First Anavar Cycle post laparoscopic surgery [emoji3601]

[ToTherion]

34 years old
Female
Primarily interested in powerlifting, dabbling in some bodybuilding
Starting weight: 151.6 22% BF at 5'6"


I’m starting my first anavar cycle 7 weeks after laparoscopic surgery. It’s not ideal, but the anavar is a far more pleasant and effective option than birth control or chemically induced menopause for preventing additional surgeries in the future for my two diseases of estrogen dominance. Even if my gains are a bit lackluster, since I’m still recovering, there’s still time in the future. I’ve mostly been plateaued with minimal gains on my max lifts for about three years now, so I’ve hit my natural peak anyways.

Previous natty maxes
Squat:
235 at 179 lbs in Dec 2017
215 recently at 157ish

Deadlift:
308 in Dec 2017 at 179
315 in 2018 at ~165
330 last year at 157

Bench:
142 in 2017 smolov
143 in 2018 smolov
145 in 2019 at 165 ish smolov
135 at 157 last year Juggernaut AI

Strict press:
90 or 95 lbs in 2017 at 179
85 last year at 157

Chin-ups:
1-2 unassisted once my weight drops below 159ish

Measurements:
Waist: 28.75
Navel: 31
High hip: 36.5
Hip: 39
Bicep: 11.5
Flexed bicep: 12.5
Thigh: 22.25
Lower thigh: 15.5

Calipers:
My skin is too tight to caliper properly on my thigh and abdomen, so I add in a few extra places to make up for this. I have to caliper my inner thigh to get a measurement. My tricep and bicep calipers are me trying to balance a caliper and read it with one hand in a mirror, so expect some variation even without real changes. They probably are not in the standard caliper locations, but rather what I can accomplish with one hand. Largest stomach is where I measure my largest lower stomach bent over fat roll that I can find, since I can actually caliper it properly.


largest stomach
29
upper ab
18
Ab
23
supra
17.5
thigh
13
thigh upper.
6.5
tricep
23
bicep
11



I’ve really only been able to maintain my deadlift with weight loss. My previous max benches in the 140s were all from smolov cycles, while the recent one wasn’t. My non-smolov bench is actually better.

Bodyweight history:
5’6”
Typical walk around weight 135-150 for most of my adult life
Decided to take mass gainer for my deadlift and get on the Steak and Shake, shake diet all the way up to 179
Got out-deadlifted by someone much smaller and realized I was just fat.
Down to 165
Alternating between 157 and 165.
Diagnosed with pre-diabetes despite my normal BMI and now currently at 151 lbs to fix that.
I was planning to cut down to 140 prior to anavar. I’m hoping it will increase that number, because I HATE being small.

I also caliper and will add those measurements.

I’m half using the RP Diet App and half counting macros in MyFitnessPal. I eat higher fat and lower carb than RP wants, because I just fixed my insulin resistance and don’t feel like going back to pre-diabetes.
Typical macros around
120 P 45 F 75 C

Blood tests before:
Testosterone at 27.
Will repeat labs in 3 weeks. This is the highest I’ve ever gotten. My levels were undetectable last year.

Also, I was pre-diabetic a few months ago, so I am on metformin. I may occasionally mention changes to blood sugar. My A1C was already normal after three months, so the goal is to keep it that way. Woohoo South Asian genetics!

Voice:
I’m using an app intended from trans people to track my voice changes. I know this shouldn’t be an issue, but I like to be thorough. It already told me I sounded androgynous the first few times. I most definitely do not sound anything but female in real life. It does give me a higher pitch talking to my husband and a lower pitch talking to my male best friend.

Prior to Cycle:
6 weeks post op from surgery-finally cleared to lift!
Previously doing lots of treadmill steps at 1.2-1.8 mph so as not to bother my incisions
Finally able to wear some normal leggings. I was still in bodysuits and singlets last week.
I can’t use a normal lifting belt, so I bought a rehband soft back belt.
Starting lifts:
Bench: 35 lbs so as not to bother incisions, feet up, certainly no arch
Deadlift: 55 lbs rack pull, can’t bend over without bothering incisions yet
Squats: empty 15 lb bar, can’t really bend enough yet


Day 1 February 3, 2021 Wednesday (7 weeks post op)
Took 6 mg all at once in the evening, since it just arrived in the afternoon.
First energy drink in months possibly affecting results
Easy gym day, lots of energy
Felt my first mild cramp after doing glutes. I don’t normally have any pump whatsoever, so the slightest addition was still fun. It could have been imaginary, but I don’t think so.
First time grocery shopping on anavar. Most efficient grocery shopping I have ever done in my life. Rather than staring at items I already know and overanalyzing packages of chicken and greek yogurt, I just grabbed my items and left. Husband was excited about this change.
Listening to more goregrind.

Belt squat hip hinge up to 100 lbs, previously did 75 and started at 25-30 last week
Lat pull down-worked up to
Pull up assist- 90lb assist and 70 lb assist. I can normally do 1-2 chin ups once I’m down to 157, but I haven’t tried since surgery. I don’t want to stretch my incisions too soon just to try chin ups, so this weight is super easy.


Day 2 February 4, 2021
Took 3 mg in the morning at 7 am and 3 mg in the evening at 6:30 pm
Spent 4 hours in the gym, because I just wasn’t tired. Huge caloric deficit. Macros on point.
Overhead press, bradford press, arnold press, cable triceps, lat push down, hip hinge on the belt squat, glute bridges, rowing, deltoid flyes 45 minutes of treadmill

Also, I didn’t NEED to wake up at 7 am. I was just motivated to get up and go the the gym. This is not something I normally do.

Suddenly, songs that normally make me angsty are great to listen to again. This is nice.

Able to go significantly faster on the treadmill than normal without noticing my incisions.

