CJ's 2024/2025 Muscle Gain Block

[CJ]

Starting in 2 weeks, after my yearly Dr physical, I'll be running a ±20 week lean/moderate muscle gain block. The goal is to slowly and sustainably add quality tissue, while keeping fat gain to a minimum. The plan is to run an average daily surplus of 200-300 calories, gaining on average of 0.5 lbs of weight per week. There will be DEXA scans pre and post, the first one being tomorrow morning, and the second one being a few weeks after the drugs come back down to TRT doses, to allow some water to come off and any backlog of food in my GI system to work it's way through.

My goal is not to be huge, it never was. I'm too old for that, anyway. My goal is more of a hybrid training approach, balancing muscle/aesthetics with hiking performance, and overall health. There will be a moderate dose of mixed HIIT and LISS cardio/hiking in my training plan, to keep performance and health within acceptable levels. If I gain 5+ lbs of actual muscle during this block, I'll be as happy as a pig in shit!!!

My drug use will be moderate. It'll start with 350 mg of Test, 300/150 mg of Deca/NPP, and 400 mg of Equipoise. I'll also be utilizing GH, starting at 3 iu's, titrating up to 6 iu's or so. I picked these compounds/doses for a specific reason.

Drugs and/or food will increase when/if necessary, based upon a combo of the scale, the mirror, and gym performance. Examples... If weight gain stalls, but my body comp is still looking good, I'll add food. If the scale is going up, but my gym performance is stalled and body is looking a little soft, I'll add about 100 mg of drugs.

My maintenence calories, based upon the last 4 weeks of data, is 4200 calories. It's absolutely ridiculous for a 196 lb man to be that high, but it is what it is, it's objective data. The next couple of weeks I'll dial this number in a bit, as my diet has been a little loose the last few months, to ferret out any water fluctuations muddying the numbers. Regardless, it'll be close to 4200 Cals.

I'll attach a pic from this morning, in case I forget to take one before tomorrow's DEXA. My bodyweight is 196.8 lbs, and my guess is that I'm in the 12-15% bf range. There was no carb loading/depletion or water manipulation in this pic, this is what I walk around at daily, and can easily maintain.

I'll post my training plan details up before it starts, once it's finalized. I ran it through an acclimation period, and last week was my first week fully running it. I already made a couple of alterations, I just want to give it another week or so to see if it's appropriate.

Any questions or comments, feel free.

 

[Wizbang]

I wish I could get a dexa scan, none available locally at all. I'll be following along!

 

[CJ]

DEXA results are in. I'm very happy with my bone mineral density and visceral fat, but I'm quite surprised at the overall bodyfat percentage.

 

[Berserker_D]

Looking damn good CJ! I’m inspired to get a dexa now too! I’m definitely following this. I know I will pick up some wisdom to add to my training, and stay motivated. Thanks for posting it brother

 

[Jonjon]

Did you think bf% would be higher or lower? You look very lean to me

Have you ran EQ before? It lowers estrogen, and I can’t gain without a decent E2 level. I’m sure you have, im just curious what you’ve done with it in the past.

 

[CJ]

Did you think bf% would be higher or lower? You look very lean to me

Have you ran EQ before? It lowers estrogen, and I can’t gain without a decent E2 level. I’m sure you have, im just curious what you’ve done with it in the past.

My estimate was 12-15%. I think that I'm 12%, but most of us underestimate our bf%, so I allowed myself to be 25% fatter than I think, so that would be 15%.

I have run EQ before, and I'm a naturally low aromatizer, so low E2 is a concern. I will be getting mid cycle bloodwork, and if necessary, I'll bump up my Test dose. I do have to be careful with that, though, because with too much DHT, I break out in nasty cystic acne.

 

[TODAY]

Looking damn good CJ! I’m inspired to get a dexa now too! I’m definitely following this. I know I will pick up some wisdom to add to my training, and stay motivated. Thanks for posting it brother

There's nothing magic about DEXA.

It's a bit more accurate than most other commonly-available methods of evaluating body composition, but it's FAR from foolproof.

 

[CJ]

There's nothing magic about DEXA.

It's a bit more accurate than most other commonly-available methods of evaluating body composition, but it's FAR from foolproof.

Agreed. I was mostly interested in the bone mineral density test, as I'm an asthmatic who's been on corticosteroid inhalers for basically my entire life. And they're known to lower BMD substantially.

It was also good to see how much visceral fat I have, for health reasons.

The bf% is more for comparison, as I'm getting a follow up test after this gain phase. I'm interested in fat vs lean mass gain, so I'm hoping that any margin of error is at least consistent.

