What Routine Works For You

[te2te]

While on TRT, what workout (weightlifting/bodybuilding type) routine has worked best for you? Pre-TRT and while I didn't know I was low on Test I tried just about every other routine out there thinking that it was the routine for the lack of progress...talk about spinning your wheels. I couldn't even go for a jog without getting sick (cold) within the following couple of days. Now that I know that it wasn't the routine per say, that it was mostly hormonal, I would like to look at what others have found to work while on TRT. Please, be specific about the variables, i.e. frequency, volume, intensity, etc. Thanks.

[Krembles]

Low doses of Test and gells especially aren't going to do much. Unless you are over 50. You are going to have to get a more andro. I remembe when
I was a kid about 30. We could get Dianabol perscriptions and gain a ton of muscle in a few weeks. Times have changed, Now you have to do your homework. No body is going to help you break the law. Doctors wont perscribe the good stuff unless you have AIDS ect.

[mxim]

i do grat with just 100mgs of t per week.i actually look as if i am taking some juice. i do miss the days when i cycled though. right now i do cadio 4 times a week and train one body part per week;except calves which i do twice a week.i also limit free weights as i focus too much on strngth and that screw's with my head. i am still strong and at 170,5-8;i still bench 325. used to do 405 when on a cycle,i am naturally strong. i do not look short and stocky,i am very lean looking.most guys that are my height and can bench over 300,have short arms and look like power lifters. i am the exact opposite.
mxim

[SPE]

Originally Posted by Krembles

Low doses of Test and gells especially aren't going to do much. Unless you are over 50. You are going to have to get a more andro. I remembe when
I was a kid about 30. We could get Dianabol perscriptions and gain a ton of muscle in a few weeks. Times have changed, Now you have to do your homework. No body is going to help you break the law. Doctors wont perscribe the good stuff unless you have AIDS ect.

This is false for many on TRT. I'm only 26 and with a compounded 10% testosterone cream @ 1ml/day, along with 70iu hcg/day I had my total T levels at more than DOUBLE the TOP of the range. To say that the gels/creams only work for older men is COMPLETELY false.

[mranak]

Monday: Squats
Tuesday: Bench
Thursdays: Deadlift
Friday: Bench work using band or chains or board press or shirted bench

[te2te]

Originally Posted by Krembles

Low doses of Test and gells especially aren't going to do much. Unless you are over 50. You are going to have to get a more andro. I remembe when
I was a kid about 30. We could get Dianabol perscriptions and gain a ton of muscle in a few weeks. Times have changed, Now you have to do your homework. No body is going to help you break the law. Doctors wont perscribe the good stuff unless you have AIDS ect.

Maybe "while on TRT" are a bad choice of words. I just assumed that everyone on this board didn't cycle TRT...unless I read you wrong. My request goes out to men on doses of Test and HCG that put them in a "healthy" range.

[deadlifter405]

I'm going to try to answer the original question, hopefully it will be useful.

I'm 45 years old and a hardcore lifter since age 19. I never did get very big, though I got very strong for my size in my early-mid 20s, and basically entered a long decline starting around 35 which had to be the start of my testosterone decline which was measured at 227 ng/dl (ref 280-1100).

About 4 years ago I was close to hanging it up due to the slow decline (yes, actual negative gains) and lots of joint pain. Then I found Hypertrophy Specific Training (HST) and it was a godsend for my joints and allowed me to lean out a bit while seeming to stem the muscle size/strength decline.

I'm near the end of my 3rd month of TRT (currently at 10 grams Testim after starting with 5 grams at the first month) and can report the following:

1. Big appetite increase. I had done a real good job leaning out the previous year with the South Beach diet approach (my primary care physician had me do this to attempt to lower my total and LDL cholesterols) and had gotten used to eating very clean and restricted calories. With TRT the calorie cutback went bye-bye! I'm really curious to see how my lipids come out with TRT.

2. No strength increase whatsoever. None.

3. But! The good news is a very significant increase in recuperation ability. It used to be as the weights got heavy I'd mentally start to shy away from workout day. Now, it seems I'm ready to train again the next day even though I do not and stick to the program.

4. The direct result of the appetite increase, and the recuperation ability, is I've gained about 5 pounds of solid muscle which I find is quite visible and a very pleasant thing to occur since it's been years since I've been able to force any new muscle growth. I am quite literally the largest I've ever been, not quite as strong as my 20s but not bad for 20 years later!

My exercise selection is usually, stiff legged deadlifts, incline barbell presses, barbell rows, military presses, dips, barbell curls. This is the HST 3x/week with a progressive loading profile within a rep range and a slight step back going into the next rep range. 2 weeks each of 15s, 10s, then 5s with 5s continuing on using negatives as possible until I'm nearly overtrained and then take a week off and start over.

These results are cleary not steroidal, I've never used steroids, but TRT does help!

[skinnyguy12]

bump this thread, I am curious... I am going to be starting gels in about 1 week and I'm curious if I should change my diet. right now i am really really lean 152 almost 6'1. full six pack. right now my calories are just perfect so that i am maintaining not gaining. I am alot thinner than i would like to be but I have been nervous to bulk up at all until I start TRT because I figure 99% of the weight I gain is going to be fat due to low test. so I guess when I start test I will start to increase my calories.

[mranak]

Originally Posted by skinnyguy12

bump this thread, I am curious... I am going to be starting gels in about 1 week and I'm curious if I should change my diet. right now i am really really lean 152 almost 6'1. full six pack. right now my calories are just perfect so that i am maintaining not gaining. I am alot thinner than i would like to be but I have been nervous to bulk up at all until I start TRT because I figure 99% of the weight I gain is going to be fat due to low test. so I guess when I start test I will start to increase my calories.

