I started TRT at 100 mg/wk TC on 11/7. I've been gaining weight despite keeping close track of my calories and macros.
Averaging 1750 Cal/day and doing resistance training every other day (3 sets of 10 reps at 80% 1RM, at or close to failure on last set).
I'm 5'7", 147 lbs at start, now at 152.5 lbs this morning. Army % body fat calc at 18.5%, my cheap BIA scale says 19.7%. Looking in the mirror shows appearance pretty much inline with those figures, prob closer to 18.5% but not sure which is more accurate.
I expected to have to run a calorie surplus to gain weight and not clear how I am gradually continuing to increase weight while maintaining a calorie deficit. My BMR calc is 1439 cal/day, maintain weight estimate is about 2000 cal/day. So running around 250 cal per day deficit.
I tend to gain weight in the belly, but my waist circumference actually went down about 1/2 in from 34 to 33.5 in since starting. I am looking more muscular. No sign of fluid retention, ie. no ankle swelling, etc.
So how can I gain muscle and maintain a stable body fat given this set of pretty carefully monitored facts?
Most will notice weight gain when starting T or in many cases struggle with it long after as androgens cause retention of sodium, chloride, water, potassium, calcium, and inorganic phosphates.
The majority of the weight gain in the early stages is due to increased ICW/ECW retention which one would piss away rapidly when stopping trt.
* ICW- intracellular water
* ECW- extracellular water
Although many tend to blame estradiol when it comes to bloat/water retention keep in mind that androgens increase sodium/water.
Androgens increase the retention of electrolytes.
As I stated previously the use of exogenous androgens will result in the retention of sodium, chloride, water, potassium, calcium, and inorganic phosphates.
Bloating/edema can be common in some and to what degree depends on many factors.
Inhibition of corticosteroid 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzymes plays a role.
Most of the initial increases in weight gain on T are water-related whether extra-cellular/intra-cellular.
Many men on trt can gain 5-15 lbs of water weight within the first month.
The majority of gains when first starting T are due to extra-cellular water (between the muscle and skin) which shows up as bloat/puffiness and intra-cellular water (inside the muscle cell) which will make the muscle look fuller and harder due to increased glycogen stores.
Even then once the body adjusts or measures have been taken to minimize the bloat/puffiness you are always going to hold more water when using androgens as the muscle cells will retain more water (intra-cellular).
When coming off androgens, especially high doses you are always going to be pissing out the water weight (extra/intracellular).
Part of the reason why men who abuse androgens mainly the so-called wet compounds deflate when they come off is because they are holding a shit load of excess water weight which is always going to be pissed away.
I take 100 mg Test Cyp once a week. I seem to get edema around day 5 thru 7. Then when I take my next shot it goes away. I would have thought edema would be worse when test levels are higher but seems to be just the opposite for me.
Any ideas why or anyone else experience this? Thanks
ABSTRACT The human body can be viewed simplistically as being composed of fat-free and fat mass. With more sophisticated techniques, body composition can be broken down into fat mass, skeletal muscle mass, nonmuscle lean mass, visceral mass, and bone mineral content. Similarly, it is possible...
www.excelmale.com
I’ve been on trt 11 years and all in all I’m doing pretty well. The one thing I’ve always had issues with while on trt is the inability to lose weight and just being more flabby than when I was natural. I’m sure a good deal of it’s water weight because the higher my dose the worse it is. Before...
www.excelmale.com
...
Hello everyone. Please, I need your help.
I'm 32 years old. Before the cycle, my weight was 73 kg. After the cycle, it was 86 kg, now it's 79.5 kg. The cycle lasted 16 weeks. I took 500 testosterone every week. At the end, I added 4 weeks of Anavar, but I'm not sure if it's real. Then I did my first PCT, which apparently involved counterfeit pills (I bought them from the same place I bought Anavar).
Now I'm already on day 20 of second PCT. I did not use hCG at all. I took Clomid 100 for 14 days, now Clomid 50. And the whole time PCT I've been taking tamoxifen 20. My testosterone...