For pure bodyfat gain/loss, I prefer cheap calipers, using the total mm's of gain or loss, not ever using the numbers to calculate a rough bf%

 

[Yano]

My estimate was 12-15%. I think that I'm 12%, but most of us underestimate our bf%, so I allowed myself to be 25% fatter than I think, so that would be 15%.

I have run EQ before, and I'm a naturally low aromatizer, so low E2 is a concern. I will be getting mid cycle bloodwork, and if necessary, I'll bump up my Test dose. I do have to be careful with that, though, because with too much DHT, I break out in nasty cystic acne.

I had ya figured at 4 -6 just by how you look ,, I knew you weren't 15 ,, you're all dick skin from head to toe

 

[CJ]

I had ya figured at 4 -6 just by how you look ,, I knew you weren't 15 ,, you're all dick skin from head to toe

Dude, 4-6% is almost on death's door, right at the edge of essential fat.

I still think I'm 12+%

 

[Jonjon]

It’s too bad boldenone cypionate is not more common. That eq ester is just such a pain to deal with if you find something is not right, wel tough luck you got 90 days lol

 

[Yano]

It’s too bad boldenone cypionate is not more common. That eq ester is just such a pain to deal with if you find something is not right, wel tough luck you got 90 days lol

Years ago that was why I hated Tren , the original from Negma , Parabolan was Hex ,, when shit went bad you had a month of hell to deal with.

 

[Yano]

I'll look through my photos n shit see if I can find a pic of my older brother Steve. His body doesn't store fat like ours does ,, he eats like a monster too. He's always got death face like he's in prep.

He just doesn't store body fat , there's a name for it but i'd have to google it up ,, lipodystrophy or some shit

 

[TeddyBear]

S

Starting in 2 weeks, after my yearly Dr physical, I'll be running a ±20 week lean/moderate muscle gain block. The goal is to slowly and sustainably add quality tissue, while keeping fat gain to a minimum. The plan is to run an average daily surplus of 200-300 calories, gaining on average of 0.5 lbs of weight per week. There will be DEXA scans pre and post, the first one being tomorrow morning, and the second one being a few weeks after the drugs come back down to TRT doses, to allow some water to come off and any backlog of food in my GI system to work it's way through.

My goal is not to be huge, it never was. I'm too old for that, anyway. My goal is more of a hybrid training approach, balancing muscle/aesthetics with hiking performance, and overall health. There will be a moderate dose of mixed HIIT and LISS cardio/hiking in my training plan, to keep performance and health within acceptable levels. If I gain 5+ lbs of actual muscle during this block, I'll be as happy as a pig in shit!!!

My drug use will be moderate. It'll start with 300 mg of Test, 300/100 mg of Deca/NPP, and 400 mg of Equipoise. I'll also be utilizing GH, starting at 3 iu's, titrating up to 6 iu's or so. I picked these compounds/doses for a specific reason.

Drugs and/or food will increase when/if necessary, based upon a combo of the scale, the mirror, and gym performance. Examples... If weight gain stalls, but my body comp is still looking good, I'll add food. If the scale is going up, but my gym performance is stalled and body is looking a little soft, I'll add about 100 mg of drugs.

My maintenence calories, based upon the last 4 weeks of data, is 4200 calories. It's absolutely ridiculous for a 196 lb man to be that high, but it is what it is, it's objective data. The next couple of weeks I'll dial this number in a bit, as my diet has been a little loose the last few months, to ferret out any water fluctuations muddying the numbers. Regardless, it'll be close to 4200 Cals.

I'll attach a pic from this morning, in case I forget to take one before tomorrow's DEXA. My bodyweight is 196.8 lbs, and my guess is that I'm in the 12-15% bf range. There was no carb loading/depletion or water manipulation in this pic, this is what I walk around at daily, and can easily maintain.

I'll post my training plan details up before it starts, once it's finalized. I ran it through an acclimation period, and last week was my first week fully running it. I already made a couple of alterations, I just want to give it another week or so to see if it's appropriate.

Any questions or comments, feel free.

hredded

 

[BobJohnson54]

low E2 is a concern.