Overhead press- worked up to around 45 lbs. I have a tendency to lean backwards, so this one will stay low.

Added in Bradford presses, because I’m hoping I’ll finally actually be able to build deltoids. (Despite feeling this way I’ve always had larger than average delts for a woman even when I didn’t lift much. It’s just changed from lifting.)

Day 3 February 5, 2021
152.2
Woke up with “calf cramps”? Stiff calves? I’ve never had stiff muscles of any kind before. It disappeared by the time I walked to the bathroom. I did calves on day 1 as a random extra when someone was using the machine I really wanted.

I did double gym sessions again. Deadlifts in the morning in my basement and bench, dumbbell romanians at the gym.
Deadlifts worked up to 135, previously 95, and 55ish lb rack pulls for my first day back to lifting last week.

Bench press-worked up to sets at 80 lbs, 65 lbs previous session, started at 35 the previous week. My arch isn’t as good, but this is the first time I’ve felt comfortable attempting it. I normally violently launch myself into my arch from a sitting position. I’ve added in feet up bench for my incisions, but it’s probably not necessary anymore.

Romanian deadlifts-worked up to 15 lb dumbbells. I’ve always done these at lighter weights to isolate my hamstrings, so this isn’t far off from my usual.
Lots of time on the treadmill, but I didn’t count it

Day 4 February 6
154 probably pre-period weight
Similar mild cramps in my hamstrings that also disappeared by the time I walked to the bathroom. I feel a bit like a man with mild erections, but in whatever muscle I worked the previous day.

This should be PMS week for me. I was already experiencing it pre-anavar, but the symptoms basically disappeared immediately when I started taking it. Rather than being a particularly awful bitch, I am cleaning my house like never before and generally in a positive mood. Considering that I have endometriosis, this is not at all typical. My husband has noticed. My resting heart rate has still dropped like it would to signal that I should have a period soon.

My weight is up, but I don’t feel bloated. My Fitbit sleep score is higher on anavar and energy drinks than it was without either. That’s unexpected.

Feeling some changes in the gym. It normally takes me a good month to build my squat back to plates when I’m injured. Instead, I felt like I could easily keep going.

The WORST extended bicep cramp I’ve ever had in my life. I like to hold my phone and shaker cup with my bicep casually flexed all the time, and this is the consequence.

Day 5 February 7 Sunday
153.2
Period day 1 in the evening, which was right on time.

Hamstrings temporarily feel like balloons again. Not bad, but not like regular DOMs.

Banded chin ups and pull ups- I’m very concerned about over stretching my incisions on these, so I haven’t attempted regular chin ups at all
Green band-easy sets of 5
Purple-pulls incisions too much
Purple + red = sets of 3-4

Bicep curls-easy 12.5 lbs x 10 per arm
I normally barely do biceps, but it sounded fun

Rowing- 2500 m casually
I have a Concept 2 rower

Day 6 February 8 Monday
153.0

I still wake up with a morning cramp pump in whatever muscles I’ve recently worked. I can’t say I don’t like it though.

I can see some ab lines I’ve never seen before right above my hip. This isn’t the lowest weight I’ve ever been, although it’s my lowest weight since I’ve lifted this much. I also have been tanning. It could be the tan and the recent weightloss. It could be the anavar. Probably a bit of both.

DAY 10 February 12
154 today BUT I'm down 1.87% body fat and my calipers are way better. My lower stomach measurement improved the most on my take measure and caliper. It looks like I had a butt lift and ducked out the fat from above my hips.

My waist looks way more pronounced now that my navel measurement and high hip are so much smaller compared to my butt.

I've been doing:
Squat + chin up
Deadlift + bench
Glute hip hinge on belt squat + overhead press
For 2-4 hours in the gym every day.

I'm only doing so much glute work to put less stress on my incisions, but it's working.

Previous Measurements:
Waist: 28.75
Navel: 31
High hip: 36.5
Hip: 39
Bicep: 11.5
Flexed bicep: 12.5
Thigh: 22.25
Lower thigh: 15.5




Current:
Chest 38
ribcage 30.5
Waist 28.75
Navel 30.5
High Hips 36
Hip 40
Thigh 22.5
calve 13.25
Flexed bicep 12 5/8
Bicep 11.75
Lower thigh 16
Morning weight 154






3 point caliper:
20.35% down from 22.23%
-1.87%

Scale just thinks I'm fatter based on my weight, so I'm eliminating that one. No Fitindex, I didn't gain maximum visceral and subcutaneous fat AND lose muscle taking anabolic steroids and eating a deficit.




Calipers:
Largest stomach roll -8
Upper ab -1.5
Ab -2.5
Suprailiac-1.5
Thigh -1
Tricep -3
Bicep no change



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[ToTherion]

Day 12
155?
I still wake up feeling like a balloon animal everyday, but I haven't had any incredibly painful cramps again.

I'm up to around 60-70% of my old maxes now.
Bench 95x 2 after failing 95 3 days prior, 95 was my 16ish rep max
Deadlift 225 x3 vs 185 4 days prior
Old 3 rep natty max was 315
Belt squat 115 x 30 from 75 x 20 3 days prior

I found some old injury return numbers, which I'll eventually add for comparison.

I haven't had a real rest day yet. I just didn't do legs one day and called that "rest."

2.5 ich inseam shorts don't work for me anymore.

My blood sugar is absolutely perfect on anavar even when I forget to take my metformin. Estimated A1C is down to 4.8 from 5.3 at my last blood draw and 5.7 originally(Normal 4.5-5.6, Prediabetes 5.7-6.3).


Some of my old scars are healing. Unexpected, but nice. My knee injury doesn't bother me anymore at night. I just notice it with knee sleeves now.

