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I’m a natural athlete and I am looking to add more muscle to my frame. What is more important, eating in the middle of the night, or getting a good night's rest? What if I eat a really big meal right before bed with some milk or dairy to slow down digestion of the protein? Initially, when I was trying to pack on massive amounts of muscle, I realized that daytime eating was not sufficient to support the kind of muscle gains I desired; therefore, I started drinking huge protein shakes containing at least 75 grams of protein in the middle of the night— usually around 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. The result of consuming all this extra liquid protein was that I would wake up every 20 minutes having to use the bathroom. When your excreted waste starts looking like toothpaste and chronic diarrhea is the rule rather than the exception, you know something is not right. It was at this point I realized two things: (1) I was consuming too much protein per shake and (2) I needed some kind of fat source in my shakes so I could slow down the transit time of the protein, enabling me to properly absorb it. My solution was to cut back the shakes to 50 grams of protein. However, I also added three to four tablespoons of all-natural peanut butter to the mix. This strategy slowed the transit time of the shake through my digestive tract, it added additional muscle-building calories and it enabled me to sleep much deeper since I was no longer waking up every 10 times during the night to relieve myself.In addition to the peanut butter and whey protein shakes, my most potent muscle-building shake was comprised of 12 whole eggs (warmed to kill the bacteria), eight ounces of apple juice, six packets of Equal sweetener and one cup of uncooked, dry, instant oatmeal. Blend and gulp down as fast as conceivably possible. The year I gained the most muscle (30 pounds), I routinely consumed three of those “egg and oatmeal” super-shakes per day. A top national-level bodybuilder told me the only way to truly put on pro bodybuilder-quality size is by taking at least 5,000 milligrams of testosterone a week. I tried injecting that quantity for three consecutive weeks and I developed extreme pain at every injection site. I had flu-like symptoms 24 hours a day and I found myself sweating profusely all day long. I also lost my appetite. Is that what I must endure to be huge? If you’re in constant pain, feel like you have the flu, have no appetite and can’t stop sweating, how do you suppose you are going to train and eat enough to get huge? With that said, it becomes pretty obvious that the 5,000-milligram-per-week system is not all it’s cracked up to be. Whenever any anabolic steroid is consumed, only a minimal amount of the compound can be utilized by the body. All the unused, extra substance will have to be detoxified by the liver and kidneys and, ultimately, eliminated from the body. Whenever an individual chooses to start injecting astronomically high amounts of any hormone into the body, there will be repercussions. Specifically, in this case, extremely high estrogen production (from all the aromatizing testosterone) is resulting in your gross edema (water retention). In all probability, it’s this same fact that is causing your profuse sweating. Secondly, whenever you overload your body with highly androgenic hormones like testosterone, you risk over-stimulating your immune system and developing a condition known as serum sickness which has, as one of its side effects, flu-like symptoms (nausea, elevated body temperatures and achy joints).
Try tapering your dosages of testosterone back to a safe 1,000-1,200 milligrams per week and I guarantee you will see most of your side effects subside. Interestingly, on this significantly lower-dose regimen, I bet you’ll start packing on new, lean muscle tissue.
Have you ever thrown out your back? My boyfriend thinks I’m a dumb-ass for asking you this question. However, he’s always complaining about his back hurting after squatting. There is no such thing as a dumb question; however, there are quite a number of dumb answers out there.In 1986, I was a very lean, emaciated (by choice), long-distance runner at Franklin and Marshall College. Every time I would run over six miles per day, I would develop tremendous tendinitis in my groin area— so debilitating that I couldn’t walk comfortably. After seeing a local sports podiatrist, he informed me that my injuries were due to biomechanical problems with my feet. According to Dr. Fryman, the arch in my foot was essentially non-existent; therefore, every time my foot struck the ground, the wrong muscles were absorbing the impact. The result was pain and weakness in my legs, knees and hips. His solution was to fit me for a pair of custom orthotics— fiberglass inserts that easily slip into the sneakers (in place of the pathetic foam inserts that usually come with the shoes). Four short weeks after introducing the new orthotics devices into my running shoes, all my pain “magically” vanished.In 1990, I finished my running stint at Franklin and Marshall and naively removed the orthotics from my sneakers. It was about this time that I started weight training in an attempt to pack on lots of lean muscle mass (to look good at the beach). Happily, I went from 140 pounds to 185 pounds in eight short months. However, the result was a very sore lower back. Every single time I squatted over 315 pounds, I “threw out” my lower back and hobbled around in agony for at least two weeks. My very simple solution to my very depressing problem was to reintroduce the old running orthotics back into my sneakers. The results were nothing short of remarkable— my pain subsided and never returned and, luckily, I never had another lower back, knee, or hip joint problem again. My wise suggestion to all bodybuilders (and any other athlete who may be reading this) is to visit your local podiatrist or chiropractor and tell him/her Dave Palumbo said you are in desperate need of a pair of custom orthotics. I have been taking 1,000 milligrams per week of Primobolin and 50 milligrams of Winstrol depot every other day for just over six weeks now. Why is my sex drive nonexistent? My girlfriend is not very happy. Dave, please help!Primobolin and Winstrol, while being anabolic steroids, have very low androgenic properties. This means although they may build lean muscle tissue rather well, they have very little “masculinizing” effects on the body (i.e., no increased aggression, no huge muscle pumps and more relevant to your situation, no increased sex drive). As a matter of fact, when large amounts of highly anabolic, low androgenic compounds like Primobolin and Winstrol are taken, the total circulating androgen level found in the user’s body might actually be lower than when he was “natural.” From what I’ve observed over the years, it seems as though these high-anabolic/low-androgen compounds actually “water down” circulating androgen levels and thus, lead to lower, rather than higher, sex drives.
One solution would be to cut back the amounts of purely anabolic compounds (such as Anavar, Primobolin or Winstrol) that you’re using. Another fix would be to introduce another, more androgenic, compound (e.g., trenbolone acetate) to help restore the proper balance of anabolic to androgenic hormones in the body.
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