Hi,
I am a man on his mid 30s and I've been training naturally for 7 years.
I entered to the gym like most men do to get big and attract women. I saw myself in the mirror and I was extremely skinny not ripped but skinny-fat no muscles and some belly (even tho I was underweight for my height).
I was on the start self conscious on what other people would think of me when I joined a gym for the first time, after the years I realized most people don't care so much about how others look.
I hired a trainer (ex-bodybuilder) and he teached me the basics of PPL, how to make the exercises properly, also some basics about nutrition.
I was always scared of big muscled men around me that they would just laught at me for being so skinny but the truth is that most of them were very helpful and nice with me.
Some years have passed I started looking better and people noticed it on me (it was nothing crazy).
I moved to different apartment (and so different gym and my interests slowly moved from bodybuilding to strength).
I started doing something more of a powerlifting style workout (deadlift, bench, squat, rows, shoulder press). The program was called StrongLifts iirc.
I was doing that for some years then pandemic hit, gyms closed and I was not able to train. At home I had only a dumbbell of 20kg and I was thinking of buying a 2m barbell for doing the same compound exercises. Unfortunately the space was small to make barbell exercises (much less to add a squat rack..).
I was doing some exercises at home with the dumbbell but eventually I lost the motivation to train..
Then because I was following some powerlifting channels on YouTube I found out about armwrestling (not sure if it was Larry or Juji).
I started watching matches mainly Devon Larratt and WAL stuff. I've felt in love with the sport.
I started doing only hammer curls at home whenever I felt for it.
I earned more and more motivation, I started reading how to train for AW, I've bought specific equipment and started adding more and more exercises.
Then I joined an armwrestling club where people were very helpful and nice with me, they teached me proper technique basically not to break my arm. I was so weak that even a 15 year old boy could beat me.
And all this just gave me more motivation to train and to train harder (call it ego). I read more about the sport and got stronger.
After 1 year I could already see a huge difference of strength between myself and people with just few months of training and I was really happy.
Unfortunately family members very close to me passed away. I entered to a big depression and started gaining huge amount of weight even eating less than usual (I was still training and doing the same things as before).
I went to check my T levels (along with other health markers) because I also started having erection problems, they were on the 400s ng/dL close to hypogonadism.
I already checked my testosterone levels 3 years before that and they were on the 800s.
After much thinking and research I decided to jump on a 200mg test e cruise (with proper ancilliaries, supplements for harm reduction as this is putting me in the 1800s ng/dL so supraphysiological levels).
Let me tell you it was the best thing I've ever done in my life.
I started losing fat while gaining strength on a cut, my erections returned and also my energy levels increased.
I am going to be honest I still feel sad for the lost of my family members but my view of life is more "positive" than before and I feel much more often happy than sad.
Sorry if this was too long.
TLDR: I trained naturally for 7 years doing bodybuilding training, then powerlifting. My current focus is armwrestling. I found out I had low T with symptoms and hopped on gear, now I am happier than ever.
I am a man on his mid 30s and I've been training naturally for 7 years.
I entered to the gym like most men do to get big and attract women. I saw myself in the mirror and I was extremely skinny not ripped but skinny-fat no muscles and some belly (even tho I was underweight for my height).
I was on the start self conscious on what other people would think of me when I joined a gym for the first time, after the years I realized most people don't care so much about how others look.
I hired a trainer (ex-bodybuilder) and he teached me the basics of PPL, how to make the exercises properly, also some basics about nutrition.
I was always scared of big muscled men around me that they would just laught at me for being so skinny but the truth is that most of them were very helpful and nice with me.
Some years have passed I started looking better and people noticed it on me (it was nothing crazy).
I moved to different apartment (and so different gym and my interests slowly moved from bodybuilding to strength).
I started doing something more of a powerlifting style workout (deadlift, bench, squat, rows, shoulder press). The program was called StrongLifts iirc.
I was doing that for some years then pandemic hit, gyms closed and I was not able to train. At home I had only a dumbbell of 20kg and I was thinking of buying a 2m barbell for doing the same compound exercises. Unfortunately the space was small to make barbell exercises (much less to add a squat rack..).
I was doing some exercises at home with the dumbbell but eventually I lost the motivation to train..
Then because I was following some powerlifting channels on YouTube I found out about armwrestling (not sure if it was Larry or Juji).
I started watching matches mainly Devon Larratt and WAL stuff. I've felt in love with the sport.
I started doing only hammer curls at home whenever I felt for it.
I earned more and more motivation, I started reading how to train for AW, I've bought specific equipment and started adding more and more exercises.
Then I joined an armwrestling club where people were very helpful and nice with me, they teached me proper technique basically not to break my arm. I was so weak that even a 15 year old boy could beat me.
And all this just gave me more motivation to train and to train harder (call it ego). I read more about the sport and got stronger.
After 1 year I could already see a huge difference of strength between myself and people with just few months of training and I was really happy.
Unfortunately family members very close to me passed away. I entered to a big depression and started gaining huge amount of weight even eating less than usual (I was still training and doing the same things as before).
I went to check my T levels (along with other health markers) because I also started having erection problems, they were on the 400s ng/dL close to hypogonadism.
I already checked my testosterone levels 3 years before that and they were on the 800s.
After much thinking and research I decided to jump on a 200mg test e cruise (with proper ancilliaries, supplements for harm reduction as this is putting me in the 1800s ng/dL so supraphysiological levels).
Let me tell you it was the best thing I've ever done in my life.
I started losing fat while gaining strength on a cut, my erections returned and also my energy levels increased.
I am going to be honest I still feel sad for the lost of my family members but my view of life is more "positive" than before and I feel much more often happy than sad.
Sorry if this was too long.
TLDR: I trained naturally for 7 years doing bodybuilding training, then powerlifting. My current focus is armwrestling. I found out I had low T with symptoms and hopped on gear, now I am happier than ever.