Unsure of hirsutism side effects. I'm South Asian with a variation of PCOS, so it would be hard to notice. I don't have a beard.

My voice tracker is the same or slightly higher. The green line is the pure average. The first ten or so entries were pre-anavar.

Today is squat/back day, so I'll upload those tomorrow.

It's only been a few days since I've been able to sleep on my stomach again. I was able to wear my rehband soft back belt and lift with that sooner. Obviously, I'm not really bracing much just yet.

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[ToTherion]

Day 13
155
Lat pull down up 15 lbs in 4 days.

Chin up assist at -40. Last time was -60 4 days ago.

Bicep curl up to 20 lbs. Normal is 30 lbs per arm. Last time was 15 lbs

Squat up 10 lbs in 4 days. Normally it's 15lbs per month to recover. My quads feel huge and hard compared to normal. I can see my entire quad going the whole way up my leg now. I don't remember the last time that happened. High school maybe.

I had two large (6 oz) piles of steak tips for Valentine's day.

Noticed one of my food scales is very off.

Higher libido kicked in around day 5. It's still not the highest ever by a lot. Either PCOS graced me with incredibly high testosterone once in the past or I had some severely tainted supplements that all of the UFC fighters claim to have in the past.

I haven't had a real rest day yet. I'm starting to feel my navel incision, so today will be the day.

I'm going to increase my cardio, as well. All of my weight gain looks good, but I have plenty of time for cardio.

I'm considering competing at the end of March, and I would want to make 148 for that. May as well try to get there now.

35 minutes on the treadmill. Apparently anavar has given my vagina some ideas that this is now a pre-sex activity or something. Bizarre. It feels like I must be ovulating, but my OPK was the most negative I have ever seen it. The test line was practically whiter than the rest of the test. Normally, it would be darkening.

My meal preps for the week will involve boneless skinless chicken thigh goulash made with greek yogurt and some remaining steak tips. I collect scallops, so perhaps some of those. I've been obsessed with cottage cheese lately. My breakfasts have been 35 g cream of wheat with 50-100 g strawberries and 8 turkey sausages. I reintroduced casein shakes, as well.

Having to patiently wait for return from injury gains while on steroids is frustrating, but it's so much faster overall that I don't regret it. I also especially don't regret not having 7 more fibroids growing in my uterus, so this would be fine anyways. I mostly hate not being able to do chin-ups at this weight when I normally could do them natty at this weight. It will only be a few weeks.

My next set of bloodwork will be coming up soon. I'm thinking of asking the doctor about BPC-157 at my next appointment. I'm also going to ask about switching from 6 mg per day to 9 mg. We'll see what my testosterone level is before I get overzealous. No matter what it is, I'm going to ask just to have the information.

I may have to shave slightly more frequently now. I really wouldn't notice if I wasn't trying to notice.

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[ToTherion]

Day 14
155.2
I have probably had more sex in the last 4 days than I typically would in one month. My husband is probably more okay with me being on steroids now.

I get random bicep pumps from existing still, but they don't hurt anymore. Bicep pump from putting my mask on for the grocery store, unexpected but not unwanted.

I feel great after my rest day. I'm hoping the increased side effects are a sign that I'll get some extra gym gains. It's already way faster than normal injury recovery, so I shouldn't really complain. My overhead press is normally a big piece of steaming garbage, so it's a low bar.

It feels strange waking up a few pounds heavier but sees more ab lines. I have a lower cut above my hip now that I don't think I've ever had before.

Today is glute and shoulder day. I'm going to try to swap out the belt squat hip hinge for regular barbell thrusts today. They'll put extra pressure on my incisions, but it can't realistically be worse than the belt shaped bruise circling around my body from the belt squat.

[ToTherion]

Day 16
154.6
I should caliper tomorrow or Saturday. I can see more muscle near my suprailiac caliper site, so hopefully it shows. My biceps are getting noticeable now, and I can see my delts in pictures when I'm not trying to take pictures of them. I can actually make my quads pop a bit now.

I'm probably not taking nearly enough anavar to support 3-4 hours of gym time per day, so I may need to scale it back a bit. I only worked up to 215 x 5 on deadlifts yesterday, as my navel incision wasn't feeling great. I'm fairly certain it's from my cat trampling me directly on it yesterday, but I'd rather not risk it.

I'm trying to remind myself that I should be focused on bodybuilding gains, not strength gains.

I've had intense cottage cheese cravings for the last week. At least it's easy to cope with.

I get random bicep pumps from existing, but I haven't had anything incredibly painful for awhile now apart from a weird hand cramp.

I have blood tests early next week, so I'll be able to get some exact numbers on how exactly var is changing my test levels. I'm also supposed to get an SHBG, which is interesting for me in terms of endometriosis. It would be fantastic if anavar could deter endometriosis in the same way that winstrol + nandrolone can. I am definitely not ready for that combination just yet.

Based on my OPKs, I should still ovulate this month. My bloodwork includes progesterone, so I'll conveniently get some confirmation of that.

I really want to Smolov Jr. my bench, but that's probably stupid.

[kelkel]

Incredible log Totheroin! Be following it!

[Booz]

Will be following
Very very detailed log and interested to see where this takes you....

[almostgone]

Oh dang, I didn't see this log yet. Love the detail and commitment.

ToTherion, don't forget to sign up for access to the famale forum as well, but please keep posting your log.

You're a hard worker!

[Capebuffalo]

This is amazing. Will be following your progress. Keep up the great work.