Sounds good.

Before starting TRT, I often restricted my calories. I got down to 145 lbs at 5'10". I was just too concerned about being 'fat'.

Today, I'm over 200 lbs and I look much more like a real man.

[pmgamer18]

I am not sure if my posting on this fits in here.
Today I am 62 been on TRT for over 22 yrs. After starting on gels when they came out little by little my joints and muscles starting breaking down. My Dr. told me it is arthritis yet none of the meds helped. I posted my problem on the boards at the H2 group. Some of the guys told me they tried the gels and had the same problem. So they went on shots every week and the problem went away

Fourteen months ago I was in so much pain I could hardly walk. Had an MRI on my back and it showed some small arthritis in the disks but nothing to cause this much pain. Being house bound for so long I topped out at 325 lbs and all of this time doing Weight Watchers program to try and lose the weight.

I started on shots 100 mgs a week and little by little the pain was getting better. In 6 weeks my blood test showed my levels still to low 600 so my Dr. upped my shot to 150 mgs a week.

Now I was doing so good I was able to start walking for exercise. And the weight starting falling off. I got up to a 45 min. walk a day and it was nothing so I asked my Dr. is I could work out with weights. He said yes but to go slow. When I started I had lost 45 lbs. I ended up going to the Old Persons Counsel her in my town you need to be over 55 to use the place. They have a work out room with 16 machines and a cadio room I was able to go there for a $1 a day.

I started out slow first I went into the cadio room and started on the "Elliptical Crosstrainers" hell I lasted 5 min.'s on this. So from there to the treadmill to get wormed up.

I then went into the work out room and started with a low load doing 10 reps per machine. And little by little upped the load. In 2 months I was doing 5 times the load I started with.

I got up to 30 mins on the "Elliptical Crosstrainers" doing all the levels.
On the machines I start on the Abdomen mach. doing a load of 75lbs doing 3 sets of 25 reps. then I turn around and do the same backwards working my back.
Next I go to the Leg Extension doing a load of 35lbs 12 reps then 45 lbs 8 reps finishing at 35lbs 10 reps.
Next on the same mach. I do a Leg Curl sets and reps same as above.

Next the Chest Press load 40lbs 12 reps then 50lbs 8 reps finishing 40lbs 10 reps.
Next the Leg Press load 145lbs 12 reps then 155lbs 8 reps finishing 145lbs 10 reps.
Next the Peck Deck load 30lbs 12 reps then 35lbs 8 reps finishing 30lbs 10 reps.
Next the Push-Up load 70lbs 12 reps then 75lbs 8 reps finishing 70lbs 10 reps.
Next on the same mach the Pull-Down load 75lbs 12 reps then 80lbs 8 reps finishing 75lbs.
Next the Adduction load 40lbs 12 reps then 45lbs 8 reps finishing 40lbs 10 reps.
Next on the same mach. Abduction sets and reps same as above.
Next the Curl-up load 50lbs 12 reps then 75lbs 8 reps finishing 50lbs 10 reps.
Next the Curl-Down load 55lbs 12 reps then 60lbs 8 reps finishing 55lbs 10 reps.
Next the Optimal Rhomb load 35lbs 12 reps 40lbs 8 reps finishing 35lbs.
Next the Biceps load 30lbs 12 reps then 40lbs 8 reps finishing 30lbs.
Next on the same mach. Triceps 30lbs 12 reps then 40lbs 8 reps finishing 30lbs 10 reps.
So I started on this last May and got to this program by last Dec. I have not been back to 3 days a week been sick with bronchitis for 3 months now. In the last 4 weeks I have gone to the gym one day each week and it took me the rest of the day to recuperate. I am now not to go to the gym until I finish a med for Inflammation so maybe this Wed. I will be able to start back. Hell I lost over 65 lbs doing this with Weight Watchers and now put back on 15 lbs. I swear life sure has it's ups and downs.
I used this link to get started.
http://www.lammd.com/book/chapter6.cfm
I have never felt this good on TRT in the whole 22 yrs I have been on it. Doing T shots 64mgs every 3 days and HCG 100 IU's everyday.
Phil

[deadlifter405]

Skinnyguy,

You're not going to go on a bulking diet as such, but you will experience a large increase in appetite and it's a protein hunger that you wouldn't satisfy by eating junk. Not that anybody wants to eat junk!

I've literally gone from eating 1 skinless chicken breast with dinner to 3 of them, adding in a can of tuna at lunch, things like that to satisfy my protein cravings.

I've gone ahead and re-measured myself on all bodyparts and weighed in on a very accurate scale this morning and have to correct my previous claim to now I'm at +10 pounds and still have larger muscle bellies than before. My waistline is down a little bit since starting TRT and much leaner looking.

Correction to stated workout routine; that should have been trapbar deadlifts instead of stiff legged's. The old knees can't handle too much squatting anymore so the trapbar is a good compromise.

This is almost as fun as the rather large surge in libido I've experienced!

[love_en]

Skinnyguy12, deadlifter is telling the truth. Before going on TRT, my biggest issues were muscle wasting and a lack of appetite. I could even skip meals and not miss it. Now I have a man's appetite. It is not uncommon for me to finish two grilled pork chops or a 1 lb steak for dinner. By no means am I a big guy either. I was 5'6", 130 lbs prior to starting TRT, now I am up to 145lbs.

Last week, I saw my PCP who denied me TRT. The ass had to admit that my health is much better. To think, this was the same guy who told me "you're going to bulk up". Yes, I will take that over looking like a skinny 10 year old boy any day.