Low dose test to help prevent over-training

[hollywoodfw]

Would taking a lower dose of Test E, say 200 mg a week for 12-16 weeks be a good way to prevent overtaining if say a person were planning on doing an AMcardio/calisthentics with a PM strength training. Goal would be increasing endurance capacity but still maintaining strength.

 

[shibs]

what are your stats and how old are you?

 

[RickO'Shea]

Um you can prevent overtraining by simply making sure you take enough time off, but more importantly taking in the right amount of calories each day. I have been running 2 sessions per day for, well, for like a year and a half, and did 3 per day for like 2 months straight. I was on Katanadrol for the 3 a days but a low dose of furazabol is nothing like test. You don't need imo.

 

[Gamer2Be08]

Um you can prevent overtraining by simply making sure you take enough time off, but more importantly taking in the right amount of calories each day. I have been running 2 sessions per day for, well, for like a year and a half, and did 3 per day for like 2 months straight. I was on Katanadrol for the 3 a days but a low dose of furazabol is nothing like test. You don't need imo.

Bingo, you eat enough cale and you wont overtrain. And 200mg test e is too low anyways.

 

[shibs]

+sleep

 

[DJ_UFO]

200mg a week of test, is not too low. Is actually higher than a TRT dose, and it would put your test levels over the upper normal range. The benefits are countless. After 4-5 months has dramatic effects in body composition. Increased muscle mass, lower bodyfat, improved cholesterol levels according to some medical studies and improved sexual performance/libido. Now, 200mg a week could be a little bit higher than what is considered a conventional TRT program, but is not "too low" by any means. It is that today people OVERDOSE steroids with the so called "cycles" that in my experience and research, don't work.

 

[Zyglamail]

Want to prevent overtraining the first thing to do is stop wasting time building cortisol by doing cardio. Next make sure your eating enough and getting enough sleep.

Why dont people looking to add mass just goto the gym and move about 50% of their 1rm to about 10 reps shy of failure?

The answer is simple, its a waste of time and doesnt build mass all it does is burn a few calories. The same holds true for cardio. If you really want to burn cals and get something from a workout use high intensity work that gets your heart rate jacked for a good 5-15 minutes and call it a day. Use a variety of bodyweight exercises to drive heart rate. This will not only burn calories long after your session but will also increase your VO2max and help your body establish a means to fuel your muscles under high demand situations which ultimatly helps endurance during heavy hypertrophy work.

 

[Zyglamail]

200mg a week of test, is not too low. Is actually higher than a TRT dose, and it would put your test levels over the upper normal range. The benefits are countless.

According to a 2001 study here are the average total test numbers for various doses....

25 mg 253
50 mg 306
125 mg 570
300 mg 1,345
600 mg 2,370

They dont have a 200mg dose but the 300mg dose is a bit over the 1100 mark that some labs use as a high end so 200 may not necessarily put you over that. 200 is also NOT higher than TRT doses, it can be but it depends on the individual and their symptoms.

Im not trying to nit pick but saying its higher than a trt dose when there are dozens here on the forum under doc supervision on more it simply is nt an accurate statement.

At the end of the day whether or not 200 is enough depends on the OP's normal T level. If he is already high normal or can get their with some OTC supps then taking 200mg/wk is likely a waste of money. If the op is mid/low lab range then the 200mg/wk may give him a nice little boost.

However I dont think that little boost is going to overcome poor sleeping or eating habits. There are limiting factors in the body test simply cant overcome.

 

[RickO'Shea]

According to a 2001 study here are the average total test numbers for various doses....

25 mg 253
50 mg 306
125 mg 570
300 mg 1,345
600 mg 2,370

They dont have a 200mg dose but the 300mg dose is a bit over the 1100 mark that some labs use as a high end so 200 may not necessarily put you over that. 200 is also NOT higher than TRT doses, it can be but it depends on the individual and their symptoms.

Im not trying to nit pick but saying its higher than a trt dose when there are dozens here on the forum under doc supervision on more it simply is nt an accurate statement.

At the end of the day whether or not 200 is enough depends on the OP's normal T level. If he is already high normal or can get their with some OTC supps then taking 200mg/wk is likely a waste of money. If the op is mid/low lab range then the 200mg/wk may give him a nice little boost.

However I dont think that little boost is going to overcome poor sleeping or eating habits. There are limiting factors in the body test simply cant overcome.

Bingo! Not saying your eating habits are poor, but this is usually the case for overtraining.

 

[DJ_UFO]

According to a 2001 study here are the average total test numbers for various doses....

25 mg 253
50 mg 306
125 mg 570
300 mg 1,345
600 mg 2,370

They dont have a 200mg dose but the 300mg dose is a bit over the 1100 mark that some labs use as a high end so 200 may not necessarily put you over that. 200 is also NOT higher than TRT doses, it can be but it depends on the individual and their symptoms.

Im not trying to nit pick but saying its higher than a trt dose when there are dozens here on the forum under doc supervision on more it simply is nt an accurate statement.

