Maximizing TRT w/ 5-ALPHA TEST. (SPONSORED)

rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Product:

5-ALPHA TEST
by Forerunner Labs :1244:

Goal:

FAT LOSS,
water weight obliteration, muscle maintenance.

5-Alpha Test
5alpha bottles.JPG

frn-5alphatest-suppfacts.jpg

Recommended Use:As a dietary supplement, take 3 tabs per day - orally, hold for 30 seconds, then swallow. Use in divided doses throughout the day.
Features

  • Increased Strength
  • Heightened Energy In The Gym!

Alrighty boys, here's the quick rundown of how we got to where we're at, and where we're going.

My entire life I've suffered from Hypopituitarism, Hypogonadism, Hypothyroidism, and Growth Hormone Deficiency. I've been on TRT and Thyroid replacement for about a year, and it has been life changing. My stats went from 160 at 23% BF -> 195 at 16% BF with a hell of a lot of work, seriously on the grind non-stop. That being said, there have been drawbacks, ever since starting the TRT I have suffered from some pretty intense bloat regardless of dietary changes and cardio manipulation. We're talking moon-face status. My first guess was out-of-control estrogen, so after much debate I've been able to convince my Endo to agree to change my TRT routine from 200mg once every two weeks to 100mg every week, and when that only had a minimal benefit, he even agreed to do a trial run of anastrozole at 1mg everyday. The anastrozole had a minimal benefit, so I had him test my DHT which came in at below normal. At this point he's taken a hands-off stance regardless of all the evidence I bring him on the necessity of a positive DHT:estrogen ratio (scared of getting sued for potential prostate issues etc.). To be honest I'm surprised I've been able to get this far with him, but it's time to try some alternate routes of therapy.

This is where 5-ALPHA TEST comes into play. Theoretically, if I supplement my hormone replacement therapy with a DHT precursor like that of 5-ALPHA TEST, my DHT - estrogen ratio will slide into a more beneficial scale, and combat estrogen-related side effects such as moon-face bloat.
Beyond all that, being out of town for an accumulative 5 weeks over the summer visiting sick family (when it rains it pours) was real hard on the waist-line and recent strength gains, leaving me at a 36" waist from 32" pre-travel.

This is not ok by any means, so I've decided to skip my planned winter bulk and just recomp until next Fall, this being the starting point.

Here's the plan of attack:

5-ALPHA TEST @3 tabs/day (1-2 months depending on how the dosing evolves over the run)
+ calorie deficit (1500-2000/day)
+ intermittent fasting (12-8 or 10-6 depending on day of week)
+ 3x/week strength training
+ 2-4x/week fasted HIIT cardio
= serious shred potential!

Starting point stats:

weight: 188.4 lbs @5'8"
DB bench press: 95's x 7
Wide lat-pulldown: 190 x 4
Leg press:720 x 10

Starting point pics:

Pre summer travel (July):
IMAG1391small.JPG


Today (Oct. 6):
pre-recomp no flex.JPG

pre-recomp bi flex.JPG


End of the run:
picture-2.png


LET'S DO IT.
 

ThunderHumper

Banned
Awards
0
sry bro, youre a little bit over 16% bf. but on the good side, once you get down to the 12 and below, you are gonna have some sickass guns in your arms. good job with the motivation btw, i hope your cycle treats you well
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Haha, oh yeah I'm way above 16%. I don't know the exact # at the moment but I'll have it taken at the doc's next week. I was @ 16 back in July.

Thanks for the encouragement and for following!
 
thebigt

thebigt

Legend
Awards
6
  • Best Answer
  • The BigT Award
  • Established
  • Legend!
  • RockStar
  • First Up Vote
gonna follow along and see how it goes....kinda surprised you didn't have better results with anastrozole at 1mg, a lot of guys see good results with just .5...no matter, 5-alpha is interesting to me because it is non-methyl.

good luck!!!
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
gonna follow along and see how it goes....kinda surprised you didn't have better results with anastrozole at 1mg, a lot of guys see good results with just .5...no matter, 5-alpha is interesting to me because it is non-methyl.

good luck!!!
Yeah you're telling me man! I guess it's just an example of how there's no cookie cutter solution for everyone.

