Steve's Bodybuilding/Competition Log

[Steve0691]

Hey everyone,
I've been lifting and bodybuilding for many years and competed once in 2019 when I started to take bodybuilding much more seriously beyond just a love for the gym. Since then the drive to continue competing got away from me with other things in life but recently the drive to compete and grow has really reached an all time high. Perhaps the fact I started in the gym at 16 wanting to be like the bodybuilders in the magazines and being 33 now, I'm not getting any younger and want to finish what I started.
As I really have no idea how long it'll take to get in shape for a contest and at the moment I am doing things myself, I am simply eyeing a show at the end of June, which I think is reasonable and perhaps a show in late may as well if I am in shape by then. Started in mid-December and have been taking things slow and steady up until recently where I have been ramping up over the past few weeks to starting pushing to get leaner now.

Now I am currently 229lbs at 5'8". Started in December at 250lbs.
During this period I have been consistently on
1575mg Test Cyp, 575 EQ, 140 npp
Also 7-9iu HGH(half a vial)
5iu fast insulin pre and post

Now that I am beginning to push I am changing things around a bit
1400mg Test Cyp
350 EQ
140 NPP
350 Tren
I debated holding off Tren longer as I am not a fan of compounds that adversely affect lipids and markers but i think it will benefit me to help hold tissue as I continue to ramp up the diet and cardio

Diet is Carb cycling
Mon-Low
Tues/Wed/Thurs-Med
Fri-Low
Sat-High
Sun-Medium
I will see how this week goes as far as weight loss goes and if I need to I will pull back carbs on my High day a bit, they have been right about 1000g on average.

Training is High Volume bro split
Back
Chest/Abs
Arms/Forearms
Legs
Delts/Abs

Today being a Low day was just Cardio and some rehab work

Any questions I am happy to answer. I can get into more detail about whatever topics are of interest


Here are some recent pics, posing room is from two weeks ago. Yes my legs are lagging badly, I have been having issues with my left knee since September and have some structural imbalances that cause issues, but I am trying to correct. My legs were relatively in proportion prior to september.

 

[readalot]

Fantastic Brother. Regular heart surveillance? Ekgs, echos? How's your bloodwork, blood pressure?

That is mass with class.

 

[Steve0691]

Fantastic Brother. Regular heart surveillance? Ekgs, echos? How's your bloodwork, blood pressure?

That is mass with class.

I havent done EKG’s etc yet but those tests will likely be on the list for 2026 as Ill be approaching 35.

in depth Blood work gets done every 12-16 weeks
Last apoB was 80, consistently hovers around ~79-84
Lpa thankfully is essentially undetectable
LDL also hovers in low 80’s
Trigs hover around 65-75
HDL 30-35, got up to 39 with gw501516 on 2g/week but i dont think the risk tradeoff is worth the extra few points

Last sat BP was 121/71, RHR was 64

I’ve always avoided orals and tren due to effects on bp and lipids. I stick to mostly test and infact I only use EQ to control for estrogen. If it wasnt for that my gear use would just be test, gh, insulin-bio identical. but with competition there will be some use, orals ill limit to just before competition

 

[readalot]

I havent done EKG’s etc yet but those tests will likely be on the list for 2026 as Ill be approaching 35.

in depth Blood work gets done every 12-16 weeks
Last apoB was 80, consistently hovers around ~79-84
Lpa thankfully is essentially undetectable
LDL also hovers in low 80’s
Trigs hover around 65-75
HDL 30-35, got up to 39 with gw501516 on 2g/week but i dont think the risk tradeoff is worth the extra few points

Last sat BP was 121/71, RHR was 64

I’ve always avoided orals and tren due to effects on bp and lipids. I stick to mostly test and infact I only use EQ to control for estrogen. If it wasnt for that my gear use would just be test, gh, insulin-bio identical. but with competition there will be some use, orals ill limit to just before competition

Respectable blood work given your dosages. You take lipid and BP meds?

Thanks for sharing and glad you are on top of stuff. Get you a baseline echo.

 

[Grey Spartan]

Looking good brother. Look a lot bigger than 229. Also looks like you have a good eye for your own body (unlike me). Labs look great for your doses.

Did you work up to your current doses or just start off from last cycle?

 

[intense_bulldoze]

Looking good brother. Look a lot bigger than 229. Also looks like you have a good eye for your own body (unlike me). Labs look great for your doses.

Did you work up to your current doses or just start off from last cycle?

Agree on looks bigger than 229.

This log should be 'stickied' if updated regular (though some aren't anyway).

