M, 6'1", DOB: 1978, Training Since: April 2014, Diet/Programming: Dr. GainzZz

[anticausal]

150mg/week ?!?!? Wow. I'm on 80mg/week (200mg per ml, 0.4mls), and my free T levels were around 700 at only 60mg/week.

Yeah, I pushed for a healthy dose and that's what she gave me. You're giving me second thoughts, now. lol From what I've been reading, some doctors go as high as 200 mg/week, with the more typical being 100-150mg/week.

I did three labs. Total T readings were 409, 480, and 530 ng/dL. (348-1197 ng/dL reference) So I'm like in the 15-20th percentile for my age. The first two were labcorp, but for some reason I can't get an accurate free-T reading at labcorp (it was off charts). So the last test was at Quest Diagnostic. Quest had my bio-available at 115 pg/mL (110-575 pg/mL reference) and my free-T at 58.6 pg/mL (46-224 pg/mL reference). So my free/available is pretty shitty.

Are you sure that 700 reading wasn't for total? If not, what was the reference? If I'm going to do TRT, I feel like I might as well get myself in the 95th percentile for men my age. I see no reason to aim for average levels if you're going to replace anyway.

[Aaron Montgomery]

My bad, major typo. ~700 was total count (at 60mg/week). Before getting on TRT my total T levels were ~300 ng/dl. If I've read correctly, if you get your dosing too high, your body will convert testosterone to estrogen (aromatization), which isn't good. All that to say, make sure after 4-8 weeks you get blood work for your total T count (on day 7, before your weekly injection). If your levels are higher than 1200 ng/dl you should probably drop the dosage a bit, since those level are even higher before day 7.

[anticausal]

My bad, major typo. ~700 was total count (at 60mg/week). Before getting on TRT my total T levels were ~300 ng/dl. If I've read correctly, if you get your dosing too high, your body will convert testosterone to estrogen (aromatization), which isn't good. All that to say, make sure after 4-8 weeks you get blood work for your total T count (on day 7, before your weekly injection). If your levels are higher than 1200 ng/dl you should probably drop the dosage a bit, since those level are even higher before day 7.

She recommended I split my 150mg into two 75mg doses per week, although she said if I really wanted I could do a single dose. And she actually prescribed me a very low dose aromatase inhibitor. But I'm wondering if I will even need it. My blood work showed my estrogen is also currently well below average. And yeah, the 6 week blood work is already scheduled.

[Aaron Montgomery]

I do my own injections, and hate it, so I only do once a week. If you can handle 2 times a week of lower dosages, I'd say do it. Testosterone cypionate peaks for 3-4 days and then levels typically rapidly drop by day 6 or 7. I read an article somewhere recently that said T injections of smaller dosages resulted in less aromatization then large dosages, which makes sense.

[anticausal]

I do my own injections, and hate it, so I only do once a week. If you can handle 2 times a week of lower dosages, I'd say do it. Testosterone cypionate peaks for 3-4 days and then levels typically rapidly drop by day 6 or 7. I read an article somewhere recently that said T injections of smaller dosages resulted in less aromatization then large dosages, which makes sense.

I have no idea if I'm going to hate it or be indifferent. I only know that flu shots and getting blood drawn don't bother me at all.

What gauge needle are you using? I'm going to start with a 25 gauge 5/8", based on what I've read. If that sucks, maybe I'll use the detachable needle and use a lower gauge to draw and then shoot with 28 gauge.

[Aaron Montgomery]

I draw with 18g, shoot with 21g (which gets your attention); 1.5" I think. Cypionate is suspended in cottonseed oil, which is super thick stuff. Starting with 25g should feel better than 21g, but may take a long time to inject, especially with your big dosages. Hmmm, maybe I should try a 25g needle and see if I don't mind it as much... Depending on where you are injecting, and how much fat you have on the surface, you may want to consider injecting with a 1" needle. I have my mother-in-law inject my rear whenever she's available, since she's a nurse and I hate injecting myself. If you have the option of where to inject, go with the area that has the least amount of fat, to ensure the injection goes into muscle tissue, and isn't sitting around in your fatty tissue getting converted to estrogen.

It may not be an issue for you, but I have noticed that whatever muscle I have injected (doesn't matter if it's thighs or glutes) tends to get really tight for several days, and requires serious tennis/lacrosse ball use.

[anticausal]

I draw with 18g, shoot with 21g (which gets your attention); 1.5" I think. Cypionate is suspended in cottonseed oil, which is super thick stuff. Starting with 25g should feel better than 21g, but may take a long time to inject, especially with your big dosages. Hmmm, maybe I should try a 25g needle and see if I don't mind it as much... Depending on where you are injecting, and how much fat you have on the surface, you may want to consider injecting with a 1" needle. I have my mother-in-law inject my rear whenever she's available, since she's a nurse and I hate injecting myself. If you have the option of where to inject, go with the area that has the least amount of fat, to ensure the injection goes into muscle tissue, and isn't sitting around in your fatty tissue getting converted to estrogen.

It may not be an issue for you, but I have noticed that whatever muscle I have injected (doesn't matter if it's thighs or glutes) tends to get really tight for several days, and requires serious tennis/lacrosse ball use.

