TRT one year, also one year post-op multiple arthroscopic shoulder surgeries..

[LFH40]

Gentlemen,
I have a fair question. Things have been status quo for awhile. I'm just over a year on TRT due to loss of pituitary function due to a microadenoma. I'm 41. Here's my one year labs:

Testosterone ,Free and Total
Testosterone, Serum 1044 ng/dL 348 - 1197 01
Free Testosterone(Direct) 25.6 High pg/mL 6.8 - 21.5 02
Estradiol, Sensitive 39 pg/mL 3 - 70 0

At one year checkup, doc said estradiol was a bit high and had me on the anastrozole. I was on for about 4 weeks and crashed the e2. I laid off it and everything came back, e.g. erections, libido, etc..

OK, all good. From the time I first started TRT I became injured at work. I had two arthroscopic shoulder surgeries on my shoulder this past year. I am at the tail end of rehab. I know that it has been stated that the first 6 months is when you build lean muscle mass. I was 192 total testosterone pre-TRT. I'm now hovering over 1000 and feeling great. I have never been able to reap the benefits of TRT with regards to building muscle. Now, that being said, I have not had a difficult time retaining what I had pre-trt. I was a 5-6 day per week workout type of guy with a clean diet. I kind of went off the rails this past year and being off work I was enjoying life and eating and drinking garbage. I never let it get too out of control though. I carry a few extra lbs than what I am used to. The wife doesn't even notice, but I do. It's in the way my clothes fit and I see it on the scale.

My question is, now that I'm going to be getting back into the weight room and trying to see what I can do with regards to building lean muscle, is the TRT going to help me and provided the diet is in check and I'm dedicated to the exercise, will I get better results than when I had 192 tesosterone levels? It's odd. I feel like pre-TRT I was hitting the weights hard and eating ridiculously clean and I got great results but I was pretty lean. I had a cut physique, but no matter how much I ate (all clean) I couldn't put mass on. I would stay very lean and toned. I felt like as if I had the body of a female who worked out a lot if that makes sense. I was toned and lean and semi-vascular, but I just couldn't pack on that mass. I would really like to see the benefit of TRT with regards to my body building, however after reading so much it seems to be the consensus that after your first 6 months of TRT that lean muscle acquisition tapers off and you don't really get anymore benefit. Perhaps I'm confused or not educated enough on this. Can any of the veterans give me a hand? Thank you in advance, as always!

[Metalject]

When you get back to training consistently and eating well, there is no reason you cannot have the progress you're looking for. Your body has the testosterone to work with now that it didn't have when you trained before. As time goes by and improvements are made, you will hit sticking points. It is at these points that many men find they want more testosterone, which is an option but it's getting outside the realm of TRT and into black market steroid cycles. The sane and healthier approach is to use the tools around you that you already have. Start playing with your diet more, try new ways to train and continue to mix and match these things. Consider adding other legal items if and when you can get them. HGH, if you can afford it, if not consider the non-controlled peptides like Sermorelin. WIth your shoulder issues, you may be able to find a good doctor that's willing to work with you on a low dose of nandrolone . There are a lot of options for you that are still legal and can help you get past sticking points that will come.

[lovbyts]

I know you think your diet is on track and no matter what you eat you cant gain but I can assure you it's diet related, genetics also but that being said you still should be gaining size/mass.

You are nearing the end of your PT. DONT jump into a cycle or blast or you will up your risk of re injuring your shoulders 10x. Been there, done that.

Yeah you cant always go by numbers. IMO your E2 was not to high and you should more go by how you feel unless your numbers are way off.

[Beethoven]

LFH, I'm on the tail end of my rehab also. Lovbyts is correct, with your t levels up and proper weight training and nutrition you will make gains. Do not expect cycle gains but you will make them. I'm about two weeks from getting my clearance and feel almost at 100%. Good luck.

[APIs]

Surgery & rehab can be a bear, but with TRT you're already ahead of the game. With proper diet & training you should be seeing significant gains. No offense, I dont know you, but maybe you need to honestly review your diet and what you're actually doing with weight training. Many people think they're training well, but in actuality they're lacking on a number of fronts.. You always have to be teachable & willing to re-learn things, for example, check-out "Marcus's Diary" in the anabolic lounge on this site. I've picked up a lot of good points there recently.

Regardless, you still need to keep your recent surgery in-mind for the time being & take it easy. Going too fast after PT will only set you back big-time. Look at it this way, you'll likely be in the gym 12 months from now anyway. Gains will come in the interim, but continue to re-hab the shoulder slowly and you'll be pain-free & G2G a year (or less) from now...

