[Pharmacom]TestC/NPP/Dbol/Test Base "Off-season" Powerlifting Cycle

[FeartheBeard]

First things first. This is my first cycle log, not my first cycle. Previous cycles have included Test with various prohormones. This is my first nandrolone cycle.

12 weeks of: (all pharmacom brand)
100mg NPP EOD
500mg Test C/wk.
Frontload Test C week 1 (1.5 grams)
Dbol 20-30 mg(Oral and injectable) preworkout only
Test Base 50 mg preworkout
(preworkout dosages subject to change, I'm playing around with the dosages)

Training Style:
Westside Barbell

Goals:
Increase my Squat, Bench & Deadlift
Injury prehab/rehab
Adding a couple pounds of lean tissue with some fat loss.


I am late starting this log. I just barely started week 4. Sorry guys. Better late than never though.

I am never going to frontload again. The high dosages caused a huge estrogen spike and made my preexisting gyno worse. I dropped the dbol and Test base for about 1.5 weeks to get my estrogen under control. My exemestane wasn't cutting it so I added letro I had lying around and it's been doing the job.

I've added the dbol and test base back in this week. I really like the injectable dbol more than oral. Seems to hit harder.

I'll add some more to the log after work today.

 

[FeartheBeard]

During week 1, I increased bodyweight from 195 to 205. Currently sitting at 202. This is still ideal to me, as I compete in the 198ln weight class. I started up my ECA stack in addition to the anabolics.

Tomorrow is max effort Bench day. I've noticed more improvements on bench than on deadlift and squat so far this cycle.

 

[Docd187123]

Anyone with a handle "FeartheBeard" has to be into powerlifting and have some beastly numbers.

I'm in on this.

What's your fed if you don't mind me asking? I'm a fellow 198er

 

[FeartheBeard]

I haven't officially competed in the fed, but SPF. My problem is most meets are out East and I'm temporarily living out West for schooling. I've noticed this is the case for nearly all feds. All the comps I've been in have been school events and unaffiliated.
I picked the SPF because I can lift equipped and its untested. I'm rethinking equipped lifting though simply because my bench shirt is too small. I got it when I was 185!

What fed do you lift in Doc?

 

[Perrin Aybara]

Always in for a fellow powerlifter's log. I have a couple questions though:

What is your (approximate) age, how long have you been training and training for powerlifting, what are your lifts like, equipped and raw? Also, I have to know, how fearsome is the beard and how much would you say it adds to your total? We were just having a discussion about great beards and great strength the other day.

Seriously though, I'll be following. Westside is something I haven't tried yet and don't know much about, so I'm interested to see how it's laid out.

 

[Docd187123]

I haven't officially competed in the fed, but SPF. My problem is most meets are out East and I'm temporarily living out West for schooling. I've noticed this is the case for nearly all feds. All the comps I've been in have been school events and unaffiliated.
I picked the SPF because I can lift equipped and its untested. I'm rethinking equipped lifting though simply because my bench shirt is too small. I got it when I was 185!

What fed do you lift in Doc?

Being out east it is easier for me to find meets. I lift in RPS. They have both raw/equipped and tested/untested classes.

 

[FeartheBeard]

Always in for a fellow powerlifter's log. I have a couple questions though:

What is your (approximate) age, how long have you been training and training for powerlifting, what are your lifts like, equipped and raw? Also, I have to know, how fearsome is the beard and how much would you say it adds to your total? We were just having a discussion about great beards and great strength the other day.

Seriously though, I'll be following. Westside is something I haven't tried yet and don't know much about, so I'm interested to see how it's laid out.

Yeah, that's some stuff I neglected to add into my initial post
1. I'm in my late 20's.
2. My competition lifts:
RAW-
Squat: 455
Bench: 300
Deadlift: 425
Nothing too impressive, but I'm not messing with tinker toys either.

Equipped- I haven't competed equipped, but had some training in my gear. My buddy that was teaching me to lift equipped had moved away so I've been having trouble working with my gear alone. Especially trying to get into the gear. Asking 3 guys for a wedgie and still having trouble getting into my suit is actually kinda funny to see.
BUT:
Squat: 500+ with briefs (not in suit)
Bench: I couldn't get 365 to touch, so I'm not sure.
Deadlift: Well, I still need a deadlift suit. THEY'RE PRICY!!!

3. The beard is MIGHTY FEARSOME. I swear, my beard is like Samson's hair. If I cut it my strength will disappear.

4. Here's the general layout:
Day 1 Max Effort Squat/DL
Day 2 Rest/GPP (general physical preparedness)
Day 3 Max Effort Bench
Day 4 Rest/GPP
Day 5 Dynamic Effort (speed) Squat/DL
Day 6 Dynamic Effort Bench
Day 7 Rest.

The speed work is done as follows:
3 week waves of 50, 55, then 60% of 1RM
8-12 sets:
Box Squat 2reps
DL 1 rep
Bench 3 reps.
30 seconds rest between sets. I do 8 sets of speed box squats followed by 4 sets of DL singles. I'm thinking of increasing my DL sets starting this week though.

Max Effort is just as it sounds. HEAVY. Know where you are weak on your lift (for instance off the floor on DL). Then pick an exercise that will strengthen and work that weakness (deficit DL's with 35's to pull from a lower position). Do heavy triples gradually increasing the weight until triples are hard, then hit singles- EXCEPT for Good Mornings. Too likely to get hurt with heavy good morning singles. Should be able to get some good volume in with these like 8-10 sets. There's a lot of exercises that can help train your CNS to handle supramaximal weights- like board presses. Smaller range of motion allows more weight to be handled.

