Developed a sinus thing with the first injection of 100mg. Doing 25mg every week since and just did inject #5 yesterday. Sinus thing developed into full blown upper resperatory thing last week and my voice went from 'raspy cold' to 6'4" 240# male ...but that typically happens when I get a sore throat. side? The only other side would be the m-cycle which started in the first week and persisted for 2.5 weeks.
Strength is increasing, but I'm not keeping tabs. I'm trying to let my body dictate rather than the matrix.

(I'm overdue for my 2-week update, but this is what I have from 9/30)
Neck 12 3/4 *up 1/2"
R Bicep 12 3/4 *up 1/4" (flexed)
L Bicep 12 3/4 *up 1/2" (flexed)
R forearm 10 1/4
L forearm 10 1/2 *up 1/2" (suspect)
Shoulders 20 *up 1/4"
Chest 35 1/2 *up 3/4"
Waist 28 1/2 *up 1/2"
Hips 37 1/2 *up 1/2"
High L Quad 23 1/4 *up 1/4
Low L Quad 17 1/4
High R Quad 23 1/2
Low R Quad 17 1/4
R Calf 11 3/4
L Calf 13 1/2 *up 1/4"

Weight:
9/16 : 134.8
9/30 : 140.5
10/17 : 144.7 BF just under 14%

I'm doing morning cardio after each workout for 30-45 min. and my training regamine is 3 days on 1 day off although I have to be flexible. Sometimes I'm still too sore when it comes down to working the muscles again and have to take another day off.

I'm thinking about stacking anavar for the last 4-6 weeks. Anavar really seemed to concentrate in my legs where the deca seems to be hitting my upper body harder. (slow twitch vs. fast twitch?) Also need to bump up my calorie intake as weight gain has leveled off. In all, the cycle is set to run 12 weeks total.

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There is no measure to the benefits of patience and humility ... damn my patience is running thin.

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LAte

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LAte

The initial gain in weight (first 2 weeks) and change in circumferences is water. The water retention can also increase strength. In addition, there are some effects of androgens at the neuromuscular junction as well as central effects that can increase strength early on without causing a functional change at the muscle fiber level.

The actual increase in muscle protein synthesis and the resulting increases in strength due to an increase in contractile proteins takes at least 3-4 weeks to become apparent.

Based on what you said regarding your inability to lift because of soreness tells me you are not allowing nearly enough time for recovery between workouts for a particular bodypart and that will seriously limit your ability to make gains, with or without AAS.

Even when the soreness is gone, there is still damage at the microscopic level and that limits force production (your ability to lift heavy). It generally takes about 2 WEEKS for significant muscle damage to resolve.

For example. If I train a group of clients on heavy legs on a WED. They are usually sore for 3-5 days. By the following WED, even though they are no longer sore, if they tried to move the same weight, they would not be able to. If they try, they usually tell me that everything feels much heavier than last week (there's a reason for that). Thus, we go much lighter. The following week, they hit it hard again and find themselves stronger. Those who insist on pushing hard each week will generally plateau or begin to lose strength in a few weeks then burn out psychologically because of the chronic systemic stress of overtraining.

Remember, the only reason you are in the gym is to get out of the gym. The more time you spend in the gym, the less progress you'll make (to a point). Unfortunately, it takes many lifters a long time to figure this out, some never get it.

Took me about 20 years. Shit, if I knew what I know now when I was 22, along with the fact that AAS were legal then, I would have been f**king huge.

Undulating periodization is the way to go with training these days; juicing or not.

F1

WW, the reason Jaye did 100mg the first week was she mis read the lable and thought she was only doing 50mg. So I suggested that she back off to 25mg. I think she has been very please with the 25mg per week and has held at this dose.

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LAte

WW - don't know what the deal is with the sinus thing. I'm on the return trip from hades on that one and hear my voice trying to return. We'll see. I have so far managed to avoid the antibiotics.

F1- trust me, I get real cranky when someone tries to make me work sore muscles. It just wont fly. I'm working two bodyparts per session and we alternate emphasis. Like, today was chest/tri's and I hit chest hard. Next time I'll hit the tri's harder and lighten up on the chest some. the 3/1 split is more than I've done in a few years and it's taken some getting used to. It's also adjusted as needed without guilt.

I know that there is a little extra water in the sack, but still see overall structural changes. ...mostly in the shoulders, chest and hips. Training partner/massage therapist says he notices more vascularity.

My kid tells me last night that my shoulders are so big that I look like a guy. (she's 12)

It's undecanoate that's illegal, not undulate, but if it builds muscle it's probably banned somewhere in America

The routine you outlined is correct, except that on the heavy days (everyother week), you change the rep/set scheme. For example, instead of 5x5, you might try 9x3, 75-80% 1RM (power sets of triples) with 30s breaks between sets on the core movement like squats, benches, etc. Also alter the rep/set scheme for the other assist. exercises as well. The light days stay the same, generally 3x8-10 and 3-4 exercises for a bodypart. Bottom line, alter the heavy days in subtle ways every two weeks and you will continue to make progress.

