12 Week Log: Reawaken the Freak Inside (Monster Labs)

[politicaljunkie]

Hello! I'm going to log my cycle from Monster Labs. I'll introduce myself and then get to the game plan. I'll be updating this thread regularly. I'd appreciate if you click the "Watch" or "Bookmark" features so you can come back and check on my progress.

About me:
40 years old. 5'11".
Current Weight: 245lbs
Been lifting weights for 20 years.
Using steroids the entire time.
Competed in bodybuilding 10 times from weights ranging from 171 to 226. Never won anything.
Powerlifting Lifetime 1RM PRs: 455 bench, 495 squat, 495 deadlift
2020 shoulder surgery for torn labrum, bicep reattachment done during surgery.

I don't want to weigh 240+ anymore, it doesn't seem smart now that I'm 40. So it's time to downsize.

THE PLAN:
Over the next 12 weeks I plan to lose 25lbs while maintaining my strength. Sounds ambitious during the Christmas season but I have the help of some good looking gear from Monster Labs. Here's what I plan on running:

Starting tomorrow morning!
0.7ml of Test Cypionate 300mg EOD (~735mg/week)
0.3ml of Equipoise 600mg EOD (~630mg/week)
50mcg/day T3

Bloodwork on December 26 and I'll share my results as soon as I get them. I have done my blood work 100+ times over the years, I will provide a ton of context of where the results stand relative to past tests. 700-750mg/week is the most tested range of testosterone use I've done.

After the blood work testing is done I will add 25mg/day Anadrol. It's always been a favorite of mine while dieting. It helps keep the heavier weights moving so I don't become a wuss.

"Before" Pictures and 1st pin impressions starting tomorrow.

Please follow along!

 

[UnholyAlliance]

Good luck on this one!

 

[politicaljunkie]

Weight: 243.8. I've been eating a clean diet for a few days, so the excess bloat is gone already.
First body picture I've had my wife take in at least a year, feel pretty gross about it.

First pin with the monster labs test cyp and EQ 600. I decided to do my first shots in my quads and do 0.7ml of each so I could offer some feedback. No issues at all after 12 hours, and that's good cause I am not sure I'm 100% which leg I put which into. With no site reaction, I'm comfortable now with the idea of doing 0.7ml Test Cyp and 0.3ml EQ in one pin. I am not surprised the EQ is painless even at 600mg/ml. Started the T3, but I don't expect to feel anything-- but hope to see the impact on the blood work.

For the diet, I don't go crazy until I have to. My experience has been if I just stay consistent, I become increasingly psychotic about the cut. I want to lose 2lbs a week and just keep that going. I just try to eat the same thing everyday and increase the cardio.

Training- I work out at home. I live in the country, work a demanding job, have a hobby farm, a family, etc...you guys know how it is. Plus, the gyms around me, I feel super weird-- it's a college town. I can't be around those girls and the guys who still have hair I do the 3 powerlifting movements each once a week, and sprinkle in dumbbell work and cardio. There's still enough muscle to look pretty decent at 215-220lbs, so that's what we're going for.

After 20 years, I don't relate to the posts that are like "I'm so motivated, lets kill this prep, LFG" but I feel like I should end this post with something inspirational.

 

[SteroidFreaks.is]

Following! Good luck brother.

 

[BI22069]

Following too PJ! Kill it Big Dog!

 

[politicaljunkie]

Can report there's virtually zero feeling in my quads 40 hours post injection, I'll try delts tomorrow. The Monster Labs gear is smooth so far. Of course, the typical sign of gear kicking in is water weight but I'm eating pretty clean.

Meal 1:
3 cups Black Coffee + Adderall
1 cup muscle egg + 1 tablespoon Blueprint Olive Oil

Meal 2:
12oz 93% lean turkey
1 tablespoon avocado oil dressing
1 large low carb tortilla

Meal 3:
1 cup muscle egg
1 protein yogurt

Meal 4:
50g whey + 1Tbsp Blueprint Olive Oil

Meal 5:
12oz 93% Turkey
75g carbs from pasta
Marinara sauce

Today's workout: Deadlifts.

Warm up: 20 min walk

For deads I like to train on a 5x5. I started very light and have added 10lbs a week. Today I did 365lbs for 5x5, pretty much no problem. I'd like to get back to doing 5x5 at 405-425 and do that twice a week. I don't think I could do that workout today, but every workout is getting easier so I will stick with the slow build up.

