Reference thread with pictures and body fat. http://forums.steroid.com/showthread....#.UF_HWlGJSws
I currently weigh 228, wouldn't consider my lifts very competitive. I haven't mastered pause bench nor really prepared for a meet. Only time I have used equipment was a bench shirt a few years ago that was flat out wrong for me. My training has been a combination of some ME work, a lot of rep work in 5 rep range, with assistance, and cycling through, it's actually fairly decent planned out progression when eating it works. I have tried to do something more similar to westside in the past, but I didn't respond too well, I'm too much a beginner to benefit from it properly, more importantly speed bench was always terrible for me, although speed band box squats yield results.
Current gym lifts. Bench 345x5, reverse band bench 445x1 with average bands, 2 board press 405x3. Recent squat 415x5, reverse band box squat 495x3. Deadlift 445x3 although I have done more in the past, but respond better with deficit deads, deadlift has been awkward to me lately whereas 3 years ago my squat and deadlift were second nature. I haven't used a belt or wrist wraps in a couple years, and tried the belt on again and it's so foreign as before I really needed it to hit any decent weights, now I can't do anything with it on. In prep for a meet or getting more serious about getting my lifts higher I believe I would need to start using it again.
There's APF meets around, some WABL. I believe apf is 2 ply, wabl single. I've been a spectator at an APF meet a few years back. I imagine where I live now it opens up some areas within 5 hours away that would probably have even more options for federations. Would honestly prefer raw competition first, although at some point if I got more dialed into my size I would like to learn gear and see if I can get good at it.
I would like to start cycling, nothing crazy at this point, not trying to be a professional competitor unless I do better than expected, more for something enjoyable and I like competition and would like to get involved in something I enjoy and have another thing to spice up my life a bit. I was thinking I would do best in 220 or 242 lb weight class. Even maybe 198 if I could lose some weight. At the same time my body fat is a little bothersome, I mean I can run and jump and do activities without a problem, although could probably do better a bit lighter, I don't intend to be some super heavyweight unless I was capable of setting records, so that really isn't in the plan of things.
Ok really here is my question, should I cut before running my first cycle, or run my cycle while I am at the strongest I have been, cut later or keep progressing till I am in dire need of a cut? At some point I really would like to get rid of this excess bodyfat, honestly for my height I am too heavy in relation to how much muscle I have. So I am trying to think of a game plan, kind of second guessing a lot of things and not sure what to do. Advice of people more physique oriented is cut first, even austinite thinks I should just focus on losing the excess weight and not worry about my lifts while doing so, in past if I try to worry about my lifts while seriously cutting I can get hurt, otherwise I can cut slowly but it's brutal to do for such a long time.
I'm currently on TRT for 8 months, but at times second guess it's worth. I managed to get to a similar point a few years ago at same body weight and similar lifts, little bit lower on lifts, little heavier, but naturally, although as test has seemed to continue to decline so did everything else except my bench which was consistently slowly moving up.
I could bulk and focus primarily on strength gains for 12 weeks at 600 mg a week, then maintain a while and start a more serious cut and lead it in to another cycle, or run a bit higher test on a second cycle for a recomp or cut or whatever you want to call it, dunno if focus should be on strength or not. But benefit would be starting at my strongest and improving it, I really want a raw 400 lb bench, and 600 lbs S/DL, it's a goal I have had a long time, hitting it, and then maybe later hitting it at 200 lbs would finish the goal and could move on to something else.
Or I could do a really fast cut, not worry about lifts, run my cycle and get my lifts back up, even though I could probably do a natural bulk afterwards and get the lifts back up, almost afraid I would just get just as fat. I am really new to AAS, and don't have a clue how to proceed to achieve my goals.
Sorry for the long post, I could probably reorganize it but, hopefully people can read it and give me some input and understand what I am after. Was just hoping to see if the powerlifters here had a different opinion. I know some strongman that prefer to carry more body fat and some powerlifters I know will do the same, but dunno if it is by choice as much as it is they are just doing whatever they can to lift big regardless of weight, sorry to offend if I don't have a good picture in my mind of things, I really am new to this, and inexperienced.
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Originally Posted by patrick4588
