Newbie with questions

[mav6]

Thanks for the responses guys, this is great stuff. When/if the time finally comes I'll be sure to have it all on hand so I'm prepared.

As far as goals, I'm mostly interested in strength/performance gains, especially with my o-lifting. I don't really have games aspirations, but I do love to compete. I really just want to get as fit as possible, and I certainly wouldn't hate it if my physique improved.

I became interested in AAS because I seem to have hit a wall in the last 6 months. My times in WODs have kind of stalled, I'm still making stength gains but it's at a crawling pace. My body also just seems softer now, even though I'm working my ass off and have my diet dialed in better than ever. I'm actually going to get my hormone levels tested soon because I suspect my test levels are low.

If you're working harder, eating better, and doing worse, it sounds like you're overreaching/overtraining a bit. I would recommend getting your cortisol levels checked in addition to your T and Free T levels. You might want to have your cholesterol levels checked as well. Just to be safe. Sometimes when guys get really deep into overtraining the constant release of glucocorticoids starts to really screw with the LDL/HDL balance.

CF has a real tendency to burn people out. Intensity and constant variation put a demand on your CNS that over time can really dig a hole for you. You would not believe the number of CFers on steroids. It's like the dirty little secret that no one wants to talk about.

I'm guessing from your handle you train at CF Forged, so you're in or near San Diego. There are a ton of naturopaths in and around San Diego. Before you go turn to AAS, it would be good to get an idea of why you're not feeling dialed in. An adrenal stress index would likely be sufficient to establish your cortisol levels and circadian rhythm. Also, cortisol can really sap your T levels. You could have what many people wrongly refer to as "adrenal fatigue," but it's really just adrenal dysfunction because more likely, you're adrenals are overworking early in the day and underproducing later in the day.

In the meantime, you might try some carnitine-L-tartrate to help your CNS, and maybe take some phosphatidylserine pre workout. If you really think it's your T levels, you could try running Primordial Performance's TRS with their TCF-1, and if that makes you feel much better, then that would probably point to T problems. However, if you have insurance, it's probably cheaper to just see your doc and get the bloodwork done.

What's your diet like? Lots of fruit? How about sleep? Hard time falling asleep? Wake up multiple times? What's your training look like? Multiple WODs a day? Are you very active outside your workouts? Are most of your WODs over 10 minutes? When you do strength work, how often do you max out? All these things can really contribute to exactly what you're describing.

[CFforged]

Definitely some things to consider there, thanks. Luckily I do have insurance so I'll be arranging some bloodwork soon.

What's your diet like? Lots of fruit? How about sleep? Hard time falling asleep? Wake up multiple times? What's your training look like? Multiple WODs a day? Are you very active outside your workouts? Are most of your WODs over 10 minutes? When you do strength work, how often do you max out? All these things can really contribute to exactly what you're describing.

Diet is strict Zone (17 blocks w/ x3 fat) here is a sample day of food:

Breakfast Smoothie
raw whole eggs
blueberries
frozen strawberries
peanut butter

Lunch
chicken breast
apple
green veggies
almonds

Pre-WOD Snack
turkey breast
tomato
almonds or cashews

PWO Shake
protein powder
waxy maize powder

Dinner
some kind of meat (beef, chicken, turkey, fish, etc)
assorted veggies
legumes
avacado or olives

Bedtime Snack
whole milk
peanut butter or cashews

I drink 1 cup of black coffee in morning and a TON of water all day long.

Sleep is a tough one. I have real problems falling asleep, once I'm asleep though I usually will get 7-8 hours a night. Although it's not always restfull. I've recently started taking Melatonin at night and it has been helping some.

My week of training usually consists of 3 days on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off. Once or twice a week I may do multiple WODs in a day. Usually a strength WOD followed by heavy metcon immediately after, or a lighter longer metcon several hours later. Very rarely will I do a WOD longer than 20 minutes. I probably only do a long chipper 1-2 times in a month, if that. I try and do strength work twice a week, one day to work on pure strength and the other would be heavy skill work with the o-lifts. I would maybe only test a 1RM once a month, I usually keep reps at 3-5.

