Cutting Log

KvanH said:
For a possible little extra encouragement; I pretty much always look my best about 3 to 4 weeks after my cuts. It's when I've gained all the muscle fullness back and have still not gained back any of the fat lost during the cut. So if at some point you start to look deflated or small in the mirror for your liking, trust me, when the muscle fullness is fully regained, then you'll see the full effects of the cut.

This is of course if you do the 'reverse diet' or incrementaly working up to your new maintenance calories correctly after the cut and don't let the rebound effect get you soft quick. And it's not like after 4 weeks you'll start to look not your best again, if you keep things in check. But just in terms of if I had to pick a time spot where I look my best (to my own eye), it's usually about 3-4 weeks after a successful cut. It's when I'm still at my leanest, and I have most of the muscle mass I had prior to the cut now fully visible.
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I appreciate it! My coach said the same thing - be prepared to get flat and look fatter for a period of time during the process. I will stick with him through the end of the cut and my next full bulk. Either continue on after that or try it myself just to see. He’s young but he’s done some incredible stuff and personal transformations, he’s been in the industry since his dad was a body builder.
 
rascal14 said:
Obviously not equal posing/lighting but this is June 15 to July 2. Finally don’t feel like a complete fat slob until later in the evening after all my meals lol so I’m okay with photos now
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Wow man been putting in the work congratulations!!
 
akboom87 said:
Wow man been putting in the work congratulations!!
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Still gotta long way to go!! Hoping I can get to 10-12% bf by September. I may look into adding some stuff in if I can get sleep under control without any extras lol

gonna increase carnitine a smudge, debating on trying out a mega dose of like 1.5g daily, not sure I want to pin that much liquid though lol

definitely can’t do clen, may try some EC stack a couple times a day or add in some topical stuff I’ve tried before. Not sure any orals would do me any good and I can’t increase test yet.
TRT still getting officially dialed in professionally so I can’t play with extra test yet.
 
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rascal14 said:
Still gotta long way to go!! Hoping I can get to 10-12% bf by September. I may look into adding some stuff in if I can get sleep under control without any extras lol

gonna increase carnitine a smudge, debating on trying out a mega dose of like 1.5g daily, not sure I want to pin that much liquid though lol

definitely can’t do clen, may try some EC stack a couple times a day or add in some topical stuff I’ve tried before.
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I hear that, lost quite a bit myself but still have a lot more to go too. Don’t know if you got to read any of the stuff out about XPG Alpha Gel. I’m running a log on it but man the sleep is incredible with it. Might be worth a look plus lots of other good things about it too.
 
akboom87 said:
I hear that, lost quite a bit myself but still have a lot more to go too. Don’t know if you got to read any of the stuff out about XPG Alpha Gel. I’m running a log on it but man the sleep is incredible with it. Might be worth a look plus lots of other good things about it too.
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Not that product specifically, I’ve tried Alpha Seven and Hyperion? I think atleast one of those has a similar ingredient list but I could be way wrong
 
Weights been stagnant.
Keeping food the same, upping cardio to 6x a week at 35 minutes before we lower cals.
 
Can’t seem to break past the 204/206lb mark, depending on the scale I’m using, I have a feeling I’ll get a decrease in food this next week if the cardio increase doesn’t help.
 
rascal14 said:
Can’t seem to break past the 204/206lb mark, depending on the scale I’m using, I have a feeling I’ll get a decrease in food this next week if the cardio increase doesn’t help.
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It’s frustrating I know I have got stuck at a plateau at 250 for 2 weeks and then it started dropping. Then I got stuck at 240 for almost 4 weeks and just now it started moving again.
 
Cardio was increased to 35 minutes 6x a week the last week and lost a small amount, so no food changes again this past week. Seems I may go down a lb or so. Things have slowed for sure.

