Should I be doing this?

[ericzacha]

I'm honestly not sure if this is for me and I'm looking for some guidance. I'm also not sure if my question should be in this forum or the anti-aging one. My main goal obviously is to get bigger and stronger. I worked out for years in high school thru college to my mid 20's. Then came med school, residency, marriage, kids, etc.
Started back up 2-3 years ago. I've been pretty serious since then about my routine. And I've had decent results. I think I actually look better now then when I was a 20 year old. But, I have the same problem I had as a kid. I get stronger, but not much bigger. I usually lose weight, rather than gain. (Let's assume for now that my food intake is adequate/appropriate.) I'd probably be ok with it, if that were the main problem. I enjoy the physicality of working out, it makes me feel good. Problem is age. I just break down more than I used to. I'm only 33, so I'm not ancient, but it seems like every few months I strain some new tendon or ligament. Always connective tissue. My muscles seem fine. Right now it's the distal insertion of the right ileopsoas, a few months ago the distal insertion of the left triceps. I am on the disabled list frequently enough that I feel like I can't get any continuity and thus negate any major gains.
I started reading into HGH/IGF-1 mainly for their "healing" properties, but the more I read the more I think maybe I've just maxed out what little T I have and I should try a cycle. I'm still only a few weeks into my research, and I'm fairly cerebral, so my research will take me a while. But my initial thought is to do a 6 month cycle of HGH/IGF-1 to get myself into a position where I'm not going to hurt myself and then try a cycle. Does that make sense to any of you? Am I way off track?
All the advice I see here is "max out what you have naturally first before turning to steroids" That seems like sound advice, but what if you can't seem to reach your natural potential, or at least are unsure if you have or not, because of injury. I can tell you a lot of the facts and figures of endocrinology, but for some reason they neglect to teach you in school how to manipulate them for muscle gain. Sorry for the novel.

33yo
6'0''
175
12-13% body fat
0 cycles
lifting for 2-3 years

[lovbyts]

Diet is your key. Yes you think your diet is OK, Ill bet it's not. A simple saying is if you want to be 190 lbs you have to eat like someone who is 190 lbs. It also depends a lot on what you eat, when you eat it and how often you eat as to how your body will use or store it. Fat or energy/muscle.

Also you may be over training. You can get stronger but at the same time be burning your muscle as fuel especially if your diet is not right one and you are not fueling your body with enough essential proteins especially right after working out.

Visit the diet section. Read several of the sticky notes at the top of the forum to get a general idea how it works. Read a bunch of the other post from members to also get an idea what is needed then try to write up a post looking with specific questions.