How an injury has changed my view on cycles and also muscle memory (how it all works)

I had an interesting set of circumstances happen to me recently that would of made for an interesting experiment but as it was happened by accident.

I injured myself (bicep tendonitis) roughly a month after my last cycle. I literally stopped working out for a month and the following month I only worked out sporadically and lightly at that. I finally decided to go back on (Tren-E, Test-E cycle) and I was very surprised by the results:

Within literally a little less than 3 weeks of the first injection (despite it being an Enanthate) I literally gained 12-13 pounds. I recovered all the strength I had at the END of my previous cycle. In otherwords even though I took a month off and only worked out here and there in the following month upon going on cycle strength went right back to where it was at the end of my previous cycle (the high point of my cycle as far as strength and size obviously). Now I have infact as of today just hit a new record high for my bench press for 10 reps (by 10 pounds).

This is a very interesting development indeed. Despite taking a month off and taking it easy and working out here and there a month after that I not only recovered to where I was at the end of my previous cycle but I also made GAINS. The gains I made I was unable to make during my previous cycle. I literally was at a wall unable to make any more gains at that point. Now after taking it easy and then coming back on I literally just burst past it easily. WOW.

So what do I think happened here? I think in my previous cycle I stopped making gains because my body more or less started to get used to the drugs in the system (a drug tolerance effect). The true gains were made when the body was shocked into change.

I believe that the very well known and repeated example of Exercise + Diet + Drugs = Physique. Removing one of variables from the equations results in a negative effect on the physique. So on some level I don't believe you truly lose your gains. What you lose was the higher levels of drug in your system which your body was reacting to. Without the concentration of drug in the system the body doesnt run as efficiently and loses size/strength but you don't necessarily lose conditioning.

The third thing I think happened is a combination of muscle memory and adding of higher drug levels in the system shocking the body to returning to the conditioning levels I was at when those conditions existed previously.

Things Ive learned:

1. Long cycles don't work. You need to come off and allow your body to lose the tolerance for the drug to really see the best results in terms of gains.
2. The reason we lose "gains" after cycle is more to do with a loss of compounds in our blood than an actual loss in conditioning.
3. The body has an internal process that oversees the shape of your body based on numerous factors. Its most basic formula body builders have been using. Exercise+diet+drugs = physique/strength. I have learned this equation is to be taken far more literal than I had been taking it before.
4. Muscle memory is extremely strong when cycling and losing muscle is really hard even taking off a month and taking it really easy for another month I literally could get back up to speed in no time flat.
5. Shocking the system dramatically and keeping it off balance is even more important than I thought. By NOT working out I was actually able to lose enough conditioning that when I added in starting my cycle + intensifiying my workouts I was able to blow past what I ever did before in the gym.

I'd be curious to see anyone elses experiences and opinions on this. What I posted above is a theory I feel confident in but I'm not trying to preach knowledge as much as share experiences and results. I'm interested in hearing form experienced people who have seen similar or could add insight.

Injury is a good indicator of over training syndrome. There are all kinds of
Objective measures and lab test an exercise physiologist could run. Indeed when I was testing athletes we would measure a number of markers and physical test. But without having all that, just knowing how your body feels is probably the best measure. If you are getting nagging injuries, are lethargic or are platueing. Those are all pretty good indicators that your body is not recovering and needs some time off to “catch,” back up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MuscleScience

Injury is a good indicator of over training syndrome. There are all kinds of
Objective measures and lab test an exercise physiologist could run. Indeed when I was testing athletes we would measure a number of markers and physical test. But without having all that, just knowing how your body feels is probably the best measure. If you are getting nagging injuries, are lethargic or are platueing. Those are all pretty good indicators that your body is not recovering and needs some time off to “catch,” back up.

Lethargy was my notorious indicator of overtraining and just overall fatigue - listen to your body like MS said rest & recovery are the single most important aspects to training and building muscle tissue I'll take slower LBM gains over putting on unwanted bf then having to cut it doesn't make much sense to me imo - it's a marathon not a sprint!!

Your body got some much needed rest. A month off really isn't all that much. Followed by a month of minor activity (active rest) your body became accostumed again to the stress of working out. Putting the weight back on is more than likely a combination of both the AAS and simultaneously resuming a proactive bodybuilding diet, which odds are waned during the prior two months. Naturally muscle memory plays a part in this equation as well.