New Member from Texas

[DontTaseMeBro]

I've been consulting this forum for a year and finally broke down and joined. It really seems to have the most thorough and accurate information out there.

My name is Steve. I'm 43 years old. Like a lot of folks, I was a high school and college athlete; but I spent my late 20's and early 30's working on career and family. I woke up about 8 years ago and I was fat, tired and out of shape. I started running and then doing triathlons and lost 60lbs.

I've been back in the gym for a couple of years and have moved away from my lifting being a supporting role to focusing primarily on the weights with cardio as a supplement. I still try to fit in a half marathon and a few 5k races.

My primary goal is to find an efficient way to add muscle and keep it on. At my age, even with a good diet and consistent training, it has become an issue. When I bulk, I add too much fat. When I cut and incorporate a lot of cardio, I lose the fat, but the muscle seems to go with it. I haven't used any gear since my early 20's, but got fantastic results back then; and want to get back in the game again.

Anyway, thanks for all the great posts and truly useful information.

[bass]

welcome! diet is the only way to lose fat and gain muscle, there is no magic pill, unfortunately! at your age I would consider doing a full male hormone panel to see where you stand with all your hormones, then you can make informative decisions as to what you want to do to achieve your goals.

[DontTaseMeBro]

Thanks, bass. I'm actually getting a full panel done (along with a full checkup) on Friday to see where I am. I'm going to at least ask my Doc about writing me a scrip for TestE, Arimadex, HCG, and the PCT stuff I need. The worst he can say is "no". If he agrees, I'll know I'm getting legit stuff.

My diet is pretty dialed-in for the time being. I got sloppy and gained too much on my last bulk, but leaned it up and got really clean. I'm losing about 1/3-1/2 lb a week right now. To try to address the previous muscle loss, I'm keeping the protein a little higher than usual and cutting back on the carbs. It seems to be working pretty well - at least better than last time. By December, I should be where I want to be (slightly below 10% bodyfat).

I'm thinking I want to wait until early next year to do a 10 week cycle of Test E while I bulk. I've used it with great success before in my 20's (even when I had very little idea what I was doing). I had thought about adding some Dbol up front (used it before, too) and Masteron toward the end, but this forum convinced me that keeping it simple made better sense (and a big "Thanks" to all for that).

[bass]

10% BF is a big goal, but I am sure with dedication you can get there. head to the HRT section to learn more about TRT, read as many stickies as you can. knowledge is power.

[clarky.]

welcome

[DontTaseMeBro]

Thanks for the welcome!

WOW - That's a lot of reading on TRT. Looks like I have several night's studying ahead of me. Allow me to show my ignorance on the matter with a very simple question - What happens if I get a full panel done and I just don't suffer from low testosterone?

[bass]

that would be great assuming all comes back good, which means you really need to look into your diet and exercise. you can head to the Nutrition Section and post your current diet so knowledgeable members can critique it for you.

[ppwc1985]

Welcome

[hulk1]

welcome

[brazey]

Welcome to the community.

[Megalodon6]

Welcome. This form is loaded with tons of great info. Keep up the good work

[wreckshop82]

Welcome to the forum!

[nevertilt]

Welcome

[crazy mike]

Thanks, bass. I'm actually getting a full panel done (along with a full checkup) on Friday to see where I am. I'm going to at least ask my Doc about writing me a scrip for TestE, Arimadex, HCG, and the PCT stuff I need. The worst he can say is "no". If he agrees, I'll know I'm getting legit stuff.

My diet is pretty dialed-in for the time being. I got sloppy and gained too much on my last bulk, but leaned it up and got really clean. I'm losing about 1/3-1/2 lb a week right now. To try to address the previous muscle loss, I'm keeping the protein a little higher than usual and cutting back on the carbs. It seems to be working pretty well - at least better than last time. By December, I should be where I want to be (slightly below 10% bodyfat).

I'm thinking I want to wait until early next year to do a 10 week cycle of Test E while I bulk. I've used it with great success before in my 20's (even when I had very little idea what I was doing). I had thought about adding some Dbol up front (used it before, too) and Masteron toward the end, but this forum convinced me that keeping it simple made better sense (and a big "Thanks" to all for that).

Welcome. You are off to a good start getting more educated. I have to tell you as bass did, when you say 10% BF I thought wow do you know what that means and how ot keep your mass doing it ? Not easy that's a big goal IMOP. Good luck ...crazy mike

[austinite]

Welcome to the board! Hook'em Horns...

[ZaLkeN]

Hello

[DontTaseMeBro]

lol - GIG 'EM!

[DontTaseMeBro]

Thanks to everyone for all the "welcomes". I'm really glad I joined. After two months of dedicated workouts and diet, I'm taking a week off to recover and assess my progress.

I'm pretty disappointed. First, I went to my doctor. I asked for a full male panel. What I got was a number - 392 ng/dL. Of course, that's in the "range". After all my requests and discussion with him regarding free test vs. total test, and estrogen and all the other factors, do you think I got any other tests / results? Well of course not. Since I'm "in the range", I won't be getting any TRT therapy from him.

I was also disappointed to see my BF is still a little over 16%. I had really worked hard on my diet and felt sure I had it down at least below 14%. I kind of need a few days to get motivated to re-double my efforts and see the last couple of months as a learning experience and not a complete failure.

On the bright side, my cardio is going good and the long runs feel better now that it has cooled off down here. I'm up to 7 miles and I still have about 10 weeks to train for a half marathon in December and get my body fat down (without losing too much muscle) before my next bulk.

In the mean time, I think I'll splurge tonight and have a few beers (more than one - and on a weeknight, no less), and revise my plan for the rest of this cut.

[DontTaseMeBro]

Thanks to everyone for all the "welcomes". I'm really glad I joined. After two months of dedicated workouts and diet, I'm taking a week off to recover and assess my progress.

I'm pretty disappointed. First, I went to my doctor. I asked for a full male panel. What I got was a number - 392 ng/dL. Of course, that's in the "range". After all my requests and discussion with him regarding free test vs. total test, and estrogen and all the other factors, do you think I got any other tests / results? Well of course not. Since I'm "in the range", I won't be getting any TRT therapy from him.

I was also disappointed to see my BF is still a little over 16%. I had really worked hard on my diet and felt sure I had it down at least below 14%. I kind of need a few days to get motivated to re-double my efforts and see the last couple of months as a learning experience and not a complete failure.

On the bright side, my cardio is going good and the long runs feel better now that it has cooled off down here. I'm up to 7 miles and I still have about 10 weeks to train for a half marathon in December and get my body fat down (without losing too much muscle) before my next bulk.

In the mean time, I think I'll splurge tonight and have a few beers (more than one - and on a weeknight, no less), and revise my plan for the rest of this cut.