At what level do you start having symptoms from low E2. I’ve been having some issue I’ve never had before like low libido, crackly joints, night sweats and super dry flaky skin. I had some blood work done to try to see if anything was going on hormonally and everything was within reference range except my estradiol. It came back 12.7 pg/ml and after doing some research it seems like those symptoms may be low E. What’s been your experience when it gets to low. I’m lifetime natural

 

[Send0]

At what level do you start having symptoms from low E2. I’ve been having some issue I’ve never had before like low libido, crackly joints, night sweats and super dry flaky skin. I had some blood work done to try to see if anything was going on hormonally and everything was within reference range except my estradiol. It came back 12.7 pg/ml and after doing some research it seems like those symptoms may be low E. What’s been your experience when it gets to low. I’m lifetime natural

That's pretty low E2 levels. Everything you described aligns with having low E2.

I know you said you're natty, but do you happen to take any supplements? For example, DIM?

 

[BobJohnson54]

That's pretty low E2 levels. Everything you described aligns with having low E2.

I know you said you're natty, but do you happen to take any supplements? For example, DIM?

Just Creatine, fish oil, vitamin d+k2, magnesium and P-5-P in a daily basis. Yohimbine hcl on occasion. I didn’t start taking the mag and P-5-P until after the blood test though to help me sleep

 

[CJ]

At what level do you start having symptoms from low E2. I’ve been having some issue I’ve never had before like low libido, crackly joints, night sweats and super dry flaky skin. I had some blood work done to try to see if anything was going on hormonally and everything was within reference range except my estradiol. It came back 12.7 pg/ml and after doing some research it seems like those symptoms may be low E. What’s been your experience when it gets to low. I’m lifetime natural

Yeah, that's pretty low. I don't know the exact level where it affected me, my bloodwork showed <5 pg/ml, which is below the detectable level.

My main symptom was joints that felt like glass, especially the elbows.

 

[GreatGunz]

You should put on 5 lbs without doing anything with all the stuff ur running.
I just did 20 weeks lost 35 lbs got ripped.

Minimal effort honestly.

 

[CJ]

So this is the program that I'll be running. It's focused on the muscles that I feel need extra attention, the chest, biceps, and lateral delts.


[ ] SUNDAY-Torso, 22 sets
-HS Incline Press, 2x8-12, 1x12-15
-Ntrl Cable Pulldowns, 3x12-15, descending
-Matrix Chest Press, 3x10-15, descending
-Icarian OH Rows, 3x10-15, descending
-Machine Laterals, 4x15+, +P's
-A1) Bosu Ball Crunches, 3 sets
-A2) DB Hammer Curls, 3x~15+P's
-HIIT/Zone 5, 1 min Max HR/3r x 3 Rds

[ ] MONDAY-Arms+Hiking, 15 sets
-Matrix Shoulder Press, 2x8-12, 2x12-15
-Reverse Pec Deck 3x15-20
-DB Laterals, 4x15-20+P's
-LF Cable Curls, 4x~15+P's
-Flat DB Skulls, 4x12-15
-Short Hike/LISS

[ ] TUESDAY-Rest Day

[ ] WEDNESDAY-Lower, 23 sets
-Lying Leg Curls, 3x10-15, descending
-Reverse V Squats, 3x6-10
-Hack Squats, 3x8-12
-Matrix Narrow Calfs, 3x12-15, +P's
-HS Incline Press, 3x10-15
-DB Laterals, 4x15-20, +P's, +RP
-HS Preacher Curls, 4x15

[ ] THURSDAY-Pull + LISS, 16 sets
-HS Rev Pulldowns, 3x10-15
-HS OH CS Rows, 3x10-15
-EZ Cable Tricep Pressdowns, 4x~15
-A1) Bosu Ball Crunches, 3 quality sets
-A2) EZ Reverse Curls, 3x~15
-LISS Bike, Zone 2, 30-45 minutes

[ ] FRIDAY-Push/Legs + HIIT, 23 sets
-HS Incline Press, 2x8-12, 1x12-15
-Matrix Chest Press, 3x10-15, descending
-Leg Exts w/Pad, 3x15-20, +P's
-A1) Matrix Wide Calf Press, 3x15-20, +P's
-A2) DB Laterals, 4x15-20, +P's
-B1) 45° Hip Extensions, 3 quality sets,
-B2) Straight Bar Curls, 4x~15
-HIIT/Zone 4, 4 max x 3r x 4 Rds

[ ] SATURDAY-Rest Day

WEEKLY VOLUME: 99 sets
Back: 12 (S/Th)
*Chest: 15 (S/W/F)
Shoulders: 4/12/3 [M-(S/W/F)-M]
*Bis: 12+6 (M/W/F)
Tris: 8 (M/Th)
Abs: 6 (S/Th)
Quads: 9 (W/F)
Hams: 6 (W/F)
Calfs: 6 (W/F)