AAS While Injured?

Ratiocinative

New member
Awards
0
About 6-7 weeks ago I started my first, or at least what I thought was my first, oral AAS cycle. As a result I upped the volume in my workout. Normally I do a 5x3, followed by a final single for bench, deads, rows, and leg press, followed by a few sets calves, abs, and curls, but I increased it to 8x3 with 3 singles, 3 times a week. I was taking Methyl Masterdrol v3, which is apparently not at all anabolic, so I think I overtrained.

For about the first 4 weeks things were going great. Increase my bench by 20lbs to 280 and my deadlift by 40lbs to 410, and according to BodPod tests, I lost 6lbs of fat and gained 2lbs of muscle at the end of those 4 weeks. What went wrong is that during the 4th week I started getting some minor pain in my left elbow while lifting. It wasn't much at all, and I get random pains all the time, so I just took 1 extra day in between sessions, then went to lift again. I did my normal sets, but when I got to my 230x3 set I just couldn't complete it because there was so much pain all of a sudden.

I took 5 days off, did 1 set of 185 and had some minor pain and just went home. I just finished taking another 10 days off, went to the gym, did all the way up to 230x3 with no pain, but when I woke up in the morning it started hurting again. I guess I just need to bite the bullet and take 3-4 weeks off to make sure this thing heals.

Anyway, my question is whether I screwed myself by doing so much volume without a real AAS, and how long I should wait before taking a real AAS. Should I take it now to help heal my injury? Should I wait until my injury is healed and then take it? Should I wait until my injury is healed and I get my strength back up to match my personal records? I got a blood test, and my test is above 800 (I'm 25, 5'9", 175 lbs) and my liver values look great, so I'm good to go on that aspect, just not sure how handle things with respect to my injury. Epistane is what I plan on taking next.
 
apoxtle

apoxtle

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
that sucks. i threw my back out during one cycle and just recently i was riding my bike and got smacked by a car and tore my rotator cuff. also running a cycle. after physical therapy i'm going at it again. i ain't no quitter!
 
ManBeast

ManBeast

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you, this is one of the reasons I suggest joint/tendon suppliments while "on" Volume training is best done while on due to the increased muscular recovery, the problem is most (not all) compounds do little to nothing to help the rest of your body out.

In hindsight, doing a hypertrophy program while on a pure androgen wasn't the smartest idea either, but you could have just as easily hurt yourself going heavy on a 5/3/1 type routine as well had you chosen to do that.

ManBeast
 
Gerbil

Gerbil

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
You can overdo workouts on cycle. I did that my last cycle, working out 6 times a week minimum, one and a half hours of lifting. I started to have pains in my elbows and slight shoulder pain. The problem is really that you need to give your tendons and bones time to adjust to the stress. You can increase volume as long as you allow your body time to heal after workout.
 
ManBeast

ManBeast

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
Bingo. I honestly feel that there is a lot of planning leading up into a cycle as well getting your joints and tendons ready for what you will be doing while on. And I'm also a fan of an extended de-load of 2-4 weeks during pct (not a zero-lifting de-load, but a de-load nonetheless).

ManBeast
 

Ratiocinative

New member
Awards
0
In hindsight, doing a hypertrophy program while on a pure androgen wasn't the smartest idea either, but you could have just as easily hurt yourself going heavy on a 5/3/1 type routine as well had you chosen to do that.
My program isn't for hypertrophy, or at least I don't think it is. I guess I shouldn't be so vague. When I say 8x3 with a few singles I mean 145x3, 160x3, 175x3, 190x3, 205x3, 220x3, 235x3, 250x3, 260x1, 270x1. No way to tell how much size I've put on in the last year because I've dropped 50+ lbs of fat, but I've definitely increased in strength. If it makes any difference, my goals are to maintain low BF% and to increase strength, which are the results I've been getting, so I figured I'd stick with what's working for me and just increased volume by a little bit.

Also, does anyone have any input on how long I should wait before starting my Epistane cycle? That was my main concern. I haven't really had a quality upper-body workout in 4 weeks, and it will probably be another 2 weeks at least, so I will have no doubt lost some strength. My primary goal is to lose fat, I'm at about 20% BF now, but no reason I can't get some strength too since it's my first cycle. Should I go ahead and start the cycle once my arm is healed, or should I wait a week or two after that when my strength gets back up to my personal records. Or maybe I'm just over thinking things?
 

srblan

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
My program isn't for hypertrophy, or at least I don't think it is. I guess I shouldn't be so vague. When I say 8x3 with a few singles I mean 145x3, 160x3, 175x3, 190x3, 205x3, 220x3, 235x3, 250x3, 260x1, 270x1. No way to tell how much size I've put on in the last year because I've dropped 50+ lbs of fat, but I've definitely increased in strength. If it makes any difference, my goals are to maintain low BF% and to increase strength, which are the results I've been getting, so I figured I'd stick with what's working for me and just increased volume by a little bit.

Also, does anyone have any input on how long I should wait before starting my Epistane cycle? That was my main concern. I haven't really had a quality upper-body workout in 4 weeks, and it will probably be another 2 weeks at least, so I will have no doubt lost some strength. My primary goal is to lose fat, I'm at about 20% BF now, but no reason I can't get some strength too since it's my first cycle. Should I go ahead and start the cycle once my arm is healed, or should I wait a week or two after that when my strength gets back up to my personal records. Or maybe I'm just over thinking things?
That looks like a powerlifting program. With a dry compound, you don't want to go up too much in weight - hence the volume recommendations. The problem is that the muscles will grow faster than tendons and ligaments can adjust, and you can get tears. I typically stick to the 8-12 (my body seems to respond better to that than low reps) rep range and often go as high as 20 reps on certain exercises.
 

Similar threads


Top