At the end of the day whether or not 200 is enough depends on the OP's normal T level. If he is already high normal or can get their with some OTC supps then taking 200mg/wk is likely a waste of money. If the op is mid/low lab range then the 200mg/wk may give him a nice little boost.

However I dont think that little boost is going to overcome poor sleeping or eating habits. There are limiting factors in the body test simply cant overcome.

Good info bro. Like you said, at the end always depend on the individual. That is one of the reasons why medical studies and research on steroids has been so difficult.

 

[hollywoodfw]

If diet was on and sleep was adequate, would that help a person be able to go harder for longer by injecting a little bit of Test? Basically I'm wondering if it'll work just as well to repair muscle damaged for heavier cardio sessions like it helps repair muscles for heavy weight training? The cardio is for fitness sake, not to shed body fat.

 

[Zyglamail]

If diet was on and sleep was adequate, would that help a person be able to go harder for longer by injecting a little bit of Test? Basically I'm wondering if it'll work just as well to repair muscle damaged for heavier cardio sessions like it helps repair muscles for heavy weight training? The cardio is for fitness sake, not to shed body fat.

Cardio is one word I hate because there is no standard definition for it. When I think cardio I thing 65-75% max heart rate for 30+ minutes at a crack.

This kind of training builds endurance by causing muscle cells to bloat so they can hold more energy. Hypertrophy causes cells to increase in size by increasing the motor portion of the muscle cell. These 2 things are directly opposed to each other and extended duration cardio builds cortisol which is also catabolic.

If you want to improve the bodies strength and ability to feed the muscle quickly you need to train at very high heart rates with movements that actually tax the muscle. This will cause the body to adapt by slight hypertrophy as well as establishing pathways to feed the muscle cells during times of high demand. Since this sort of training also involves very high heart rates and short durations (usually less than 15 minutes) it also increases lung capacity (ie vo2max).

Test can help overcome damage by hypertrophy training but its benefit, in my opinion, is no where near as good as what can be developed by altering your training to improve metabolic conditioning. Add test to great metabolic conditioning and you will be amazed at what you can do.

Heavy moderate rate heartrate cardio doe not cause muscle damage like hypertrophy training does so test will be of limited benefit.

 

[hollywoodfw]

To clear up cardio I'm talking one day a week each of long distance swimming and running, progressively building up distances and then 2 days a week each of sprint type training both swimming and running. Mixing it up every once in a while with some biking or rowing. The majority of it will be sprint work though with distance being more of mental test (when higher mileage is achieved) and also just to condition the body to be able to go those distances.

 

[Zyglamail]

To clear up cardio I'm talking one day a week each of long distance swimming and running, progressively building up distances and then 2 days a week each of sprint type training both swimming and running. Mixing it up every once in a while with some biking or rowing. The majority of it will be sprint work though with distance being more of mental test (when higher mileage is achieved) and also just to condition the body to be able to go those distances.

Thats kind of what I assumed, moderate long duration is what most mean when they say cardio. I dont think test will give you much of a boost in this area, maybe a little but not like it will for mass gains.

 

[hollywoodfw]

All right, I always wondered about that. Makes me want to do some more research into the kind of damages long distance and sprint work do on the body and how it recovers from that...

 

[lmm23]

I think over-training is used as a sloppy definition for a variety of results from working-out. When I was running track seriously, I was often over-training, particularly from high intensity sprint work combined with weights over a period of weeks; but I would bounce back after 4 days relative rest in better shape than before. This is over-reaching rather than over-training; and it would happen far less when "on". The only problems would be bacterial / viral that everyone faces.

Cardio, though, I agree, can really mess you up - if done to a high level. I started doing 40 miles per week (granted, few on the board will be looking / needing that much) a few years ago, with 2 x weights per week, because my priorities changed. I've been fucked now for two years: dizziness, fatigue, depression, weight changes, flickering eyelids, constant swelling of glands, etc.

I was taking minimal supplements at the time - glutamine, vits, etc; so, I suspect I could have added some test in there to buffer the raised cortisol. But the problem with combining weights and high cardio is that, neurologically, you stress both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The parasympathetic is less benefitted from supplementary test, so if you over stress the system (which works antagonistically to the sympathetic), you raise the risk of implicating the other in the overtrained state; and even by adding test in the overtrained state, it is difficult to recover. Only rest will help - and it can take years, believe me. One of the main problems is that when you try to re-introduce some anaerobic work, inc. weights, this will actually stress out not only the sym- but the parasympathetic NS, because you are overtrainined, and you go back to square one.

If you live a very stressful life (as I did), and are already hitting the sympathetic nervous system hard, you need to be really careful with the cardio, even when "on". Look out for changing in mood (in particular, depression and aggressiveness (more moody than 'pumped', if that makes sense, and lack of motivation). That's the best guide. I wouldn't rely on test to buffer the (potential) dangers - and I certainly would bear in mind that orals usually have the effect of raising cortisol, so as acting to compound problems that are building up.

Don't want to sound like an alarmist prick, but thought it worth using my extreme case study to point out danger of too much of a good thing...

 

[hollywoodfw]

That's been extremely helpful, thank you.