Use it,or lose it.

[Nogbad the bad]

Hi fellas,
i've been off site for a while,due to injuries.Six weeks or so ago,i finished a cycle of deca and test.It took a good 2 months on,
before i felt any noticeable strength gains,and probably the same with visual.At the end,i'd gone from 104 kgs to 109 kgs,and
although i expected more than what i got,the results weren't bad.My diet is my downfall.
Unfortunately for me,i've had a long standing lower back issue i've previously mentioned,and it resurfaced big time a month back.
A specialist had my back scanned,told me in medic speak it was fucked in a number of places,and decided i need surgery.
He gave me an injection to pinpoint what he thought was causing the most pain,then told me to go enjoy the next week or
two,relatively pain free,if he'd guessed the right spot.Well,that's just what i did,training like a fucking nutter.
A week later,my back says "fuck this pal",and i can't walk,and can barely stand for 3 or 4 days.Very gradually it eases,and after 4 weeks,
i've ventured back to the gym.Ive dropped the weights considerabley,and am easing my way back into a routine,as safely as possible.
My gains have about gone,and i now weigh 102 kgs.
Although i think i probably know the answer to this,what i would like to hear others opinions about is,when it comes to muscle memory,
does it apply to gains from synthetics,or only when the gains are achieved naturally.
The reason i ask is,if you spend a considerable amount of dough on gear,and for whatever reason,you lose those gains pretty quickly,
are you going to need to spend big again,to get to where you were previously.
Thanks for having the patience reading my rather long winded post!

[GearHeaded]

muscle is muscle .. the cells and tissue have no clue wither that muscle was built with the help of AAS or built naturally. The whole idea that muscle built with steroids is somehow more susceptible to loss is a bunch of BS.

the reason you lose gains (or what appears to be muscle) after you come off a cycle is NOT a loss of actual muscle tissue, its simply the loss of the super compensation effect that steroids give in regards to the muscle cells ability to store and hold water, glycogen, and nutrients. When you come off steroids your muscle cells no longer have the ability to store that much, and so the muscle appears to shrink and lose size. but your. not losing any actual muscle tissue you built.

yes muscle memory is a real thing and your likely to get all your gains back if you get diet and training on track. now to get that full look you had when on cycle, yes you will have to run more cycles again to get that

[Dannyboy51577]

Hi fellas,
i've been off site for a while,due to injuries.Six weeks or so ago,i finished a cycle of deca and test.It took a good 2 months on,
before i felt any noticeable strength gains,and probably the same with visual.At the end,i'd gone from 104 kgs to 109 kgs,and
although i expected more than what i got,the results weren't bad.My diet is my downfall.
Unfortunately for me,i've had a long standing lower back issue i've previously mentioned,and it resurfaced big time a month back.
A specialist had my back scanned,told me in medic speak it was fucked in a number of places,and decided i need surgery.
He gave me an injection to pinpoint what he thought was causing the most pain,then told me to go enjoy the next week or
two,relatively pain free,if he'd guessed the right spot.Well,that's just what i did,training like a fucking nutter.
A week later,my back says "fuck this pal",and i can't walk,and can barely stand for 3 or 4 days.Very gradually it eases,and after 4 weeks,
i've ventured back to the gym.Ive dropped the weights considerabley,and am easing my way back into a routine,as safely as possible.
My gains have about gone,and i now weigh 102 kgs.
Although i think i probably know the answer to this,what i would like to hear others opinions about is,when it comes to muscle memory,
does it apply to gains from synthetics,or only when the gains are achieved naturally.
The reason i ask is,if you spend a considerable amount of dough on gear,and for whatever reason,you lose those gains pretty quickly,
are you going to need to spend big again,to get to where you were previously.
Thanks for having the patience reading my rather long winded post!

Nogbad, i gotta 2nd GH. I had a similar problem to you a while back-right at the end of cycle, messes up my back for the 2nd time and had to have spinal surgery. Was out 4 months before i could even get back to light workouts. I kept with the lighter stuff to keep loose until doc cleared me, but lost alot of the gains. Once i got back at it, it was almost like my first cycle ever- took a little time but got good response from my body, good response from thebaas, got back alot of the muscle, form, etc in a pretty decent time.

