Compulsory, Non-Exciting, and Almost Certainly Unoriginal First Thread

Well now that everyone's expectations for this post are at what is hopefully an all time low, I can proceed to introduce myself without fear of disappointing anyone who said "Ehh what the hell, I'll click on this new dudes thread."

I'm a 21 year old college student. I've had a fair bit of success with combat sports since I was a kid(I took state wrestling in secondary school and have misguidedly thought of myself as "hot shit" ever since). I am now an amateur box though I don't plan on taking a fight anytime soon. My reason for not wanting to fight in the near future is due entirely to the fact that I AM ******* SICK OF CUTTING TO 152!!! It sucks. I don't want to do it anymore. The next weight class up is 165, seeing as I train at a respectable gym and all, that means I will have to walk around at 175 at the very least, cut water the day before weigh ins, put the water weight back on and be huuuge for the weight class. While I do receive fitness advice it is all from big-hearted, well-meaning folk who are "caught up in the fight game." Also my highschool lifting coach and one NFL Lineman who worked with us a little bit in his off season for endurance and footwork purposes. When one the guys asked him what we should do in terms of lifting splits he so eloquently put it "Westside Templates Bro". So right now my lifting split is Westside for skinny bastards. It seemed appropriate.(I am a skinny bastard) I am joining mainly for exercise and diet advice(Currently force feeding myself 6000 calories).I lift with several teammates/training partners and they all seem to gain weight faster than I do... Even though I sometimes have a heavier big 3 and eat more... Bastards. That is not to say I don't gain weight, I certainly do just a much slower pace than I would like. Granted many of them are on steroids. Some (You may have seen on tv if you watch MMA) slam test suspension until like 3 days before they weigh in to fight. But some are not on any compounds and most manage to gain weight faster than me despite not being stronger...That is my main reason for joining this forum, I figured having access to advice from the Powerlifters/bodybuilders/general monsters will be advantageous to someone like myself in terms of diet/strength training. Also should probably mention that I haven't fought or sparred since June, and 3 months is the longest I've gone without being injured in years.. It's nice not training around a broken carpal, metacarpal, or ribs lol. Even in a sport where injuries are considered an inevitability I am still referred to as glass by my coaches.... As I am always breaking...

Anyways Current stats are Height:5'9 Weight:164 at 8% body fat(would like that to be lower but will worry about it later)

Big 3
Deadlift: 335 by 4(Actually almost re-injured myself getting this up on Thursday. I've previously dislocated my clavicle and it made a popping noise on the way up upthe third rep....I went for, and got, the 4th rep because I am a moron)
Bench 225 by 6
Squat 305 by 2 ( I prefer to deadlift on leg day)

Also about a year and a half a ago I was given a blood test before a higher level event and had a 189 testosterone level on a 240-1070 scale. They said this was low but probably just a fluke. I didn't know anything about test levels until very recently and now know that is low as ****. It concerns me as it may be a contributing factor to my struggle with muscle gains as well as my constant state of injury from like 14-present lol. I haven't had a blood test since, and my libido seems ok. While I do rarely think about sex, I think the aloofness might have actually help me get laid more often... Anyways my point is I might be asking some questions about ways to get my test levels up to a good baseline, DAA and other stuff like that.

If you are still reading this ask yourself "Why?" You could be watching porn!

Welcome to the community. Nice intro.

Thanks, happy to be here.

Welcome, read, read, read and make yourself at home

I would get my test levels checked again before anything. Maybe the fact you are always cutting and getting injured as a result of improper nutrition and overtraining is affecting your test levels. When the body is constantly stressed....you know...other things do suffer. Just a thought bro. Get your levels checked and start eating foods that increase testosterone. And stop breaking bones. There could be a correlation between you breaking bones and your body using up all the Vitamin D to repair them reducing your natural Testosterone.

Get on some DAA. Load up on Vitamin D. Maybe some fenugreek, and horny goat weed.

Welcome to the board read read and read more you will get a lot of good info on here.


Team Uncle z

Nice intro. Welcome to the community!

Yeah, the years of cutting weight like it's going out of style and getting into fist fights for up to an hour at a time, a few times a week, definitely takes a toll. At the time my level was tested low, I was sparring 15 rounds a week, practicing 2+ hours a day, and running 5 miles 5 mornings a week. Even though I wasn't cutting weight yet, didn't have any big injuries at the time, and felt alright my regiment was certainly what the average person would consider overly taxing. As someone who has been over training for years and years I hope that the test levels aren't irreversible. I figured as a 50 year old I would be limping around with my fair share of scar tissue, this little bit of cauliflower ear that I can't get drained, and some popping joints. It has never even crossed my mind that I could mess up my hormones in my 20's! I just watched an interview with Randy Couture where he said the training most fighters do will probably cause chronically low testosterone at a much younger age than the average person. He's not a doctor or anything.. But damn. Ordering the DAA and other supplements as I'm writing this, any particular brands you'd recommend or just go with the cheapest?

That's much better than I did