Still gaining strength after pct? this doesn't make sense

[Mitch_310]

hello everyone. I ran a 12 week sarm cycle consisting of lgd, rad 140, and s4

It's been over 6 weeks since I've been off. I've been off nolva for almost 3 weeks. Currently I still have a few doses of inhibit e, as well as 1 week left of cardarine (absolutely fire for gym performance by the way, It is legit cardarine btw so no ph laced crap)

here is what has intrigued me. Since PCT, I have gotten stronger in all of my lifts. My weight is actually up about a pound; Kind of fluctuates but I know for sure I haven't lost any muscle mass. Only the look that the drugs gave me, so I do look worse a little. Bodyfat is up very slightly but It seems to have leveled out now.

My question is?? am I just lucky or am I gonna be screwed over? I'm going in for blood work within the next few days to see how I am recovering. (busy with life rn) But just based on feel I seem to getting a little better each week. Week 1: depressed af and moody week 2: still feel crappy week 3: crappy, but a little better libido coming back week 4: feeling alot like myself again and good libido week 5: even better slightly week 6: slightly better

hit legs today and hit a pr by 9 reps: I did 5x8 with 335 on squats at 168lbs bodyweight (I'm 5'9 at around 8% bf)

I have increased volume, energy feels good, and seem to be starting to make natty gains again. I know guys say the "crash" can hit after pct. I definitely felt a crash with the first 2-3 weeks, but I seem to be normal. I have been training smarter off cycle, diet is still the same (extremely clean with macro tracking), and rest is on point

I guess I could be being a little too anxious, but did I really just manage to keep all my gains?? any input? my age is 22 by the way and I have ran 2 cycles in the past. only with the andros and one dmz cycle about 7 months ago for 4 weeks (hated it)

 

[BennyMagoo79]

hello everyone. I ran a 12 week sarm cycle consisting of lgd, rad 140, and s4

It's been over 6 weeks since I've been off. I've been off nolva for almost 3 weeks. Currently I still have a few doses of inhibit e, as well as 1 week left of cardarine (absolutely fire for gym performance by the way, It is legit cardarine btw so no ph laced crap)

here is what has intrigued me. Since PCT, I have gotten stronger in all of my lifts. My weight is actually up about a pound; Kind of fluctuates but I know for sure I haven't lost any muscle mass. Only the look that the drugs gave me, so I do look worse a little. Bodyfat is up very slightly but It seems to have leveled out now.

My question is?? am I just lucky or am I gonna be screwed over? I'm going in for blood work within the next few days to see how I am recovering. (busy with life rn) But just based on feel I seem to getting a little better each week. Week 1: depressed af and moody week 2: still feel crappy week 3: crappy, but a little better libido coming back week 4: feeling alot like myself again and good libido week 5: even better slightly week 6: slightly better

hit legs today and hit a pr by 9 reps: I did 5x8 with 335 on squats at 168lbs bodyweight (I'm 5'9 at around 8% bf)

I have increased volume, energy feels good, and seem to be starting to make natty gains again. I know guys say the "crash" can hit after pct. I definitely felt a crash with the first 2-3 weeks, but I seem to be normal. I have been training smarter off cycle, diet is still the same (extremely clean with macro tracking), and rest is on point

I guess I could be being a little too anxious, but did I really just manage to keep all my gains?? any input? my age is 22 by the way and I have ran 2 cycles in the past. only with the andros and one dmz cycle about 7 months ago for 4 weeks (hated it)

Yes. PCT success mate. Congrats on the squat PR!

 

[Rnicholasv]

That’s awesome man! Hey I’m kinda a newb still to hormones, if you guys could give input about my thread I’d appreciate it, if not all good.

 

[Slapoyjoe]

What’s the diet like at the moment?

 

[YoungThor]

I ran a long lgd and yk cycle that I consider mostly unsuccessful and then a two week pct. I was also depressed as fukk at first but managed to keep getting stronger when I came off everything. It’s probably because we’re young (I’m about to be 26) so we likely bounced back fast and continued making natty strength progress. Sarms only made me ever so slightly stronger anyway, they wee more of a strength endurance booster.

 

[YoungThor]

Also, if you went from cutting on the sarms to now eating a calorie surplus then consider that to be part of the equation as well. Food makes you strong.

 

[LeanEngineer]

Also, if you went from cutting on the sarms to now eating a calorie surplus then consider that to be part of the equation as well. Food makes you strong.

Agreed with this. Diet has a lot to do with that. Especially if you were in a deficit and now a surplus.

 

[Mitch_310]

What’s the diet like at the moment?

Around a 200-300 Calorie surplus above my TDEE

 

[Slapoyjoe]

Sounds like a great cycle.

 

[bigbeaph]

As already said man, congrats. Sounds like you did everything right. I used to be able to do that sort of thing in my younger years. Now at 34 and after a long cycle I just bust tail trying to hold on to gains for a couple months and then I can start gaining a little again if I've done everything correctly. So what I'm saying is...enjoy it now! Sounds like you've done your homework well.

 

[Borashi]

I've set new prs off cycle as well. I think its normal. Most lose gains off cycle as they stop training as hard or diet less clean or don't follow proper PCT protocol. Congrats. I've lost some of that sand paper on cycle look but my strength remains. You going to run a cycle of s23? I'm intrigued by s23. Want to try it next.

 

[Old Witch]

As long as you're not outside of what's genetically possible at your androgen level there is no reason gains may not continue during and after pct. Lee Priest talks about it almost every time it's brought up. As long as you keep training, not changing things for the worse, you will keep improving. It's just AAS will help it along better.