[ToTherion]

February 23
Day 21
Things seem to have settled in a bit, so I’ve been waiting on my gym logs. I am still somewhat inexplicably gaining weight on 1300 calories per day. It’s a very bizarre feeling. I put on what used to be a tight dress yesterday, and it looked like a sack. However, I’m up to 157 now. Based on my intake, this has to be good weight, but I don’t want to be the idiot that just got fat taking anavar either, so I’m making my diet a bit more boring this week. My husband eats the most boring bodybuilding diet in the world, so I’ll hop on the plain white fish with vegetables diet for the most part for the next week. We’ll see if I can stomach it. I probably can’t, so I redid my RP Diet app as my backup plan. I start that tomorrow. I also replaced my food scale that was off by 20-50%. I think I immediately noticed it, so I doubt it had much of an impact, but perhaps it did. I also replaced my fitbit, since the HRV wasn’t working anymore, and I’d like to optimize my recovery.

I did some brief calipers a few days ago, but it was virtually identical, so I’ll wait a bit longer. I normally caliper every 2 weeks, so I’ll stop being overzealous and wait.

Bench press
Adding 5 lbs twice a week now.
Feb 9 missed 95
Feb 12 95 x 1
Feb 17 100 x 1
Feb 21 105 x 1 and it felt soooo easy
Some of this is because I can start to arch a bit more from my incisions. They feel weird sometimes still, but at least I can just 2 inches from my bench in the future! My typical not trying bench would be sets at 95, so that’s almost back to normal. I still desperately want to smolov. I probably will smolov up until going on vacation in April, then use that as a rest week and then max my bench when I return.

Deadlift
2/13 worked up to 225x3
2/17 worked up to 215 x5

I could have easily lifted more on both days, but my navel incisions wasn’t having any of it. I cut out about half of my workout on the 17th. I was going to stop at 195 x 7, but something happened (goregrind!) and I decided that I would do 215 for 1. That’s not what I did, because I love deadlifts, but I seem to be fine. Today is deadlift day, and I will try to keep it slow.

I still can’t wear my belt, and I certainly can’t breathe and brace like I normally would. There is no chance of doing my usual violent grip and rip pull either, so I shouldn’t be trying to pull anything close to normal. I am not sure that I will comply with this, but this is what I’m telling myself.

Squat
I want to Zercher squat so badly, but it’s not meant to be with blood draws and probably not great for incisions. I traditionally zercher squat more than I back squat. I don’t know what’s wrong with me either (just kidding, it’s my stupidly long femurs + masochism).
2/14 135x1
2/18 115 x 8 (est 1 RM 143)
I was trying to go easy on my incision again and forcing some “cardio.” I’m squatting quite a bit lower than I normally would. Squats are usually very slow to increase after injuries for me, but I think that’s mostly due to how I fail squats. Quads are my weak point, so I fail near the top and have to go all the way back down to hit the spotter bars, which I obviously avoid. Quads are feeling really good on my squats, however. I can see my quads popping out through my black leggings in my squat videos, and that has never EVER happened before in my life. I don’t feel as stuck in my usual weak spot either. I’ve been doing weighted sissy squats and leg extensions to target them, so it’s not all var, but the visuals are definitely mostly var.

My two week squat gains are about what I would normally get in just over a month returning.

I rely heavily on bracing for the squat, so I also expect huge improvements once I can wear a normal belt.

Calves
I have visible calves now! Also, I used to be unable to do much weight on the calf extension due to an old stress fracture, but I haven’t had any issues. Did I mention this already? I’m still surprised.

Glutes
Skipped the belt squat hip hinge this week to give my bruises a chance to heal. Successfully completed hip thrusts without hurting my incisions. It’s looked like I’ve gotten a butt lift ever since I started anavar, so this isn’t exactly a priority, because it’s going so well.

Biceps
Per arm
2/10 15 x 8 (1RM est 19)
2/14 20 x 4 (1RM est 22)
2/20 20 x 7 (1RM est 24)

These are my max effort curls. I’m close to my usual bicep curl max, particularly because I don’t normally train it. Now that I get to experience pumps in the gym, I train far more biceps than I ever used to train. Next week is looking to be an exciting week.

Back
Lat pull down
2/10 85 x 6 (115)
2/14 95 x 7 (131 est 1RM not from this set)
2/20 145 x 2 (149)
The most I can find that I ever did on the lat pull down is 115 x 8, so this appears to be a new max entirely. My chin up is behind this largely because I don’t want to risk stretching my incisions, so I’m not really trying to get it.

My pull up assist is currently better than my chin up assist. The machine has an incredibly idiotic placement for the hand positions, so I don’t think it’s a me thing. There just isn’t a good chin up placement. I haven’t tested with bands on my rack at home recently, as I’m trying to behave.


Voice app
Nothing interesting is happening here for me, which I guess is good. For whatever reason, I decided to pull my app out for fun while I was watching the fights on Saturday. I took some random audio of Michael Bisping, and it told me he was a female with a higher voice than me. I also did Ben Shapiro, which it rightfully registered as androgynous, and then Chael Sonnen, who also came out as a woman with a voice as high pitched as Michael Bisping. My husband showed up as well into the male range, so I think it’s just the video aspect deciding that everyone is a woman almost.

Regardless, the difference is all that probably matters, and my voice is the same. Just thought it was an odd quirk. I doubt anyone in the history of the world has ever heard Chael’s voice and mistaken him for a woman.


Blood tests and Ovulation
I get my blood test results tomorrow! I happened to have an extremely positive ovulation test the morning of my blood test (day 20), so it will be interesting to see how that matches up. My bloodwork includes LH, FSH, and progesterone, so I should get confirmation of what exactly that positive test means.

I’m also getting vitamin D tested and I went for some tanning the day before to see how it impacts my test.

Depending on my testosterone and free testosterone results, I will most likely try to up my dose. If my SHBG hasn’t decreased, I’ll need to add something to fix it for both gains and endometriosis. I don’t think my test could possibly be anywhere near the normal maximum, because my libido is nowhere near the maximum it’s ever been. I really must have gotten my hands on some of those mythological tainted supplements in the past. I wonder what it was. Anavar has been far more mild than I expected.

