Pre-Cycle BLOODWORK: HELP!

[YoungSpice]

I would like to know the blood work tests that are necessary for beginning a NOVICE cycle. I'm sure I'm going to get warned for my age, I've lurked quite a bit and there's talk with concerns of "platelets" and the HPTA. Nonetheless, I am still interested and assume responsibility for the risks. What I would like however, is help to proceed with the most caution possible while performing my cycle, certainly not with an excess of AAS's but beginning slowly at beginner doses. My goal is not to get some freakish physique.

INFO

Age: 20 years old
Weight: 171 lbs
Body Fat Percentage: 11-12%

I major in nutrition (it helps), so I would like provide you with a food recall of an average day for those who may be slightly concerned (I do appreciate the concern especially from someone who doesn't know me). Definitely having a good diet is a prerequisite to AAS usage due to their effects on cholesterol.

Food Recall

Breakfast:
Belvita Breakfast Biscuit
Columbian Coffee
1 Tsp of powdered Coffeemate Creamer
1 Tbsp of of brown sugar

Protein Shake #1:
Two Scoops of Dymatize Hydrolyzed 100% Protein Isolate (Approximately 25g per Scoop)
1 cup of Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil (Gotta get those healthy monounsaturated fats!)

Lunch:

5-6 Ounces of Chicken Breast (Cooked strictly with Pam and lightly seasoned with All-Purpose and a pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt for the Hipster Nutrition Sass because we care about our blood pressure out here)

Salad Blends Packages (Kale/Spinach/Arugula Blends - I buy these easy salads from Publix and eat half for lunch and other half for dinner, very light with the dressing because I don't too much of those calories)


Snack/Pre-Workout:

1/4 cup of whole unsalted almonds (approximately 14-16g of fat)
2 serving of fruits (usually going for ~50g pre-workout carb up)
[1 serving examples = One banana (~27g), 2 kiwi's (get that vitamin C), one cup of grapes, 1/4 cup of oats if I want that fiber!]

Post-Workout (Protein Shake #2):
Two Scoops of Dymatize Hydrolyzed 100% Protein Isolate (Approximately 25g per Scoop)
1 cup of Unsweetened Almond Milk
1 Tbsp of Olive Oil (Gotta get those healthy monounsaturated fats!)
1/4 cup Oats (Gotta restore the glycogen to prevent gluconeogenesis, if you know you know)

Dinner:
5-6 Ounces of Chicken Breast (Cooked strictly with Pam and lightly seasoned with All-Purpose and a pinch of Pink Himalayan Salt for the Hipster Nutrition Sass because we care about our blood pressure out here)

Salad Blends Packages (The other half of the package, we talked about this earlier, being careful with extra oil(fats) in dressings and excessive unwanted carbs)

[Since I'm also a real human being I would like to point out that sometimes I will eat mother's cooking but she cooks rather healthy as well (she motivated me to study nutrition after all) so if it's slightly unhealthy I will revise intake in my other meals (e.g. if dinner happens to be caloricly dense in fats I will skip the proceeding snack.

Snack #2:
1/4 cup of whole unsalted almonds (approximately 14-16g of fat)


Water Intake: I drink to thirst and keep a 42 ounce bottle with me at all times. At the gym I drink anywhere from half the bottle to a full bottle depending on the training intensity and fluid loss, and obviously if I feel thirsty, the man drinks. Overall I will drink anywhere from 64-128 ounces depending on my thirst and what my training entails.

Other Supplementation:
Multivitamin
Calcium (Not that I really need it but!)
Omega-3 Fish Oils (Need those EFAs)
CoQ10

[Chrisp83TRT]

Why not just eat at a clean surplus and train like a beast without AAS ?
The age you’re at right now is such a good time to get those gains.
My opinion, just wait a few years dude.

[Windex]

Why not just eat at a clean surplus and train like a beast without AAS ?
The age you’re at right now is such a good time to get those gains.
My opinion, just wait a few years dude.

Agree with Chris. Lots of natural potential, 171 lbs is light. You may think your diet is good but truthfully there is a lot of room for improvement. Your overall food protocol is good for the average young adult wanting to be healthy. From a bodybuilding and fitness perspective, it's mediocre at best.