The liver-friendly aspect of the compound is definitely a plus. If this goes well, I may end up running it periodically throughout the year.

Thanks for the support! I'll try to make it worth while.
 
thebigt

thebigt

Legend
Awards
6
  • Best Answer
  • The BigT Award
  • Established
  • Legend!
  • RockStar
  • First Up Vote
Yeah you're telling me man! I guess it's just an example of how there's no cookie cutter solution for everyone.

The liver-friendly aspect of the compound is definitely a plus. If this goes well, I may end up running it periodically throughout the year.

Thanks for the support! I'll try to make it worth while.
so far, so good!!
 
SpicedCider

SpicedCider

Well-known member
Awards
2
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
Good luck with your log; I'll be starting my Alpha Mass log next week. I've probably never been more pissed about the fact that the mail isn't delivered on Sundays, LOL. Hoping the package will get here Monday/Tuesday.
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Good luck with your log; I'll be starting my Alpha Mass log next week. I've probably never been more pissed about the fact that the mail isn't delivered on Sundays, LOL. Hoping the package will get here Monday/Tuesday.
Ooph, big bummer. Best of luck to you too man.
I gotta say, if Alpha Mass is anything like 5-Alpha Test, it'll be worth the wait. I'm going to post up a review of the initial effects tomorrow.
 

ThunderHumper

Banned
Awards
0
5-alpha = dht

alpha mass = 1-dhea

little bit different, i think edge is to alpha mass lol
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
5-alpha = dht
alpha mass = 1-dhea
little bit different, i think edge is to alpha mass lol
Totally, the compounds have quite different effects being that the target hormones are dihydrotestosterone for 5-Alpha Test and 1-testosterone for Alpha Mass. I was referring more to the effectiveness of each compound.

Although, if we're playing the 'I gotcha' game, 5-Alpha is not dht. The active in 5-Alpha Test is actually epiandrosterone, which I believe requires a 2-step enzymatic conversion to dht.

And since we're on topic, a quick review of my experience of the first day on
5-Alpha Test.

Mental:
-First mental effects felt ~20 minutes after first dose. STRONG stimulatory effect that lasted about a half hour before dipping into a mellow lethargy. Placebo? Maybe, we'll see how this changes throughout the run. The same mental stimulation was felt after the next two doses, to a lesser degree.

-I have felt slightly anxious after each dose so far, lasting about an hour tops.

Physical:
-a mild warming of skin, accompanied by some flushing. Similar to a niacin flush.

First lifting day is Tuesday, it'll be chest, the first day I try to break my DB bench record of 95's x 7. Wish me luck!
 
thebigt

thebigt

Legend
Awards
6
  • Best Answer
  • The BigT Award
  • Established
  • Legend!
  • RockStar
  • First Up Vote
95x7...you going for more weight or more reps?
 
abformulations

abformulations

Legend
Awards
4
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
I'm in for the ride buddy
 
bigguyn10ec

bigguyn10ec

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
subbed. Really interested in this stuff.
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
95x7...you going for more weight or more reps?
You know I haven't decided yet. I usually plan on picking up more weight once I hit 8 reps, but then get too excited after hitting 7 and bump it up prematurely. Being on a calorie deficit it might be smarter to not out do myself with too much weight, that's always frustrating. Really, I won't know until I'm standing in front of the weight rack lol.

