Critique my SD cycle

FRIDAY: Back/Bis

Deadlifts: 6x475, 4x495, 1x515

Well, luckily I didn't lose anything here. In fact, this is a good improvement over last week.

VGrip Pulldowns: 6x240, 6x240, 5x250

Cable Rows: 6z220, 6x230, 5x240

EZ Bar Curls: 6x45+10/side (x2)

DB Curls: 6x60, 6x60

I did not have any pain on the curls, so I'll move up on the DBs next week.

AM Weight: 207 (well, looks like I'm losing all that glycogen)
Cals: 4050

It seems that any oral cycle is going to give you temporary strength gains due to the increased water/glycogen retention within muscles. Naturally, these gains are going to disappear once you stop using the oral. I guess I'm not surprised to see my bench drop like that, considering it went up the most right after I started gaining the water/glycogen weight. I have kept my cals up this whole time and my diet has been right on, so I really don't think the drop in bench strength could have been prevented.

I also think that 4 weeks really isn't a lot of time for the body to build any sizeable amount of new tissue. Even if you are using AAS, the body can only build new muscle so fast, and 4 weeks doesn't seem like a very long timeframe for this.

Having said that, I will probably refrain from running any more of these 4-week oral-only cycles in the future. If I do anything else, it will probably just be the standard 12-weeks of test.

Well, that's my $0.02 on AAS usage, based on my very limited experience
 
MONDAY: Shoulders/Traps/Abs

Standing BB Military: 6x175, 3x180

This is another PR. I guess any strength gains I made on these in the past month are mine to keep. Unfortunately I hurt my right wrist on the last rep of the last set. I will probably have to wear my wrist wraps on most lifts for awhile.

DB Side Raises: 8x30, 6x35

Rear Delt Raises: 8x35, 8x35

Cable Crunches: 12x120, 12x120, 7x120

This was a different machine than last week.

Shrugs: 6x365, 6x365

DB Leg Lifts: 15x15, 12x15

These DBs had a much smaller base than the ones I am used to, so I wasted more energy keeping them steady.

AM Weight: ???
Cals: 4050

Hmmm, "the boys" seemed a lot more plump today than they have been for the past few weeks, so maybe that means I am recovering well?
 
Tuesday: Legs

Box Squats: 6x285, 6x295, 6x295

These felt solid.

Good AM: 6x245, 4x245

These felt a lot heavier than last week, although it could be because I went heavier on squats today.

Seated Calf: 8x4 plates, 8x4 plates + 25, 8x4 plates +25

This was a different gym, so I experimented with some machines before I finally just decided to do all of my calf raises on the seated machine. At first I tried some seated 45 degree calf raise machine, but you had to put your knees at a very awkward angle to unrack the sled, so I passed on that one.

SLDL: 8x330, 7x335

That's +1 rep from last week.

I wore a wrist wrap on my right wrist for squats and good AMs, although it probably wasn't required. Nevertheless, my wrist is still very sore if I move it at certain angles, and I don't know how I will be able to do military press next week. These nagging injuries suck.

AM Weight: 210, but I think my home scale is off a bit
Cals: 4050
 
THURSDAY: Chest/Tris

BB Bench: 5x275, 3x275

Aaaaand there goes some more strength from the diminished pumps and water retention I was getting from the SD.

BB Decline: 3x285, 4x275

I totally lost control on the first set.

DB Bench: 6x95, 4x100

I could've had the 100s for 6 reps easy on both sets. The problem was my wrist. I just couldn't keep it at a good angle to prevent the pain. I dropped the DBs down at the end of the first set - big mistake. That hurt my wrist pretty bad, although it was more of a temporary pain. As I sit here typing this after the workout, it feels better. I should have pulled the DBs up to my legs, and rocked up into a seated position.

I'm going to make some substitutions to try and work around this.

Close Grip Bench: 6x185, 6x190, 5x195

Nothing too impressive here. These hurt my wrist a little bit, but not so bad that I can't do the lift. I wore the wrist wrap on these.

Tricep Rope Pulldowns: 8x80, 8x90, 8x90

AM Weight: 208
Cals: 4050

All I will say is that I can't wait to take a week off in 2 weeks.
 
FRIDAY: Back/Bis

Deadlifts: 6x475, 3x495

Eh, down a rep from last week at 495.

VGrip Pulldowns: 6x170, 6x170, 4x180

This is a different machine from last week.

Cable Rows: 6x150, 6x150, 6x160

This was also a different machine from last week.

EZ Bar Curls: 6x35/side, 6x35+5/side, 6x45/side, 6x45/side

I didn't want to risk re-injuring my wrist by doing anything with DBs, so I just did 4 sets of bar curls instead. These didn't bother my wrist at all, as long as I wore the wrist wrap.

My wrist actually felt a lot better after the workout.

AM Weight: 209
Cals: 4050
 
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