- Having a snack that's also a preworkout meal doesn't make sense
- Looks like 40-45% of your protein is coming from powders
- breakfast is poor
- doesn't appear to be a meal before bed unless its snack#2

How do you know you don't need calcium? Do you have bloodwork? If you don't need calcium supplementation why are you taking it ?

Your water intake is a huge range - why isn't it consistent or have a smaller delta ? Your maximum is literally double your minimum.


Mom cooking dinner and adult in control of his body are often on opposite ends of the spectrum.

[cousinmuscles]

Apart from the fact that you skipped reading these two threads:

https://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-...-steroids.html
https://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-...%2A%2A%2A.html

I assume you want to become another example in the second link above

I would not be slightly concerned with your diet, I would be extremely concerned if you think that is enough food. So you have gotten things backwards here, you haven't learned to eat properly, which reveals you haven't been doing this successfully but are trying to skip through all the hard stuff and expect miracles from a drug.

It won't work and you risk robbing yourself from some of the most important years of your life, in terms of development. Do you want to be in your early 20s, having found that sweet girlfriend that you feel you want to be with forever, but can't get an erection? Or even worse not have the sex drive? Or even worse not have the energy or lust to make things happen and just feel crap all day, glaring as the days pass...

You write due diligence but you haven't done much or else you would know about these risks and wouldn't pretend they're a walk in the park.

You would have found your answer regarding pre cycle blood work in the stickied thread "My First Successful Cycle":

Lastly, the most important part is your blood work. Steroids will wreak havoc on your blood levels. So you need to have panels ordered before, during and after your cycle. This will identify many things so that you can succeed and maintain a good state of health.

Blood work you need (at minimum):

1. Testosterone , Total
2. Testosterone, Free
3. Sensitive E2 Assay (Not basic estradiol, that's for women)
4. CBC (Compete blood count)
5. CMP (Comprehensive metabolic panel)
6. Lipid Profile (post cycle is fine)
7. LH and FSH (pre-cycle and post PCT)

These panels need to be done pre-cycle to ensure that your internals are ready for this ride. Mid-cycle to verify that your estrogen blocker dose is working, your blood isn't too thick, your liver is still safe and that your gear is legitimate and not fake or underdosed. Post cycle so that you can verify that you've completed your cycle safely and no issues need attention.

Here is your blood work timing:

Pre-Cycle blood work: 2 weeks prior to cycle.
Mid-Cycle blood work: 7 to 8 weeks into a 12 week cycle. Or 5 weeks into an 8 weeker.
Post-Cycle blood work: 6 weeks after PCT.

Thickening of the blood is very dangerous and steroids will thicken your blood. The increased RBC production will result in higher hematocrit levels. This number comes back with your CBC panel. It is best to keep this close to 50%. Once it reaches 55% or higher, you're at risk of a blood clot, extreme fatigue, high blood pressure, headaches and a host of other concerns. To resolve this issue, you'll need to donate blood. This will lower your hematocrit levels. Be very cautious, because if your level reach 55%, most donation centers will reject/refuse a donation from you. Then you'll have to get a prescription from a doctor for a therapeutic phlebotomy. This is why mid-cycle blood work is important.

Go ahead, pretend you very well know the risks, you are smarter than us, you can judge risks much better than us, you know your body, and can predict the future, yes yes you will reply you knew and are willing to take the risks good then carry on.

[Mr.BB]

Too young buddy.

That diet seems more like a girl's diet, you don't grow with just belvita carbs. How much is that 2000cals?

[cousinmuscles]

Agree with Chris. Lots of natural potential, 171 lbs is light. You may think your diet is good but truthfully there is a lot of room for improvement. Your overall food protocol is good for the average young adult wanting to be healthy. From a bodybuilding and fitness perspective, it's mediocre at best.

- Having a snack that's also a preworkout meal doesn't make sense
- Looks like 40-45% of your protein is coming from powders
- breakfast is poor
- doesn't appear to be a meal before bed unless its snack#2

How do you know you don't need calcium? Do you have bloodwork? If you don't need calcium supplementation why are you taking it ?

