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ThePossum’s journey to 225 —- Cycle Log

ThePossum

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Hello, I’m new to this board, but not new to the gym or dietary studies. After careful consideration I decided to put a journal out there for my upcoming cycle. ...several reasons.... accountability in my journey, documentation of my experience, and perhaps to help in our collective understanding of chemical enhancement. I invite questions, comments and feedback. Please don’t torch me too much......
Also, if this is not the appropriate place (community/board/forum) to do this please let me know and I will quietly move on.

38 year old white male.
On TRT for about 6 months with stable levels.
6’ tall
257 pounds
Honestly don’t know my BF% and don’t care anyway. I’m carrying excess fat and the mirror and scale are the only measurements needed until I get down to 225 pounds. Then I will start paying closer attention to things like BF%.
Very muscular under the fat. In the gym from high school till age 26.
In my mid 20’s I was at 225 pounds and not cut but lean enough to have flat abs and muscular definition showing at that weight.
Hurt my back, had surgery at age 26, didn’t return to the gym till my early-mid 30’s. Blew up to max weight of 285 pounds during those years off. After a few years back in the gym and improved dieting, I’m at the current 257 pounds. After my wife insisted I get my T checked due to showing many of the classic low-T signs, I learned that I was indeed low. After adding TRT six months ago I have enjoyed a greater energy level, lost another 10 pounds over that 6 months, etc. now feeling the best I have felt in years!
Have been getting more serious and really dialing in my lifting, cardio, and diet. Going to try a “cutting” cycle, although at my weight it’s more of a “fat loss” or maybe a “recomp” cycle as getting “cut” will take more time.

Cholesterol, electrolytes, liver, kidneys, blood counts all checked last week for baseline and are appropriate. Had testosterone/estrogen drawn today for my TRT check-in and will know those levels soon (historically have been stable).

I plan to have these levels all check again at a different lab (away from my doctor and TRT clinic) a few weeks into the cycle.

Cycle will be 8-12 weeks probably. Still nailing down final plans, and when I have to get my T checked for TRT check-in again, etc.

Planing on utilizing the following stack:

-Testosterone-E (additional on top of my TRT) for a total of 400-500 mg per week probably.
-GW501516 cardarine At probably 15 mg once daily.
-Frag 176-191 probably 500 mcg daily (2 doses at 250 each daily on empty stomach in the morning and again on empty stomach before going to the gym.
-arimidex and nolvadex will be on hand if needed.

My products are all already shipped, and are all already within the borders of the USA at this point. Expect delivery in next couple of days.

I realize there are numerous varieties of opinions out there on what AAS/sarms/peptides to use. These are just the ones I chose this time. There are many others I hope to try in the future.

Diet: P50 / F30 / C20
1500 - 2000 calories per day max

My estimated total daily energy expenditure is around 3000 cals (with my physically active job) plus another 500-750 calories burned during workouts.
Caloric deficit of at least 1000 calories per day (if I eat 2000 and don’t work out). Deficit of up to 2000+ possible per day on workout days.

Activity: 30-45 min intense steady state cardio or HIIT daily. Lifting- 3 day split of .... day 1 chest/shoulders/tris. Day 2 back/biceps. Day 3 legs. 12 sets per large muscle group broken between 3-4 exercises. Try to repeat this run twice per week with one day of cardio only in between each round. Work in abs and some plyometrics etc a few times a week.
Also work 12 hour shifts on my feet in a hospital 4-5 days a week, so many miles of medium paced walking there.

My ultimate goal is to drop 30 pounds over the next 12 weeks. That’s 10 pounds per month, or 2.5 pounds per week. Should be a reasonable goal.

I know the test will not cause weight loss, but hoping to support my existing mass during deep calorie deficits. I’m already on TRT anyway so suppression is already happened and no PCT needed, so I say why not add some test for good measure. Cardarine is expected to enhance cardio performance and enhance fat burning. Frag is expected to aid in rapid fat loss by breaking down stored fat for energy use when it’s taken during a fasting state and when that fasting state is aligned with physical activity/calorie burning.

I have studied AAS, sarms, peptides, etc for months leading up to this.
Confidence is high!