Then I do a type of cable pulldown for VERY high reps. I just try to pick a weight that starts to burn at 30 reps but that I can suffer through 40-50 reps. Just to get the blood in. This isn't some ideal plan, I just do what my mind and body are willing to do. Did some light biceps work for blood flow as well.

Tomorrow's workout: 1 hour of cardio and calves and abs. I'm keeping it light so I can bench press on Friday and see what I can get. Thinking about that Monster Labs anadrol I've got on deck to run after Christmas. I know the strength gains I can get from quality anadrol.

Goal for the rest of the week is establish the baseline strength on bench press and hope to improve it while losing 20lbs.

Thanks for listening. Open to all feedback.

 

[politicaljunkie]

24 hours post 2nd injection with the Monster Labs oils.

0.7ml Test Cyp 300
0.3ml EQ 600

1cc syringe. I used a 25g 1" needle and shot it in my delt...No issue.

When I did the quad injections I prefer a much shallower injection, so I put it through a 27g 1/2" needle. Would be curious other people's experiences with needle length.

For me personally:
Glutes & Delts 1" Have never seen a 27g 1" needle so I always use the 25g on these.
Quads & Chest 1/2" so I use the 27g.

This is how I heat up my vials. Single cup coffee warmer.



Tonight is the first holiday event I have to attend on this cut. It's at an Italian restaurant and it's family style, so I don't even get to choose something light. I won't drink at all, and I'll fast until then today.

I'll be transitioning my diet to a more standard bodybuilding diet, I just don't like to pull levers until I need to. Bench pressing later, will be good to establish exactly where I'm at before this gear is fully kicked in.

 

[politicaljunkie]

Current Weight: 241 (but today is my day off, so I'm weighing myself 3 hours later in the morning than I did on Tuesday (243.8), so lets wait until Monday to declare my first week's weight loss and decide on possible adjustments)
Day 5 of my Monster Labs cycle of 735mg Test Cyp, 630mg EQ, and 50mcg/day of T3

A tiny bit of soreness in my delt from the 1cc injection but totally on par with what 1cc of pharma test would be feeling like. Not uncomfortable at all, I even benched pressed. If I thought it was a problem, I'd split them into 0.5cc per delt, but it's not close to that point. I'm injecting the other delt today.

Workout:
Bench Press 345lbs for 7,6,6,4,5 not pausing but certainly not bouncing. ~3 minutes between sets. I don't get into heavy pause reps until I'm peaking.
Then I followed up with 225lb reps, one finger more narrow grip, 1 second pause (longer than I'd hold in a competition bench) and maxed out at 13 reps.

I'm benching in my home gym, by myself, with 2 bad shoulders, so I don't go into a workout with an agenda totally locked in.

When I can do 25 reps in 4 sets, I will move up in weight.
If I fail to get 25 reps in 4 sets, I'll do a 5th set. If I can't get there in a 5th set, I would go back to 315 and start rebuilding again.

So today, I failed to get to 25 reps in 4 sets, so next time I'll try again at 345lbs. This was my first attempt at 345lbs. On that 4th set I could tell I didn't have 6 so I pussed out and stopped at 4. I'm hoping to see no loss in strength this cycle while peeling off a lot of fat.

If by Tuesday, I've really lost more than 3lbs, I'll probably add a meal. 2-3lbs and I 'll declare it a perfect first week.

 

[politicaljunkie]

I have 2 weeks off around Xmas time, that's going to be my opportunity to crank up the exercise.

 

[BIGEZ]

Looking forward to following!!!

 

[politicaljunkie]

1 Week in the books since I started my Monster Labs oils. I had already been eating my current diet (which, as you can read above, is not exactly screaming BB diet).

243.8 ---- > 241.8 Current Weight

Lost exactly 2lbs, which is on target.. 11 more weeks of that, please!

I've been super sick, which has greatly helped my ability to not overeat. There's been a couple workouts I didn't document. My goals are to lose 2lbs/week and maintain my strength as measured by performance on bench press and deadlifts. I squat too, but I am not interested in pushing my squats- I'm 40 years old, there is no reason to be squatting 400+ in my home gym by myself. Some people could say the same thing about bench pressing but I am very in tune with my body on that lift (knock on wood). I'm a college professor so this is crunch time, but pretty soon we have winter break and I'll be able to do a ton of exercise and get any dormant muscle cells fired up.