Your water intake is a huge range - why isn't it consistent or have a smaller delta ? Your maximum is literally double your minimum.

Not to mention the portions are miniscule. Either its a protein shake with some oil and a sprinkle of oats and a fruit. Or one (only one lol) chicken breast with some salad. Or a handful of nuts.

A normal meal is more like 8+ ounces of chicken, 4-6 ounces of brown rice/quinoa/bulgur (weighed uncooked), some veggies and some healthy fats. A variation would be 6 ounces meat, 4-6 ounces grain, 3-4 ounces beans/legumes, some healthy fats... your calories go up by 500+ per meal. 3 of these kind of meals per day minimum. Make the breakfast something for a man, not your 90 year old grandma. Some eggs, a cup of oatmeal and a fruit in the oats. So now you have 4 meals. Depending on your calories so far add one or two more meals where you can supplement with whey, but make it more meaningful, you can make some homemade protein bars with peanut butter, or whey and a sandwitch, or whey and fruit and nuts et.c.

[Windex]

Not to mention the portions are miniscule. Either its a protein shake with some oil and a sprinkle of oats and a fruit. Or one (only one lol) chicken breast with some salad. Or a handful of nuts.

A normal meal is more like 8+ ounces of chicken, 4-6 ounces of brown rice/quinoa/bulgur (weighed uncooked), some veggies and some healthy fats. A variation would be 6 ounces meat, 4-6 ounces grain, 3-4 ounces beans/legumes, some healthy fats... your calories go up by 500+ per meal. 3 of these kind of meals per day minimum. Make the breakfast something for a man, not your 90 year old grandma. Some eggs, a cup of oatmeal and a fruit in the oats. So now you have 4 meals. Depending on your calories so far add one or two more meals where you can supplement with whey, but make it more meaningful, you can make some homemade protein bars with peanut butter, or whey and a sandwitch, or whey and fruit and nuts et.c.

Agreed

[YoungSpice]

Why not just eat at a clean surplus and train like a beast without AAS ?
The age you’re at right now is such a good time to get those gains.
My opinion, just wait a few years dude.

Chris I really want to take a moment to point out how you've been the only one who managed to respond with a decent level of respect and not assume things about my diet and my training regimen. Thank you for your input and your opinion, you're probably right. If there's anyone in this comment section who could convince me to avoid the AAS path it'd someone who'd respond like you did. Again thank you.

[YoungSpice]

Agree with Chris. Lots of natural potential, 171 lbs is light. You may think your diet is good but truthfully there is a lot of room for improvement. Your overall food protocol is good for the average young adult wanting to be healthy. From a bodybuilding and fitness perspective, it's mediocre at best.

- Having a snack that's also a preworkout meal doesn't make sense
- Looks like 40-45% of your protein is coming from powders
- breakfast is poor
- doesn't appear to be a meal before bed unless its snack#2

How do you know you don't need calcium? Do you have bloodwork? If you don't need calcium supplementation why are you taking it ?

Your water intake is a huge range - why isn't it consistent or have a smaller delta ? Your maximum is literally double your minimum.


Mom cooking dinner and adult in control of his body are often on opposite ends of the spectrum.

The pre-workout is just counted as a "meal", it's food. I called it a snack because it's a meal that doesn't contain as many calories as the other meals in my day. Carbing up before a workout, hence eating my snack does make sense to me and you won't make me doubt that.

You are correct on the 40-45% of the protein intake is coming from powders. 100% Hydrolyzed Whey Protein Isolate is a great source of protein, not only it is easily digested but whey protein in general is one of the best protein sources in terms of bio availability. Plus its a great convenience factor along with it being affordable in my circumstance.

Breakfast may be poor from your perspective if you're one of the people who value breakfast. If you could substantiate that having a "rich" or "non-poor" breakfast could provide me with my goal or a "good physique" please do so. From what it looks like, your opinion on breakfast is very biased and I can easily allocate the majority of my calories to the latter portion of my day to decrease the time-window of when I'll be eating for that day. I didn't tell you when I wake up, nor the times when I eat so you've based many things off assumptions instead of asking for information. This shows a lack of poor representation for a community that is here to help. As far as I'm concerned I can't even label this constructive criticism because of how overly biased it is, so it's not helpful, but rather bashing.