Plus, I'm kinda scared of breaking that 3 digit barrier, I feel like I'm just not big enough to be pushing 100's lol.
 
thebigt

thebigt

Legend
Awards
6
  • Best Answer
  • The BigT Award
  • Established
  • Legend!
  • RockStar
  • First Up Vote
You know I haven't decided yet. I usually plan on picking up more weight once I hit 8 reps, but then get too excited after hitting 7 and bump it up prematurely. Being on a calorie deficit it might be smarter to not out do myself with too much weight, that's always frustrating. Really, I won't know until I'm standing in front of the weight rack lol.

Plus, I'm kinda scared of breaking that 3 digit barrier, I feel like I'm just not big enough to be pushing 100's lol.
i suggest you keep it where it's at for awhile and work on perfecting form...just my 02.cents..
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
i suggest you keep it where it's at for awhile and work on perfecting form...just my 02.cents..
I appreciate the words of wisdom from somebody like yourself. I do focus quite a bit on form (shoulder blades tucked back, weight above elbow, 90* bend in elbow at bottom etc.), but haven't had anybody critique it for a while, maybe I'll have my lifting partner video my working set tomorrow so I can post it for some review, if that's cool?

Updates for my 5-Alpha Test experience, Day 3:

The stimulatory/rush sensation I noted earlier has stayed consistent for at least the first dose of the day, if there is anything similar with the subsequent doses it is greatly diminished. I haven't been able to find anything about the half-life of the compound or how it may be affected by the delivery system, but I remember reading something where Royd the Noyd stated that peak serum concentration was marked at ~24 minutes post administration? I could by way off with that, I'll have to see if I can find it again. Keeping that in mind, I'm wondering if maybe the above noted experiences are due to a quick rise in hormone levels that could then be kept consistent throughout the day with the following doses, but would drop during a lack of administration during sleep.

Again, first lifting day will be Chest tomorrow.
 
thebigt

thebigt

Legend
Awards
6
  • Best Answer
  • The BigT Award
  • Established
  • Legend!
  • RockStar
  • First Up Vote
i get that kind of stimulatory rush when i high dose transdermal formestane...i love it!!!
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
i get that kind of stimulatory rush when i high dose transdermal formestane...i love it!!!
I'll definitely have to try that out at some point.
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
5-Alpha Test experience, Day 5

5-Alpha is turning out to be quite interesting. Yesterday was my first day in the gym since starting the log, and man, my endurance was through the roof -I had that on point unstoppable kind of feeling, you know what I'm talking about. For some reason I thought yesterday was going to be chest/tri day but it was actually back/shoulder/bi day. My lifting partner really wanted to stick with the new schedule we had laid out, so we just combined the two routines. It was intense, to say the least. Bigt, I took your advice and stuck with the 95's for DB bench press, focused on rep cadence and form, ended up squeaking 8 out with help on the last one. It was satisfying.

Mental:

-The first dose is still proving to be a reliable morning boost, nice stim effect.

Physical:

-I think it's still too early to be looking for any significant bloat reduction or associated fat loss, but the scale has dropped a pound since day 1. Keep in mind I have a normal fluctuation of 1-2 pounds, but I haven't had the usual upward flux in the last 2 weeks. This is especially surprising because my diet has not been on point this week, it's been hectic and I haven't had my normal cool-down and make food time. I've been downing a lot of Chobani, cottage cheese, whey shakes, veggie sandwiches and salad. Not exactly balanced lol.
 
bigguyn10ec

bigguyn10ec

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
When I'm on a test booster I try to stay away from as much dairy as I can. I have read reports that it can spike estrogen. Kinda bro science I know. But it may help keep test higher by dropping some dairy.
I can't wait to see what happens with this stuff in a week or two.
 
abformulations

abformulations

Legend
Awards
4
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
When I'm on a test booster I try to stay away from as much dairy as I can. I have read reports that it can spike estrogen. Kinda bro science I know. But it may help keep test higher by dropping some dairy.
I can't wait to see what happens with this stuff in a week or two.
Ik soy milk can cause a rise in estrogen but never heard on dairy doing so.
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
When I'm on a test booster I try to stay away from as much dairy as I can. I have read reports that it can spike estrogen. Kinda bro science I know. But it may help keep test higher by dropping some dairy.
I can't wait to see what happens with this stuff in a week or two.
Ik soy milk can cause a rise in estrogen but never heard on dairy doing so.
I have read things in the past which suggest that there are extra estrogens in dairy, especially non-organic, and that soy contains xenoestrogens which act as agonists for the estrogen receptor.