 

[Mitch_310]

nah, I've heard that one is the most suppressive compound so I would rather avoid that. I'm getting bloods done either tomorrow or wednesday. I'll report back once I get results back. depending what my levels are I'll go from there. Next cycle will be more mild though. Maybe s4 solo or s4+rad. once I got s4 up to 100mg It made me look like a sikkunt. I only ran 100mg for about 2 weeks at the very end of the cycle. I want to see what 100mg does for a longer period of time. Again though, I still want to take some more time off first to make sure everything is normal and just give my body a break. It's getting cold here where I live. So being shredded right now doesn't really matter. Today was the first day my strength was a little wack. I notice my chest movements (pushing strength) is the hardest to keep up. Again though, chest was still feeling a little sore when I hit it so no worries there. All i did to compensate was drop my incline bench down 10lbs and hit it for more sets and reps.

 

[Borashi]

I've heard s23 is like s4 without the vision sides, which is why I'm intrigued. I've also read comments that compare S23 to being similar to winstrol. S23 with Epi Andro will be my next cycle. I want that shredded look! Yeah. Volume is king. I did a **** ton of volume on cycle. My lifting sessions were like 3 hrs. Off cycle I knock my sets out in 2 hrs, less volume, but pyramid sets with the goal of increasing weight. I knocked out a new pr on incline bench today, only 10 more lbs, but a gains a gain.

 

[ericos_bob]

It's often normal to continue making gains after a cycle. The residual effects of the drugs linger for some time along with the serms. The serms have just left your system now given the long half-life. Normalization of hormones takes months. Even guys who have juiced up beyond their natural limit can retain their size (drug dependent) for a surprisingly long time after PCT. I'd say in 4-6 months you'll have your answer. Keep training hard.

 

[Mitch_310]

alright an update. Im pissed, everything is fine but it seems my right nipple has started to hurt pretty bad. I have had a slight amount of gyno from puberty and from a dmz cycle last year so I guess this is just a flare up. Thankfully I have some LETRO on hand for dem nips. Took a dose last night and today. Seems to have eased the pain a bit. I still need to get bloodwork but I've been super busy. The gyno isn't bad at all, super minor. I know it wouldn't be noticable to anyone else but myself (nips look good when hard) , but the pain is annoying me and my right nipple looks puffier than normal. so far pain seems to be going away a bit. Bloodwork for sure tomorrow then gonna see if i need to jump back on pct when i get results. Not sure what is causing this, either my natural test has came back online and converting the test to estro or im getting an estrogen rebound from the serms being phased out. its a bummer for sure, seems my nipples seem to settle down alot on cycle, but when I come off they flare up again. kinda weird. All i know is that i won't be cycling again anytime soon

 

[BloodManor]

alright an update. Im pissed, everything is fine but it seems my right nipple has started to hurt pretty bad. I have had a slight amount of gyno from puberty and from a dmz cycle last year so I guess this is just a flare up. Thankfully I have some LETRO on hand for dem nips. Took a dose last night and today. Seems to have eased the pain a bit. I still need to get bloodwork but I've been super busy. The gyno isn't bad at all, super minor. I know it wouldn't be noticable to anyone else but myself (nips look good when hard) , but the pain is annoying me and my right nipple looks puffier than normal. so far pain seems to be going away a bit. Bloodwork for sure tomorrow then gonna see if i need to jump back on pct when i get results. Not sure what is causing this, either my natural test has came back online and converting the test to estro or im getting an estrogen rebound from the serms being phased out. its a bummer for sure, seems my nipples seem to settle down alot on cycle, but when I come off they flare up again. kinda weird. All i know is that i won't be cycling again anytime soon

Never know with sarms - still inward of the sides and long term use

 

[Borashi]

That blows. Hope it works out for you. I'm debating running exemestane twice a week with my next cycle to keep e levels low.

 

[Mitch_310]

it does blow. But another update, puffiness has gone down a bit and the pain has gone down alot too. doing the letro gyno protocol. So I'm going to be cruising on this until my gyno is totally gone then slowly taper off, then hit the nolva for 2 weeks, then back to otc anti e to prevent rebound. Im extremely gyno prone and it seems like whenever I touch anything I have some sort of problems with my nipples. I might be a little paranoid too. But this time I know its the real deal cause of the pain. Good news is I caught it upon the very first signs of this happening. Going to make sure this crap is 100 percent gone and not bugging me until I touch anything else. Also, i will be running exemestane for sure on my next cycle months down the road

 

[Mitch_310]

I know it isn't for everyone. But sarms can in fact cause gyno to occur. Even though they do not directly convert to estrogen. If you take enough of them, your normal androgens such as test will convert to estrogen, during the cycle it might not be an issue. But once the cycle is over and you aren't taking anything anymore. You will be low on test and high in estrogen from the excess conversion. The balance is off, hence creating a gyno favorable environment once you come off until your hormones sort themselves out again. I was stupid not to stay on the nolvadex longer. I think in my case this is what might have happened just from guessing. In the mean time, time to take drugs to counteract the side effects of other drugs hahah.

 

[ericos_bob]

That goes for SERMs too. We run serms to jump start test production and that's it. I've run SERM cycles solo as a test booster and if I don't control my estrogen levels they go through the roof. Thankfully I'm not gyno prone but I can imagine someone could easily develop rebound gyno when coming off serms. I'd do away with the nolva altogether at this stage and run only the AI until your symptoms subside.