Regarding creatine (monohydrate only). Dosing to load is 5g, 4x per day for 3 days, then 5g, 2x per day thereafter. Water retention may occur, but that's NOT the only thing that creatine does. Creatine is taken up in the muscle and carries water with it like glycogen does. Thus, the muscles will appear fuller. However, I've trained a couple of female clients that blew up like a stuffed sausage on creatine. But, until you try it, you won't know. If anything, it should augment your workouts and act synergistically with AAS. The more you lift, the greater the mechanical load on the muscle, the greater the growth. Creatine increases PCr (phosphocreatine in the muscle) and that allows for either faster recovery between sets or an additional rep or two. Again, more mechanical loading. In addition, some recent work in animals suggests that creatine increase satellite cell proliferation. You need these satellite cells for muscle hypertrophy (getting big). They are incorporated into the muscle fiber as new myonuclei to maintain what is known as the myonuclear to cytoplasmic ratio.

While the stuffed sausage look may not be very aesthetic, it may also offer some mechanical advantage in lifting, thus more loading on the muscle. Regardless, if you blow up, stop the creatine and it will pass in 10-14 days, or deal with it and get big.

I recommend creatine, on or off AAS.

Right Bi stuck out at just over 13 3/4" flexed!

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LAte

I do have some substantial changes in stats that I promise to get by next monday. My arms have stabilized at 14" (+/- 1/8") and my waist is thicker (not what I was looking for): shoulders have expanded beyond some of my shirts and my lats are really standing out. ...upper traps are impressive too.

Wish I'd known I'd have shown you the sites and hit my favorite gyms with you!!!

I have 3 weeks left in this cycle, and I'm ready for a break!

Three possibilities on the waist increase.

1) sc water

2) Shift in body fat with an increase in visceral and/or abdominal sc fat. Too bad you don't have access to an MRI. It is very likely that you are accumlating some visceral fat since you are now running on an androgen based operating system.

3) Increase in abdominal and/or lower back musculature. Doing any heavy back work, squats, etc.? That will do it.

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There is no measure to the benefits of patience and humility ... damn my patience is running thin.

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LAte

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quote:

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Rome wasn't built in a day!

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I can see that I made a poor decision not to post my last trip east. -will do cocktails!

Waist 29"
Hips 38"

High Quads 23 1/2"
Low Quads ~18"
R Calf grew! ~12 1/2"
L Calf didn't change from last measurement

Gonna go eat now and will fill y'all in on all the other stuff like sides. Oh, the weight dropped back 2# and has been stable at 149.2. Pinch test on my 1-site calipers shows that I'm still around 14-15% BF but the pinch gets smaller through repitition.

Anxious to bring this cycle to an end, I did my last two 25mg injections this morning. My nose is still running and I'm on the back side of my second bout with hacking cough. Didn't really come down with a fever this time, or at least when I thought I was, the thermometer registered 96.3. Through the course of the cycle, I woke up nightly between 12 and 2a swimming in sweat ... I'd say from about week two through week ? 7. It happened again last night, but I had gone to sleep in a pj top. I reduced my intended cardio down to 30-45 minutes after each workout and lifted about 5 days out of 7. I just wasn't eating enough to justify any more cardio than that.
One very unusual side was that I had regular (somewhat loose) bowel movements.
My voice is still very low.
I had the mishap of a strained ?Psoas in my left hip and wasn't able to really blow out the legs as much as I would have liked. I had to guard against pushing the injury any further ..thereby ending my cycle altogether. The pain was pretty excruciating for about 5 weeks given that I was traveling on business and my massage therapist went on vacation ! By the time I got some attention, everything between my IT band and the lumbar vertibrae was wrecked.
I snuck in a 2.5 week stack of 5mg anavar. That's when the water retention got heavier and I did get a little volatile. Got some additional strength gains during that time, but don't think it was really worth it.

I'm big and I'm tired.
I think I'm going to get throught the holidays trying to maintain the workout schedule and size (minus the water weight) so that I can get a good feel for what I've gained from the cycle. I have a twelve week cycle of primo waiting for early spring and that will likely be another building cycle.

If I were betting on this one, I'd bet that you are seriously overtrained and it doesn't have to be that way.

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LAte

JayeLynn, I'd recommending backing off for a while you are still on and resolve the overtraining issue or extend your cycle for a few weeks more, perhaps with some oxandrolone. If you are still sick and systemically overtrained when you come off, you'll go into a catabolic tail-spin and risk developing chronic fatigue syndrome and/or suffering a possible tendon rupture (a very negative experience).

I did bypass the 5:30 workout this morning and got on the treadmill at home while the kid was in the shower. I'll go back to my lunch-time workouts and shoot for the 3-workouts per week scheme. I gave up hockey for the duration of this cycle and I miss it a bunch. looking forward to getting back into a little accidental checking ..especially now that I have a little more weight to throw around!

I did take some 'before' shots and intend to do the 'after' shots as well. I promise to post them regardless of my own humility.

Neck 13 1/4
R Bi 14
L Bi 14
R F.Arm 10 7/8
L R.Arm 10 3/4
Shoulders 21 (43 1/2 if measured all the way around)
Chest 37
Waist 29
Hips 37 1/2
High L Quad 24 (measured at the crotch)
High R Quad 24 1/4
Low L Quad 18 5/8 (measured at the bulb of the vastus lateralus)
Low R Quad 18 5/8
R Calf 12 1/4
L Calf 13 1/2

I decided to take Thursday and Friday off as recommended by the folks above. On Monday, I intend to start with a week of light cardio and stretching. Water retention is fluctuating radically (ie, over the course of the day). I think my body is readjusting and the reduced exercise is a shock. I got my first night's unterupted sleep last night following a late night out on the town.
woo hoo!