POLL for trainers who busted their balls in the gym before using gear.

[MR.BICEPS]

I've got a question for the guys who busted their balls in the gym as a natural and actually learned how to make muscle mass gains before using steroids...

Did you get any extra benefit by adding extra sets to your routine after you started taking steroids?

I did not get any extra benefits by adding sets because I found even though roids helped my recovery,they also helped me push more weight which in return made recover more difficult. Adding sets after using steroids put stress on my CNS and joints but did not make me gain more size...

My workouts are the same as when I was a natural...

 

[joshbarnett]

one all out set rest paused

i first used when i was 24. i actually train with less volume now then when i was natural. i use doggcrapp methods now and have gotten more out of that than any other program so far.

 

[xcelbeyond]

Exhausted what I believed were all options/techniques

I was 33 when I first used. I first learned and practiced nutrition and workout routines. Just got to the point where I "hit the wall."

 

[Mr Pickels]

i overtrained for year.... plateaued at 185.... went low vol/hi int and hit 200 in a matter on weeks.... never went back to volume... i just cant recover from it... didnt supp til 24 as well

 

[LATS]

i trained for 8 years before i used any gear. and then took years off after that.. when on , i never used more sets.. it just enhanced my recover even more..

 

[MR.BICEPS]

I was 33 when I first used. I first learned and practiced nutrition and workout routines. Just got to the point where I "hit the wall."

excel I probably didnt ask the question right because I couldnt edit my topic.

What I am asking is who uses the same amount of sets in their training now on steroids as they did as a natural and who has added sets to their overall workout volume after beginning steroids?

Sorry for the confusion guys ...

 

[xcelbeyond]

I dropped the number of sets and reps I was doing after I went on gear. I was probably overtraining as a natural (wanting it TOO BAD) and undereating for the amount of energy expended.

But as a natural I was one lean, ripped boy - ungodly sunken cavity that's only a dream today!

 

[Vander_V]

well i started taking supplements 3 1/2 years ago and i made great gains before i was on the supplements , i never really changed my workout style just trained hard and was consistent.

 

[Squat Ass]

I had won many lifting contests and was on a full ride scholly before I hit it. weighed 232 11% out of highschool and was 242 in college when I started. But I was only 19. No regrets.

squatter

 

[Conan21]

i was 19 . I was so obsessed with lifting since i was like 12 yrs old. I took 20 mgs of dbol and blew up like a house and actually kept most of it. When i look back at pics from then i am very impressed with myself for that age. Took a year off and did another Small small cycle the next summer. Got dumped by my gf of 4 yrs after i turned 20 and didn't care and started using TOO much. But when you don't care about anything you only want to live for right now and don't give a fuck about tomorrow. I was trying to use it as an anti-depressant. I have been off for over a year and don't plan on getting back on anytime soon. I feel good; I just hope I didn't effect my hormonal balance. My doses weren't actually that crazy or on super long. I just think it was for my age; and i wish i would not have started that young.

I will get back on, I just think i have alot of natural work i can do right now. And i want to learn other aspects of lifting and diet better instead of just taking some steroids when you plateau.

 

[Frusciante]

Even natural I'd take advantage of a lot of rest. 4 days in the gym a week, 3 away. I would eat a lot, rest a lot and lift heavy with intensity. Then I got on and basically stuck to the same principles.

Only difference was it felt like I had not one training partner, but two (sups and my actual partner) So moving weight with good form brought great results.

So that extra power I had worked out well with the extra recovery abilities, was perfect for my situation. Gear was never a magic fix for me, I knew how to train naturally and didn't rely on it for everything. Food, rest and proper form was my foundation

for me in terms of importance, it would translate to about:

60% food
20% lifting & intensity
15% rest
5% gear

If your not growing, your food is off. Period

 

[JETHRO TULL]

I did my first on after lifting from 16-21.

