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Hello all,
I have been a lurker on this site for a while. I’ve done my research on aas and a lot of my questions have been answered here. Thank you. I thought I’d share my experience in the way of giving back….plus I have a couple of questions you guys might be able to answer.
Here is my story.
I am 51, have been competing for 5 years. Started late in life but more importantly I started!!! What a change in my life. I am currently a state level bodybuilder. Goal is Masters Nationals starting this year, 45+ division to continue to my ultimate goal 55+ in 4 years. Last year I crossed over to the dark side (aas). Haha!
I am 5’6 and this year’s stage weight was 138, up from 122 last year but not as lean because of shorter prep time (9 weeks - last minute decision to compete) but definitely a lot of new muscle.
Diet and training is managed by a coach and I follow it to the letter, esp in prep. Although, I can say that it wasn’t until last year’s off season that I really ate for growth. I knew that if I was taking aas then I need to make them count. I train hardcore and heavy. Heavy is a relative term so for example I did #245x8 deadlifts last night (off cycle). Training is 5 days a week, consistently.
My first cycle on was 12 weeks var. Started 5mg and worked up to 20mg ED. No sides to speak of with some muscle gain and hardness. Not everything I was looking for. Cycled off and had labs done after 6 weeks. Everything was pretty normal. At this time my doc and I decided I was in menopause (hysterectomy so couldn’t actually be sure). Hot flashes were awful. Also could have accounted for lack of muscle growth with hormones so out of balance. She prescribed estrogen 2.25 mg, progest 75 mg and test 6mg ED. My doc is a female bodybuilder herself so although I questioned the est and progest I decided to give it a shot. Still wanting more I changed my test dosage to 62mg (.25cc) test cyp weekly. Still no major sides. Then I added 62mg deca after about 8 weeks. Strength was incredible (#300 deadlifts) but started seeing more sides then I was comfortable with but the deca was helping out with some joint issues so I halfed the test and deca to 31mg each EW. After about 3 weeks of that I decided to compete. Dropped the test, est, progest and deca and went back to var 10mg ED. Back to back cycles, I know, but still tolerating things really well. As a result, I brought a much improved package to stage with only 9weeks prep starting with the heaviest weight I had ever been after starting to compete (160#). I have been off cycle for 10 weeks now (except back on my HRT since the hot flashes started coming back). Labs to be done in 2 weeks. At that point I want to start my off season cycle again and that is where I have questions.
I am no longer in the situation where I can readily access anything I want so I might have to make due with what I have. I only have on hand, about 8 weeks of cyp and a lot more deca since I never ran it full. I do have var but I’ll save that for when I prep for competition. I wanted to do longer than 8 weeks since I seem to handle it pretty well. I thought about going back to the half test/ half deca to start 62mg combined EW. Do any of you have opinions on that? What about the est and progest. Obviously it didn’t hinder me last year. What are your feelings on the use of estrogen when your body is obviously not producing it at all. I’ve read so much on the negative impact of est on muscle gain but I have also that you can’t gain without some.
That’s my story. Thank you for taking your time to read it.
I have been a lurker on this site for a while. I’ve done my research on aas and a lot of my questions have been answered here. Thank you. I thought I’d share my experience in the way of giving back….plus I have a couple of questions you guys might be able to answer.
Here is my story.
I am 51, have been competing for 5 years. Started late in life but more importantly I started!!! What a change in my life. I am currently a state level bodybuilder. Goal is Masters Nationals starting this year, 45+ division to continue to my ultimate goal 55+ in 4 years. Last year I crossed over to the dark side (aas). Haha!
I am 5’6 and this year’s stage weight was 138, up from 122 last year but not as lean because of shorter prep time (9 weeks - last minute decision to compete) but definitely a lot of new muscle.
Diet and training is managed by a coach and I follow it to the letter, esp in prep. Although, I can say that it wasn’t until last year’s off season that I really ate for growth. I knew that if I was taking aas then I need to make them count. I train hardcore and heavy. Heavy is a relative term so for example I did #245x8 deadlifts last night (off cycle). Training is 5 days a week, consistently.
My first cycle on was 12 weeks var. Started 5mg and worked up to 20mg ED. No sides to speak of with some muscle gain and hardness. Not everything I was looking for. Cycled off and had labs done after 6 weeks. Everything was pretty normal. At this time my doc and I decided I was in menopause (hysterectomy so couldn’t actually be sure). Hot flashes were awful. Also could have accounted for lack of muscle growth with hormones so out of balance. She prescribed estrogen 2.25 mg, progest 75 mg and test 6mg ED. My doc is a female bodybuilder herself so although I questioned the est and progest I decided to give it a shot. Still wanting more I changed my test dosage to 62mg (.25cc) test cyp weekly. Still no major sides. Then I added 62mg deca after about 8 weeks. Strength was incredible (#300 deadlifts) but started seeing more sides then I was comfortable with but the deca was helping out with some joint issues so I halfed the test and deca to 31mg each EW. After about 3 weeks of that I decided to compete. Dropped the test, est, progest and deca and went back to var 10mg ED. Back to back cycles, I know, but still tolerating things really well. As a result, I brought a much improved package to stage with only 9weeks prep starting with the heaviest weight I had ever been after starting to compete (160#). I have been off cycle for 10 weeks now (except back on my HRT since the hot flashes started coming back). Labs to be done in 2 weeks. At that point I want to start my off season cycle again and that is where I have questions.
I am no longer in the situation where I can readily access anything I want so I might have to make due with what I have. I only have on hand, about 8 weeks of cyp and a lot more deca since I never ran it full. I do have var but I’ll save that for when I prep for competition. I wanted to do longer than 8 weeks since I seem to handle it pretty well. I thought about going back to the half test/ half deca to start 62mg combined EW. Do any of you have opinions on that? What about the est and progest. Obviously it didn’t hinder me last year. What are your feelings on the use of estrogen when your body is obviously not producing it at all. I’ve read so much on the negative impact of est on muscle gain but I have also that you can’t gain without some.
That’s my story. Thank you for taking your time to read it.
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