I am far more heartless on anavar. Somewhat more heartless. I’m pretty emotionless as it is.

[ToTherion]

From Strong app

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[ToTherion]

Voice graph

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[ToTherion]

Incredible log Totheroin! Be following it!

Thank you!!!

Will be following
Very very detailed log and interested to see where this takes you....

I’m a little obsessed haha. Hopefully it’s just the beginning.

Oh dang, I didn't see this log yet. Love the detail and commitment.

ToTherion, don't forget to sign up for access to the famale forum as well, but please keep posting your log.

You're a hard worker!

Thank you! I also have an abundance of free time compared to others, which definitely helps the obsession. I tried requesting access to the female forum, but I don’t think it’s worked yet. There’s such a lack of information about female cycles, so I’m quite content to post every minute detail I couldn’t find when I was searching.

This is amazing. Will be following your progress. Keep up the great work.

Thank you! I just really love to track EVERYTHING.

[kelkel]

Thank you! I just really love to track EVERYTHING.

Who knew!

[ToTherion]

My blood test results were not what I expected.

Testosterone is the same 27 ng/dL but SHBG is down to 19 from 99, so my free testosterone is now 6.4 pg/mL compared to about 2 before.

Bloodwork also confirms that I'm still ovulating on anavar.

The doctor offered increasing the anavar or adding a low dose of testosterone. I'll be increasing my dose to 12 mg/day for now.

[kelkel]

Anabolics will most always suppress shbg. And that's fine as long as you don't suffer from metabolic syndrome.
Adding test will suppress it more.

[Capebuffalo]

Checking in...

[ToTherion]

Anabolics will most always suppress shbg. And that's fine as long as you don't suffer from metabolic syndrome.
Adding test will suppress it more.

What sort of metabolic syndrome? I technically was pre-diabetic, although I'm nowhere near it now and still on metformin.

Suppressing SHBG is my goal for controlling endometriosis, so I'm fine with pretty significant side effects as long as it's less than what endo does by fusing my organs together and requiring more surgery. Pretty low bar. I'm mostly just surprised at how well anavar lowered my SHBG, because the standard protocol for endo involves giving women who have no interest in lifting or bodybuilding a combination of winstrol and nandrolone. It sounds insane to me to start there when anavar could offer the same results.

[ToTherion]

2/25/21 Day 23
Second day on 12 mg
155.8

I was looking at my biceps today and noticing how different they look. Even though it’s the evening and the worst time to caliper, I decided to do a quick caliper and measure and discovered that my biceps have in fact increased even though my unflexed arm measurement is the same. My biceps caliper went down a mm and my suprailiac surprisingly is down 2 mm. I’ll redo it in the morning in a reasonable way. It was nice to see, especially with my increased weight.

I’ve been eating white fish and cottage cheese for the bulk of my existence for the last two days.

I listened a little too much to my Fitbit about getting to cardio zones on the elliptical, and my navel incision has been bothering me ever since. It’s really amazing that I’m repping deadlifts over two plates already with no issues, but I can’t get it together for the elliptical. I’m having a rest day today accordingly.

I’ve noticed that I’m more irritable now. I am actually capable of being slightly irritated by my students. Normally, it would be impossible. I still don’t care in the slightest about most things that bother other people, so it’s not a huge change. No wonder my cortisol and stress levels are so low.

Even though I’m taking a day off for my painful incision, I’ve comically been looking up competitions for May. That’s 10 weeks away, after all. I should definitely be fine by then. I haven’t decided between strongman and powerlifting yet.

2/26/21 Day 24, Day 3 on 12 mg
156.4 18.79% Jackson Pollock 3
Great caliper results despite my weight gain. My navel incision is still bothering me, so I’m only doing one gym visit today. Walking around my house in a wrestling singlet accordingly to avoid irritating it. Good thing my students aren’t on video today.

I’ve been getting some heartburn since I switched to the higher dose, so I’ll probably stop trying to take it on an empty stomach with energy drinks. It is a really fun way to start the morning, but not worth it. Heartburn is not all normal for me, and I’d prefer to keep it that way.


Supposedly, I’ve lost 2 pounds of fat and gained 4.4 lbs of lean mass in the last two weeks, but I don’t really believe it. Maybe if 2 lbs of that is glycogen and water. I also am quite confident that I’m not 19% body fat, although I’ve definitely lost body fat. I would guess something closer to 22%, but my difficult to caliper skin complicates it.

I can start to see back muscles I’ve never seen before, so at least that bit is real. My quads are also looking and measuring bigger.

Today is meant to be shoulder day. If my incision is feeling good, I’m going to try to press the log. It’s 55 lbs, which should be doable based on my last shoulder day. I typically press more on the log than the barbell (much like how I zercher squat more than I back squat), so I should be able to do strict presses without any issues.


FEB 28 DAY 26
155.0
Eating fish for the last week seems to be working. I've also been doing the RP Diet App for the last few days. I set it on the lowest allowed carb setting for the first week, which is 105. I feel like I'm constantly eating, but it's obviously working.

I can actually find back muscles on my recent progress photos. It's a nice change from being disappointed by how non-existent they are and wondering how I ever managed to do chin ups.

Bicep curls were shockingly good last time. I'm taking it easier on the heavier weights just in case.



March 2 Day 28
156.0
I’ve been doing less in the gym to give my incision a chance to get back to normal. Today is supposed to be deadlift day, but I may end up doing deadlift accessories instead of actual deadlifts or at least going for light weight volume.

This is the week that I’ll get to see how anavar affects PMS. Typically, I’m an absolute monster. I imagine this has something to do with my two estrogen dominant disorders, so I’m interested to see if it actually improves. I would normally also be in pain from endometriosis around this time, and my drastic drop in SHBG should alleviate that entirely. So far so good.

