Cleant1
Member
Hey Everyone,
Solid community here. Mostly new to the lifting scene, not entirely new to test (in the form of TRT).
Background story, long winded - sorry:
I lifted solid, 4-5 days a week, about a decade ago, for 1.5 years. Never made great gains, although I thought I was eating and resting good. Mainly following the diet as prescribed by Tony Horton (P90X) except at about 3500 calories/day. At that time, 19 yo, I weighed 160 lbs, and bulked up to 175 lbs, at 6'2" and 10-12% BF. My PRs were nothing to be impressed with; 1 plate bench, maybe 150 squat and deadlift.
Got a desk job in the city, got lazy, got fat, something wasn't right... grew a tumor (possibly gyno) in my left pectoral muscle. Surgeon said it wasn't gyno, but a 'fibrous mass' intertwined with my pec muscle and fat. He claimed he did not remove any muscle tissue, but I have/had my doubts. When I raise my arm, if I press on my nipple, there is nothing.. no fat, no muscle, just my ribs. After that, I went to the Dr to get my blood done up - found out my T levels were at 127!! He said for my age, that it was abnormally, extraordinarily low - he made a short hand assumption that my body doesn't/poorly produces it on its own. I was put on TRT, Test Cyp for 250mg/week self-injected. 8 weeks later we redid the blood work and I was at 694, or something like that. I ran that for a year, and felt great. It was completely new to me.. I had more confidence, more energy, better mood, etc. Crazy what normal feels like. After a year, I stopped taking it... the wife wanted another child, and sperm count test shows I was pretty much firing blanks. Took 2 more years being off before we were able to conceive.
Fast forward to current times. We moved, I don't have that Dr anymore, and am still not well off. I bloated up to a whopping 252 lbs while I was on test and living in the city, sitting on my ass. I've been really cleaning up my diet, and quit drinking, this past month. I'm down to 232 lbs (20 lb loss this last month), at about 2200 calories a day, about 40/40/20. I'm skinny fat, where most of my BF sits on my belly, guessing around 30% bf.
I started Mark Rippetoe's 'Starting Strength' program 2 weeks ago, and have been pumped about working out ever since. I look forward to work out days like sex with the lady. I started at 135 lbs for sets (where I failed for my initial max work checking) on all 3 workouts (chest, squat, deadlift), and 90 lbs on should press. As of yesterday (workout 5) for sets, I'm squatting 185, benching 155, pressing 105, and deadlifting 205.
I don't know where my test levels are, but I know they still aren't good. Unfortunately, the Dr's where I live won't prescribe it (heavily religion influenced community). I'd like to get back on TRT, but I guess I'll go down that road when I plateau. Being 29yo now, I imagine they've only gone down.
Looking forward to growing, but mostly learning, here.
Solid community here. Mostly new to the lifting scene, not entirely new to test (in the form of TRT).
Background story, long winded - sorry:
I lifted solid, 4-5 days a week, about a decade ago, for 1.5 years. Never made great gains, although I thought I was eating and resting good. Mainly following the diet as prescribed by Tony Horton (P90X) except at about 3500 calories/day. At that time, 19 yo, I weighed 160 lbs, and bulked up to 175 lbs, at 6'2" and 10-12% BF. My PRs were nothing to be impressed with; 1 plate bench, maybe 150 squat and deadlift.
Got a desk job in the city, got lazy, got fat, something wasn't right... grew a tumor (possibly gyno) in my left pectoral muscle. Surgeon said it wasn't gyno, but a 'fibrous mass' intertwined with my pec muscle and fat. He claimed he did not remove any muscle tissue, but I have/had my doubts. When I raise my arm, if I press on my nipple, there is nothing.. no fat, no muscle, just my ribs. After that, I went to the Dr to get my blood done up - found out my T levels were at 127!! He said for my age, that it was abnormally, extraordinarily low - he made a short hand assumption that my body doesn't/poorly produces it on its own. I was put on TRT, Test Cyp for 250mg/week self-injected. 8 weeks later we redid the blood work and I was at 694, or something like that. I ran that for a year, and felt great. It was completely new to me.. I had more confidence, more energy, better mood, etc. Crazy what normal feels like. After a year, I stopped taking it... the wife wanted another child, and sperm count test shows I was pretty much firing blanks. Took 2 more years being off before we were able to conceive.
Fast forward to current times. We moved, I don't have that Dr anymore, and am still not well off. I bloated up to a whopping 252 lbs while I was on test and living in the city, sitting on my ass. I've been really cleaning up my diet, and quit drinking, this past month. I'm down to 232 lbs (20 lb loss this last month), at about 2200 calories a day, about 40/40/20. I'm skinny fat, where most of my BF sits on my belly, guessing around 30% bf.
I started Mark Rippetoe's 'Starting Strength' program 2 weeks ago, and have been pumped about working out ever since. I look forward to work out days like sex with the lady. I started at 135 lbs for sets (where I failed for my initial max work checking) on all 3 workouts (chest, squat, deadlift), and 90 lbs on should press. As of yesterday (workout 5) for sets, I'm squatting 185, benching 155, pressing 105, and deadlifting 205.
I don't know where my test levels are, but I know they still aren't good. Unfortunately, the Dr's where I live won't prescribe it (heavily religion influenced community). I'd like to get back on TRT, but I guess I'll go down that road when I plateau. Being 29yo now, I imagine they've only gone down.
Looking forward to growing, but mostly learning, here.