There were definitely some moments of weakness this week, but knowing my Tuesday check in with this thread was coming, it really helped me turn away from any temptation. I guess that's what these logs are for.

Appreciate the supplies from Monster Labs. My t3 levels always test low when I'm not taking any...so these 50mcg T3 tabs should hopefully put me in the high normal range. When I do my bloodwork in a couple weeks I'll be testing Test (Free and Total), IGF - 1 , thyroid panel, Estradiol, and all the typical health stuff (which I'll probably keep personal). I've used pharma test from my own prescription, and I've used pharma t3 I bought myself at a legit pharmacy, and of course I've used all the UG lab stuff out there so I can provide an understanding of the compounds I've chosen to run.

More on my next workout tomorrow! First update pics will be after 2 weeks and hopefully we can see a difference if I'm down 4lbs of flub.

 

[politicaljunkie]

Day 9.

The gear is kicking in for sure. Muscles are volumizing BIG TIME. I can tell my body just wants to pile on the water. I've been really sick, pretty sure with strep, with no time to get to urgent care, but still hitting my workouts. Do I think that's even helpful? Probably not, but life doesn't feel the same without a pump.

My most recent bench session was a total disaster. I had crushed triceps a couple days prior and thought "it's been 2 days, I can bench" ooooh no. triceps lit up like a christmas tree and the weight felt stupid. So I'll just back down a bit on trying for progress until I get well. The one benefit of being sick is I have no interest in food so I just stick to the same food without a problem.

I am really looking forward to doing labs in a couple weeks. The monster labs Test Cyp 300 is silly smooth. I shot 0.7cc in my chest just to push the limits and I was fine. The EQ600 isn't bothering me at all, and I'm using less volume of it, but I wouldn't shoot 600mg/ml of anything in my chest. I won't run any AI until I see the lab tests because MOST of my lab results in the past have been without AI. Once I got gyno surgery I have only used AI during a contest prep.

 

[politicaljunkie]

This morning I asked myself "if you get up at 4am to cook chicken on the traeger in the rain, are you really a former bodybuilder?

 

[politicaljunkie]

Fighting a viral infection but feel like I'm on the upswing. Last couple of days of work before a bunch of time off, so I'll be able to crank up the intensity.
Hopefully tomorrow morning I'm on track wtih my weight loss. Actually going to move the labs up to tomorrow. I'll test again later, but I have to get some blood work done, so I might as well order the rest of the tests I want. Results the last few times have taken a week. Will be interesting to see what the test and thyroid are up to!

Last night had a decent deadlift workout. I did 365 5x5 not trying to reach new heights just maintain while I'm sick.

If I had to guess, I think this T3 is going to be pretty strong, I have an increased heart rate and little bit of blood pressure-- which to me is more likely to be t3 than the EQ. My 2 blood work tips: 1) be super duper hydrated and 2) 18 hours fast. I will stop eating at 4pm today. It sucks but I"ve found truly fasted and well hydrated is the way I get the most consistent numbers. All medications as usual.

 

[politicaljunkie]

14 days exactly. 50mcg t3 per day from Monster Labs.

My last 3 results (within previous 24 months) without taking supplemental T3 have been 20,22,and 24 so I am typically low or low normal. The last time I was taking 1000% pharma T3 (picked it up myself at pharmacy) at 25mcg/week for 12 weeks I had a 36%. This was only for 2 weeks, I'd suspect my levels will continue to increase.

To me, this is a very big win. Anything dosed in mcg is significantly harder to dose correctly than oils and tablets pressed out 25-50mg a piece. I would worry much more about overdosing t3 than underdosing. You do not want a T3 score to be double your normal range, that is putting too much pressure on the heart. I'd be thrilled to stay at this range while cutting.

More results as they come in....

Starting to recover from illness, 2 days away from 2+ weeks off and winter break boot camp (made up thing).

 

[politicaljunkie]

Still waiting on my testosterone and estradiol results. Will post as soon as they come back.