Thanks for listening. Let me know your thoughts. I will check in as I get started in a few days.
 
Thanks DG! have watched a ton of your youtube videos during my research over the past months. I appreciate all the knowledge you share.

Update on my log:

Received my Frag and Cardarine today. Test is scheduled for delivery in next 24 hours.

Decided to start each product on different days instead of all at once. I'm on test for TRT but this will be a new high dose for me. The Cardarine and Frag are totally new to me. I am thinking of separating each product by a day or two instead of all at once. That way if I have a reaction or something immediately I will have a good idea which thing did it.

Took my first Cardarine 15mg capsule tonight (friday night) before work (I work nights, so "tonight" represents the start of my "day"). That has been 7 hours ago now. no problems so far. will see how my workout goes in the morning when I get off work. Anecdotally, seems like I have read some people claim they could tell the difference in their cardio performance after the first dose. I will let you know. I will probably then pin my first test dose as soon as I receive the shipment (either saturday night or sunday morning). That is a little more time sensitive as it looks like the doc will want to check my TRT levels around april 1. So, I want to get it going ASAP. I will reconstitute the frag and start that maybe monday.

If I wasn't clear before, this is my first time using AAS/SARMs/Peptides. Also, I am already following the previously described diet and exercise split, so the only new variable is the products.

Thoughts for the day.... assuming I have that TRT test/estrogen level coming up around april 1, and since I am using test-e, I figure I probably need to stop pinning test about 5 weeks prior to let my levels settle back out. Need to see how/if the Frag and Cardarine can affect my blood work for that day, or if I can stretch the cycle on those items a bit longer to 12 weeks. I know I have read about this at some point but don't remember what the exact answer was.
if I start tomorrow I can put in 10 weeks before stopping and still allowing 5 weeks of hormone re-balancing for an April 1 TRT check.

Any value in front-loading the test-e with a little higher dose for the first week to get levels up quicker before settling on the 500 mg/week or 250 mg twice a week routine?

I may try to get a pic of myself at my current weight uploaded on here as an official "before" shot.

Thanks!
 
sorry...NOTHING YOU POSTED MAKES YOU A CANDIDATE FOR A STEROID CYCLE

"although at my weight it’s more of a “fat loss” "

"I have studied AAS"...OBVIOUSLY NOT

STEROIDS DON'T CAUSE FAT LOSE...THEY DON'T AID YOU IN GETTING IN SHAPE

"I know the test will not cause weight loss, but hoping to support my existing mass during deep calorie deficits"...YOUR TRT IS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR THIS...ADDING ADDITIONAL TEST WILL DO NOTHING BUT MAKE YOU FATTER AND CAUSE HEALTH PROBLEMS
you can deny it all you want...but you are looking for steroids to do the "heavy lifting" for you

"Honestly don’t know my BF% and don’t care anyway"...YOU SHOULD KNOW AND CARE

" Going to try a “cutting” cycle"...cutting is what BB's do to sculpt the last 1-3% off their BF pre contest...ie" from 7-8% BF to 5-6%...it's not about weight loss ...the steroids they use in this cycle are to arrest muscle wasting due to the catabolic nature of their extreme pre contest calorie deficit

IT"S NOT A DIET !!! WHICH IS WHAT YOU NEED TO BE ON

here's the deal...if you can't achieve your goal on TRT....NOTHING will get you there...it's just plain hard work dedication discipline and commitment
 