I trained really hard...6 days a week in high school. Wayyy overtrained....sore constantly. I didn't eat enough either....still made improvements. Did my first cycle at the end of my sophmore year of college. I went from 212 to 232 in 6 weeks on 3dbol and 1cc of deca a week and lost bodyfat. I know this because I was actually taking an aerobic dance class....<sounds faggy but I was the only guy and their were a lot of pretty girls who gave me compliments!> calipered at 12% at the begining of the semester.....down to 11% at the end. I know calipers can vary depending on the measurer....but I definitely looked leaner and one hell of a lot bigger! Of course my training partner....the strength coach who could squat 800 lbs in power lifting competition soon informed me that I was a moron and would never get big and strong training so much. We backed off to the old 4 day a week program that has built so many guys. chest shoulders triceps, legs back biceps day off....chest shoulders triceps, legs back biceps day off, day off...huge difference!

 

[Steak Helmet]

I had been training since i was 12. I started when I was 28...I am now 30. I have no regrets. I have my 30's to grow to a beast. I figure if I would have done it when I was younger, I would have not educated myself the right way. Instead of consulting others, I would have just done what the guy in the gym told me to do.

So 16 years of training before stabbing myself. i was 212lbs about 10 to 11 percent body fat when i started. I did 405 2 times on the bench...I was squatting 405 for reps...straight bar curling 135 for a few....pulldowns the whole stack(300lbs) plus a 45lb plate. So I know I was strong before i started.

 

[AWN2004]

first time I touched gear I was 24 and that didnt even really count....4 shots total. Got my wieght up around 210 or so before I ever "went to the dark side" lol. I do remember when I was 22 and I really concentrated on just lifting I went from 165 to 197(my bf was around 9-10% too) in about 6 months with only food and I could barely afford to eat regularly due to a shitty job...just 3 to 4 times a day at best. So I knew that my body would respond well if I ever thought of taking anything.

 

[IronMike]

...

Not saying I couldn't have gotten more gains naturally, I don't think anyone can say that until they are 80.

I went well before I took it though. Began with reasonable doses and my changing hasn't changed a lot over the years, just learnt more and adjusted some things, always learning off places like here.

Each to their own I guess. Still, I don't think it's healthy in some corners of the community (and you see this particularly in some online communities) where blokes think they need a whole swag of gear to get "big" ie over 170lb... and they've been "busting their balls" for the last 3 months. You can get big without it, relatively speaking. IronMike

 

[TooPowerful4u]

I had planned on it but it didnt work out that way. I lifted for 1.5 years when i started seriously liftin as a bodybuilder, but it changed quick when i did my first show. I competed as a teen naturaly and saw all these monsters back stage. I was in awe. Next think u know, 3 months later, i was "on' my first cycle. I did 250mg of enanthate a week and gained at about the same rate i was naturally gaining at anyway. Kinda wish i got an earlier start lifting as a bodybuilder, i only trained for wrestling previous to that. Didnt learn to lift properly at all until i was almost 19 but i guess im not too bad for my age and where im at right now. If u think about it, theres a lot of people who started juicing a lot earlier than i did, my first cycle was 2 months before i turned 20.

I dont think id be as far along as i am now in development if i didnt start juicing when i did though, so i dont regret it.

 

[xcelbeyond]

for me in terms of importance, it would translate to about:

60% food
20% lifting & intensity
15% rest
5% gear

If your not growing, your food is off. Period

Looks like you've been reading my sig!

 

[xcelbeyond]

I know this because I was actually taking an aerobic dance class....<sounds faggy but I was the only guy and their were a lot of pretty girls who gave me compliments!>

HAHAHA - I did the same thing!

 

[Johnny Bravo]

6 years for me

Started hardcore at 23 yrs old, started juicing at 29..was 196lbs at 6% natural at 5'8", with a 28 inch waist. The reason I never juiced earlier was because I did not think I had reached my genetic potential naturally until I was about 30, and I was right and I'm glad I did wait.

 

[UMD73]

I lifted hard naturally from high school all the way up until my junior year of college, made decent gains. I tried a bunch of different programs, a couple under the guidance of the strength and conditioning coach at my Univ. finally got into gear at the beginning of my junior year, I was 20 at that point, saw more gains in 6 weeks in terms of fat loss and strength gain then I had in the past 6 MONTHS of solid lifting/ diet, after that there was no turning back.