New member intro

[B-Rett]

Hey all, I’m a 38 year old who has been lifting for around 22 years. Used to be a competitive ice hockey goalie and have slowly transitioned from hybrid athlete training to more of a gym bro bodybuilder style over the years. 6”1, 197lbs coming off a cut with reta and now 4 weeks into my first cycle of 400mg test cyp per week.

I’ll save the details for a cycle log, but my goals are to gain 10-15 lbs of lean muscle mass in a non rushed, health oriented manner and try to maintain it with the usual cut in the spring/summer.

 

[trynagains]

Nice! welcome. I’m also late 30s. Transitioned from skateboard/snowboard bro to gym bro.

What bf did you stop your cut at?

 

[Elektrobot]

Transitioned from skateboard/snowboard bro to gym bro

I've heard female to male transitions are the most difficult. Congratulations on your success.

 

[Elektrobot]

Hey all, I’m a 38 year old who has been lifting for around 22 years. Used to be a competitive ice hockey goalie and have slowly transitioned from hybrid athlete training to more of a gym bro bodybuilder style over the years. 6”1, 197lbs coming off a cut with reta and now 4 weeks into my first cycle of 400mg test cyp per week.

I’ll save the details for a cycle log, but my goals are to gain 10-15 lbs of lean muscle mass in a non rushed, health oriented manner and try to maintain it with the usual cut in the spring/summer.

Nice

Make sure to do your bloodwork. Lots of good info in the serum blood testing topic. and some discount codes that people share for labs.

And monitor your blood pressure. 120/70 or lower.

 

[trynagains]

I've heard female to male transitions are the most difficult. Congratulations on your success.

With enough hormones anything is possible lol

This injury put the last nail in the coffin for boarding.

 

[Elektrobot]

With enough hormones anything is possible lol

This injury put the last nail in the coffin for boarding.

I know a flesh wound when I see one

 

[trynagains]

I know a flesh wound when I see one

Flesh was involved for sure

 

[B-Rett]

Nice! welcome. I’m also late 30s. Transitioned from skateboard/snowboard bro to gym bro.

What bf did you stop your cut at?

I suspect I was 12-14% bf after my cut. I actually payed for some echo light scan which was advertised to be just as accurate as a dexa and was cheaper. DO NOT try this, I thought it would be some fancy machine but the dude just took a few pictures of my belly using an ultrasound wand and fed the numbers into the computer. Thing said I was 26% and clinically obese. (You can see all 6 abs and several ribs) When I asked him “what’s up with that?” He gave me some long winded bullshit about visceral fat being more than people think.

I realize 12-14% is probably too high to start a test cycle, but I felt like I was ready enough and would just do a lot of bloodwork to figure out the e2. Spoiler, e2 went out of control, I’ll post about it on my cycle log.

 

[trynagains]

I suspect I was 12-14% bf after my cut. I actually payed for some echo light scan which was advertised to be just as accurate as a dexa and was cheaper. DO NOT try this, I thought it would be some fancy machine but the dude just took a few pictures of my belly using an ultrasound wand and fed the numbers into the computer. Thing said I was 26% and clinically obese. (You can see all 6 abs and several ribs) When I asked him “what’s up with that?” He gave me some long winded bullshit about visceral fat being more than people think.

I realize 12-14% is probably too high to start a test cycle, but I felt like I was ready enough and would just do a lot of bloodwork to figure out the e2. Spoiler, e2 went out of control, I’ll post about it on my cycle log.

Yeah controlling e2 is a bitch. I basically don’t do high test anymore or compounds that reduce to estrogen. Highest test I take is 250mg/wk. The side effects from high estrogen For me are extreme and heart related. And I also don’t love taking large doses of AI.

12% bf isn’t too bad. But 14 would be pushing it. The reason is because the best spot to build lean mass is between 10-15%. Going above 15% means your health markers might start to look a bit worse and cutting afterwards is going to eat through lots of new muscle. At least that’s what I’ve found from personal experience, so getting as lean as you can is the best bet if you want a solid cycle with room to bulk.