Big Dave Smith: AMA Thread/Journal

[my_way]

No, it doesn’t for anyone.

The subQ water isn’t related to estrogen alone. If it were, people could run limitless testosterone as long as they squashed estrogen with enough AI’s.

The water retention has something to do with aldosterone, ADH, fluid dynamics unrelated to estrogen.

Some people can get away with using more testosterone not holding subQ water, I’ve just never been able to. It’s the one thing that hasn’t changed in 20 years.

As I get closer to summer and/or stage, I need to taper down the testosterone, and at some point completely stop. It makes a huge “cosmetic” difference.

What personal dose do you find to be the best for balance between minimum subq water and fullness/performance? I know it differs with each individual, I’m just curious about your case.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

What personal dose do you find to be the best for balance between minimum subq water and fullness/performance? I know it differs with each individual, I’m just curious about your case.

Most of these drugs have been given magic properties and descriptive labels, as if the right blend is going to artistically shape the outcome.

Intra cellular muscle fullness is mostly a result of electrolytes, fluid, and glycogen storage, and intra cellular triglycerides.

When people bitch about being flat on non aromatizing compounds, they’re usually in a calorie deficit and their energy macros are reduced. That situation makes them flat. Nobody flattens out on masteron and primo while in a surplus.

Some may get away with leaving test in at higher doses, but the intra cellular water retention isn’t making a big difference in their outcome.

I’ll taper down to 700, 500, 300, then off… looking best once I get to 500 or below. That’s speaking of appearance only.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

Down to 259/260 these last few days. Will be posting some more details later when I get a minute.

At this point last year, I hadn’t even decided to compete again yet. Was just eating 4-5 meals a day with no tracking, low steps. I’m about 2-3 months ahead now, but with all macros tracked since July of 2024.

 

[bigzzz]

Hows your training now? Still the 4-day ppl rotation?

 

[bigzzz]

How you doing @Big Dave Smith ?

 

[Big Dave Smith]

Hows your training now? Still the 4-day ppl rotation?

I haven't used a PPL split for a while now.

For the past 2-3 years...

S- Back Load/Biceps pump
S- Chest Load/Delts Load/triceps pump
M- REST
T- Legs/Lat pump
W- REST
Th- Arms Load/Chest pump/Delts pump
F- REST

 

[Big Dave Smith]

Update

Started cutting around 270-273 AM fasted.

Current weight is down to 250-253 AM fasted.

Cycle
Test Cyp- 50mg ED
Mast Enan- 150mg ED
Primo Enan- 100mg ED
Anavar- 12.5mg AM and PM (25mg ED total) *Just started 2 days ago.
GH- 8iu ED (4iu AM + 4iu preWO)
No AI's

Fat Loss/Misc Stuff
Methylene Blue- 10mg ED
Retatrutide- Started @ 300mcg ED for 3 weeks. Bumped to 450mcg for the last 2 weeks.
SLU-PP-332- 333mcg 3x/day (1mg total ED)
MOTS-C- 1mg ED
5-Amino-1MQ- 150mcg 3x/day
T4- 50mcg AM
T3- 12.5mcg ED (6.25mcg AM, 6.25mcg 12 hours later)
Oral L-Carnitine- 4500mg AM on an empty stomach (couldn't tolerate the knots from injectable)
Nuvigil/Armodafinil- 75mg AM most days, 150mg on "tough days"
Caffeine- tabs as needed. So far 3-5 tabs (200mg) per day.
Oral Albuterol- before doing long walks

Steps- 13,000-15,000 per day average

Will post some more photos soon. I decided to refrain from using clen, yohimbine/rauwolscine, and most stimulatory compounds. Clen makes me angry, irritable, and causes a lot of anxiety. Yohimbine has been off the table for over a decade. I had better success with Rauwolscine in the past, but this year I haven't been able to tolerate it at ALL. The brands I had previously were 1mg Rauwolscine in the form of HCl. The new brands are 2mg, standardized from the plant... and the reactions have been similar to yohimbine. Makes me feel like I have a fever and sickness all day. Not worth the price of admission.

Diet has been mostly 99% ground beef (boiled to remove fat), veggies, rice, egg whites, 647 bread, blueberries, cucumbers mixed with apples, flax oil, Fish Oil, whey isolate, some occasional plain Chex cereal, cream of rice, oats, and HBCD.

Example day of eating. (Foods and macros vary)
1- 2 scoops whey + 1 TB powdered PB
2- 200g ground beef + 200-300g veggies + 80-100g rice (cooked)
3- 200g ground beef + 200-300g veggies + 80-100g rice (cooked)
4- 200g ground beef + 200-300g veggies + 80-100g rice (cooked)
5- 2 scoops whey + 50-100g carbs from a mix of oats and cream of rice
INTRA- 20g EAA's + 20-25g carbs from HBCD
6- 60g protein from egg whites + 6-8 slices 647 toast
*Over the course of the day, I nibble on a mix of cucumbers and apples with ACV and sweetener. The mix typically has 400-500g cucumbers to 100g apples.

