My Protocol & New Labs

[Scrumhalf]

Thanks for asking. I have no problem discussing other aspects of my life besides TRT. Keep in mind that I'm a 60 year old guy just trying to feel "normal" again.

I do exercise 5-6 times per week for an hour alternating weights and cardio. I've been doing this since 1/1/2000. It's a millennium resolution that actually stuck. I've regularly gained a modest 0.75 pound of muscle per year over that time period by doing this. However, since starting TRT 6 years ago my muscle gains have increased to about a pound per year. Keep in mind too that the average guy my age loses a pound of muscle per year, so I'm doing twice as good as my peers. So, over time, I have put on substantial muscle for an old guy.

My biggest nemesis is nutrition. I tend to go in cycles with good and bad nutrition. This means that fat goes up and down to hide or reveal my muscle. I took a new job about 3 years ago and that put my nutrition into a tailspin for about 1.5 years and I gained about 25 pounds of fat (not good). About a year ago, I decided not to be fat anymore and made some minor changes to my eating habits. Mainly not eating high carb junk food in front of the Netflix at night. I've substituted this with a big bowl of low fat cottage cheese. Over the past year, this minor change in nutrition has equated to a 13 pound loss of fat and my muscle gain rate has actually increased too. I'm up about 3 pounds, but I've also been more diligent about not blowing off workouts and making them count better.

I still have about 12 pounds to go to get to my maintenance goal of about 12-13% BF.

I hear guys on this and other forums hoping that TRT will magically transform them into a sports model physique, but in reality all TRT does when it is administered properly is help you change your mindset to allow you to put in the work to look like whatever you want to look. There's no silver bullet.

And that's the way Youthful55Guy Cs it!

Great stuff, thanks Youthful!

I'm sure we can all relate to the cycle of good / bad nutrition, and I completely agree. My achilles heel is the holiday season because it seems like there is never ending availability of not-broccoli, not-plain oatmeal, not-boiled chicken, etc. I'm also on board with your cottage cheese substitution as it's usually the simple changes that are effective and sustainable.

Here's the next question: Supplementation beyond standard TRT

What would you recommend as ancillary supplements, controlled drugs, etc. to incorporate into TRT? I think I remember reading that you have never ran a typical AAS cycle but have experience with other anabolics (Winstrol I believe). I would be interested to know the effective / ineffective options out there and what things to incorporate or avoid. I havent yet had this conversation with my doctor and would much appreciate your feedback again.

[Youthful55guy]

Great stuff, thanks Youthful!

I'm sure we can all relate to the cycle of good / bad nutrition, and I completely agree. My achilles heel is the holiday season because it seems like there is never ending availability of not-broccoli, not-plain oatmeal, not-boiled chicken, etc. I'm also on board with your cottage cheese substitution as it's usually the simple changes that are effective and sustainable.

Here's the next question: Supplementation beyond standard TRT

What would you recommend as ancillary supplements, controlled drugs, etc. to incorporate into TRT? I think I remember reading that you have never ran a typical AAS cycle but have experience with other anabolics (Winstrol I believe). I would be interested to know the effective / ineffective options out there and what things to incorporate or avoid. I havent yet had this conversation with my doctor and would much appreciate your feedback again.

I take numerous supplements, most are oriented toward general health, particularly cancer risk reduction and brain health. The following are my hormone-related supplements, which are posted in the original post above:
50mg zinc picolinate 2X per day balanced with 2mg copper 2X per day
4000 IU Vitamin D3 per day
25mg DHEA per day
50mg pregnenolone per day
3mg Boron 2X per day
Saw palmetto and Pygeum 3X per day. Total daily dose of standardized Saw Extract = 848mg Fatty Acid sterols. Total daily dose of standardized Pygeum = 53mg Phytosterols.


I don't think I've ever stated that I have never used ancillary AAS for non-medical purposes. I just don't recommend it, nor do I currently use them for that purpose, not do I give advice on them. Just to completely above board on this topic, I have done a few mini-cycles (e.g. 1 month) of Anavar at doses higher than necessary to suppress SHBG. To be honest, I simply love the pump it gives my muscles in the gym. However, I know that in the long run it's not a good idea for a healthy lifestyle (my primary goal), so I confine my current use of AAS to what medically need to control my very high SHBG levels.

As I discussed in the original post in this string, my current protocol calls for indefinite use of 2.5mg Winstol (stanozolole) 2X per day for SHBG control. I find that this very low level of Winstrol keeps my SHBG at about perfect levels and helps me to reduce the amount of T I need to use to keep me in range. I've also tried Anavar for this same purpose, but I find I need a slightly higher dose of 5mg 2X per day for the same SHBG lowering effect. Given that Anavar is more than quadruple the price of Winstrol and half as effective, I've settled on Winstrol as my drug of choice to treat my high SHBG.