You're totally right, it is something I should look into moving around in my planned diet. I totally cut out soy a couple years ago, but lately I've been relying heavily on cottage cheese/greek yogurt/whey for meeting protein needs. It's just so easy, the thing is there are not many protein sources outside of lean meats that can deliver the same kind of protein:carb power. Maybe I'll make some time this weekend to re-map.

Thanks for the input.
 
bigguyn10ec

bigguyn10ec

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
Yea I know. I cant say that They do, Hell It may just be a placebo thing to honest. I love my yogurt and cottage cheese but I have drastically dropped them down and I know I have thinned out and got a better dry look due to it. BUT, I think when you need to feed its best to just go ahead and feed instead of overthinking it.
Heck last night I had a frozen pizza. Does not get any more unhealthy than that.

The dang thing was awesome too lol.
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Yea I know. I cant say that They do, Hell It may just be a placebo thing to honest. I love my yogurt and cottage cheese but I have drastically dropped them down and I know I have thinned out and got a better dry look due to it. BUT, I think when you need to feed its best to just go ahead and feed instead of overthinking it.
Heck last night I had a frozen pizza. Does not get any more unhealthy than that.

The dang thing was awesome too lol.
For sure, I think most people experience a new level of dryness when they cut the dairy.

Lol @ the frozen pizza, it's been so long since I had one of those. Used to hit the Freschetta 4 cheese hard.
 
bigguyn10ec

bigguyn10ec

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
Mine was a degornio? I think? But garlic bread super supreme.
 
abformulations

abformulations

Legend
Awards
4
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
I have read things in the past which suggest that there are extra estrogens in dairy, especially non-organic, and that soy contains xenoestrogens which act as agonists for the estrogen receptor.

You're totally right, it is something I should look into moving around in my planned diet. I totally cut out soy a couple years ago, but lately I've been relying heavily on cottage cheese/greek yogurt/whey for meeting protein needs. It's just so easy, the thing is there are not many protein sources outside of lean meats that can deliver the same kind of protein:carb power. Maybe I'll make some time this weekend to re-map.

Thanks for the input.
Yw buddy. Try Almond milk. Tastes delicious with shakes.
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Yw buddy. Try Almond milk. Tastes delicious with shakes.
I actually usually have some almond milk in the house, but the brands I've found tend to be pretty poor on the protein content, I've resorted to just using water for the duration of my weightloss phase. I agree though, it makes a good shake that much better.
 
abformulations

abformulations

Legend
Awards
4
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
I actually usually have some almond milk in the house, but the brands I've found tend to be pretty poor on the protein content, I've resorted to just using water for the duration of my weightloss phase. I agree though, it makes a good shake that much better.
I haven't find one with good protein but its good overall. Adds a few good calories. But if your losing weight def stick to water.
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Time for an update!

5-Alpha Test experience, Day 10

Recent weight measurements:
10/6: 188.4
10/9: 187.6
10/12: 186.6
10/15: 186.2
Weight change: -2.2 lb, 188.4->186.2

So, progress! Down 2 pounds in 10 days with no upward fluctuation is a nice surprise. I'd say that's actually about optimal for dropping fat while maintaining muscle mass. When cutting in the past I usually have to drop my calorie intake quite low in order to see any sort of weight-loss, regardless of cardio increase/decrease. We're talking like 1000-1400 calories a day for a number of weeks to see maybe a 5 lb loss. SO down 2 pounds in 10 days on a range of calories from 1500-2000 is really good news. Weightlifting stamina has remained slightly elevated regardless of the calorie deficit, I attribute this primarily to the elevated DHT levels from the 5-Alpha Test. Strength this last week has stayed the same or gone up maybe a rep here or there, but this is expected in a cutting phase.