[kelkel]

When you get back to training consistently and eating well, there is no reason you cannot have the progress you're looking for. Your body has the testosterone to work with now that it didn't have when you trained before. As time goes by and improvements are made, you will hit sticking points. It is at these points that many men find they want more testosterone, which is an option but it's getting outside the realm of TRT and into black market steroid cycles. The sane and healthier approach is to use the tools around you that you already have. Start playing with your diet more, try new ways to train and continue to mix and match these things. Consider adding other legal items if and when you can get them. HGH, if you can afford it, if not consider the non-controlled peptides like Sermorelin. WIth your shoulder issues, you may be able to find a good doctor that's willing to work with you on a low dose of nandrolone. There are a lot of options for you that are still legal and can help you get past sticking points that will come.

Exactly what Metal and API said and I'll add, stay off the adex. Your numbers are great. It'a about how you feel. If you wanted to knock your E2 back a bit try some DIM, zinc and copper if you must. Other than that, just getting back into working you you'll lose some of your added fat thus knocking down your E2.

[LFH40]

I know you think your diet is on track and no matter what you eat you cant gain but I can assure you it's diet related, genetics also but that being said you still should be gaining size/mass.

You are nearing the end of your PT. DONT jump into a cycle or blast or you will up your risk of re injuring your shoulders 10x. Been there, done that.

Yeah you cant always go by numbers. IMO your E2 was not to high and you should more go by how you feel unless your numbers are way off.

You know, you're probably right about the diet. I logged everything, weighed everything, and paid close attention to my macros but I'm sure it wasn't spot on. That's nearly impossible. I won't be doing a blast or anything. I have too much going on with the pituitary to do something risky so I'll leave that alone.

These are all great replies and I thank you guys. I hope when I get back to it I can gain some much needed mass and take full advantage of the benefit of the testosterone .

[LFH40]

Exactly hat Metal and API said and I'll add, stay off the adex. Your numbers are great. It'a about how you feel. If you wanted to knock your E2 back a bit try some DIM, zinc and copper if you must. Other than that, just getting back into working you you'll lose some of your added fat thus knocking down your E2.

Precisely. Thank you guys. I am taking DIM, zinc and copper as well now. And yes, I believe in humility and there definitely is room to learn and improve on the nutrition and exercise for sure. It's odd, but with the rehab I have been a bit lazy and haven't done much if anything but for unweighted squats in the shower and crunches here and there. Not much of a workout to speak of at all. Guess having two surgeries and also a car accident resulting in herniated discs put a damper on me. I have made the conscious effort to at least get my diet back on track assuming i will be back to "real workouts" in the near future. Not getting off track, but what was odd is that I look bigger and more lean and I haven't really done a dang thing! I'm hoping I can jump back into it slowly and make some decent progress. I don't expect cycle style progress, just a nice natty look for a 41 year old.

[lovbyts]

It's easy to get into a rut. Ive had 2 back surgeries. L3&4 the first time, L5/S1 the 2nd time. After the 2nd one I know I had to get into shape or end up in a wheel chair. That's a pretty good motivator. Ive also had shoulder surgery 2 years ago. My surgeon was all excited after the surgery telling me how it took 2x longer than he expected and the extent of damage I had was far greater than the MRI showed. Considering he is the head orthopedic surgeon for the Seattle Seahawks (maybe you have heard of them) I thought that was pretty good or should I say bad??? lol

[Rjay]

I didnt read what anyone else said but I was the exact same as you. Very lean still looked better then average but could never get any size. Within two months of being on TRT with hard work and diet I gained 12-13 lbs! It was amazing and my free T was only ever mid range Id imagine Id do even better with your Free T levels. Im still working on getting mine higher while keeping my E2 in check at the same time. My gains halted at roughly 15lbs btw but thats just me. Good luck and have fun!

[LFH40]

It's easy to get into a rut. Ive had 2 back surgeries. L3&4 the first time, L5/S1 the 2nd time. After the 2nd one I know I had to get into shape or end up in a wheel chair. That's a pretty good motivator. Ive also had shoulder surgery 2 years ago. My surgeon was all excited after the surgery telling me how it took 2x longer than he expected and the extent of damage I had was far greater than the MRI showed. Considering he is the head orthopedic surgeon for the Seattle Seahawks (maybe you have heard of them) I thought that was pretty good or should I say bad??? lol

That's pretty cool! My surgeon is the surgeon for the Chicago Bears. (Even though they sucked this year!)