Progress so far:
Bench press
Feb 9 missed 95
Feb 12 95 x 1
Feb 17 100 x 1
Feb 21 105 x 1
Feb 28 117 EST 1RM from 75x14 up from 75x10 on 2/17
I kept the weight lower for my healing incisions. I still exocist-ed into the bench though. I also did quite a few feet up accessories. My close grip feet up bench is significantly better than my regular close grip bench was a few sessions ago.

I still desperately want to smolov, but I want more than usual, so I’m patiently waiting. Impatiently waiting.

Deadlift
2/13 worked up to 225x3
2/17 worked up to 215 x5
2/23 245 x 3
Still not a max effort and still can’t breathe and brace or wear my belt properly

Well, I probably COULD, but potentially hurting my incision isn’t really worth it. I have a super short torso and long legs, so it’s nearly impossible for me to hurt my back deadlifting regardless of how bad my technique is.


Squat
2/14 135x1
2/18 115 x 8 (est 1 RM 143)
2/24 150 x 1



Calves
Still no issues with my old stress fracture


Biceps
Per arm
2/10 15 x 8 (1RM est 19)
2/14 20 x 4 (1RM est 22)
2/20 20 x 7 (1RM est 24)
2/27 25x3 (1RM est 26) and 20 x 9
I still get massive bicep pumps frequently with little effort. This is compared to never experiencing pumps ever, so take that interpretation with a grain of salt.


Back
Lat pull down
2/10 85 x 6 (115)
2/14 95 x 7 (131 est 1RM not from this set)
2/20 145 x 2 (149)
2/27 95 x 10 top set
Went light here, as this was right after pulling my incision. It still feels good that “going light” is still more than my max two weeks ago.

I obviously haven’t tried actual pull ups yet. I think my lat pull down is better than it was when I could do chin ups at a higher weight, so I should be close anyways.

This next bit could be TMI, but what really is when we’re talking about AAS for women?

Perifit
My biggest percentage increase in strength has actually been in my pelvic floor muscles. Obviously, they’re recovering from surgery, but they’ve already exceeded their pre-surgery level. I would never compete in PED banned sports, but my perifit still ranks me against others despite my cheating, and I have gone from strength level 35 to strength level 100 in just two weeks! This is clearly the anavar, as I never made it that far before. It could be because I unlocked the space invader level, too, but it’s still too funny to keep to myself.

Side effects:
My skin isn’t flawless anymore. Specifically, I have one spot on my face that could be the beginning of acne. It’s just not completely even. Normally, it would be pointless for me to bother with foundation. It would now make a tiny difference.

The most mild shoulder acne ever. Basically, I can find a pore or two, and I couldn’t before. It’s a change. I guess it counts. I would never notice if I wasn’t checking.

Maybe I have to shave more often. I think so. I never cared enough to track it, but it feels like more.

I constantly feel the need to bathe and wash my hair. My hair is almost three feet long, so this is a pretty noticeable change. I normally don’t sweat and only wear deodorant to feel like a person who isn’t gross and wears deodorant. It doesn’t typically DO anything. Now it does occasionally do something. Previously, my body would opt to pass out from heat exhaustion before ever considering sweating as a possibility. It still isn’t much sweat, just more than nothing.

[ToTherion]

Strong app progress

Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk

[ToTherion]

Before and after anavar testosterone levels and panel

Tests indicating ovulation (FSH, LH, etc) on Day 3 before anavar and showing ovulation on anavar


Metabolic panel before and after anavar

[ToTherion]

March 3
156?
Still doing RP. Increased my steps, but it doesn't seem to be making much of a difference. I was cruising along losing weight before anavar, but it isn't budging really at all now even though my diet is better than it was. I know my caliper numbers have been good, but it's just not possible that I'm gaining that much muscle. I'll just tell RP to drop my macros on Friday. It reminds me of attempting CICO before metformin and maintaining on 1200 to 1300 calories, particularly because that's exactly what's happening.

It could be period bloat to some degree, but I don't feel bloated.

I've been eating so much boring white fish. What else can I do? At least my biceps are looking fantastic. Maybe I just need to drop down to 1000 calories per day or up my metformin.

My incisions are feeling good enough for hiking, as well.

March 5 Day 31
??? Probably 158, but I didn’t check

I don’t feel normal PMS, but wow do I want to eat EVERYTHING. So I am. I realistically just ate maintenance yesterday, and I’ll just keep that up until I’m done with PMS. I never lose weight during that week anyways, and I’m looking significantly more jacked than before, so my weight is beginning to matter less. My quads are looking noticeably larger than ever before. My line of back muscle is becoming more and more defined and stretching up to the top of my back. It used to just be my lower back.

Blood sugar has still been great despite all of my horrible choices in the last day. I did go for a long hike before I decided that I needed to eat everything. I don’t think it’s related.

Normally, PMS makes me a complete horror to be around. I actively warn my husband about the horrible things I will say. It’s all in good fun, but I still say them. So far, that hasn’t been the case with anavar. I think he could get used to this.

I think I could do chin ups if I weren’t so cautious of avoiding pulling on incisions. I can lat pull down more now than I could when I could do chin ups. I’m still only doing them very slowly with bands.

I’ve mostly stopped getting cramps, although I did get a weird hamstring cramp while squatting yesterday.

The gym felt amazing after so many carbs.

March 7
I can start to see a vein on my right deltoid. It isn't sticking out or anything crazy, but I can find it.

Period 2 on anavar started, and I ended up with a completely average 27 day cycle. Way less endometriosis pain, so that could be a result of the surgery healing, the reduced SHBG from anavar, or the combination. I normally have to skip the gym for pain for a day or two, especially due to my history of fainting from endometriosis, but that feels like a non-issue on anavar. That's a very exciting side effect.

