is it time for me to take the leap?

[firstbornboch Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close firstbornboch]

male 25. just shy of 6ft. 190 with 14%

I have been lifting again for about 2 years after taking about 3 off. i do 2 hour full body workouts 4 days a week and a 5th i dedicate 1 hour to my inner bro(arms and chest) and an hour to cardio. i also run a 2 mile loop 2 to 3 times per week that i usually sprint after a quarter mile warm up. once or twice a week i also go to a boot camp at a friends cross fit gym.

I have been toying with the idea of trying steroids for just about a year now. i feel over the last 4 months not only have a hit a plateau but i feel like i am almost going down hill. i have tried increasing workout density, switching time of day i work out, changing the lifts i do, just about everything mens health can come up with from month to month. But i still have been noticing a steady decline in my overall physique witch upsets me. 5 months ago i was 180 with 9%. My diet has not changed too greatly or i would have something tangible to point my finger at. i think my body has just adapted to what i am currently able to do. i exhaust myself in the gym just as much today as when i started and by the time i am done usually struggle to finish my sets and have a hard time lifting my water to my mouth or getting up off the toilet from a post workout shit. yet the gains seem to have stopped and are heading in the wrong direction at this point.

so my question is. is it time for me to think about adding steroids?

[123GetBigGER Member Find all posts View Profile Close 123GetBigGER]

What kind of gains do you expect whilst not doing hypertrophy training?
You can go for a testosterone cycle, but I think youll be loosing some of your cardiovascular strength and I am not sure if you want that?
If you want to go on cycle for better recovery do so, but dont go for 500mgs+ ew because the mass gained will hinder your aerobic strength.

Greetz

[firstbornboch Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close firstbornboch]

What kind of gains do you expect whilst not doing hypertrophy training?
You can go for a testosterone cycle, but I think youll be loosing some of your cardiovascular strength and I am not sure if you want that?
If you want to go on cycle for better recovery do so, but dont go for 500mgs+ ew because the mass gained will hinder your aerobic strength.

Greetz

yea your totally right. i want to keep my cardio endurance and that is one of my biggest fears. but i have put on weight over the past several months but no muscle. really all went to the gut. i would mostly like to just cut i guess. get my definition back. was thinking of using one of the cut mixes. was going to go with GP's version of it and then throw in Proviron on cycle and keep some novla incase i see some nasty sides but hopefully wouldnt need to use it. i would be looking at running a pretty low dose for 8 weeks in april after a swim competition so i wouldnt feel like i had cheated, and also because i wouldnt want to end up having it hinder my ability due to the loss of cardio abilities. but i would just like to get myself a little leaned out for beach season and kind of jump start myself. i feel like i need a little kick in the pants, even though mentally i am incredibly motivated and i do a 1:20 hr full body circuit that drains me pretty good followed by the heaviest weight i can do 12 rep- 10 rep then increase the weight to failure usually 6 to 8 reps on all the 8 lifts that i did during the circuit. 4 different circuits. then i usually go heavy only on my bro lift day. so i kind of expect that i would still be putting on size and in the right places like i had been for the past year and a half up until august but its really kind of gone stale.
Im not sure if gear is the right choice. maybe there is something else out there that is better suited for me and im totally open to it. i just thought this might be the way to go. obviously i dont know for sure or i wouldnt be asking everyones opinion here.
any incite anyone has to offer would be great

[123GetBigGER Member Find all posts View Profile Close 123GetBigGER]

Dont use the cut stacks if you want to keep your cardio endurance. Because of the trenbolone in it your cardio endurance will be fucked up.

If its just weight you want to loose, you have to get your eating in check (I dont like the word diet, cuz you can eat actually a ton of food). I would go for a caloric defizit of 300-400 cals a day (naturally) or 1000-2000 cals defizit on gear (really low test appr. 300mgs / ew) with at least 3 times bodyweight (kilograms) in grams of protein.
Do cardio in the morning on empty stomach.
Add in some yohimbine to accelerate fatburn (0.25mg/kg bodyweight).
I also add in some forskolin 250mg morning 250mg evening.

And eat greens greens and more greens. The fiber will keep your weightloss rolling, if you dont eat enough fiber (bodyweight(kg)/2) your metabolism will donregulate and the fat burning turns into muscle burning.

[Liquid Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Liquid]

Damn, Bro. You are overtraining like crazy! That's your problem right there. You do not need juice to start seeing gains again. All you need to do is finding a much better training routine. I don't think I would even gain any size if I did even with juice.

4 times a week 2 hours full body is extreme overkill. You're not giving your muscles enough time to recover from the last workout to gain anything. Then you hit chest and arms again. You can not hit each body part that many times in one week and expect to see any results. All you are asking for is injury. Maybe when you first started this it worked because it was new. Everything you are saying in regards to muscle loss, no gains is overtraining. Especially being natural you can not hit each body part like that several times a week

Forget that circuit training stuff if you want to gain muscle. Stick to the basics that worked from the Arnold days.

Do something like a 4 on 1 off split
Chest Tris
Quads
Shoulders Hamstrings
Back Bi's
Day off
Start over

That will allow you to hit 2 workouts twice a week. Rotates each week.

If I hit chest on Monday the next day i will do chest is Sarurday. You need to give each bodypart a few days rest in between. I guarantee you if you switch it up to something similar you will start seeing results again. You don't need to spend 2 hours on a workout. 1 hour to an 1 hour and 15 minutes. A little more on heavy leg days but never 2 hours. Unless you are doing cardio or abs/calves.

You're tearing down the muscle and not giving it enough time to recover. Which Is more important when you are natural. No pro trains full body 4 times a week and hits chest and arms for a 5th time and they are juiced up to the gills.

Fix that. And since you've increased in body weight and muscle you also need to adjust your diet accordingly. Most people will keep it the same. They will start at let's say 180lbs then as time goes on get up to 200lbs or whatever but still eating the same protein carbs etc as they did when they weighed 180. Need to increase it now to compensate the extra muscle.

Seriously bro.... You're doing way too much and only hurting your gains and eventually asking for an injury. Along with wasting more time in the gym than necessary.

[123GetBigGER Member Find all posts View Profile Close 123GetBigGER]

Hey Liquid, did you read his second post?

Simple rule for body construction:

Gaining fat / gaining muscle: Too much calories, good training
No gaining fat / gaining muscle: calories on point, good training
No gaining fat / no gaining muscle: calories too low, good training

Loosing fat / loosing muscle: calories too low, maybe overtraining (get calories in check first)
Loosing fat / maintaining muscle: calories on point, good training
Loosing fat / gaining muscle: perfect caloric sureplus (200-300 kcals/day), good training

so thats all the magic, gear is just an accelarator and you can increase/decrease calories further and you are healing way faster, but that also means you have to train more often, to get the most bang for your buck.
Start tracking your calories with an app or online and you can transform your body just by turning the calorie screws.