Newbie's first post

[Ascension]

First off a friendly hello to all.

Hoping that this is the right place to chat and hopefully get some unbiased advise on training and supplements.

well before I get onto what advise i'm looking for... a little about me.
(as I know the are many factors which will be of importance).

I've been training on and off (that means training hard for upto 6 months at a time and then being very lazy, human nature i suppose) for a few years now.

when I first started training seriously (2005) I was very skinny, very lean but little discernible muscle either. i tried a course of M1T and had some good results but i dont know how much was down to my drastic change in lifestyle eg, eating properly and using progain and M1T. in short I went from 57kg to 72kg in little over 6 months whilst slightly reducing my body fat %. I was doing body building type weight training as my goals then were simply to bulk up. i'm lucky that i have a fairly fast metabolism and I have always been very lean but its important (for this point) to state that i am confident that all of the weight i gained was lean tissue.

I have kept the muscle i gained however when I do gain a little weight i am carrying more fat on my chest than i ever remember doing so before. i am unsure whether this is to do with my age (now 31) or is a side effect of having used M1T (yes i did follow the instructions and used a estrogen inhibitor when I finished the course of M1T) I dont need a bra or anything lol, but i think that i now tend to carry fat on my chest more than i used to (but thats possibly paranoia i suppose)

i am currently about 80kg and have been stable at that weight for a number of years, just that my composition tends to change a little depending on how hard im training (if at all) I have an active job so I am on my feet for 50+hours a week (which helps i'm sure).

My goals and subsequently training methods have changed since those early days. I am now more focused on power and endurance than out and out size.

I am just about to begin training for a gruelling endurance event called the Artemis great kindrochet quadrathalon
1 mile swim
15 mile run (through mountains with checkpoints at top of each of the 7 peaks)
7 mile paddle in a kayak
34 mile cycle ride

Phew!!! I did it in 2009 and was regrettably one of the last to finish at over 16 hours but on race day I smashed all of my PB times that I had set whilst training and made all of the checkpoints and safety cut off times in plenty of time which put my halfway up the pack as many were asked to retire after failing to make the checkpoint cut off times.

So I know the size of the challenge ahead of me!
anyway, enough prattling on my goal this year is under 12 hours!!
that is the event i am training for.

I was looking into buying some creatine and protein powder then got to thinking about buying some more M1T as I remembered having good results a few years back.

I have left the weights room in favour of callisthenics because my goals changed and I found calisthenics worked better for building strength without excess bulk (important as one of my sports is rock climbing and another is Tae kwon Do both of which need a good power to weight ratio)

lots of running,
my diet is reasonably good eating 5 clean(ish) meals each day
drinking 2-3 litres of water per day
using a good multivitamin and good fish oil supplement
drinking Aloe vera juice (which i highly recommend to anybody)

my goals are to get into the best shape of my life (stamina/endurance)
but also to gain another 5-10kg of lean muscle
and lose my winter insulation so I look the part on the beach (don't we all)
i'm pretty sure that the little extra flab will soon melt away when i get out running a but more often than I am now.

to summarise
is M1T going to help?
if so what is the best quality brand?
will i end up with breasts is I use it again?

what about HGH?

best protein powder?

sorry that this turned into an essay, but thank you for reading this far.
I look forward to chatting with all of you and reading what you have to say.

Thank you in advance for all input/advice.



ps. opinions on best creatine product greatly appreciated also.