Mental:

-The stim sensation followed by the lethargy has almost totally dissipated, at the most there is a minor mental boost while I am no longer feeling any sort of lethargy that could be attributed to the 5-Alpha Test.

Physical:

-With only a two pound loss we can't be expecting too much in the way of physical improvements, it has only been ten days, BUT I wore one of my favorite tanks all weekend (the one in the July photo in the OP) that had felt too tight since the summer weight gain. This leads me to believe that some good things are happening, quite quickly.
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
OK boys! This is the two week mark!

5-Alpha Test experience, Day 14:

So, today I came in at 182.3 It was kind of unbelievable, I re-weighed myself 3 or 4 times lol.

Recent weight measurements:

10/6: 188.4
10/9: 187.6
10/12: 186.6
10/15: 186.2
10/18: 184.8
10/19: 182.3?!

In just two weeks I've gone from 188.4 -> 182.3, a net loss of 6.1 pounds. This is pretty amazing considering I have been swamped by school work (Chemistry and Physics at the same time), and haven't been on point with the diet or cardio. I mean, I've been hitting my calorie and macronutrient target, 150-200 grams of protein a day -mostly from eggs, cottage cheese, whey isolate, black beans and nuts and fill the rest in with mostly complex carbs (brown/wild rice/quinoa/black beans etc) and healthy fats (avocado/mixed nuts/mct oil etc). But you know, getting such good results with such a poor execution on my part, is making me want to see what kind of true potential there is for 5-Alpha Test.

Now, I'm guessing that this sudden weight change in the last 4 days is mostly bloat reduction than actual fat loss, unless they're spiking it with DNP lol. JUST KIDDING, FRL is an awesome and totally respectable company. That being said, the second week is usually when I start seeing results on a cut, so, it is possible that some % is more than water weight reduction. I think we will know what's really going on by how the weight reduction continues throughout he run, if it continues at a decent rate then I would guess a decent amount of fat loss is occurring, however, if it slows down after then next week or so then it was most likely a loss of water weight.

Diet adherence: ~80%, I just need to be eating more salads/green drinks for the beneficial micronutrients/fiber and relying less on dairy proteins.
Cardio Score: 4/14, Considering the goal for two weeks was ~8, that's TERRIBLE. WILL CHANGE.

Stay tuned for more to come!
 
klint

klint

Member
Awards
0
Subbed . would u say this gives u a pwo boast . what if u doubled the dose? lethargy does not sound too good
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Subbed . would u say this gives u a pwo boast . what if u doubled the dose? lethargy does not sound too good
Hey Klint, yeah there is definitely a preworkout aspect. There were times during the first two weeks when in moments of being confined to little activity, like driving 15+ minutes, that I would just start pumping out some isometric contractions just because I felt such a strong need to act. The mental drive is very apparent, however I have had some moments of exaggerated aggression, but that just takes a little self awareness to keep a cap on until I get back to the gym. Then it's game time.

As far as the lethargy goes, it was relatively mild, with an onset of ~45 minutes in and lasting maybe 30 minutes. This happened sporadicly, usually following a strong stim sensation, which leads me to guess that it may have simply been my body learning to deal with the extra hormone - of which it has never had much of. So, the lethargy may in fact be a side effect which is seen in my unique situation, and even then it lasted about 10 days.

Quick updates:

weighed in today at 183.3 lb., but I'm not too worried about it as I'm pretty sure it is due to the high sodium consumption over the weekend on top of a BCAA supplement I picked up that I haven't tried before which has extra electrolytes.

Other than that everything's great, I haven't personally noticed a lot of observable changes, but a few pants are fitting slightly looser and my gym partner has commented that I'm looking leaner.

I'll post up an official update within the next couple days.