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Thank you Buen. I appreciate your feedback. I think I clearly said I recognized that I am looking to lose fat and this would not be considered any sort of "cut." I also clearly stated that I am fully aware supraphysiological test levels will not cause weight loss or burn fat. I have clearly identified that I am in a pretty legit calorie deficit (and have been for a while) and am spending a lot of time in the gym. I am fully aware of how this works. This is not my first rodeo. Diet and hard work in the gym represent 99.9% of the process of building muscle and/or losing fat. My body fat percentage is probably in the mid to high 30's if I had to make a best guess. Does knowing that change anything I am doing? If knowing that information helps you out, let me know. I'm not sure what it matters though. I have many pounds of fat that I must lose. I'm not denying that, and I was very clear on that, and that is my focus. If I stood here and talked about body fat percentage and how I expected to change that, you would probably just torch me then for being overly concerned about BF% instead of just weight loss. I appreciate your questioning the additional test on top of TRT, noting that TRT should be enough to support existing muscle from being lost during deep calorie deficit. I am noting that concern and am taking it into serious consideration as I move forward. As far as the diet and gym time and cardio and lifting split etc, I have already been doing that. That is nothing new to me. You say I should be on a diet.....well, I am, and have been. I count every calorie and macro just as I described above. I work my ass off in the gym until my legs feel like noodles and I have trouble gripping the steering wheel driving home. None of this is new to me except for attempting to add some enhancement. Further, the primary "enhancement" I am looking at are not anabolic steroids, but items designed towards fat loss.
Cardarine is advertised as having originally been developed as a treatment for obesity, among other obesity-related disease processes. Further it is intended to enhance cardiovascular endurance, thus allowing the user to spend even MORE time busting his ass in the gym. The Frag is advertised as having the only benefit of assisting in fat loss, in particular (possibly) around the abdomen. It only works (assuming it works at all), if the user is in a calorie deficit, performing appropriately-timed fasts, and (once again) busting his ass in the gym. Perhaps with the TRT and stable test levels the additional test is not warranted. So, again, thank you for bringing that up.
 
lets just break it down to the real facts...leave all your justifications and talking in circles aside

your extremely overweight...you want to run a cycle of 400-500mg Testosterone to lose 32 lbs

ridiculous
 
I agree with Buen completely. You are very overweight, and there's no way you should be using superphysiological doses of test beyond your TRT whatsoever. That is a recipe for health problems and bedside effects. If you want something to add to TRT to help fat loss you need to look into sarms. That WILL help you lose fat and makes far more sense here
 
i misread a few things as well... gw would be fine to go with here but at your body fat and condition, running any sort of steroid cycle is asinine brother... i dont think you are going to find anyone with half a brain recommending otherwise... thats your call but from someone who sounds they are intelligent, its a pretty ignorant move
 
Hello, I’m new to this board, but not new to the gym or dietary studies. After careful consideration I decided to put a journal out there for my upcoming cycle. ...several reasons.... accountability in my journey, documentation of my experience, and perhaps to help in our collective understanding of chemical enhancement. I invite questions, comments and feedback. Please don’t torch me too much......
Also, if this is not the appropriate place (community/board/forum) to do this please let me know and I will quietly move on.

38 year old white male.
On TRT for about 6 months with stable levels.
6’ tall
257 pounds
Honestly don’t know my BF% and don’t care anyway. I’m carrying excess fat and the mirror and scale are the only measurements needed until I get down to 225 pounds. Then I will start paying closer attention to things like BF%.
Very muscular under the fat. In the gym from high school till age 26.
In my mid 20’s I was at 225 pounds and not cut but lean enough to have flat abs and muscular definition showing at that weight.
Hurt my back, had surgery at age 26, didn’t return to the gym till my early-mid 30’s. Blew up to max weight of 285 pounds during those years off. After a few years back in the gym and improved dieting, I’m at the current 257 pounds. After my wife insisted I get my T checked due to showing many of the classic low-T signs, I learned that I was indeed low. After adding TRT six months ago I have enjoyed a greater energy level, lost another 10 pounds over that 6 months, etc. now feeling the best I have felt in years!
Have been getting more serious and really dialing in my lifting, cardio, and diet. Going to try a “cutting” cycle, although at my weight it’s more of a “fat loss” or maybe a “recomp” cycle as getting “cut” will take more time.

Cholesterol, electrolytes, liver, kidneys, blood counts all checked last week for baseline and are appropriate. Had testosterone/estrogen drawn today for my TRT check-in and will know those levels soon (historically have been stable).

I plan to have these levels all check again at a different lab (away from my doctor and TRT clinic) a few weeks into the cycle.

Cycle will be 8-12 weeks probably. Still nailing down final plans, and when I have to get my T checked for TRT check-in again, etc.

