Advice on 2nd cycle, what to take- MMA, strength training, recovering from injury

[GiantRobot]

Hey everyone! I will greatly appreciate any advice you all may he able to offer.

My Stats:
Height- 6'1
Weight- from 175-195 (current 185)
Bodyfat%- hovers around 8-12% depending on diet

So here is where I am at, and I come to you experts for advice. I have done one cycle before, one year ago, which involved Test Enanthate 500 mg/week for 12 weeks. The goals for that cycle was weight and strength gains, and there were some. Gained about 10lbs, definitely some strength, lost the size after but kept added strength.

Currently I am having some issues. I compete in mma and jujitsu and am recovering from a broken elbow which resulted from an armbar approx 4 months ago. Also, I am now dealing with other joint aches and pains and a strained back (which is significant).

I believe my injuries are not healing as well as normal because I am also a Paramedic with two jobs, in Nursing School, and about 5-6 nights.per week I only sleep 3 hours or so because I work nights. I am remaining strong in the gym, but everything always hurts, and more rest is not an option. As a result of my body not resting enough, my physique is declining as well, and while I still look fairly lean and muscular, not as solid as normal.

I want to gain 10-20 *solid* pounds back, and find a stack that will help my body recover faster. If I can accomplish the latter, weight gain is insignificant, actually. I haven't been sensitive to gyno side effects ever in the past with that cycle or otc prohormones.

One friend has suggested- test, tren, equipose stack
Another- simple test and deca 10 week cycle.

Your thoughts?

[stpete]

Proper rest is imperative. What's your diet like? Age?

[GiantRobot]

26. Diet is fairly clean right now. Coming off a super clean diet which was a carb-free, paleo type diet that I did.for about 8 months and stopped in De***ber. I eat ALOT, but pretty much all good food.

Example day would be-
Breakfast: full bowl oatmeal with half scoop vanilla protein mixed in to flavor
Post workout: glutamine + protein shake with simple sugars (fruit smoothie)
Lunch, hour later or so: Big sandwich on wheat, side salad
Dinner: meat, raw veggies, little or no grains
3am second dinner: meat, raw veggies, fruit+granola+Greek yogurt

Sometimes if I'm out with the lady or something I will snack on some appetizers, wings, cheesecake, wine, but the bulk of my diet is healthy.

[andy-pandy]

for joints aches best steroid is deca, GH does help repair things much faster too.

there is a study posted on alot of forums saying certain steroids increase collagen production alot, which for helping with tendon and maybe joint problems it should be usefull, but the study could just be made up since nobody knows the orgin of it.

here are some extracts
primo increase it by 180%
deca increase it by 270% in 2 weeks
boldenone increase it by 340%
var has over a hundred studies documenting its effectiveness at treating patients needing rapid increases in collagen syn to enhance healing.

also says test lowers collagen by 80% so injuries can happen more, but as i said theres no proof these claims are real

I got an injury myself which has stoped me training more than once a week for a long time so im trying a small test/bold combo, im not feeling anything from it yet so thinking my gear is bunk

dont take deca if you maybe tested in less than 18 months

[The Bear 79]

That diet isn't going to help you gain "10 - 20 solid pounds back". You're going to have to up your intake & you're gona need those carbs. And most generally, steroids are not a good idea for someone trying to heal, the rapid tissue growth that accompanies steroid use may cause further damage to tendons & ligaments that haven't been used much or at all while healing.

[GiantRobot]

Thank you all.

To the bear- Here is my state.of injuries, let me know of that affects.your response: I have still been working out pretty heavily, even as my.broken elbow was healing I have a very physical job as a Firefighter/Medic and don't have the time.to recover and take off work, so I haven't taken off much from the gym either, just cut back. Back strain has kept me from wrestling for 3 weeks and will return this week, but other than that, have been in gym, now with elbow better can still.rep out 275-300 on benchpress, before back injury 3-400 deadlift, and can squat a good amount as well

So this is my maintenance diet, bear. If I attempt to gain weight it will involve considerably more carb and calories. I have gotten up to 210 naturally for Rugby. All the aches and pains from barely sleeping make it excruciating in the gym sometimes, as I feel my body never recovers (although am still working out very hard and Injuries are, slowly, being healed)

[BBrian]

Great response Bear. You are also seriously impeding your body's ability to heal with only 3 hours of sleep a night and your constant activity while awake. I'm impressed with your drive and level of motivation but between your rest periods and 3 meals throughout the day you have a lot of work to do before a cycle will be beneficial for you. If you want to add muscle the first thing you're going to HAVE to do is dismiss some major activity from your schedule that will allow you to sleep 8 hours a night. Without proper rest you're not only going to heal injruies far more slow than you should, but you're also going to have a very difficult time adding lean muscle mass. Next to that you need to double your meals throughout the day. You also need to stop using whey protein as a meal repla***ent and use it as an addition to a meal of real food, or as a snack in between full, healthy meals. Once you get that under control, you will find that Anavar and/or deca stacked with testosterone will be very efficient in aiding your body in the final stages of healing from injury. I tore a shoulder ligament in a judo match several years ago and used deca with great success to complete the healing process, but only after I had been back in the gym for several months.

At the rate you're going with your sleeping and eating habits, you're going to jump back into the ring feeling that you're ready, only to reinjure yourself.

[stpete]

Yeah, you need to tweak that diet. In the nutrition forum you can post your current diet and ask for a little help. There's also a sticky over there on good bulking tips. Reading through those will be beneficial as well. That being said, and you getting more rest than you currently are, i would say that test e and deca would probably be your best bet. Make sure you have a good pct on hand as well.
Good luck

[ScotchGuard02]

If you're looking for joint support low doses of Deca and Test will help. Low dose is about 100mg/wk to 150mg/wk. I have bum joints from the same sport and when I did my first low dose Deca/Test cycle I felt GREAT! It took me about 6 weeks to feel the benefits of the cycle. High doses of Test does dry out the collagen but not too much. I couldn't really feel it when I run Test cycles. Winny on the other hand is a whole different story. I wanted to get knee repla***ents because they were so sore. Made my joints ache like crazy. I got decent gains even at the low dosage. If you can't perform because of injury, as an MMA coach for 15 years, my advice to you would be to heal first then worry about putting on size and strength.

[Brohim]

Take 2 weeks off of training and sleep instead of going to train. Keep eating clean and if you workout keep it light. Then when you come back you will be stronger and your body will be healed.

[GiantRobot]

Thanks for all the great advice, everyone. Been waiting to post a response cause it had to approve first since I am new here.

I am going to search the nutrition forum, because I realize now that I *used* to eat alot but probably nowhere near enough anymore. The problem with the rest/sleep more suggestions (while highly appreciated), has been that my work as a Firefighter/medic is very physical, and between that, night job and school rest of muscles or more sleep isn't really a option, at all, so I figure might as well hit the gym too, even if I cant rest and recover. Could *definetely* improve nutrition, realizing that thanks to you all.

I may try that two weeks off as Brohim suggested

[GiantRobot]

Didn't realize the earlier response went through, stupid phone, so the last might have been a bit redundant.

Thanks again