Have a good week!
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Okiedokie, time for another update:

5-Alpha Test experience, Day 21!:

Today's weight was 181.8,
not to shabby!

Recent weight measurements:

10/06: 188.4
10/09: 187.6
10/12: 186.6
10/15: 186.2
10/18: 184.8
10/19: 182.3?!
10/23: 183.3
10/26: 181.8

Net loss: 6.6 lb.

Diet:
So, not bad progress. The weight-loss has been really sporadic which is weird because my diet has bee pretty consistent while slowly tightening it up. I decided to try a week or two without the mass amounts of dairy I've been having lately, so I picked up a decent pea/hemp/rice protein mix in a couple different flavors. I've only tried dutch chocolate fudge so far, and the only thing I tasted was chalk... maybe chocolate chalk lol... It puts the 'chalk' in 'chalkolate'.. Ok I'm done. Anyways, it's not nearly as satisfying as the whey mixes I've been having lately, but it'll have to do. I'm also considering doing a second trial run of this diet I created and tested last summer during my last cut. I call it the CPG diet, nothing but coffee and protein until 12:00 midday, then protein and 'green drink' (apple, avocado, celery, kale, rainbow chard, spinach, parsley thrown in a blender). It's f*cking crazy, and will make you crazy, but damn did it work well last time -something like a 5-6 lb loss in 5 days and retained all strength. I was definitely looking flat by the end, but as soon as I carbed back up I was looking FLY, EVERYONE I knew that saw me the day after was like 'WTF'. I'm going to modify it this time to include a fresh fruit/veggie salad w/ honey mustard dressing carb up every 4th day.

Cardio Score: 6/21
,
This is still very poor but I kind of have an excuse. I haven't been able to sprint for the last year or so because of this terrible pain in my shins and feet, but I finally went to a podiatrist who said he could help me out. So hopefully that will change, I'm dying to sprint again. Seriously, there is nothing more human than letting loose on a 100 meter dash. Until then, I'm really tired of the stationary bike routine, I just can't do it! But, I'll keep going, knowing that the sprint is within grasp again is encouraging.

As far as 5-Alpha Test goes, I'm liking the compound quite a bit, I'm almost certain I wouldn't be down 7 pounds by now without it.
 

ThunderHumper

Banned
Awards
0
youre doing pretty good dude. id say just keep your cardio down if youre already losing fat without losing strength
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
youre doing pretty good dude. id say just keep your cardio down if youre already losing fat without losing strength
You think upping the cardio would be the tipping point which would push me towards eating muscle/strength loss? I agree it's a valid concern. The only thing is I need to start training for a mud race I've committed to for this summer (the reason for seeing the podiatrist).

I'm also not 100% on the diet change, I might test it out, on and off over the next week to see how realistic it is for right now.

Decisions decisions..

Thanks for the input though.
 
bigguyn10ec

bigguyn10ec

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
Good reading here. Keep up the details
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
I apologize for the lack of updates, I took a new job this week and they are having me work opening and closing shifts all week. I guess they are testing me.

As for updates:

My morning weight has remained stable within .5 pounds (+/-) of 181.8. The bad news is I have begun to experience strength loss. This is obviously an effect of the diet rather than 5-Alpha, but I wanted to see how far I could push the calorie deficit without a loss of strength on 5-Alpha and ended up pushing back that normally restricting barrier for about 3 weeks. Now, in light of these developments I have brought calories back up to just below maintenance (within 250) and plan to let cardio take over the job of fat loss rather than relying almost solely on calorie restriction. This will be easier to do and much more fun when my orthotics arrive at the docs and I can work back into sprinting again.
 
klint

klint

Member
Awards
0
All the best for ur new job pal. so mirror wise r u looking a lot leaner . lb of fat has quite some mass so even with ur water.weight loss to u should be getting some where :)
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Well that's the interesting thing. Earlier I had thought that some clothes were fitting looser, but wasn't noticing any visual changes in the mirror. On the flip side, I had gotten a couple comments on looking leaner.