I ordered some Ursa Gel and CEL Super Swole caps just to spice things up a bit lol
 
Broke the 200lbs mark, weighed in at like 199.8. Cheat meal last night was heavy, we will see what happens lol really wishing I’d hit abs before now as they are clearly lacking severely.

photo is mid evening, 2 days off from the gym so no pump and fasted for 8 hours for reference. Sorry I realize it’s a bit revealing, I don’t have a lot of vascularity I gotta show that hip bone when I can lol
 

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Got my Ursa Gel and Super Swole caps in yesterday.. gonna give it a few days and go ahead and start at 4ml a day/4 caps a day and see if I can’t bring my vascularity up some. My work is super cold now so any standing vascularity is completely gone during the day which sucks lol

gonna need to grab another bottle or two of Ursa Gel to get through atleast 2 months of it.

next bloods are scheduled for January, going to work with my coach to try and time a blast as best as possible whenever that may be, on reverse diet, etc.

Dropped my TRT dose to 160mg/wk. gonna see if that helps bacne and anxiety any I don’t think I’ll lose any benefits as compared to 200mg/week since I’ll still have the stability of TRT and higher range of bloods. All other bloodwork looked good, could tell I was riding the higher line of hemoglobin/hemotacrit but neither my new PCP or Urologist were conferenced as long as it didn’t escalate. Just eating well, no supplements so I could probably cruise at 250/week safely if I wanted with some extra goodies to keep me safe :)

Started retinol on my back as well.
 
rascal14 said:
Got my Ursa Gel and Super Swole caps in yesterday.. gonna give it a few days and go ahead and start at 4ml a day/4 caps a day and see if I can’t bring my vascularity up some. My work is super cold now so any standing vascularity is completely gone during the day which sucks lol

gonna need to grab another bottle or two of Ursa Gel to get through atleast 2 months of it.

next bloods are scheduled for January, going to work with my coach to try and time a blast as best as possible whenever that may be, on reverse diet, etc.

Dropped my TRT dose to 160mg/wk. gonna see if that helps bacne and anxiety any I don’t think I’ll lose any benefits as compared to 200mg/week since I’ll still have the stability of TRT and higher range of bloods. All other bloodwork looked good, could tell I was riding the higher line of hemoglobin/hemotacrit but neither my new PCP or Urologist were conferenced as long as it didn’t escalate. Just eating well, no supplements so I could probably cruise at 250/week safely if I wanted with some extra goodies to keep me safe :)

Started retinol on my back as well.
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Nice work! Looks like it has been working well. Will be interesting to hear how the URsa gel treats you!
 
Upping cardio to 40 minutes/7x a week trying to do what we can to get as low as possible for Labor Day. Still not a single change to diet which is crazy to me but he knows what he’s doing so I just listen and follow lol

akboom87 said:
Nice work! Looks like it has been working well. Will be interesting to hear how the URsa gel treats you!
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Hopefully atleast as good as Ursa Major did before with a shitty diet!
 
I’ve got a friend who’s been doing his own peptide thing for a while who just got his stuff legitimized and legal so I now have good access to a handful of things.

was thinking of trying AOD, maybe some Ipam as well. Don’t think I need anything like semaglutide or tirzapeptide, not yet at least but they’re on the list of possibilities.

Anyone have experience with AOD? I hear both good and bad about it all over @Hyde @Smont @Rocket3015
 
rascal14 said:
Upping cardio to 40 minutes/7x a week trying to do what we can to get as low as possible for Labor Day. Still not a single change to diet which is crazy to me but he knows what he’s doing so I just listen and follow lol
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IIRC, I thought this is more or less sorta along the same lines @Smont runs for his clients, trying to drop cals as slowly as possible, if possible, while off setting with increased cardio? Layne used to be quite opposed to fasted cardio back in the day, but I have liked long fasts + cardio followed by full daily calorie intake, personally. although to be frank, deficits are just easier. lol. (but not as muscle sparing)
 
Never used AOD or heard any feedback.