Accessory work is usually 3-4 exercises chosen for specific reasons. I'll do back work on each lifting day. Just 2-4 sets of each exercise. Posterior chain (mostly hams)/back/abs on sqt/dl day and tris/back/shoulders on bench days.

Hopefully that was a decent rundown of the training.

 

[FeartheBeard]

Being out east it is easier for me to find meets. I lift in RPS. They have both raw/equipped and tested/untested classes.

I'll have to look into them as I'll be moving east sometime soon.

 

[FeartheBeard]

Today was a pretty great training day. I did reverse band close-grip bench press and hit a new PR! The bands took about 100lbs off the bottom but quickly loaded A LOT of weight once the weight transferred to the triceps. (my previous PR with this exercise was 365 raw, 425 for a single with the slingshot). I hit 405 raw for a single, then added my slingshot because I just had to have more weight. I hit 425 for a triple and 455 for a single. That was an uncomfortable amount to bench. But, the 455 went up easier than the 425 did.

I did hit 50mg test base IM preworkout and 25mg injectable dbol subq preworkout. The 25mg dbol seems to be the sweet spot for me injected. My body definitely feels better with injectable vs oral dbol. Pretty sure it's the test base irritating my gyno though- it doesn't flare up on days I don't take it. Or, it could just be the combo of the 2. I may try backing down the test base doasage though.

The test c is really starting to kick in this week. I just feel stronger and the test base+dbol seems to be hitting harder in the gym which I'm racking up to the synergy with the test c.

 

[Docd187123]

I'll have to look into them as I'll be moving east sometime soon.

I have no experience with any other fed so take it for what it's worth but I'm happy with RPS. Gene, the owner, is a very easy guy to get along with and is very helpful. The meets usually run pretty smoothly, no major politics, no annual/member fee just a sign up fee for the meet, some guys putting up good numbers, and a good geographical area for my location of meets.

 

[jaymaximus]

im in

 

[zmoney]

Yes I think Bench is most dependent on your mass so I would think your bench would shoot up as you get heavier. How is injecting dbol subq? I didn't realise it could be done that way. Interested to see how much you get on your total at the end of this

 

[FeartheBeard]

Honestly, I'm experimenting with doing the dbol subq. I remembered reading something from Dr. John Crissler saying TRT can be administered subq, so I figured why not dbol? It goes through a slin pin easily enough and still starts being felt in about 45-60 minutes. I thought it would take longer to kick in with there being far less blood flow to the fat tissue around the abdomen, but I am happily mistaken. I want to say it seems to extend the half-life a good bit as I can still feel it later in the day, but it seems to be gone by the next morning. The actual depot seems to absorb well, I can't feel the bumps of previous injections so that's another plus. It burns a bit going into the fat. That may be the ethyl oleate or just the benzyl alcohol, either way it irritates the tissue when injecting it just for a minute or two.

 

[FeartheBeard]

Today was Speed Squat/DLs at about 50% raw max. PLUS chains. The new ones I made are about 40lbs total. I'll have to add some more to them.

I pinned my TNE @ 50mg (IM) and Dbol @ 25mg(subq). Also pinned the NPP preworkout as well (usually do it in the morning, but didn't have time. Plus, I prefer doing all my pins at the same time)

Both box squats and speed pulls were done with a bar weight of 235+ 40 lbs chain. 8 sets of doubles for squat with 30 seconds rest between sets. 10 singles for DL back to back with my training partner.

Everything was feeling light to me. It should at 50% but the bar felt much lighter than normal. I did NOT want to stop. I just wanted to hit more and more sets. EVERY REP was EXPLOSIVE! My lifting partner commented that my deads were ridiculously fast. I felt explosive and strong.

For accessories I did high rep good mornings, Yates Rows, and some hanging leg raises.
I hit a rep PR with the Yates Rows- 275x8 reps. My back is definitely getting bigger and stronger.
I think the NPP is helping with my joints a little, but there's definitely more anabolism than joint lubrication.

 

[jaymaximus]

Good looking workout. I didnt get a chance to read too much earlier, so now I got to really get into your log.

I just started Westside a few weeks back, its my first time, so needless to say Im very interested in yours.

 

[FeartheBeard]

Dude, I love it. It really helps with the mental part of lifting. For your max effort work, you have to look real hard at your lifts and honestly admit where your weaknesses/sticking points are in each lift.

The best example I can think of is the deadlift. Do you suck right off the floor? Do deficit deads! Use 35's instead of 45's. Pulling so low will get your body used to pulling though the normal bar height and you'll be stronger AND faster off the floor. Weak off the chest? 1-2 board press with a (relatively) close grip will help tremendously.

If you have any questions bro, post them here so anyone else reading can learn too.

 

[Perrin Aybara]

I've had some success in the past with the deficit deads with 35's. Feels much more natural than standing on something to me.

 

[FeartheBeard]

I've tried standing on plates, but I just can't transfer my force the same way. My lifting partner would do them every week if I let him. He's added about 50 lbs to his deadlift since I started training him. He definitely attributes it to the deficits. I know it's more from his speed pulls.

 

[Docd187123]

I've tried standing on plates, but I just can't transfer my force the same way. My lifting partner would do them every week if I let him. He's added about 50 lbs to his deadlift since I started training him. He definitely attributes it to the deficits. I know it's more from his speed pulls.

My gym doesn't have 35lb plates. What I do is usually stand on plates. I did make a cutout of a piece of plywood and sometimes also use that.

 

[FeartheBeard]

That's so annoying. It definitely works, especially if the plates are totally flat on one side. The ones at my gym are rubber, have handles/holes and NOT flat. Makes deficits tough.