The macros have been shifting day to day based.

Non Training days are lower in carbs, around 100-150g. Training days are 150-250g carbs, based on need/feel/short term decisions.

Once a week, based on progress and feed back, I'll bump calories up to maintenance. Protein will be around 300g, fats low, and I'll back fill the remaining calories with carbs. This has been more recent. Initial fat loss was steady. Once I hit the upper 250's, I started auto-regulation style carb cycling.

So far, the "new style" fat loss compounds have felt WAYYYY better than being on the traditional stims. If I need to, I'll experiment with introducing some if necessary, but I've got some time to play.

Here's the difference between early February and this past weekend.

 

[Sectør]

Update

Started cutting around 270-273 AM fasted.

Current weight is down to 250-253 AM fasted.

Cycle
Test Cyp- 50mg ED
Mast Enan- 150mg ED
Primo Enan- 100mg ED
Anavar- 12.5mg AM and PM (25mg ED total) *Just started 2 days ago.
GH- 8iu ED (4iu AM + 4iu preWO)
No AI's

Fat Loss/Misc Stuff
Methylene Blue- 10mg ED
Retatrutide- Started @ 300mcg ED for 3 weeks. Bumped to 450mcg for the last 2 weeks.
SLU-PP-332- 333mcg 3x/day (1mg total ED)
MOTS-C- 1mg ED
5-Amino-1MQ- 150mcg 3x/day
T4- 50mcg AM
T3- 12.5mcg ED (6.25mcg AM, 6.25mcg 12 hours later)
Oral L-Carnitine- 4500mg AM on an empty stomach (couldn't tolerate the knots from injectable)
Nuvigil/Armodafinil- 75mg AM most days, 150mg on "tough days"
Caffeine- tabs as needed. So far 3-5 tabs (200mg) per day.
Oral Albuterol- before doing long walks

Steps- 13,000-15,000 per day average

Will post some more photos soon. I decided to refrain from using clen, yohimbine/rauwolscine, and most stimulatory compounds. Clen makes me angry, irritable, and causes a lot of anxiety. Yohimbine has been off the table for over a decade. I had better success with Rauwolscine in the past, but this year I haven't been able to tolerate it at ALL. The brands I had previously were 1mg Rauwolscine in the form of HCl. The new brands are 2mg, standardized from the plant... and the reactions have been similar to yohimbine. Makes me feel like I have a fever and sickness all day. Not worth the price of admission.

Diet has been mostly 99% ground beef (boiled to remove fat), veggies, rice, egg whites, 647 bread, blueberries, cucumbers mixed with apples, flax oil, Fish Oil, whey isolate, some occasional plain Chex cereal, cream of rice, oats, and HBCD.

Example day of eating. (Foods and macros vary)
1- 2 scoops whey + 1 TB powdered PB
2- 200g ground beef + 200-300g veggies + 80-100g rice (cooked)
3- 200g ground beef + 200-300g veggies + 80-100g rice (cooked)
4- 200g ground beef + 200-300g veggies + 80-100g rice (cooked)
5- 2 scoops whey + 50-100g carbs from a mix of oats and cream of rice
INTRA- 20g EAA's + 20-25g carbs from HBCD
6- 60g protein from egg whites + 6-8 slices 647 toast
*Over the course of the day, I nibble on a mix of cucumbers and apples with ACV and sweetener. The mix typically has 400-500g cucumbers to 100g apples.

The macros have been shifting day to day based.

Non Training days are lower in carbs, around 100-150g. Training days are 150-250g carbs, based on need/feel/short term decisions.

Once a week, based on progress and feed back, I'll bump calories up to maintenance. Protein will be around 300g, fats low, and I'll back fill the remaining calories with carbs. This has been more recent. Initial fat loss was steady. Once I hit the upper 250's, I started auto-regulation style carb cycling.

So far, the "new style" fat loss compounds have felt WAYYYY better than being on the traditional stims. If I need to, I'll experiment with introducing some if necessary, but I've got some time to play.

Here's the difference between early February and this past weekend.

Definitely appreciate the level of thought and detail you’ve put into this post (as well as others)

Cut is going well man, you’re definitely leaning out a ton. I bet it feels good to carry around less body weight as well, especially with the MMA you do

 

[madg]

Back looking nasty dave

 

[warlock]

Example day of eating. (Foods and macros vary)
1- 2 scoops whey + 1 TB powdered PB
2- 200g ground beef + 200-300g veggies + 80-100g rice (cooked)
3- 200g ground beef + 200-300g veggies + 80-100g rice (cooked)
4- 200g ground beef + 200-300g veggies + 80-100g rice (cooked)
5- 2 scoops whey + 50-100g carbs from a mix of oats and cream of rice
INTRA- 20g EAA's + 20-25g carbs from HBCD
6- 60g protein from egg whites + 6-8 slices 647 toast
*Over the course of the day, I nibble on a mix of cucumbers and apples with ACV and sweetener. The mix typically has 400-500g cucumbers to 100g apples.

You're looking great. Fantastic progress!