Not saying novel things aren’t cool or potentially very useful, but the balancing thought I always try to remember is all of the best physiques ever made existed before whatever the latest new compound is. So proceed with some caution and don’t take big chances, financially and especially health-wise.
 
I have never ever heard of AOD , so I'm not much help. Sorry !
 
Hyde said:
Never used AOD or heard any feedback.

Not saying novel things aren’t cool or potentially very useful, but the balancing thought I always try to remember is all of the best physiques ever made existed before whatever the latest new compound is. So proceed with some caution and don’t take big chances, financially and especially health-wise.
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Good way of looking at it, for sure!
 
Today chest and bicep workout just to add a little bit to the log. Got 3 weeks until Labor Day, upped cardio to 50 minutes 7x a week which is fun. Weights are staying steady the same or slightly increasing on the compound lifts (except squat).

Doing 160mg test/week and 6ml of XPG Ursa Gel a day, should have some more bottles in soon to continue this so thank you to @sns8778 for the quick turnaround on that.

Other than that I’m ready and happy, if you told me I could take something that’d actually help in 3 weeks I’d try it for kicks and giggles, but still have a way to go after the holiday cheat weekend so more time to try stuff then.


8/7/23
Pec deck warmup 3x12-15
Dumbbell fly
15-15,12

Incline dumbbell press 1 max set 8-10 reps (3 sec eccentric)
40-8 45-8 55-5 60-10


Flat bench (smith or dumbbell) 3x10-12
45-12,9 40-12

1 arm dumbbell preacher curls (rest pause 20 reps over 3 attempts) incline bench
20-13,5,4
13,5,3

Parallel dips 2 sets to failure
Body weight-14,6

Standing 1 arm cable curls 1x20 max weight (slow and squeeze)
10.5-20,20 (kind sloppy)

Seated cable chest flies 3x15 90 second rest
(Pec deck)
60-15,14,

50 minutes 9 incline 3.2mph
 
^^^ Thank you. How are you liking Ursa-Gel at 6 ml per day?
 
Bumping up that cardio should really help with the leaning out.
 
rascal14 said:
Today chest and bicep workout just to add a little bit to the log. Got 3 weeks until Labor Day, upped cardio to 50 minutes 7x a week which is fun. Weights are staying steady the same or slightly increasing on the compound lifts (except squat).

Doing 160mg test/week and 6ml of XPG Ursa Gel a day, should have some more bottles in soon to continue this so thank you to @sns8778 for the quick turnaround on that.

Other than that I’m ready and happy, if you told me I could take something that’d actually help in 3 weeks I’d try it for kicks and giggles, but still have a way to go after the holiday cheat weekend so more time to try stuff then.


8/7/23
Pec deck warmup 3x12-15
Dumbbell fly
15-15,12

Incline dumbbell press 1 max set 8-10 reps (3 sec eccentric)
40-8 45-8 55-5 60-10


Flat bench (smith or dumbbell) 3x10-12
45-12,9 40-12

1 arm dumbbell preacher curls (rest pause 20 reps over 3 attempts) incline bench
20-13,5,4
13,5,3

Parallel dips 2 sets to failure
Body weight-14,6

Standing 1 arm cable curls 1x20 max weight (slow and squeeze)
10.5-20,20 (kind sloppy)

Seated cable chest flies 3x15 90 second rest
(Pec deck)
60-15,14,

50 minutes 9 incline 3.2mph
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Nice session! Be interesting to hear how you like the run of Ursa gel. You are definitely getting in the treadmill time!
 
sns8778 said:
^^^ Thank you. How are you liking Ursa-Gel at 6 ml per day?
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Hard to tell since I’ve been only taking it again for about 3 weeks? And only one of those at 6ml I think. I felt noticeably leaner and more vascular yesterday and noticing even the slightest hint of temperature change im feeling warmer and the veins in my arm start to pop more.

hard to pin point it direct but I’d certainly say it’s helping - I definitely wouldn’t have ordered 6 more if I was skeptical lol I just know it shined a little further in for me the last time.
 
