Exodus Strength

quikky wrote: ↑Thu Jan 04, 2024 9:01 am Can move this into a separate topic if needed, but curious how some of you guys got on TRT. Did you have a lot of symptoms, was it just some low T blood work, was it secretly a hope to improve lifting? Been seeing more and more guys using it and was curious how it typically came about medically.

An endo prescribed me of his own volition. I was getting blood work for a separate issue entirely, he saw my levels were in the toilet and wrote me a script for androgel. I started researching and decided I preferred injections for a variety of reasons. I have noticed it helps with drive to go do stuff but I wouldn't say it does a ton for my actual lifting past that. It is likely having a minor positive effect on actual progress but it's not something I notice day to day. If I wanted to push the envelope it would certainly help the lifting, but as it is I run roughly 125 mg a week (I use Sustanon every two weeks rather than the cypionate or enanthate more commonly used in N. America) and my labs at trough are slightly above half range (489 on a 300-900 range). It helps with sex drive more than anything. I keep an eye on blood work, if I push the dose by RBC climbs to top of range/just above top of range which makes endos uncomfortable.

"What goals are we going to have this year, alek?"

"The same goals we have every year, alek."

Intrinsic Goals
Train and eat consistently and intelligently in a way to facilitate strength and hypertrophy gains.

Extrinsic Goals
Be accused of taking steroids by a muggle. Set individual and total PRs at a meet.

I'd settle for being accused of going to the gym.

alek wrote: ↑Sun Jan 07, 2024 7:40 pm "What goals are we going to have this year, alek?"

"The same goals we have every year, alek."

This. So much this.

Extrinsic Goals
Be accused of taking steroids by a muggle. Set individual and total PRs at a meet.

A real life conversation with a 1st grader

Him: Mr. Augeleven, how come you got muscles?
Me: I go to the gym?
Him, incredulously: how do you go to the gym?
Me: There’s a small gym in my house
Him, looking around the classroom: I don’t see a gym…

augeleven wrote: ↑Mon Jan 08, 2024 6:16 am

Extrinsic Goals
Be accused of taking steroids by a muggle. Set individual and total PRs at a meet.

A real life conversation with a 1st grader

Him: Mr. Augeleven, how come you got muscles?
Me: I go to the gym?
Him, incredulously: how do you go to the gym?
Me: There’s a small gym in my house
Him, looking around the classroom: I don’t see a gym…

This assumption by kids that teachers live at the schools will never get old, at least for me anyway. Teachers may think otherwise.

Try to not get injured. Try to increase my squats, bench, and deadlifts. Try to lose weight if I succeed hitting certain numbers that I deem worthy. If it all doesn't work out probably revert to being a bench and overhead press specialist with an emphasis on bodybuilding (because those are the only two lifts that don't hurt me like the squats and deadlifts lol and bodybuilding work still allows me to train unlike getting beaten up through powerlifting/strength-emphasis training).

2024 Training/ Exercise Goals ?

My goal this year is similar to many other's who have posted already. I'm strong enough already so I want to lose body fat.

I thought I'd pre-empt my New Year's resolution to lose weight so I cleaned up my diet in December (was on a see food & eat it diet previously). By cleaning up my diet and trying to watch calories I lost exactly 0 weight. Depressing really, my body likes being fat

I don't remember if I've posted in this thread or not but if I did, it doesn't matter so

21 minute 5k (working on it)

Run San Francisco marathon and finish without stopping to walk (had to do that during personal marathon, I got merc'ed)

Deadlift 405 1x5

bench 175x8 (kinda hard considering the next goal)

drop down to 155lbs

run a mile in less than 7 minutes (might be do able, my fastest so far was 7:15 or something)

Running a mile in 7 minutes isn’t too hard. But doing them back to back is. I think I ran a sub 7 in high school weighing around 250.

Regardless, hope you hit those goals or get close.

My goals are to live in less pain. Not even joking.

Having failed to meet my goals year after year, my short term goal is to come up with some achievable goals.

mgil wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 2:54 pm Running a mile in 7 minutes isn’t too hard. But doing them back to back is. I think I ran a sub 7 in high school weighing around 250.

Regardless, hope you hit those goals or get close.

My goals are to live in less pain. Not even joking.

Mr Mgil, do you think it's weird to do college marching band when you're close to thirty?

EggMcMuffin wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 3:51 pm

mgil wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 2:54 pm Running a mile in 7 minutes isn’t too hard. But doing them back to back is. I think I ran a sub 7 in high school weighing around 250.

Regardless, hope you hit those goals or get close.

My goals are to live in less pain. Not even joking.

Mr Mgil, do you think it's weird to do college marching band when you're close to thirty?

So when I was in college there were “kids” out there on the field close to 30.

To answer your question: yes

To not answer your question: it might help you get lucky, if you’re interested in that

EggMcMuffin wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 3:51 pm

mgil wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 2:54 pm Running a mile in 7 minutes isn’t too hard. But doing them back to back is. I think I ran a sub 7 in high school weighing around 250.

Regardless, hope you hit those goals or get close.

My goals are to live in less pain. Not even joking.

Mr Mgil, do you think it's weird to do college marching band when you're close to thirty?

IMO, (while I married someone who's HS experience could be described as "Marching band and AP classes" and probably would have continued that in college if our college band had clarinets) college marching band kids are all subject to a life experience modifier of minus 4 years, so at 22 they are as emotionally developed as a normal 18 year old. Go for it if this is serious and I've not missed something else, just put your extra patient pants on.

hector wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 3:46 pm Having failed to meet my goals year after year, my short term goal is to come up with some achievable goals.

Last year, I came to the harsh realization that any progress at all would be better than my usual. So I made the goal of PRing my 1rm squat, bench press, and deadlift by 5lbs each. This turned out to be doable, so I'm making it my goal again this year. If I can keep it up, I'll be quite satisfied with where I'm at in a decade.

This year I also decided to get below a 34" waist again, down from 43", so that'll make the strength gain a bit more difficult.

Hanley wrote: ↑Wed Jan 03, 2024 12:54 pm Cheater-mechanics + TRT (actual trt doses, bitches) should yield some pretty big results.

Hey Hanley. I tried the TRT after labs had me at 385 ng/dl, which the doc said was low and it fucked me sooo bad. Got serious anxiety from it. Anyway, has it been a positive thing in your life so far?

1. Engage in regular physical activity ~270 minutes/week.
2. Maintain a healthy body composition, > 38 in waist, BMI > 30
3. Get sufficient sleep, at least 7 hours/night
4. Avoid the addictive substances I struggled with in earlier life
5. Do my annual workup with my Dr
6. Continue to train and autoregulate to maintain as much momentum as i can when I have setbacks/pain
7. Continue to be an involved husband, father, and family member.

cole wrote: ↑Fri Feb 02, 2024 11:43 am

Hanley wrote: ↑Wed Jan 03, 2024 12:54 pm Cheater-mechanics + TRT (actual trt doses, bitches) should yield some pretty big results.

Hey Hanley. I tried the TRT after labs had me at 385 ng/dl, which the doc said was low and it fucked me sooo bad. Got serious anxiety from it. Anyway, has it been a positive thing in your life so far?

Definitely a net positive.

If anything it helped with anxiety. Humans are complicated machines

EggMcMuffin wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 1:17 pm 21 minute 5k (working on it)
...
run a mile in less than 7 minutes

A 5K in 21 minutes requires an average pace of 6:46 per mile.

@asdf

pr'ed my 5K at 22:22 today, it might be achievable if I lose a few pounds