You are correct! Snack #2 is about 1-2 hours before bed

I count my calories on MyFitnessPal (Thank you for asking, I really appreciate this), so I can see that those two cups of almond milk actually have about 80-90% of what I need in the day but I am performing a natural cut at the moment and in order to protect my bones in the caloric deficit that I am in, I am taking that precaution.

Sorry if I miscommunicated on the water intake. It's not extremely calculated but like I said, it can be higher depending on the intensity of my workout and if I decide to include a long duration of cardio, I will need more, plus drinking to thirst.

Sorry to disappoint your spectrum, I'm not trying to become Mr. O here, like I said I eat healthy I'm not trying to compete or get to a freakish physique. I'm not going to pretend to be perfect on the forums to impress you. If one night I decide to eat her cooking (which I can gauge whether it's healthy enough to work with) I will do so. I'm sure you guys aren't perfect yourselves either so don't pretend because it's not even at the very least convincing.

Yes from a bodybuilder perspective who's goal is to compete, it is certainly mediocre. I am not angry with you, I can respect your values that carry your opinion but unless you can refute my opinion with facts, it'll fail to move me. Let's take a minute to reflect. No one asked me what my goal was. Everyone assumed that I'm trying to bulk AT THE MOMENT, when I'm at the end of my cut. I'm simply seeking out information, gauging my options, and learning more. Ultimately I will make my decision later but I am not rushing it.

Regardless, I will assume that you meant what you said with good intentions, I will take the good out of it, and go my way. Thank you.

[YoungSpice]

Apart from the fact that you skipped reading these two threads:

https://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-...-steroids.html
https://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-...%2A%2A%2A.html

I assume you want to become another example in the second link above

I would not be slightly concerned with your diet, I would be extremely concerned if you think that is enough food. So you have gotten things backwards here, you haven't learned to eat properly, which reveals you haven't been doing this successfully but are trying to skip through all the hard stuff and expect miracles from a drug.

It won't work and you risk robbing yourself from some of the most important years of your life, in terms of development. Do you want to be in your early 20s, having found that sweet girlfriend that you feel you want to be with forever, but can't get an erection? Or even worse not have the sex drive? Or even worse not have the energy or lust to make things happen and just feel crap all day, glaring as the days pass...

You write due diligence but you haven't done much or else you would know about these risks and wouldn't pretend they're a walk in the park.

You would have found your answer regarding pre cycle blood work in the stickied thread "My First Successful Cycle":


Go ahead, pretend you very well know the risks, you are smarter than us, you can judge risks much better than us, you know your body, and can predict the future, yes yes you will reply you knew and are willing to take the risks good then carry on.

Yes actually I did read the first link. As someone commented in that post, it wasn't as convincing to the young as you might think. HOWEVER, thank you for the link to the post that is NOT PINNED, if I had seen it I would have clicked. Despite you not knowing that my goal at the moment is to cut and I'm at the very end of it, I will dismiss any disparaging comments you made. I know how to gauge caloric intake for a bulk with a surplus that will prevent excess fat accumulation and also accommodate a desired rate of muscle gains. I am not pretending they're a walk in the park, if I thought they were a walk in the park I would be injecting arbitrary doses of Test-C and Tren , and not posting to find the SPECIFIC information that I am seeking out. THIS IS MY DUE DILIGENCE. Don't pretend you don't know someone that jumps the gun. However I must thank you for being the only one to provide me with the information I was seeking. I found another article online and I wanted to cross-reference validity with the community and internet sources to make sure.

Despite finding the information, due to the fact that you were able to at least provide me with some anecdotal incidences where people of this community have made mistakes I would have potentially made if I would have proceeded with this, I WILL NOT be taking AAS. You guys win this one, and in a way so do I! Thank you.

[Mr.BB]

Any cycle with that girly diet is going to be a waste.

Maybe thats appropriate, as at your age, cycling may turn you dickless.

[wellshii]

Your breakfast is a biscuit?
Not being a d*** but I think you need to dial in diet,training and lifestlye before considering cycles.
Everyone telling you that means well man.