But, in the end you will get to be the judge of that when I put up the finishing pics.
 
klint

klint

Member
Awards
0
Is ur cal increase from carbs??? As if they have been low ur muscles should be looking very full or and has the 5 alpha also helped with them not looking flat on ur cut?? Lol sorry for al questions pal ;)
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
The 5-Alpha has definitely increased blood-flow during exercise, veins pop out of my skin when lifting that I am not even aware of otherwise, but I have absolutely noticed an increase in fullness since the upping of cals (yes a majority are from carbs).

I will be restarting my spin bike HIIT routine tomorrow, but taking it to a new level to stay engaged until my orthotics arrive.

Still dabbling with the idea of the mostly liquid diet..

Now worries about the questions man, that's what the log is for!
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Day 39:

Updates:


Again, my apologies for the lack of updates. Work has been hectic, and then my computer crashed about a week ago lol. When it rains it pours.

Weight:
Yesterday I weighed in at 184 lb even. This has been steady since reintroducing more carbs in an attempt to reduce strength loss during my calorie deficit.

Strength:
Strength took a significant dip a couple weeks ago and has been fluctuating up and down within that margin ever since. I started a short periodization lifting program to test whether or not I could remedy the situation with a change in training volume and intensity. I'm going to be testing my 5 rep max's about a week or two before I end this run, which will be a good finalizing note on whether or not 5-Alpha helped me retain strength during this stage of my cut.

More to come this week!
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Day 47:

So, I've been playing with the dosing of 5-Alpha in order to give a more detailed review of the short term effects of the compound.

I finally tried taking two tabs at once and WOW. The mental kick is crazy. We are talking serious aggression and motivation, but without a negative tint, really good time. I popped two a half hour before an arm session in the gym and produced some of the more dramatic vascularity in my arms I've seen yet. I mean, I never saw this kind of vascularity even when I was my leanest. Being that I'm not particularly lean right now, having veins popping down the biceps spidering all over my forearms was completely unexpected and really f*cking cool lol. The only downside is that the lifting-induced pump lasted maybe 20 minutes after leaving the gym. Combining this will a solid pump-product would be mindblowing, I might try it when this log is up. It would be for no benefit other than ridiculous in-gym-ego-vanity-boosting-vascularity lol, unless the 2nd product prolonged the pump.. But outside of in-gym pumps, I'm looking for real muscle gains rather than ballooning for a couple hours lol.

Regardless, it was a fun experiment that I've started making a regular thing over the last couple days. Those long shifts at work just fly by now.


Whose hitting the gym before Thanksgiving dinner for some mondo carb backloading tomorrow?!?!

*THIS GUY*

I hope you all have a good one.



Side note, I have been hitting the HIIT bike routines hard. 45 minutes a pop, anywhere from 400-600 cals burned. Hopefully this will speed things up while I'm still waiting on the orthotics to come in. I actually saw the doc yesterday to pick them up, but the manufacturer f'ed them up apparently. Oh well, I'm getting a 2nd pair free.. and a lot more biking lol.
 
rambofireball

rambofireball

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Day 53:

So, I'm sticking steady right around 184 still, which is interesting considering I've been upping the HIIT.

Strength has stayed steady since the initial short drop about week 3.

I'm starting to think maybe this product is best if used in short cycles? I saw a dramatic improvement the first 3 weeks, and since then not much has happened. Maybe a 3 week run with 2-3 weeks off and then another 3 weeks would be an interesting experiment to see if similar effects would be had the 2nd 3 week stint.
 
SpicedCider

SpicedCider

Well-known member
Awards
2
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
Have you noticed anything in terms of hair loss/shedding? I'm just curious since 5-AT is a DHT prohormone which, as we all know, is the hair loss culprit in genetically susceptible folks.
 

Similar threads


Top