Rocket3015 said:
Bumping up that cardio should really help with the leaning out.
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It’s crazy what cardio can do if food stays consistent! I used to never do cardio at all and try to tackle cuts by lowering calories each week and always ended up being still fat with less muscle. Maybe that’s the trt helping this round but being shown exactly what to do certainly helps!
 
shoulder’s yesterday night, was around 198lbs on my “heavier” scale at the camper after the gym.

8/8/23
Seated smith machine military press warm up to 1 max set 8-10 reps
(dumbbells)
25-12 35-10 45-8 50-9

Machine press (smith is okay - rest pause 20 reps over 3 attempts)
(Dumbbells)
45-9,5,4

Shrugs 2x15 (2 minute rest) smith machine
Dumbbells (supersetted with reverse flies)
65-12,12

Cable side lateral raises 1 max set 20 reps
10-12,12 5-12,12 (weak so went for 2 sets)

Face pulls 3x12 superset below (can’t superset equipment distance)
35-12,12,11

Reverse cable flies/pec deck 3x10-15 (90 sec rest between supersets)
55-16 70-12,12 drop set

50 minutes 9 incline 3.2mph
 
Nice workout looks like a long one
 
rascal14 said:
Yes sir, I found a pic from a year ago I’m trying to make a side by side of, crazy to see how fat I was and just thought I was a little chubby.
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that's intense, nice work man.
I get what you mean. my co-worker is down around 40lbs (she was larger than you) and she looks great but I hadn't realized how much she had lost till I saw a work photo from a year ago.
 
rascal14 said:
Yes sir, I found a pic from a year ago I’m trying to make a side by side of, crazy to see how fat I was and just thought I was a little chubby.
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I had lost 40 lbs. between Feb. 14th and June and I'm the same way - I have to look at pics myself to really see the difference. Now, in my case, I knew I was out of shape - after the accident, I wasn't able to do anything and the depression was terrible and I'd completely let myself go. It's like I didn't realize how bad I was getting until it got bad and at that point I was embarrassed to even go anywhere besides the office and home. I knew I'd lost weight but it took seeing pics side by side to really tell how much of a difference it was.

And now, focusing on building muscle back, I'm happy with my progress but just looking at myself daily, its like - okay, that's cool, its coming back. I don't weigh much and when I'd stepped on scale last weekend, I was shocked how much I have gained bc I can tell I'm still leaning out in chest and shoulders. So I'd done a waist measurement just to make sure I wasn't gaining fat and was actually down a half an inch so that was a nice surprise. I hadn't looked back at my pics bc I don't like to, but I did then and it took that for me to really tell how much things have changed since been back working out.

I think we can drive ourselves crazy looking at comparison pics too often, but they're a great thing to do when we need encouragement.

Congratulations on your progress and results.
 
Congratulations to you both !!
 
sns8778 said:
I had lost 40 lbs. between Feb. 14th and June and I'm the same way - I have to look at pics myself to really see the difference. Now, in my case, I knew I was out of shape - after the accident, I wasn't able to do anything and the depression was terrible and I'd completely let myself go. It's like I didn't realize how bad I was getting until it got bad and at that point I was embarrassed to even go anywhere besides the office and home. I knew I'd lost weight but it took seeing pics side by side to really tell how much of a difference it was.

And now, focusing on building muscle back, I'm happy with my progress but just looking at myself daily, its like - okay, that's cool, its coming back. I don't weigh much and when I'd stepped on scale last weekend, I was shocked how much I have gained bc I can tell I'm still leaning out in chest and shoulders. So I'd done a waist measurement just to make sure I wasn't gaining fat and was actually down a half an inch so that was a nice surprise. I hadn't looked back at my pics bc I don't like to, but I did then and it took that for me to really tell how much things have changed since been back working out.

I think we can drive ourselves crazy looking at comparison pics too often, but they're a great thing to do when we need encouragement.