For meal 5, 2 scoops whey + 50-100g carbs from a mix of oats and cream of rice, do you mix everything in the blender with the cream of rice uncooked? Does the cream of rice mix well? Every time I tried to blend the cream of rice (uncooked), it does not mix well at all and was wondering if you do it differently to get a good consistency.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

I haven’t done BJJ much in 2025. Trying to prioritize bodybuilding for a bit before returning. Also, it was hard getting to places that offer tough training. Being a 250-270lb first degree black belt sort of limits who wants to roll with me. I don’t muscle or roll roughly, but I almost never lose much in training. No 180lb blue belt looks at it like “Yeah, I want to wrestle that guy!” Lol

 

[Big Dave Smith]

You're looking great. Fantastic progress!

For meal 5, 2 scoops whey + 50-100g carbs from a mix of oats and cream of rice, do you mix everything in the blender with the cream of rice uncooked? Does the cream of rice mix well? Every time I tried to blend the cream of rice (uncooked), it does not mix well at all and was wondering if you do it differently to get a good consistency.

1- Pour oats in bowl.
2- Pour cream of rice in bowl.
3- Add water.
4- Microwave. Stir. Microwave.
5- Sit for 5 min. Add whey and flavors.

Done.

 

[thethinker48]

I haven’t done BJJ much in 2025. Trying to prioritize bodybuilding for a bit before returning. Also, it was hard getting to places that offer tough training. Being a 250-270lb first degree black belt sort of limits who wants to roll with me. I don’t muscle or roll roughly, but I almost never lose much in training. No 180lb blue belt looks at it like “Yeah, I want to wrestle that guy!” Lol

*Me as a 180 lb blue belt*

Internal dialogue: "He's talking about me..."

 

[D2]

I haven't used a PPL split for a while now.

For the past 2-3 years...

S- Back Load/Biceps pump
S- Chest Load/Delts Load/triceps pump
M- REST
T- Legs/Lat pump
W- REST
Th- Arms Load/Chest pump/Delts pump
F- REST

hi dave, interesting split. What do u do on the pump bodyparts? high reps? lotsa supersets, dropsets stuff.... . ?

 

[tren]

Amazing log, Dave. You not only bring a ton of value with your expertise, but you also explain things in a way that’s super easy to follow. Glad to hear the Retatrutide is working out well for you.

Quick question regarding insulin and GH. Did you run them intramuscularly or subQ?

 

[Big Dave Smith]

hi dave, interesting split. What do u do on the pump bodyparts? high reps? lotsa supersets, dropsets stuff.... . ?

Triceps- 1 exercise. Straight sets. Exercise with low systemic fatigue. Usually something like rope extensions or push downs. 2-4 sets in the 12-20 range with 0-1 RIR.

Delts- 1 exercise. Straight sets. Usually Atlantis Machine raises. 3 sets in the 12-20 range with 0 RIR.

Biceps- 1 exercise. Straight sets. Usually Nautilus Machine Curl. 4-5 sets in the 12-15 range with 1-2 RIR.

Lats- 1 exercise. Straight sets. Usually assisted close grip pull-ups or chest supported DB incline rows. 10-12 reps. 3-4 sets. 0-1 RIR.

Chest- Assisted Dips. Way bent over. These are done as the last triceps movement on arm day. 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps. 0-1 RIR.

No intensifiers. No need to dig into a deep recovery hole while calories are low.

 

[Big Dave Smith]

Amazing log, Dave. You not only bring a ton of value with your expertise, but you also explain things in a way that’s super easy to follow. Glad to hear the Retatrutide is working out well for you.

Quick question regarding insulin and GH. Did you run them intramuscularly or subQ?

I haven’t used insulin since winter, and even then, didn’t use it enough to consider it part of my routine. Since I didn’t use it regularly, I dropped it. Wasn’t a factor.

GH is IM.

 

[Kayyyy]

How much calories on a bulk do you consume ?

 

[Big Dave Smith]

How much calories on a bulk do you consume ?

Calories go up and down based on progression and needs. No idea. Depends on the short term goal.

I don’t think it’s wise to set an arbitrary amount when things are changing.

 

[Duke309]

Triceps- 1 exercise. Straight sets. Exercise with low systemic fatigue. Usually something like rope extensions or push downs. 2-4 sets in the 12-20 range with 0-1 RIR.

Delts- 1 exercise. Straight sets. Usually Atlantis Machine raises. 3 sets in the 12-20 range with 0 RIR.

Biceps- 1 exercise. Straight sets. Usually Nautilus Machine Curl. 4-5 sets in the 12-15 range with 1-2 RIR.

Lats- 1 exercise. Straight sets. Usually assisted close grip pull-ups or chest supported DB incline rows. 10-12 reps. 3-4 sets. 0-1 RIR.

Chest- Assisted Dips. Way bent over. These are done as the last triceps movement on arm day. 3-4 sets of 12-15 reps. 0-1 RIR.

No intensifiers. No need to dig into a deep recovery hole while calories are low.

Do you keep the weight the same on each set and just let the reps drop or do you drop the weight to stay in your target rep range?