GFH,
I don't resent your comments and I do think they are appropriate. Part of the reason I posted pics this time is to serve as motivation and to force a greater focus on results this coming year. I admit to having made qutie a few training, diet and anabolic steroids use mistakes in the past. Who hasn't? Since you inquired, I'll go into a little more detail about my diet and training history. Try not to fall asleep.
I started seriously training in 7th grade. I started squatting and deadlifting in 9th grade. My first bench press and squat was 115 lbs. First deadlift was closer to 225. I trained consistently since then (I am 27 now). Throughout college, my training weight fluctuated between 185lbs and about 200lbs. You could never tell I worked out. With a reasonable strength training protocol I pushed my bench up to 235x1, easily deadlifted 355, and squatted about 225 I"d say. I was probably a little over 200 lbs at that point, pure tub of lard. That is as far as I took it naturally before using anabolic steroids.
When I transition to bulking, I'll be using the no-bull muscle building plan written by Kelly Baggett. I posted a bunch of stuff at ironmagazineforums.com under the journal section that describes it in more detail. Will be glad to copy it here if there is interest.
That you squatted 800 as a natty trainer is a very excellent accomplishment and deserves respect. I notice you used it as an example of hard work, dedication and time under the bar. Fair enough. There are many people in life who hold to the belief that those who work the hardest and stay dedicated to a goal will be the ones who are successful. It is almost laughable how many times that turns out not to be the case. I have nothing against hard work. I'd say I spent as much time in the gym under the bar as most any trainer over the last 12 years despite a lack of results much of the time. Weightlifting and bodybuilding are things I love and I'd do it all over again if I had the chance.
The problem when it comes to using anabolic steroids is that they entail risk. Try justifying the use of Testosterone for anything beyond TRT/HRT or some other valid medicinal use. Using it for any other purpose entail significantly greater risk (and greater reward for many).
Even you with an 800 lb natural squat and probably quite laudable athletic/powerlifting goals, would find it quite difficult to justify why it is more appropriate for you to use steroids than it would be for me (assuming we both do the exact same cycles as an example). From a pure standpoint of results achieve vs. genetic potential, sure you could justify it. But you also have to consider everything else. There are plenty of valid reasons why a man would choose to use anabolic steroids prior to reaching his genetic potential. I personally wouldn't choose to use prior to knowing how to eat and train however. Whether you believe it or not, you cannot look at a person's pictures and draw conclusions about their diet and training knowledge, dedication etc. etc.
I have no way of knowing what you meant when you asked how long I had been training or what my diet is like. It is nearly impossible to tell intonation from a message board.
I have already acknowledged that including M1T in this cycle was a bad idea. A much better idea imo would have just been to use Tren at 400mg EW. I still don't see how running test/tren is less harsh than running tren by itself. Inject tren and you are injecting a harsh compound. Stacking said harsh copound with other steroids concomittantly is quite likely to produce additional negative side effects. I have done test/tren before and can affirm this. I am obviously hoping that running tren by itself will give better partitioning than test and tren together. I am also hoping to reduce the normal side effects I get from testosterone. The latter I can be sure will happen. The only way I can tell about the former is to try it and see.