Congratulations on your progress and results.
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You’ve certainly come a very long way, very inspirational after what you went through and still have to deal with!
 
It really is tough to look back at these, I knew I was heavy but the comparison is scary!

2/25/23 to 7/23/23, 232lbs to 200lbs. Same mirror and lighting, but angles are off but you get the idea. I always had a mental block of getting below 200lbs and feeling like that’d make me skinny, but doing it the right way has certainly paid off. Now sitting a few pounds lighter than the picture on the right. Not sure what my body fat is but I’m not too burnt out so I’m going to see how far we can keep going.
I’d like to see what my body fat percentage is on that right side and really challenge myself to try to not get above that percentage on my next bulk. I did about 15lbs loss myself before hiring a coach, who knows what I would have kept or where my starting picture would’ve been if I did it long before then, but it’s definitely taught me this isn’t rocket science. You just have to stick to it and not stray from the plan.
 

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One word "LEAN" Nice work !!
 
Made some great improvements!

If you are serious about not going above this bodyfat as you regain some weight, you need to keep going. Whenever you go to maintenance and especially if you go to a surplus, you’ll add some bodyfat - so you have to cut a bit deeper to give yourself some runway to compensate.
 
rascal14 said:
It really is tough to look back at these, I knew I was heavy but the comparison is scary!

2/25/23 to 7/23/23, 232lbs to 200lbs. Same mirror and lighting, but angles are off but you get the idea. I always had a mental block of getting below 200lbs and feeling like that’d make me skinny, but doing it the right way has certainly paid off. Now sitting a few pounds lighter than the picture on the right. Not sure what my body fat is but I’m not too burnt out so I’m going to see how far we can keep going.
I’d like to see what my body fat percentage is on that right side and really challenge myself to try to not get above that percentage on my next bulk. I did about 15lbs loss myself before hiring a coach, who knows what I would have kept or where my starting picture would’ve been if I did it long before then, but it’s definitely taught me this isn’t rocket science. You just have to stick to it and not stray from the plan.
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That's awesome progress. Congratulations.

Btw.... you just made me feel really fat lol
 
sns8778 said:
That's awesome progress. Congratulations.

Btw.... you just made me feel really fat lol
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I gotta be careful cause I make my wife feel the same, I wouldn’t see myself randomly and think “fat” but the comparison really just makes me think that way, if I call myself fat back then it’s more pressure to try and not let it get away from me again. Prime example of snacks are more calories than you estimate lol

“Oh I’ve got 200 calories leftover today? Handful of chips or mixed nuts” 800 extra calories later I’m in bed asleep lol
 
rascal14 said:
“Oh I’ve got 200 calories leftover today? Handful of chips or mixed nuts” 800 extra calories later I’m in bed asleep lol
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This sounds familiar !
 
Long lack of updates! We’ve been incredibly busy, we will see how things go over the next few weeks, got a couple major things coming up but feeling stronger mentally and still moving along, had a bad week and missed two days of cardio and drank some beers to top it off. Had very very bad appetitive cravings last week, I was waking up every morning thinking about how close to Sunday night we were so I could have my cheat meal 😝

Down to 193lbs or so. The combo of CEL Super Swole and XPG Ursa Gel seem to be doing wonders for my vascularity in the gym. Obviously lower body fat helps, but they no doubt play a role considering I’ve got a lack of food in my system when I hit the gym.

my wife said she was able to see the valves themselves in some of my forearm veins while lifting - not sure what that means exactly or how she would know it’s the valve and not just a vein but it sounds super cool lol
 
This bottle of Ursa Gel has been turning 50% into a solid when applied, for example, once finished rubbing it in, it flakes up and looks like my skin is peeling but its from the product.

@sns8778 did I somehow damage the product perhaps? My first bottle wasn’t like this.

additionally, after my trip coming up I will probably drop back down to 4 pumps a day vs the 6 I’m running now.