Planing on utilizing the following stack:

-Testosterone-E (additional on top of my TRT) for a total of 400-500 mg per week probably.
-GW501516 cardarine At probably 15 mg once daily.
-Frag 176-191 probably 500 mcg daily (2 doses at 250 each daily on empty stomach in the morning and again on empty stomach before going to the gym.
-arimidex and nolvadex will be on hand if needed.

My products are all already shipped, and are all already within the borders of the USA at this point. Expect delivery in next couple of days.

I realize there are numerous varieties of opinions out there on what AAS/sarms/peptides to use. These are just the ones I chose this time. There are many others I hope to try in the future.

Diet: P50 / F30 / C20
1500 - 2000 calories per day max

My estimated total daily energy expenditure is around 3000 cals (with my physically active job) plus another 500-750 calories burned during workouts.
Caloric deficit of at least 1000 calories per day (if I eat 2000 and don’t work out). Deficit of up to 2000+ possible per day on workout days.

Activity: 30-45 min intense steady state cardio or HIIT daily. Lifting- 3 day split of .... day 1 chest/shoulders/tris. Day 2 back/biceps. Day 3 legs. 12 sets per large muscle group broken between 3-4 exercises. Try to repeat this run twice per week with one day of cardio only in between each round. Work in abs and some plyometrics etc a few times a week.
Also work 12 hour shifts on my feet in a hospital 4-5 days a week, so many miles of medium paced walking there.

My ultimate goal is to drop 30 pounds over the next 12 weeks. That’s 10 pounds per month, or 2.5 pounds per week. Should be a reasonable goal.

I know the test will not cause weight loss, but hoping to support my existing mass during deep calorie deficits. I’m already on TRT anyway so suppression is already happened and no PCT needed, so I say why not add some test for good measure. Cardarine is expected to enhance cardio performance and enhance fat burning. Frag is expected to aid in rapid fat loss by breaking down stored fat for energy use when it’s taken during a fasting state and when that fasting state is aligned with physical activity/calorie burning.

I have studied AAS, sarms, peptides, etc for months leading up to this.
Confidence is high!

Thanks for listening. Let me know your thoughts. I will check in as I get started in a few days.

Welcome brother.

Your post was well written and I agree with most of it but as others have said, maybe reconsider the additional test until your BF comes down. I mean, it's your decision but you did ask for thoughts from others. I can only tell you my experience... while on cycle, my BF did come down but on and after PCT, it pretty much came back. Given a second chance, I'd stick to a nice steady TRT dose of 100mg/wk for a as long as it takes to get BF to an AAS ready percentage which takes hell of a lot of hard work (you seem to be accustomed to hard work already).

In place of the additional test, I'd add S4 to the mix. I love that compound and it will help with recomp and get you to your goal.

Good luck.
 
Again, thanks everybody, including you Buen. I put myself out there so I expect brutal honesty. I’m not talking in circles. I’m not trying to justify anything. I am shooting totally straight with you guys. While I do have legit muscle mass underneath, I also have 30 pounds of legit fat on top of it I need to lose. I have no delusions of building muscle while burning fat or any bullshit like that. I have anecdotally read where some have used test while losing weight. As I said in my original post and have repeated, I know test or other AAS will not cause fat loss. My ONLY thought with the test was for preservation of muscle while in deep calorie deficit but as Buen pointed out, the TRT should take care of that. I have no problem there, and am not arguing that point. I have seriously reconsidered the additional test on top of TRT. Have not started it and likely WON’T. I suppose I should also just accept that loss of some muscle mass may be inevitable and unavoidable while dropping that much fat, and I will just need to be okay with it.
So, bottom line.... assume TEST IS OUT. Meanwhile, I’m still on my mission. I know GW is not a SARM but tends to get thrown in that list. Frag is in the peptide world. When using the term AAS, I assume we are talking purely about anabolic steroids, and not sarms or peptides. I’m not going to do the test, and doing any other AAS (deca, win, etc) is not even on my radar. Both frag and GW are heavily discussed in the realm of fat loss and the GW is touted as having legit cardio-protective aspects and was originally designed as an obesity treatment. Haven’t heard much feedback on those yet. Everyone seemed to immediately get upset over the test and that is all we have talked about. but we can put the question of the test behind us now.
So, what are your thoughts on the GW and Frag?
My calorie deficit for today is at about 1500. High protein, moderate fat, low carb. Spent 90+ minutes in the gym today. About 1 hour total of moderate-high intensity cardio. About 30 minutes with weights, chest shoulders triceps. Moderate weight with reps in the 12-15 range per set. As far as diet and gym go, pretty typical day for me.
Thanks also DG, JMM and Rick.
 
