / Chicken / Hamburger / Tuna protein source – 4oz.
• 1 – medium sized sweet potato
• 1 cup of green vegetables
TOTALS – 38g protein / 52 carbs / 458 calories

11:00pm
• 3 – 1000mg tablets of fish oil
• 2 tablets of L-Arginine 500
• 30 – 40 gram casein shake (OPTIONAL – Calories / Protein not counted for daily total)
TOTAL FOR DAY – 267g protein / 281 carbs / 2740 calories

I train 5 on / 2 off cycle
Mon - Chest, calves, neck
Tues - Guads, Hamstrings
Wed. - Back , calves
Thurs. - Shoulders, neck
Fri - Bi's, tri's and calves
I work abs about 3x / week

I've never been strong. My bench is stuck at 205 lbs. for 1 rep., my squat is 265 lbs. for 6 reps and my deadlift is 250 lbs. for 6 reps.. I know it's not impressive, but that's what it is. So why am I here? I'm looking for guidance on what I should expect and if I've peaked in my capabilities to grow. I feel I need to be totally honest in order to get positive feedback. I'm somewhat scared of using AS. I'm mostly scared because I've been reading the internet for a little over a year now and every article I read contradicts the last one. On top of that it's obvious there's been alot of press on it lately here in the US. I feel I need to be really informed before I take the plunge and from what I've been reading on here there seems to be "some" sound advice. Here's a start of some of my questions:
1) Have I peaked my growing potential at age 43? Am I still producing enough testoterone to make anymore gains? I do take tribulus as well. Just started this week on first ever cycle.
2) When you take AS do you keep the gains? If I were to gain 10 lbs of muscle does it come off as soon as you are done the cycle?
3) I've read alot of the side effects on the different AS, but is that the same type of warning as you get on a Dr's prescription? Meaning when I get a prescription for anything and you read the warnings they are always to the extreme. Is that what I'm seeing on the AS or do alot of the side effects really occur?
4) In my teens I developed gynecomastia. At about 23 I went in and had lypo to get it fixed. If I were to do a cycle would I be prone to developing gynecomastia again?
5) Baldness / Testes - I wouldn't say my hair is thin, but I'am 43. Would my hair start to fall out and if so, is there certain AS that don't have that affect? That and the shrinkage of my testes scares me. Do they comeback to normal size?
6) How long do you wait in between cycles?
I guess I could go on and on with questions, but this is a start. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the length of this, just wanted to be specific.

 

[Nelson Montana]

I gotta tell ya, I stopped reading halfway through. Dude, start slow. You're making a demand on the board to be your personal advisor on all things. The guys (and gals) here are very helpful but you need to do a little homework. As for every calorie that you eat -- it's irrelevant. No one ever got buffed from a good diet alone. As for your exercise routine, it's meanigless. Listing exercises does not tell us how hard you train.

One question at a time. Keep it simple. And we'll try to help.

 

[Rewind]

Thanks for the input. I wasn't sure if I went too overboard or not. Was trying to get all answers to questions I see on other posts captured in one shot. I eat alot and definitely train my butt off. Probably more to the tune of overtraining. Until very recently was taking nearly every set of all exercises to failure. I guess my biggest question is do I still have growth potential at 43? Do men ever stop producing testoterone to a rate that they won't grow anymore?

 

[Nelson Montana]

Thanks for the input. I wasn't sure if I went too overboard or not. Was trying to get all answers to questions I see on other posts captured in one shot. I eat alot and definitely train my butt off. Probably more to the tune of overtraining. Until very recently was taking nearly every set of all exercises to failure. I guess my biggest question is do I still have growth potential at 43? Do men ever stop producing testoterone to a rate that they won't grow anymore?

I didn't use steroids until I was 40. You can grow, but you have to be more careful. I'd also suggest making the most of your natural size potential with products like UNLEASHED and BIG BLAST. Keeping T high on and off cycle is also important. Tribulus is not good for a guy your age. Many of your other questions are basic stuff that can be done with a little searching.

 

[Advisor_x]

use welcome to the dark side

 

[Rewind]

Nelson, thanks a ton. Wish I had posted a week earlier. I just spent $49 on Tribex from GNC. Hopefully they'll refund me. Just checked out that Unleashed on Bodybuilding.com and it's 1/3 of the price and states right in the write up that Tribulus is ineffective in older men. I missed that somewhere. I currently take ONS Whey and Muscle Milk mix for my shakes. Is Big Blast alot better?

 

[Nelson Montana]

Nelson, thanks a ton. Wish I had posted a week earlier. I just spent $49 on Tribex from GNC. Hopefully they'll refund me. Just checked out that Unleashed on Bodybuilding.com and it's 1/3 of the price and states right in the write up that Tribulus is ineffective in older men. I missed that somewhere. I currently take ONS Whey and Muscle Milk mix for my shakes. Is Big Blast alot better?

Both ON and MM are fine. BIG BLAST is a notch above and more geared to gaining size whereas the others are more protein supps/meal replacement type drinks.

 

[Varga]

Thanks for the input. I wasn't sure if I went too overboard or not. Was trying to get all answers to questions I see on other posts captured in one shot. I eat alot and definitely train my butt off. Probably more to the tune of overtraining. Until very recently was taking nearly every set of all exercises to failure. I guess my biggest question is do I still have growth potential at 43? Do men ever stop producing testoterone to a rate that they won't grow anymore?

Rewind,
First, you need to fix this overtrainig issue. If you feel like you overtrain most likely you prob are so cut back intensity/frequency of training......Second, increase your caloric intake to 3300-3500k per day, change your routine a little and see if you can go past those sticking # for bench, squat and deads.

 

[Rewind]

Varga,
Thanks so much for the input. I started training with one of my teammates two weeks ago. He was the first one to tell me that I was overtraining. I came up in the late 70's early 80's when the rage was to do as many sets as possible and get sore after every workout. Even though I read alot of literature during the 90's about less was better I could never get it out of my head to go less. Thus I've literally always trained to failure on every set. I've just completed my first week of not going to failure. I have to admit that I'm not as sore, but going to give it a shot. With my pals help in keeping me in check I'm hoping to see some gains this winter. I also am going to take Nelson's advice and try the Unleashed first before I go the AS route. I need to get some pics out here so you guys can see where I'm at and let me know if I still have growth potential at my age. Again, thanks for the input.

 

[nzrodney]

Age is only a number, the human body virtually changes every cell in the body over a 12 month period so what potential can you put on growth. Given the correct nutrition, training program, recovery & rest time & the knowledge of using AAS, you can achieve a potential that will blow your mind. Check out Bernie Cooper Mr Univ UK (Masters) at 60 years young. Don't think it is easy, but it is possible.