Pic is from tonight, weighing in at about 190lbs this afternoon post gym. Coach thinks we have a solid 10 weeks of slow cutting left. Again, not sure my bodyfat here but the goal was to get to 8% before hitting a bulk.
Went ahead and purchased an additional 6 months with him, hoping to get down to 8% quick so we can get a solid bulk in before my next blood draw labs.
 

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rascal14 said:
This bottle of Ursa Gel has been turning 50% into a solid when applied, for example, once finished rubbing it in, it flakes up and looks like my skin is peeling but its from the product.

@sns8778 did I somehow damage the product perhaps? My first bottle wasn’t like this.

additionally, after my trip coming up I will probably drop back down to 4 pumps a day vs the 6 I’m running now.

Pic is from tonight, weighing in at about 190lbs this afternoon post gym. Coach thinks we have a solid 10 weeks of slow cutting left. Again, not sure my bodyfat here but the goal was to get to 8% before hitting a bulk.
Went ahead and purchased an additional 6 months with him, hoping to get down to 8% quick so we can get a solid bulk in before my next blood draw labs.
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Nope, that's exactly how my applications re as well. Goes on like a lotion, but can't rub in too hard or it gets "sticky" and "peels" like you mention. Very different from other TDs I've ran. I've just learned to go minimal with my spreading of it.

Also, looking lean for sure, great job!
 
Okay cool thank you guys! I will just not rub it in as much. I left it in the truck for a couple hours one of those 110 degree days and thought maybe it got damaged, but it was also doing it before then so wondered if that wasn’t the first time I left it somewhere hot.
 
rascal14 said:
This bottle of Ursa Gel has been turning 50% into a solid when applied, for example, once finished rubbing it in, it flakes up and looks like my skin is peeling but its from the product.

@sns8778 did I somehow damage the product perhaps? My first bottle wasn’t like this.

additionally, after my trip coming up I will probably drop back down to 4 pumps a day vs the 6 I’m running now.

Pic is from tonight, weighing in at about 190lbs this afternoon post gym. Coach thinks we have a solid 10 weeks of slow cutting left. Again, not sure my bodyfat here but the goal was to get to 8% before hitting a bulk.
Went ahead and purchased an additional 6 months with him, hoping to get down to 8% quick so we can get a solid bulk in before my next blood draw labs.
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Congratulations on your progress.

I agree with what others have posted - it sounds like you're rubbing it in too much.

It goes on and dries very easily, so much so that just by habit some people (myself included sometimes) have a tendency to rub it in too much and it will do that.
 
sns8778 said:
Congratulations on your progress.

I agree with what others have posted - it sounds like you're rubbing it in too much.

It goes on and dries very easily, so much so that just by habit some people (myself included sometimes) have a tendency to rub it in too much and it will do that.
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Yes no issues after a very light rub in, still dries incredibly fast too.
 
Coach said I was watery, first offensive comment yet but it was disguised within a compliment lol
He said when you hold a lot of body fat it’s hard to tell, but when you’re lean it’s easier to see what’s water vs fat etc, which was cool. He guess cortisol.
He thinks 8-10 more slow weeks of cutting, with this weekend being a binge of food and drinks.

what's everyone’s opinion on when’s best to up the test dose?
 
Out of curiosity, is this guy an online coach? Or in person? I might be in the market if he also takes on more lifestyle approach.
 
rascal14 said:
Coach said I was watery, first offensive comment yet but it was disguised within a compliment lol
He said when you hold a lot of body fat it’s hard to tell, but when you’re lean it’s easier to see what’s water vs fat etc, which was cool. He guess cortisol.
He thinks 8-10 more slow weeks of cutting, with this weekend being a binge of food and drinks.

what's everyone’s opinion on when’s best to up the test dose?
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Drugs go up on a bulk when weight gain becomes worse in composition. Weight stalls, add food. Getting softer as you grow, then add more drugs.

On a cut, drugs titrate up to help retain muscle as food goes down.
 
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