In terms of other side effects, I had one real acne spot. It was tiny and irrelevant. If I wasn’t checking for side effects, I doubt I would have even noticed. Overall, my skin isn't as good, but it's such an insignificant difference compared to what it expected. So far, all of the side effects are so far.

March 8 Day 33
It's pretty strange looking stronger than ever but actually being weaker. My lifts are around 82% right now


March 15 Day 40
158.0

Side effects:
Currently my biggest side effect is the constant cramp I have in my neck from reflexively checking out my gains in the mirror.

Slight shoulder acne. Really small and again, not something that would even be noticeable if I wasn’t checking.

Slight abdominal hair. If I wasn’t constantly checking to see if I was doing damage to my navel incision, this would not be noticeable. My husband didn’t know what I was talking about. He only notices my quads popping out everywhere followed by my biceps, lack of back fat, new back muscles, and glutes.

I think I really must smell different or something, because I get hit on every time I go to the grocery store now even when I’m absolutely disgusting. I don’t imagine my gains are super noticeable in my long coat, and I seriously doubt my quads are looking THAT good through my leggings.

Menstrual side effects
Way more bloat weight than usual. I made it all the way up to 160-162 at times, which is about double my usual period bloat. I only had an hour or two of mild discomfort, which is close to a miracle with endometriosis. It would seem that the anavar does help with the endometriosis.

Significantly lighter flow and darker than usual. That’s likely related to the reduced endo side effects.

Voice
My trendline is definitely going up on average, but only for the bottom. If I remove some early outliers (just 2 points), my line looks completely stable. That’s quite a bit more likely than my voice getting higher on var, although my average is definitely creeping up.




Squat
2/14 135x1
2/18 115 x 8 (est 1 RM 143)
2/24 150 x 1
3/4 135 x 6 (EST 157)
Going a little lighter due to hamstring cramp and still no real belt
3/11 162 x 2 (169)


Deadlift
2/13 worked up to 225x3
2/17 worked up to 215 x5
2/23 245 x 3
3/2/21 205 x10 (273)
This 205 was meant to be a set of 5, but I was just having so much fun that I decided to do 10. I could have done more, but I’m trying to be careful.
3/7/21 265x3 (281)
Still not a max effort, but getting there. Still no real belt.



Bench Press
Feb 9 missed 95
Feb 12 95 x 1
Feb 17 100 x 1
Feb 21 105 x 1
Feb 28 117 EST 1RM from 75x14 , 95 x 3
March 5 95x5, maxed at 110
Previous rep estimate is probably wrong from being from such a high number of reps, but
Planning to smolov beginning 3/10
Started smolov
Week 1:
6x6 80
7x5 85
8x4 95 (supposed to be 90, but way too easy)
10x3 105

Biceps
Per arm
2/10 15 x 8 (1RM est 19)
2/14 20 x 4 (1RM est 22)
2/20 20 x 7 (1RM est 24)
2/27 25x3 (1RM est 26) and 20 x 9
I still get massive bicep pumps frequently with little effort. This is compared to never experiencing pumps ever, so take that interpretation with a grain of salt.
3/10 25x5 (1RM est 28)


Back
Lat pull down
2/10 85 x 6 (115)
2/14 95 x 7 (131 est 1RM not from this set)
2/20 145 x 2 (149)
2/27 95 x 10 top set
3/10 95x17 top set (171)

I can do a chin up again. It puts a lot of strain on my incision, so I’ve only tried once.

Clean, Jerk, Log, etc.
Easily clean and jerked the log at 85 pounds on my first day attempting it. My old max was 110 or so. I can typically clean far more than I can jerk, but I also log clean far more than I can clean on a barbell.

[ToTherion]

Strong app updates.

Sent from my SM-N960U1 using Tapatalk

[ToTherion]

March 18 Day 43
158.0ish
My lat pull down just had a massive increase. It’s a 20 rep max, but I’ve been doing 20 rep maxes this whole time. I can easily do single chin ups on demand now, as well. The next two weeks are looking exciting for back gains.

I completed my first week of smolov, and I’m already back to 95x10 about 5 weeks after I missed 95 for 1. My best ever was 95 x16 after smolov, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

I’m currently planning to stop around April 1st. My original plan was May, but my OB/GYN says I should be trying to conceive sooner rather than later. The anavar seems to be delaying my ovulation this month. Considering what a detriment endometriosis is to getting the gym and being normal, this is great news. It seems like I would need to add test or nandrolone to get the full benefits for endo, but I won’t be experimenting with that on my first cycle.

Voice
My mother asked me if I had a cold recently. I actually do have allergies, so I doubt it’s anything. My throat has been pretty hoarse at times, but that’s always been a thing for me. I used to constantly lose my voice from talking, and I’ve been working extra. My voice tracker shows either no difference or a loss of the bottom of my range, so it’s clear that no real change is happening. I switched to reading Latin aloud to get longer samples and not get distracted by how stupid I find the default text.

Weight
I’ve been pretty awful at remembering to weigh myself. Once I glance in the mirror and see more abs than ever before, I can’t ever seem to remember to care enough to weigh in. I can feel hamstrings and quads popping out everywhere, so it’s hard to care about weight. My biceps are noticeable even when I’m not flexing now, and my back muscles create a gap under the straps on my sports bras now.

Skin
My extra acne wasn’t much to begin with, but it’s mostly gone now. I’ve just been using charcoal face wash on my arms and some micellar water wipes, and that seems to be doing the trick.



My worst side effect is still the neck cramp from checking out my gains.


March 20
Positive ovulation test on cycle day 15. That is the same as last month with half of the dose of var. It would normally be between CD 11 and 13,.so there's a definite effect. My LH surges way faster on var, too. My test was very negative yesterday, whereas it's normally high for a few days before peaking.