I missed a good number of workouts feeling sick but I now feel much more like myself. Having 70 students a day who are all bringing RSV, covid, strep, flu, etc...it's like a war getting through winter here.

My first bench workout had some regression so I'll go back down to 315lbs and start rebuilding again. If I get 25 reps in 4 sets, I move up in weight. I should be able to do that no problem. And then move up 5lbs per workout as long as I can get 25 minimum in 4 sets.

My first deadlift workout I was able to repeat my 5x5 at 365lbs so I can just keep building from there. 5lbs increase per workout and stick to the 5x5. I should be able to keep progressing in the deadlift even if I'm losing weight.

I've got to do some more bloodwork in about a week and then I'll be starting the anadrol from monster labs. I am looking forward to getting that strength boost. I am thinking I'll do the rest of these 12 weeks (maybe 8.5 weeks by then) on anadrol. Start at 25mg and go to 50mg if I hit a strength plateau.

Feeling no pain at all from the oils, no lumps.

Current weight -4lbs from the start. Need to pick up the pace now.

 

[politicaljunkie]

I am still waiting on my testosterone results (10 DAYS!!! I used to get them in like 2 days)

But I did get my estradiol results:


I'll now start using the arimidex from monster labs. I'll probably try doing 0.5mg every other day.
One time I was using too much AI and my HDL was 4 (it should be 40+) so I've just learned to become much more conservative with it. I've had the gyno surgery so I don't have to worry about that, so to me the only things I'm trying to avoid are the fatigue/headache and water retention. The water hasn't been a problem because I'm trying to lose weight.

Update on the cut:
Nov 28: 243.8
Dec 31: 234.6 (-9.2lbs)

When I was feeling very sick, my weight was pretty stuck. Now the weight loss is accelerating. Has to be the t3 from monster labs. My resting heart rate is normally about 65 and it's been 100+ except in the morning. So that 50mcg of T3 is powerful. My levels didn't look THAT elevated but keep in mind I had not taken a dose in 24 hours when I did my blood work. Cytomel peaks t3 levels within hours.

Next bloodwork is in 5 days and it's just for my cardiologist. It's like an advanced cholesterol panel. I'll post it if anyone is interested what some advanced heart blood work looks like.

Workout today: Deadlifts with my 5 year old. He's going to attempt his first 5x5 today. 45lbs haha. I'll probably do 375 5x5 and that won't be a problem.

Anadrol starts in a week!

 

[politicaljunkie]

Ok got my test results...



Check out this note:


Looks like my test was so outside of the normal bounds, they repeated it (perhaps why the results took so long), and then not enough of a sample to test the free testosterone levels. For the sake of evaluating Monster Labs Testosterone Cypionate the total test is enough. Taking 735mg a week and being 4000+ is an incredible result for me. I have tested in the 4400 range (10 years ago) taking 750g Test from a compounding pharmacy so it sure feels like this is accurately dosed. The only time I've had higher test scores were when I was taking 1500mg/week of UG lab I got in the 6000s.

A++

 

[politicaljunkie]

Update:
* out of bed pic, comparable to the first one I posted*
Current Weight 233.0 (Down 10.8lbs in 5 weeks +1 day)

I'm on track with my downsize. I'd love to say I had incredible discipline, but the bigger factor was I had unexpected oral surgery and I have been severely limited on my foods I've been supposed to eat (cold soft foods) for 2 weeks.

I think my body has looked better other mornings, so I'll try to get a better pic at my halfway point in a week. I am only getting to the anadrol from monster labs today and will be taking a light dose the next 6 weeks, blood pressure permitting. Strength is declining. I wasn't supposed to lift at all post oral surgery, but you know how that goes. I've just avoided pushing it. Nothing the anadrol won't fix this week.

Priority #1 for me is get my bodyweight down to a sustainable weight for 40+.
Priority #2 is to keep my strength up.

Goal for next 7 weeks is to end up close to the -25lbs goal, somewhere under 220.

 

[politicaljunkie]

I can report that the Anadrol from monster labs is stupid strong. It's hitting me really hard because I've been off oral steroids for awhile. My weight just ZOOMED up and I'm still trying to get it back under control. Lifts got bigger immediately. Pulled 5x5 @ 405 on deads and it felt easy. I want to be back down to making new low weights soon, so I may have to really cut back the food.

Forgot how good anadrol is!!