I don't know that I'm "down with it," but it's time. This week I transition to TRT and will be in this phase for roughly 12 weeks, give or a take a week or so based on contrasting blood markers, how I feel, and levels of inflammation. I will get to the inflammation in a minute.
I considered pushing the TRT phase out another couple of months but decided to stay with my original plan and make the transition now. The reason I contemplated extending the time was because within the last few weeks my recovery has increased quite a bit. I made some changes to my training by not just reducing volume/workload, but also cutting frequency, as well. In doing both of those things, my workouts have progressed substantially in a very short time. Still, I decided in the end to stay with my original plan and make the transition.
A lot of people approach a TRT phase or "cruise" phase with the mentality that they will not progress. I don't look at it this way. In fact, I enjoy not having to "dose" because I get tired of dosing after so many years. Plus, I feel that it forces me to evaluate my recovery even more than when I'm gassed. I know that I can progress on TRT but only if my training is spot on. While I'm gassed, I can train harder and with higher volume, and I typically don't worry much about the possibility of overtraining. However, it is still very possible to overtrain during that time, for the record. It's just less likely.
The only question left to figure out is whether I am going to SLOWLY cut and recomp during this TRT phase. I typically do not recommend doing this because it can limit progress and right now my focus is more on improving my legs vs. getting a lot leaner. At the same time, because I have done what I do for so long, I am very good at continuing to progress in the gym while slowly bringing body fat levels down. In fact, I typically will progress better while slowly bringing body fat levels down than I do when I force more food and increase my scale weight. I believe this is due to being more insulin sensitive while in a slight caloric deficit (slight vs. more aggressive, if I were to diet body fat off more aggressively). At least for the last 3 years, this is how my body operates best when it comes to gains. The one difference -- and it's an important one -- is that I do not usually do this while on TRT. I will make this decision this week as to how I will handle this part of the equation moving forward for this TRT phase.
As for inflammation: I have to be careful with what I say in my coach logs but suffice to say that for the last few months while being gassed, I have had a lot of inflammation. Not only have I hard normal inflammation like an achy knees and an odd wrist issue (minor but becoming chronic), but my dosing has caused an unusually high level of inflammation to the point of lasting for 5 and sometimes 6 days. If you do not understand what I am saying, don't message me and ask. You either get it or you don't. I will look to reduce inflammation as much as possible over the next 12 weeks.
I go into this next phase at around 228. I would like to come out of it around 220 because I just never really like my condition the more it gets over 220. 80% of the changes over 220 are in my waist, midsection, and lower back. If it were more evenly distributed, I might be better with it. I also feel that digestion becomes less efficient for me when I have to push more food to get over that 220 mark. As I have said numerous times before, I would much prefer to be hungry than to have a larger midsection while in a gaining phase.
The changes I will make to my diet will be subtle. I will likely be cutting out small amounts of carbs here or there and keeping protein and fat constant. Of course, I will do #zerocardio as I did last time because it worked so well. Losing 8 pounds of scale weight in 12 weeks should be a breeze and not even feel like I'm dieting. This will put me in a great position going into the next blast phase.
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