Gaining the insight

[Jdubs]

I’m brand new to this and wanting to learn all I can and make an educated decision as to what will be best for me. I’m 39, 180 lbs. I workout regularly 5-6 times a week for an hour to an hour and a half each session. My goals are to put on about 25lbs of lean mass and hopefully be able to maintain it however like I said, I don’t know anything about this and looking for all the info and feedback I can get. Thank you

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[Poppy]

Welcome to ugm.

How tall?

Got kids? Want kids?

Blood labs?

What’s your daily macros?

 

[Poppy]

Pic didn’t load. Probably won’t for a bit until you make more posts.

 

[TG1]

Got a ) symbol cut off the end of it.

 

[Poppy]

Have you had recent labs? Full panel including hormones?

 

[NeuroRN]

Before we talk hear and cycles:

Let’s talk diet specifics, training specifics, lab levels, long term goals, do you want to be conservative and prioritize health or take bigger risks?

 

[Cluster]

Peer pressure take them risks get them gains

 

[NeuroRN]

this made me lol for real. Mainly the open label of peer pressure.

 

[Cluster]

Hell someone is gonna tell him
Do it do it do it…

 

[NeuroRN]

 

[Kad1]

Welcome.
1- do not focus on time in the gym. Intensity, execution and ex selection are much more important. I can go to the gym and take selfies for 90 min and never touch a weight.
2- consistent diet. Put a plan in place and stick to it.
3- be patient

 

[Aude_Aliquid_Dignu]

Welcome.

 

[EF9kid]

Welcome. Pay attention to what the vets have to say, quicks gain are not always the ones we want. Slow & Steady

 

[JLee]

Welcome to UGM

 

[Poppy]

As you see there’s two ways to do peds.

Throw caution to the wind ingest a bunch of drugs with out all of the ancillary work and maybe reach your goals and/or mess yourself up for the rest of your life.

Put in the leg work reach your goals with a clear and concise reasonably safe plan.

No one here will berate you or talk down to you. Ask any questions. The more info you provide the better advice you’ll receive.

I understand. You’re probably stuck. Been training hard and want that extra oomf to push you where you want to be in your head.

In reality. Counting macros and rearranging your training will probably be a game changer right out of the gate. Getting all those cheese holes lined up first will help tremendously in your first cycle.

 

[Jdubs]

I haven’t done labs yet. I’ve worked out for around 8 years. Recently getting more serious about it. I’d like to put on around 25 lbs of lean mass and maintain it if possible while prioritizing health.

 

[Poppy]

25 pounds of lean mass will probably take years at least. Maybe a decade if you’re also prioritizing health.

 

[Jdubs]

So it seems that step one is getting my labs done. Is this something I can do myself or absolutely need to see the Dr?

 

[NeuroRN]

So if I were you here’s the route I would take:

1. Keep a food log of literally everything you eat and drink. Find out where your macros are falling and then most likely increase them to maximize gains.
2. Find a good program that prioritizes your goals and incorporates progressive overloading.
3. Get lab work to know where your test levels and general health stands. Private md labs dot com allows you to pick your labs.

At 39 your test levels will most likely fall into the range of needing trt. If this is the case go to a doc and get a script for your testosterone.

Stay on that dose for awhile, a year, and maximize those gains with higher test levels.

Then I would start titrating up my test dose to find what is the highest level I can use testosterone without any sort of ancillary compounds like an AI.

IMO this is the best way to mitigate risk, prioritize health and put on mass.

Once you start testosterone there’s two things everyone living the enhanced life NEEDS to be taking to prioritize health: injectable glutathione and telmisartan.

 

[Poppy]

If you have a pcp (primary care physician) and insurance, you should be able to get them there in conjunction with a physical.

The other way is mail order labs that a lot of folks use here. I’ll let them chime in on which ones they use. I can’t never remember.

Do you count your macro intake? Protein carbs fats sugar etc?

Doing peds without (at least) a close proximity of counting what you ingest daily will be less than optimal.