Also, I have some special version of not roid rage, but roid bitch. I feel like I have double PMS. Yesterday, I had a small meltdown because thought my husband's quads were looking too small.



March 28 Day 54
160ish
I’ve increased my dose up to 17.5 mg per day. I absolutely wouldn’t bother with this under normal circumstances. My var supposedly expires after 6 months, and I have to quit sooner than anticipated, so this is how I’m going to make myself feel better about it. I wasn’t expecting any significant effects, but I’ve had some pretty drastic increases recently.

My smolov bench is beyond the best I’ve ever done for week 3 despite my week 1 being my lowest starting point ever. I did 120x5 about 6 weeks after I failed 95. My best ever smolov was 120x4 end on 125x3 on the last day.


The only real surprise is that my overhead press is lagging behind my percentages on my other lifts. I can’t lean back at all because of my incision, but I was really expecting this to at least increase as much as my other lifts. My deltoids look noticeably better, but they only show aesthetic improvements.

After doing basic diastasis recti/post surgery focused ab exercises for a few days, I could already see improvements. It’s been a few weeks now.

I listen to more goregrind than ever before, and I’ve been looking into equipped lifting for fun. That makes no sense, I know, especially considering that I replaced my Titan singlet with a Fleo one for comfort.

I wear tank tops around the house now, so that I can admire my gains. I will see my mother for the first time in almost two years in a week. That should be the real test of how noticeable my gains are, because my mother HATES gains.

March 28 Day 56
My forearms are rock hard. This is not normal. While I have above average grip strength from repping touch and go deadlifts and holding them for fun at the top, I have never really been able to find my forearms. Now they’re just hard. All of my muscles are kind of like this, but it’s particularly noticeable here. It really makes it clear how steroids could drastically help in mma regardless of strength gains.

Also, I can do pull ups now!

Which gave me my first DOMs in a long time for my last day of smolov at 130x3, which is the best I’ve ever done. My estimated starting max was 117, and my current estimated max is 147 according to Sheiko. I think it’s 138 on reps, but 147 sounds about right after rest. My 145 max was after smoloving up to 125x3 on the last day. I only ever PR my bench by 1-2 lbs per YEAR, so this will be particularly great after my year of surgery and injuries.



April 2
160s
Smolov results: 150 lbs! 5 lbs bench pr
That’s about 5 years of gains at my usual rate. I was hoping for 147.5. I was only able to rest for 3 days before maxing, since I had to get on a plane, so I would expect more with a proper recovery. This is the only lift I truly attempted to max.

Deadlift
Final estimated max of 315 from 295x3 from a beltless non-max effort
With a belt and no fear of hernias at my incision sites, I would expect to easily PR, but I am restraining myself.

Squat results are similar


April 3 Last Day

April 14
156.4
I spent the first week off cycle taking a rest week and going on vacation. I was still VERY hungry very quickly after eating. My shoulder acne disappeared completely within the first week, and my weight is dropping back down despite my trash vacation diet. I was very active with walking and swimming, but I lifted nothing and ate all kinds of trash cookies and candy. I still had a fair bit of protein and decent nutrition, since my mother is also pre-diabetic and cooks accordingly. I’ve been doing RP maintenance very casually for the last two days, so the weight loss looks like I’m losing some bloat gains, since I definitely haven’t been eating a deficit. My muscle definition has improved a bit since I stopped, although I am about 6 shades darker from being in the sun all week. I still need to caliper. I can still do pull ups, and it’s even a bit easier.

[ToTherion]

April 23 ~3 weeks post cycle
153.6
I’m doing still doing RP maintenance very casually, and my weight is just sliding down. I seem to be maintaining all of my fat loss and muscle gains, but I don’t have the same ability to get a pump. Rock hard forearms are still here, as are extra quads and my new rear delts. My lower abdominal cuts might even be more prominent. Interestingly, I can’t do quite as much in the gym now, as my incisions can’t take as much as they could on my cycle. I switched to Sheiko AI from doing my own programming.

My sore throat is now gone, so it apparently was the anavar. My voice app shows nothing particularly interesting, however.

My blood pressure was back down to normal after one week. It wasn’t terrible on var, but it was elevated a bit.

I have maintained an increased libido since quitting var. That might be related to it killing off endometriosis more than a common side effect.

I am still ovulating around 2 days later, just like I was during my cycle. I have yet to see if the shortened luteal phase stays.

My shoulder acne is still very much gone.

My thigh gap has significantly returned despite my quads hanging around.

I will have bloodwork in 2 weeks for comparison.

[The Deadlifting Dog]

I will inform the higher ups that you are a female.
This will grant you access to the female only section.

Be well...

[ToTherion]

I will inform the higher ups that you are a female.
This will grant you access to the female only section.

Be well...

Thank you!

[ToTherion]

Approximately 2 months after I ended my cycle, I hit my lowest weight in years of 148.8 without attempting to diet. Comical, since I've tried unsuccessfully to diet down to that weight for a long time.

I'm still able to do pull ups and I've maintained more of my bench press strength still than I normally would have after completing smolov.

Lastly, despite my multiple infertility diagnoses, I actually managed to get pregnant on my second month off of anavar. I don't know that this would be the case for someone without an estrogren dominance disorder, but anavar definitely didn't hurt my fertility, and it actually appears to have helped.

[ToTherion]

I maintained my ability to do a pull up up until at least 10-11 weeks pregnant. I haven't tried yet at 12, but I was close to the cut off last time. That's 4 months post cycle, despite being pregnant for around 3 and barely able to get in the gym.

Looks to me like anavar gains really stay for a long time, especially since I barely got my first pull up a few days before the end of my cycle.