absolute freshy here

[nath100nek]

Hey guys im new to these forums and i joined because i wanted to make my life better. such as boosting my self esteem and just looking good and feeling good in general. I'm 21 an ectomorph weighing in at around 135lb and 5'6. ive been skinny all my life and ive been bullied for that since i was a kid and decided to hit the gym to overcome that. for about a year i saw some good progress but it wasnt enough for me. i am an ectomorph and it seems impossible for me to gain muscle mass while all my peers gain lean mass just from drinking water. due to that i have lost my motivation and have been discouraged to get a good work out. That's why im turning to anabolics. Trying to see if you guys can help me out a bit. i have tried reading the forums but it was very confusing for me with all the abbreviations and what not. i just need a solid guideline that somebody can help me with. what kind of cycle, what kind of anabolic , what i have to be aware of, just a good little guideline in general. thanks bois

[marcus300]

There isn't an exact age were we all stop developing and growing because this is determined by our genes and DNA, we are all genetically programmed individually and we inherit our genes from our parents. To give an exact age we stop growing would be incorrect because everyone's genetic blueprint is different.The main development of our bodies is up to the age of 21yrs of age but this can vary between individuals. There are parts of our bodies what carry on developing and adjusting slowly up until the age of 25yrs old, an example of this is the brain. The Endocrine system is a part of the brain what is very complex and keeps our bodies in a homeostasis state. Our testosterone levels start raising and roughly peak around 25yrs old and then start to slowly decline, so even though some of us may have stopped growing at the age of 21yrs old, others may still be developing up until the age of 25yrs old.

I have recently spoken to my Endo regarding this matter and he tells me that the HPTA is very sensitive and as many pathways how it regulates the human body, he states steroids disrupt the normal balance of hormones in the body which can cause reversible and irreversible changes at any age but risks are far more if you administrate exogenous androgens during development, this will put you in a very unnatural environment at a crucial time and your hormones should be treated with care especially in the early stages of maturity. The adverse effects can be erratic behaviour of the HPTA and potentially therapy when your older.

I did ask him what age he would think would be the safest as far as risk to damages and he said many endocrinologist suggest full maturation is reached by 25 years of age and this would also give the HPTA time to be established with your natural hormone balance and patterns. I personally feel 24-25yrs old would also be ideal starting point to get bloodwrok drawn to see exact what your natural levels are before starting any kind of cycles and waiting till you have reach your testosterone peak would be a good starting point, for me there is to much evidence over the forums and what I've seen personally over the last 25yrs I've been bodybuilding. Obviously it isn't going to be all 19- 21yr old bodybuilders who suffer side effects what are irreversible but I am edging on the side of caution what age I advice to the newbies.
read this thread The Young and Steroids

[marcus300]

Discipline and dedication are principles that you are going to have to master if you are serious about bodybuilding, being consistent with your diet and training will help you succeed in achieving your goals. Don't have tunnel vision in thinking you will only build muscle if your taking AAS, below are some of the main principles you need to consider before taking any AAS


AGE
In humans your Endocrine system is not fully functional until an average age of 25yrs, although the main development is up to around 21yrs it still fluctuates a little bit up to its fully functional age. There is a risk of permanently damaging your HPTA if you take AAS to young and you could end up with symptoms of andropause and HRT for life. Symptoms could be Limp dick, low libido, depression, low energy, low endurance, erection problems and many more but.......are these the types of symptoms you want to have in your 20's?. Believe me its hard to cope with these in your 40's yet alone in your prime of your life.

Around this age your Testosterone levels are the highest they going to be in your life naturally, so use what you have and don't take the risk of damage, I am passionate about this because ive seen it many times with young kids wanting to looking like their heroes and they think the answer is in an injection/tablet.

Taking AAS to young can also cause problems with development, one other main problem is premature sealing of your epiphyeal bone and the consequences mean that you wont grow as big as your genetics could allow you to, there is a test which can be done to see if your growth plates have sealed yet but the average age is around 21yrs old.



TRAINING
You need a few years of hard training under your belt before even considering taking any kind of anabolic support, people who jump on a cycle to soon without having some quality years under their belt usually results in injuries, it takes time to develop your connective tissue, tendons and nervous system to heavy overload training. Slowly getting your own system use to these kinds of extreme's will only help in muscle growth later on when you do decide to start taking AAS.

Build a solid foundation for muscle tissue to grow and maintaining and development will be far greater than without it. Many younger guys will start cycling before they have reached their genetic potential which is crazy when a good solid diet and training program will be far beneficial and productive to muscle building.

Workouts should be mainly focused on basic movements with a priority of over loading the muscle each and ever time you train, increasing your strength and ability to lift in proper form will help with building the foundation for future development


DIET
A lot of younger bodybuilders don't know how to eat. Researching and understanding how your own body responds will help you get to your natural limit, the right food at the right time and a full understanding of proteins,carbs, and fats will only help you succeed in achieving your natural goals. Keeping a diet diary will also help you understand the importance of macro, nutrients, calories and should help you see in which areas you could be going wrong in adding lean muscle tissue.

No matter how much anabolic support you have it will be worthless without proper nutrition, food will help build and maintain your valued muscle weather its natural, cycling or in PCT. Adjusting your food intake and consuming muscle building foods coupled with a solid training program will help you achieve your natural limit and foundation before you start AAS use.

This area is a huge problem with the younger guys and I can't express enough how important diet/food is when first starting out, post and pre training nutrition are very important and understanding how to load and feed the body will help push growth and create a very natural anabolic environment

AAS: Things to consider before starting a first cycle

[songdog]

I hope you read and listen too wat was said above there is no need for you to due aas at this time.Hit our diet section they will help get you going.

[Chicagotarsier]

I respect Marcus. He is a valued member and always gives good advice.

The one thing I would add is there is just as much chance of messing up your HPTA at any age as it is when you are young. You just enter more risk when young due to development still in process. DO NOT take away if you wait until 25-26 years old it is going to be just fine. It does not mean that. Many believe there is a magical barrier you cross and the overall risk lessens..untrue.

[fit_deskjocky]

Hard gaining Ectomorph here too for most of my life and even now in my upper 30's. It takes a lot of food to gain even 1 pound.

I'm sorry to hear about the bullying and frankly if you lower to using AAS rather that putting in the hard work, more than a years worth of training and pushing through the plateaus and eatting then you are just letting the bullies win. You're letting them push you to screw up your Hormonal system up.

Go over to the diet and then the workout section and do your research. There is a hard gainer thread that would be of help. Post your workout over there for critiquing and the pros over there will definitely be able to help.