Lookin awesome @Steve0691. Size and cuts everywhere including the wheels. Plus, I don't often see some here display honesty with their dosages.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Steve0691]

Respectable blood work given your dosages. You take lipid and BP meds?

Thanks for sharing and glad you are on top of stuff. Get you a baseline echo.

Yes 5mg rosuvastatin m/w/f and 40mg azilsartan

Ive found my blood work virtually does not change(except hdl, which seems to unavoidable for everyone) as long as i stick to test, eq, nandrolone. Mast and primo i havent really run standalone with just test know their effects

 

[readalot]

Yes 5mg rosuvastatin m/w/f and 40mg azilsartan

Ive found my blood work virtually does not change(except hdl, which seems to unavoidable for everyone) as long as i stick to test, eq, nandrolone. Mast and primo i havent really run standalone with just test know their effects

Well you got a plan and sticking with it. Well done and I wish you much success on your goals. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Steve0691]

Looking good brother. Look a lot bigger than 229. Also looks like you have a good eye for your own body (unlike me). Labs look great for your doses.

Did you work up to your current doses or just start off from last cycle?

I appreciate that, the legs are downsized badly, i will post a pic later to show but im sure thats part of the reason

To be transparent, I dont really “cycle” or even blast and cruise, at least not in the way ppl think when you use those terms. Dont get me wrong my dosages will ramp up and down depending but if you were to average out my weekly milligram amount over the past 1.5 years it would be over 1g. My philosophy is to keep bloodwork, bp, rhr, fasting glucose etc all in healthy ranges by avoiding orals/tren, any applicable meds, year round cardio to maintain health year-round. As opposed to running a 16 week cycle with tren and kick start with an oral to immediately trash lipids right off the rip lol, only to cruise/pct to barely recover bloodwork for the tail end of the cruise before repeating process. I think my sweet spot is somewhere in the 1.4-2.2ish gram range.

 

[Steve0691]

Training today was Back, I train High volume, fast paced(30-60sec rests)
•Assisted pullups(6sets)-alternating wide/close grip
•Bent machine wide grip row(4sets)-similar to megamass brand row
•Rope Pullover(4 sets)
•Close grip Pulldown(3 sets)
•Bent BB row(3 sets) wider grip

All together about 45min

Took some updated pics in the posing room after. Front has been leaning out much quicker than the back and glutes have a long way to go but I am progressing week to week. Also a pic from just before my knee issues arose, not dieting do much fuller and more bodyfat but still is clear my legs have regressed. Im working hard to try and reverse that a bit

 

[Ryu82]

Looking solid man. Your upper is on point other than maybe some more lat width from the back, which is odd to say as it looks good from the front.

I have the same issue as you with building my outer quad sweep and my hams don't drop well which makes posing legs a bitch.

Your got a fat ass (no homo lol) but I get the feeling that is probably the last thing to come in for you on a cut?

Following this log for sure.

 

[Steve0691]

Looking solid man. Your upper is on point other than maybe some more lat width from the back, which is odd to say as it looks good from the front.

I have the same issue as you with building my outer quad sweep and my hams don't drop well which makes posing legs a bitch.

Your got a fat ass (no homo lol) but I get the feeling that is probably the last thing to come in for you on a cut?

Following this log for sure.

I agree on the lats and legs have been an issue, I was doing great all through 2023-mid2024 then the issues really started popping up all at once and training took a hard hit.

Yup, I have a weird fat distribution where i hold a ton in my ass before anything else and is last to go lol I added yohimbine and injectable carnitine this week so hopefully by end of the month there will be some visible difference

 

[urmumsurdad30]

Following this log bro! Good read

Looking solid bro, the 30s are prime time (imo)

 

[Steve0691]

Following this log bro! Good read

Looking solid bro, the 30s are prime time (imo)

Thanks!

I agree, im 33 and feel like im just starting to hit my stride in this

 

[malfeasance]

Knee causing pain when squatting or leg pressing? How do you work hard to reverse that?

 

[Steve0691]

Knee causing pain when squatting or leg pressing? How do you work hard to reverse that?

My issues are mobility/flexibility and muscular imbalances not arthritis or actual tendon/cartilage issues.
Ive been getting some deep tissue work done along with adding glute training, specifically my left glute is smaller/weaker than my right. Therapist pointed it out and it turned a lightbulb on in my head because i only recently started doing direct glute work a few weeks prior. Left glute i cannot feel working and left hamstring takes over on single leg glute bridges.