Outside of the gym my week is not all that active, I work a desk job 40 hours a week.

There are other factors that make me suspect low test levels, low sex drive, lethargic, bouts of depression....I hit the gym as much as I do because I love it, but it is a battle to get there everyday. I'm always tired, but when they count down 3-2-1 go I can usually shut it out and do work. When I think about it though I've had these kind of symptoms most my life. Then again, I might just be trying to convince myself to do a cycle

[mav6]

Well, your fruit intake isn't horrible but I think I'd get rid of the apple and legumes for sure. I think Coach Rut called apples "sugar bags." You should check out some of Lalonde's stuff on fructose. Also, I appreciate the convenience of a post workout shake, but if you can do whole food, you'd probably see an improvement, especially if you can get some sweet potato in there. At 6'2" and 200 lbs, why are you eating so little though?

If your goal is to lean out, there are better ways. CPWO is a great tool for leaning out, we can get into that if that is your goal.

If you can do it, ditch the coffee. It has been shown to spike cortisol, which you don't need any more of.

Sleep is my specialty. I am an expert in sleep having been a former insomniac who typically only slept once every 3-4 days. I kid you not, I seriously went on sleeping every 3-4 days for over a year.

Have you read Lights Out? If not, go buy a copy, read it, and start following recommendations. What I'm about to tell you is going to sound crazy, but trust me, you need it.
1. No computer or tv 2 hours before bed
2. You need black out curtains in your bedroom, you should not be able to see your hand in front of your face
3. Sleep with ear plugs in
4. If you can, turn of the breaker to your room, if you can't, then put everything on powerstrips and turn everything off. There should be no little red standby lights or glowing lights in your room
5. Get a battery powered alarm clock and put it out of arm's reach from your bed, make sure it doesn't glow red, green, or whatever color. Brookstone has some good travel alarm clocks that you can't see in the dark

Also, stop taking melatonin. It can downregulate your own natural production, plus you're probably building a tolerance to it. What you should take is raw organic honey or creamed honey. You sound like you have some adrenal dysfunction going on. Your cortisol level is probably low before bed. Eat a tablespoon of honey right before bed. (people call this the hibernation diet) You can add cinnamon if you don't like the taste. Make sure it is quality honey or else you'll get the shits. I recommend Trader Joe's for honey. Creamed honey seems to work better for me, but raw organic honey should work just fine too. Also, about an hour before bed, mix one tsp of Natural Calm with warm to hot water. Athletes commonly deplete their magnesium stores, this should help out, plus it can boost your T a little.

You'll need to stick with routine for a while for it to kick in and start really clearing things up. My #1 Rule though: an hour of sleep before midnight is worth two after midnight. Rule #2 sleep as much as you can without getting yourself fired or divorced.

Looking at your training, try scaling back a bit. I know this is going to sound counter, but if you're training hard and you're looking soft, you're overtraining, training less may actually make you lean out, I kid you not. Poliquin has noted this a few times.

I would probably never do multiple WODs in a day ever again. Most heavy metcons should be around 5 minutes. Look at CF Football's programming, that's about as close to overtraining as you can toe the line without going over, but you sound like you're already a little overtrained so you'll need to get back to baseline before taking on CF Football.

In any case, I would recommend switching your programming to 3 strength days a week and 2 metcons. In fact, you might consider stepping away from the metcons altogether for a bit. Try Wendler 531 for a few cycles, I guarantee your Fran time goes down. And I would not max out nearly that often. You've got about 6 true max efforts in you per year and that's if your periodization is spot on. Try to max out more than that and all you're getting is your max that day, but not an accurate measurement of your true potential.

Low sex drive, lethargy, depression, all signs of overtraining. I can't remember who said it but you should be going into workout energized, not getting energized from your workout.

Even if you're set on doing a cycle, you'll get more out of by not going into it overtrained. Sure, AAS can allow you to work at a higher capacity than you normally could, but you'll get better gains and results if you're not overtrained and you're dialed in in all aspects.