Sorry to hear brother- only advice i can give you is not to rush it- im an impatient bastard and wanted to get right back at it, but rather be in good shape for the long haul.

[Nogbad the bad]

muscle is muscle .. the cells and tissue have no clue wither that muscle was built with the help of AAS or built naturally. The whole idea that muscle built with steroids is somehow more susceptible to loss is a bunch of BS.

the reason you lose gains (or what appears to be muscle) after you come off a cycle is NOT a loss of actual muscle tissue, its simply the loss of the super compensation effect that steroids give in regards to the muscle cells ability to store and hold water, glycogen, and nutrients. When you come off steroids your muscle cells no longer have the ability to store that much, and so the muscle appears to shrink and lose size. but your. not losing any actual muscle tissue you built.

yes muscle memory is a real thing and your likely to get all your gains back if you get diet and training on track. now to get that full look you had when on cycle, yes you will have to run more cycles again to get that

Thanks for that GH.
If this is the case,then i was wrong,as i thought it was a case of start all over again.
I'll do another cycle in a couple of months,but between now and then,i'm going to have to be a lot smarter with my training.Heavy is causing too many problems,
so this passed week,i've been using half the weight,more or less perfect form,and making each rep last around eight seconds.This is a lot harder than when i was
using much heavier weight,and after doing 18 sets for my back the other night,my forearms had become so pumped,i really struggled to grip a pair of dumbells,
to do curls.The positive,was i only had muscular pain,none in my joints.
I just hope that when doing another cycle,i'll still be able to get decent results without going heavy,as i just can't do it anymore,without suffering serious injury.

[Nogbad the bad]

Nogbad, i gotta 2nd GH. I had a similar problem to you a while back-right at the end of cycle, messes up my back for the 2nd time and had to have spinal surgery. Was out 4 months before i could even get back to light workouts. I kept with the lighter stuff to keep loose until doc cleared me, but lost alot of the gains. Once i got back at it, it was almost like my first cycle ever- took a little time but got good response from my body, good response from thebaas, got back alot of the muscle, form, etc in a pretty decent time.

Sorry to hear brother- only advice i can give you is not to rush it- im an impatient bastard and wanted to get right back at it, but rather be in good shape for the long haul.

Cheers bud,i understand where your coming from.I've definitely learned my lesson with the latest setbacks,and will be very careful from now on.
Going to see the surgeon in a couple of weeks,and see how long i'll be laid up post op.Oh,and there's no long haul when you're my age,it's just a ride round the block!

[GearHeaded]

Thanks for that GH.
If this is the case,then i was wrong,as i thought it was a case of start all over again.
I'll do another cycle in a couple of months,but between now and then,i'm going to have to be a lot smarter with my training.Heavy is causing too many problems,
so this passed week,i've been using half the weight,more or less perfect form,and making each rep last around eight seconds.This is a lot harder than when i was
using much heavier weight,and after doing 18 sets for my back the other night,my forearms had become so pumped,i really struggled to grip a pair of dumbells,
to do curls.The positive,was i only had muscular pain,none in my joints.
I just hope that when doing another cycle,i'll still be able to get decent results without going heavy,as i just can't do it anymore,without suffering serious injury.

well brother good news is there are lots of ways to progressively overload besides just putting more weight on the bar..

I've had to learn to do so myself. I've had 4 back surgeries, reconstructed ankle surgery, reconstructive hand surgery, a separated left collar bone, and a current torn right shoulder rotator cuff.

couple different ways to overload without going heavy.. full range of motion reps with more time under tension (sounds like thats what your doing), adding forced/assisted reps, rest pause method, doing negatives after your regular sets are done, muscle rounds, metabolite training (eg., 40 rep sets on leg press), even simply doing more reps with a given weight (eg., if you bench 275 for 6, try to work up to doing 8 reps).

goal is to make your workouts harder and harder slowly over time, yet without having to add more weight.