Yeah, it sounds like you should go for a higher gauge. Although I don't have any experience yet, 21 gauge is borderline masochistic according to what I've read. At 25 gauge or higher, I don't think you'd feel any pain in your muscle hours (much less days) later.

My cypionate is actually suspended in grape seed oil. I read that it's less viscous than cottonseed, but who knows. Another thing you can probably do is just sit the vile in some warm water for a few minutes to get it flowing better.

[anticausal]

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

Day 3 - Deadlift Realization

Training Week

Squat (Sun)| Bench (Mon) | Off (Tue) | Deadlift (Wed) | Press (Thu) | GPP (Fri) | Off (Sat)

Facts

Morning BW: 213.6 lb (-0.6 lb over last week)
Sleep: 12:50am-9:20am
Time in Bed/Time Asleep: 8h30m/6h28m
Restless/Awake: 32m (13x)/20m (3x)
Before Bed Self-Med: 200mg ibuprofen

Garage Gym Conditions:
Pre-workout Meal: @ t - 1h45m

410 kCal - 56g (C), 6g (F), 36 (P), 7g (Fib)

• 40g Quaker Oats (dry measure)
• 5g Sugar
• 1 Nutri Grain Breakfast Bar
• 26g Whey Isolate
• 200mg Caffeine
• 10g BCAAs

Day's Macros: 270/270 C, 69/69 F, 249/250 P, 35/45 Fib

Feelz

Aches and Pains: 5/10
DOMS: 1/10
Lower Body Fatigue: 1/10
Upper Back/Torso Fatigue: 5/10
Arm/Chest Fatigue: 4/10
Motivation: 5/10
Stress: 5/10

Training

Theme: Realization

Comp Deadlift - Rx: x1@8, x1@9, x1@10

• 315x5@6.5
• 365x4@5 (+hook)
• 405x2@5.5
• 425x1@6
• 450x1@6.5
• 475x1@8
• 500x1@9
• 525x1@10 (+15 lb PR)

Notes

Comp Deadlift: Finally a PR! I was afraid this realization was going to be a complete failure. Up through the 405 warmup I was feeling kinda shitty and was worried that I wasn't going to perform. But by the 450 rep my confidence was solidified.

Neither the 500 nor the 525 rep felt beastly--not as smooth as I would like, and with a touch of difficulty getting to lockout. I had a little adrenaline going, but not nearly as much as I've benefited from in the past. If I had been in a great and excited mood, I think 540-550 may have been possible. But I'm not complaining! I was fearing a shit show, so 525 is great!

Video: Deadlift Realization - 475x1@8, 500x1@9, 525x1@10

[anticausal]

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Day 4 - Press

Training Week

Squat (Sun)| Bench (Mon) | Off (Tue) | Deadlift (Wed) | Press (Thu) | GPP (Fri) | Off (Sat)

Facts

Morning BW: 211.8 lb (-1.6 lb over last Thursday)
Sleep: 12:58am-10:10am
Time in Bed/Time Asleep: 9h12m/8h19m
Restless/Awake: 33m (17x)/20m (3x)
Before Bed Self-Med: 200mg ibuprofen, 1 tylenol PM

Garage Gym Conditions:
Pre-workout Meal: @ t - 1h45m

403 kCal - 56g (C), 6g (F), 34 (P), 7g (Fib)

• 1 Kellog's Nutri Grain Breakfast Bar - Apple
• 40g Quaker Oats (dry measure)
• 5g Brown Sugar
• 30g Whey Isolate
• 200mg caffeine
• 10g BCAAs

Day's Macros: 268/270 C, 66/69 F, 246/250 P, 29/45 Fib

Feelz

Aches and Pains: 6/10
DOMS: 4/10
Lower Body Fatigue: 7/10
Upper Back/Torso Fatigue: 7/10
Arm/Chest Fatigue: 5/10
Motivation: 5/10
Stress: 5/10

Training

Theme: Realization

Press - Rx: x1@8, x1@9, x1@10

• 125x3@6
• 135x2@6.5
• 145x1@8
• 155x1@9
• 165xF

Notes

General: Took my first cypionate shot yesterday. Originally I was going to do 150mg/week spread over two injections, but I've decided to start at 125mg/week instead (still 2x/week injections). Shot in the quad was painless and easy, so no problems there. Really looking forward to the effects kicking in at around 4 to 6 weeks.

Press: Absolute shit. I need to practice heavy press singles. This was just ridiculously bad. I can do 145x5, so I really should be able to do 165x1. Not that that would actually be any good. A year ago I did 160x1 (albeit at an RPE of infinity), so it's basically zero gains for the year on press. I can't really act too surprised. It's all been nothing but pressing in sets of 6 to 10. Like I said, I need heavy singles practice.

[Aaron Montgomery]

General: Took my first cypionate shot yesterday. Originally I was going to do 150mg/week spread over two injections, but I've decided to start at 125mg/week instead (still 2x/week injections). Shot in the quad was painless and easy, so no problems there. Really looking forward to the effects kicking in at around 4 to 6 weeks.

With your dosages you might feel it after 2 weeks! Just got some 25g syringes (as opposed to 21g) after reading your log. Hopefully I find them to be "painless and easy" :P