 

[rexy]

To be transparent, I dont really “cycle” or even blast and cruise, at least not in the way ppl think when you use those terms. Dont get me wrong my dosages will ramp up and down depending but if you were to average out my weekly milligram amount over the past 1.5 years it would be over 1g. My philosophy is to keep bloodwork, bp, rhr, fasting glucose etc all in healthy ranges by avoiding orals/tren, any applicable meds, year round cardio to maintain health year-round. As opposed to running a 16 week cycle with tren and kick start with an oral to immediately trash lipids right off the rip lol, only to cruise/pct to barely recover bloodwork for the tail end of the cruise before repeating process. I think my sweet spot is somewhere in the 1.4-2.2ish gram range.

Could you expand more on how you determine when to ramp dosages up and down? Especially considering the down is still >1g in this case? Is it when the metrics you mentioned start shifting too far negatively/fatigue starts setting in after a long push?

 

[Steve0691]

Could you expand more on how you determine when to ramp dosages up and down? Especially considering the down is still >1g in this case? Is it when the metrics you mentioned start shifting too far negatively/fatigue starts setting in after a long push?

Various factors could influence it. If certain blood work markers start going negatively then that would definitely be reason to drop doses or even come off(think kidney markers). Now if its high LDL or BP rising? That could be solved by adding in a low dose statin for lipids, BP could be a matter of simply swapping out one compound for another without any drop in total mg amount. Or it could just be other priorities in life take a front seat. A few years back I was working a ton of overtime and not even going home some days, just sleeping at the work yard between shifts. Was I blasting grams of gear during that time? Hell no!

But for someone who wants to grow and can put forth consistent effort into bodybuilding like the position Im in currently? Then it becomes simple: use the amount you will grow on while not having side effects.

There is a misconception that steroids “stop working” over time because people dont see the same initial surge in strength as they did when they first started a cycle. Then they come off, lose a bit muscle and fullness from extra glycogen and when they go back on they mistakenly believe they have resensitized to gear when in reality it is just regaining what they lost.

 

[rexy]

Various factors could influence it. If certain blood work markers start going negatively then that would definitely be reason to drop doses or even come off(think kidney markers). Now if its high LDL or BP rising? That could be solved by adding in a low dose statin for lipids, BP could be a matter of simply swapping out one compound for another without any drop in total mg amount. Or it could just be other priorities in life take a front seat. A few years back I was working a ton of overtime and not even going home some days, just sleeping at the work yard between shifts. Was I blasting grams of gear during that time? Hell no!

But for someone who wants to grow and can put forth consistent effort into bodybuilding like the position Im in currently? Then it becomes simple: use the amount you will grow on while not having side effects.

There is a misconception that steroids “stop working” over time because people dont see the same initial surge in strength as they did when they first started a cycle. Then they come off, lose a bit muscle and fullness from extra glycogen and when they go back on they mistakenly believe they have resensitized to gear when in reality it is just regaining what they lost.

Thanks for the detail. I like the approach, as it's all about the long-game for growth anyway, as you've mentioned.

Whenever I run cycles, I feel like the downtime Tren causes (or other aggressive compounds) is unproductive in the long run. Growth takes so long anyway that had I been able to continue that period without skewed health markers, I'd have gotten better results. It takes looking at the big picture to see it outside of just 16-20wk cycles.

It also makes total sense that if their is a period in your life of stability or downtime in other areas, e.g career is stable, and few stressors, then if you have the ability to focus on the gym, you can utilise that period carefully and go harder during it - rather than stick to a typical cycle template. We're of similar age (i'm 33 later this year) and I'm in a position atm where I can visit the gym during work-hours and it gives me immense flexibility, so I've opted to keep pushing, outside of standard 16-20 wk templates (safely) to make the most of it.

 

[Nidus]

Various factors could influence it. If certain blood work markers start going negatively then that would definitely be reason to drop doses or even come off(think kidney markers). Now if its high LDL or BP rising? That could be solved by adding in a low dose statin for lipids, BP could be a matter of simply swapping out one compound for another without any drop in total mg amount. Or it could just be other priorities in life take a front seat. A few years back I was working a ton of overtime and not even going home some days, just sleeping at the work yard between shifts. Was I blasting grams of gear during that time? Hell no!

But for someone who wants to grow and can put forth consistent effort into bodybuilding like the position Im in currently? Then it becomes simple: use the amount you will grow on while not having side effects.

There is a misconception that steroids “stop working” over time because people dont see the same initial surge in strength as they did when they first started a cycle. Then they come off, lose a bit muscle and fullness from extra glycogen and when they go back on they mistakenly believe they have resensitized to gear when in reality it is just regaining what they lost.

Love this approach! I love doing the same, i just stick to Test and Primo on the same dose but change nutrition, there are so many things you can adapt and change and just adding more gear should be the lowest priority of all.