Sorry to take so long to reply I was on vacation and still trying to get caught up.
LAGear,
Hey just posted on your Formex thread. I read through the PCT on this thread like you advised earlier and got hooked. I was wondering what you thoughts were on the cycle thus far into PCT?
And I also suffered from a lower back injury. It fits your descriptions exactly! I took some time off from lifting and constantly heated and stretched. My lower back was back to normal in two weeks but the pain seemed to transfer to my left sciatic nerve. I don't know how, but it just transferred from my lower back to my left leg. It sucked I remember I couldn't do the simplest things like getting into the car or sitting on the sofa.
Hows your injury healing up? And is there any way to get rid of an aggravated sciatic nerve since you've had it before? My sciatic nerve pains seems to shoot down my leg from my hamstring to my cavs.
Today is Day 27 of PCT.
My thoughts about the cycle at this point are a bit mixed. Without accurate BF testing it's hard to know exactly what's going on. As I said before I suspect I gained a few pounds of muscle and lost a few pounds of fat during the cycle. So there was a mild recomp. But at this point I don't know how much I've retained. My weight has fluctuated quite a bit during PCT but overall it has been steadily dropping back down. I think it'll be another couple of weeks before I know where my weight will settle down. I'll post another weight chart when I've baselined.
As far as strength is concerned I don't feel like it shot through the roof during the cycle but it definitely went up. I do not feel like I've lost any strength during PCT so that's great.
I am happy to report that my back is nearly back to 100%. I've started doing some medium-distance runs without any trouble and did squats for the first time in a few weeks on Thursday. I did the same weight as during the cycle and had no pain but I got serious DOMS in my quads the next few days because of the layoff from leg work. I also did bent over BB rows which was the straw that broke the camel's back (no pun intended) without any discomfort. This weekend I went to the batting cages and went all out, I didn't even think about my back until about an hour later when I realized that my back wasn't bothering me. I still feel a little pinch when I bend over to touch my toes so I'm a bit reluctant to go all out with deads but I'm confident that it's just a matter of time before I'm totally pain free.
My experience with sciatic nerve aggravation is that it fully recovers with rest. I'm convinced both times I had it before were caused by sitting on my fat wallet. Both times I switched my wallet to the other back pocket and the the pain went away after some time (don't recall exactly how long). In hindsight I'm not so sure the pain I've been having is sciatica. I didn't get the shooting pain down my leg that I had before and the lingering pinch I feel in my lower back is different than I remember having with sciatica. But the pains I had in my upper glutes was just like the pain I had with sciatica. Who knows...
I definitely hit the wall in the last week of my cycle when I reported struggling to finish my workout. That same routine came up again last Thursday and I finished it with plenty of energy. In fact, I am feeling more energy and motivation than I have in weeks. The vacation probably helped with that; I lifted while away but was limited in what I could do in the hotel gym so my workouts weren't nearly as intense as they are at home. As of this week I'm also going back to my standard three workouts per week routine. Up until I left for vacation I was lifting 4-5 days a week -- usually five.
In general I've not experienced any of the lethargy or motivation issues during PCT that many others report. In fact, I probably feel better during PCT than I did during the cycle. I was really stressed out during the cycle because I pushed myself to the limit in every workout and put a lot of pressure on myself to keep diet perfectly clean. I'm still busting my ass but feel a lot more relaxed now.
The amount of time I spent researching and the amount of money I spent on all the supplements were not a good investment based on results. But they were a good investment based on the knowledge and experience I gained. I would not do another h-drol cut cycle though. If I do another cycle I might try PP's 1-T or try h-drol again with the goal of bulking. This first cycle has given me the confidence to try something a little stronger but I don't think I'll ever get into the hardcore stuff. I have a bottle of Havoc that I'm tempted to use but my research leads me to believe using epi is Russian Roulette. Some people do everything right and get horrible sides like gyno, while some people run minimal OTC PCT and come out fine. I'm not willing to take that chance. If anyone wants to make a trade for an unopened bottle of Havoc let me know.
I have two sets of PCT pictures to post but I haven't had time to pick out the best ones and resize them for AM. I'll try to get that done in the next day or two.
Any questions ask away!
LA-how are you dosing Formex? 50/50/25/25??
I finally have my PCT in the first post correctly reflecting my PCT. I ended up dosing my Formex with Torem this way:
Weeks 1-5 H-drol Cycle
Weeks 6-9 Torem 120 x 3, 90, 60 x 3 / 60 / 60x4, 30x3 / 30 - Split dose w/ higher dose at night
Weeks 6-9 Formex 25 EOD/25/50/50/25/25
I would not dose Formex this way without a SERM though. If I were to use Formex without a SERM I'd go 50/50/25/25 and possibly a fifth week 25 EOD if it doesn't require an additional bottle.
fftopic:
