New Member Introduction

[MJPGK31BQ6C3F0Z]

Greetings all, MJ here

goals are to cut down to around 8%bf and then do my first legit bulk cycle, hopefully in the next month or so

my 1RMs are pretty shit for lifting for 2 years now. I've not been good with overloading the weight despite showing up at the gym. Plus I didn't dial in diet until about 2 months ago.

rn i am 5'7 144 lbs 28y/o

I'm natural have no need I can see to enhance anything atm.

Just hoping to expose myself to some wisdom and contribute whatever I can to this community. Thanks for having me!

Sorry for the username too :/

 

[CJ]

Welcome to the UG bgrdhkkgfsvnjredblud

 

[MJPGK31BQ6C3F0Z]

Welcome to the UG bgrdhkkgfsvnjredblud

Thanks CJ, happy to join

 

[St0ked]

Bro, you neeed to EEEEEAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!!!

 

[creekrat]

Greetings all, MJ here

goals are to cut down to around 8%bf and then do my first legit bulk cycle, hopefully in the next month or so

my 1RMs are pretty shit for lifting for 2 years now. I've not been good with overloading the weight despite showing up at the gym. Plus I didn't dial in diet until about 2 months ago.

rn i am 5'7 144 lbs 28y/o

I'm natural have no need I can see to enhance anything atm.

Just hoping to expose myself to some wisdom and contribute whatever I can to this community. Thanks for having me!

Sorry for the username too :/

Welcome to the Underground!

What's your current bf and what does your diet and routine look like?

The 2 comments in bold confuse me. You say you're planning on a legit bulk cycle in the next month or so but then say you're natty and see no need to change that at the moment. Which is it? Not busting your balls, just wanting a complete picture.

 

[MJPGK31BQ6C3F0Z]

Welcome to the Underground!

What's your current bf and what does your diet and routine look like?

The 2 comments in bold confuse me. You say you're planning on a legit bulk cycle in the next month or so but then say you're natty and see no need to change that at the moment. Which is it? Not busting your balls, just wanting a complete picture.

Basically I haven't ever done a bulking phase au naturale, let alone on anything. I've never put myself in a high protein caloric surplus to gain mass. the only time i've gained weight was from being a slob from 5 months eating poorly and plateauing at the gym. This cycle I don't wanna jump on anything especially since a lot of newbies in similar positions to me get demolished when they eagerly post about wanting to go on first cycle. I do eventually, just from what I've researched I could get closer to genetic potential before messing with my natural T production.

Right now at 5'7 144lbs, bf% is about 13%. I've been following a 5 day push/pull type of program. It's changed a little over time, different volume/weight/set overload methods. the exercise selection has been pretty all over the place, haven't been good about concentrating on squat, DL, bench as much as I should have. I was like 100% sedentary back before start of 2018, so relatively i'm improving my training significantly but I'm behind and making up lost time tbh.

Diet: I've been titrating my caloric deficit down from about 0-100cals/day back in january to now a deficit slightly more at around 200-300/day. I'm doing high protein (~250g protein), carb sparing(moderate carb but not keto around 50g/day I believe) and super low fat. Protein is all chicken breast and 96% lean beef, egg whites, 1 egg + 50g whey. Carbs are oats, rice, broccoli, and orange juice. I supplement with 4 fish oil caps. I've been losing about .5lb/wk but it's been pretty up and down. I was close to 165-170lbs back last summer and that was all fat. I probably lost a little lean mass as I've cut down to 145 lb, but the bf% was probably about 23% before, definitely most of the mass I lost was fat

 

[sfw509]

Welcome. Ask question. Lots of great people here who can help you achieve your goals.

 

[MJPGK31BQ6C3F0Z]

Bro, you neeed to EEEEEAAAAAAATTTTTTTTT!!!

I plan to! excited to see how it goes too

 

[creekrat]

Got it. Just wanted to be clear on that part.

At 5'7" and 144 @ 13% I would probably go the other way and be in a 200-300 calorie surplus. Add in a little extra cardio and you are in a pretty good spot to recomp which is losing fat while gaining muscle and maintaining the same weight.

Are you doing this for aesthetic purposes? No judging as there are lot of people here that truly just want to look good naked.

 

[MJPGK31BQ6C3F0Z]

Would love to get you're all's thoughts on my recent bloods. I have 850 ng/dl total T and 320 (I think ng/dl but I may have that wrong) free T, in reference range but definitely low. Do you guys think that's low especially for my age? I will post the exact reference ranges just don't have them at the moment

also curious about a solid training program if you guys have any recommendations, I really need to increase my squat, bench, and deadlifts, perhaps a program I can start when I begin my bulk?

 

[MJPGK31BQ6C3F0Z]

Got it. Just wanted to be clear on that part.
Are you doing this for aesthetic purposes? No judging as there are lot of people here that truly just want to look good naked.

Forgot to mention I'm at 35mins cardio (10cals per min) 6days per wk, so that is basically what my trainer is basically orienting me towards. Cut down fat more so than recomp, but he's been super cautious not to reduce the calories into too much a deficit
it's about 50% aesthetic, 50% for sports, want to increase power, strength, sprint performance driven by lower body strength and force generation specifically, for sport similar to soccer slash football.

 

[Jin]

Welcome to the Underground

 

[Gibsonator]

Sorry I can't read all that but there's no need to get down to 8% before doing a proper bulk. At 12% you should look pretty damn good, slowly raise cals 300 at a time til you plateau then repeat. I'm sure CJ will jump in here at some.point and give u a better more in depth response

 

[MJPGK31BQ6C3F0Z]

Proper bulk meaning on test or just doing it all correctly?

 

[Gibsonator]

Proper bulk meaning on test or just doing it all correctly?

Either way it should be done correctly. Using test doesn't mitigate all the other factors that are necessary to put on muscle...

 

[MJPGK31BQ6C3F0Z]

Either way it should be done correctly. Using test doesn't mitigate all the other factors that are necessary to put on muscle...

Right of course. I need to do a full bulk natural dial in my diet before.

 

[CJ]

Would love to get you're all's thoughts on my recent bloods. I have 850 ng/dl total T and 320 (I think ng/dl but I may have that wrong) free T, in reference range but definitely low. Do you guys think that's low especially for my age? I will post the exact reference ranges just don't have them at the moment

also curious about a solid training program if you guys have any recommendations, I really need to increase my squat, bench, and deadlifts, perhaps a program I can start when I begin my bulk?

I'd think long and hard about doing a cycle. If your natural Test levels are indeed 850 ng/dl, I would question whether I'd want to risk the possibility of messing that up.

 

[Tinbeater36]

Welcome to the Underground.

 

[ATLRigger]

Would love to get you're all's thoughts on my recent bloods. I have 850 ng/dl total T and 320 (I think ng/dl but I may have that wrong) free T, in reference range but definitely low. Do you guys think that's low especially for my age? I will post the exact reference ranges just don't have them at the moment

also curious about a solid training program if you guys have any recommendations, I really need to increase my squat, bench, and deadlifts, perhaps a program I can start when I begin my bulk?

There’s no way your free test is more than 30% of your total test. It’s usually 2-3%.
Something’s not right here.
Also i disagree with a some of the other members encouraging you to bulk. If you wanna cut to 8% before bulking, by all means, do that. There are plenty of body builders that start their bulk at 6-10%, and won’t start bulking until they’ve reached that lower threshold.

 

[rawdeal]

agreed on that Free Test #