So, what are your thoughts on the GW and Frag?

Can't comment on Frag but I absolutely love GW! I recall posting several times about significantly reduced rest periods between sets during weight training and it really helped me when I first started running for fat loss. I think it's a great part of your plan and should produce solid results with the work you're already putting into your goal. I swear by sarmsx so I can only recommend them.

I like the 12 - 15 rep range for your goal also, are you concentrating on time under tension? I often alternate heavy with time under tension shooting for 45 - 55 seconds under tension, 30 seconds rest for 5 sets. Obviously a manageable weight per set but it gets the sweat going.
 
for the record...your existing muscle mass is riddled with fat....think of marbling in a steak....you don't just have a layer of external fat that can be melted away

you need to lose weight FIRST....then rebuild your muscle

I think GW is GREAT!
I think Fag is worthless...for a lot of reasons...1. I don't believe it's effective...2. most is either damaged in handling or down right bunk

I also highly recommend you track your progress with body composition testing...hydro-static is best....or just get a dexa scan

I've been in your shoes....I reduced my BF from 34% to 14% (all the while being undiagnosed low test) ...I used NOTHING but strict diet and massive amounts of cardio
I believe in DAILY steady state cardio at 70% of max heart rate...held for 60min....2 to 3 times a week I added in 20 min extra of interval training cardio
calorie intake at or slightly below RESTING METABOLIC RATE...not adding in extra calories for exercise...high protein..low carb..healthy fats only

good luck on your quest...it's total doable..just takes the proper mindset
 
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“Marbling in steak”... good point and good visual.

So, I try really hard not to fall victim to the placebo effect. But, I will just throw out my GW experience so far to see what you think. Again, I work nights. Took my first dose of 15 mg capsule last night at about 6 pm. Worked 7pm-7am overnight. In the gym at 7:45 this morning after work. Genuinely felt like my cardio stamina went way up. Usually I’m pretty spent after 45 minutes at my usual pace. I felt like my energy and endurance went way up and I knocked out an hour with energy to spare. Felt good with the weights too. Overall just felt like I could do more for longer. (Not heavier weights, but increased stamina to keep going). All in my head or is this the “performance enhancement” quality showing after the first dose?

Buen, any safety concerns with Frag or just don’t think it’s useful? I’ve got it already. Didn’t buy much, just enough for a couple of weeks to try and figured I would order more once I get started if I had no problems with it.
DG seems to like it in his videos, but as all these things go.... results and outcomes will vary person to person, and obviously product quality is never a sure thing with this stuff.

Like the looks of S4 in reading about it, and almost added it to the mix originally. My only concern was the vision thing. Working nights in a hospital I often have to move around and do stuff in relatively dark rooms. But that’s certainly not a deal breaker.

Thanks again everybody. I’m obviously new to SARMS, peptides and AAS. I really appreciate all the honest feedback and info and for y’all quickly guiding me away from the “test for muscle preservation” concept. As stated earlier, no additional testosterone. Will keep the GW going. Will consider adding S4. Will probably still try the Frag since I have it, unless anybody has safety concerns.
 
JMM, haven’t ever looked at the “time under tension” approach. I will read up on it. I generally have been minimizing time between sets to 45 seconds if possible. Just however long it takes to document the previous set in my notebook and change out dumbbells or weights, etc.


Oh, and Buen, I will look into trying to get a legit BF% measurement done. I have tried the hand-held devices and scales with that capability built in years ago but would always get wildly different results day to day. Never felt like I could trust the number. However if I am taking this on seriously I suppose it’s probably a reasonable investment to have it measured professionally to get a solid “starting point” established.
 
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