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burlyman30
12-10-2012, 01:44 AM
Funny title, I know, especially since I haven't used illegal AAS in a very very long time. I was thinking back to my youth (medieval times, lol) and remembering about my first introduction to the world of steroids and how I came to be familiar with them. This story may bore you to tears, or it may be interesting. I can't sleep tonight, so I decided to write something.

I started training at age 14. I was a frail 95 lb kid. I found the weight room my freshman year of highschool and it was a magical world to me, where I answered to no one but myself, and my results were determined only by me. I began to see strength and size results. Not dramatic ones, but they were steady.

Three years into my training, I had gained about 50 lbs and then dieted down for my very first BBing contest. I had immersed myself in all things BBing. Diet, training, and even the specifics of precontest nutrition. I competed at a whopping 132 lbs, but I was ripped. I took third. I trophied, and I was ecstatic. It further fueled my passion.

Now, all along, I had been steroid free and PH free. PHs didn't exist back in the mid 80s. But steroids also were not a controlled substance, either. If you obtained them illegally, it was the same as illegally obtaining any other non-controlled prescription drug.

It was at about this time, that I had made friends in the BBing community and one of my fellow competitors "blew up" in size. The "newest thing" supplement-wise, was yohimbe, and he told me it was from that. I was just getting acquainted with what steroids were and what they did, but I wasn't wise enough to realize this guy was lying to me. I always had the idea that replacing hormones were "bad" but enhancing your own body's ability to produce more hormones was "ok".

Over the next couple of years I learned more, trained hard, ate enormous amounts of food, stayed steroid-free, and continued to compete quite successfully in my area. This time period is what I consider the prime era for bodybuilding. Gyms were full, every gym had upcoming contest posters plastered on their walls, and many people had an interest in competing. The different weight classes and age divisions were jam packed with competitors, most of whom were not using steroids in my assessment.

I had gotten to the point after 5 years where I had gained about 65 lbs naturally and a decent amount of strength, but had been "stuck" for quite a while in the ability to gain mass. Additionally, I always lost substantial amounts of muscle each time I dieted down for a contest. I desperately needed to put more muscle on my frame in order to fill it out and become more competitive as I began choosing larger and more prestigious contests. And I needed to be able to retain that newly built mass while enduring extreme dieting practices.

Around 1988/89, another competitive BBer friend of mine who was a regular steroid user gave me a packet of xeroxed pages one day after we had been discussing gear, or as we called it back then, "the juice". It was a turning point for me. What he gave me was a copy of "The Underground Steroid Handbook" by Dan Duchaine. This was full of information on every steroid that was either available commercially or through UGLs. And even some that were not available at all.

I studied that book daily, mesmerized by this seemingly magical information. I eventually knew the information front to back. I spent countless hours devising endless combinations of these drugs for the "ultimate stack" based on the information I had learned. I was fascinated how very small changes in the atomic structure would entirely change the way a steroid would react once inside the body.

I had seen the effects of steroid use on others in the gym, and was so impressed by the changes one could make in a short amount of time, both in strength and in size. I finally came to the conclusion that this would be what I would use in order to gain the additional size I needed to advance my competitive standing in the sport....

End of Part One. Tell me if you want more ;)

EDIT: Below are links to the other installments if you want to skip the discussion between them.

Part 2 (http://www.swolesource.com/forum/misc/406-i-love-steroids.html#post5244)

Part 3 (http://www.swolesource.com/forum/misc/406-i-love-steroids.html#post5366)

Part 4 (http://www.swolesource.com/forum/misc/406-i-love-steroids.html#post5522)

Part 5 (http://www.swolesource.com/forum/misc/406-i-love-steroids.html#post5696)

Part 6 (http://www.swolesource.com/forum/misc/406-i-love-steroids.html#post5939)

Part 7 (http://www.swolesource.com/forum/misc/406-i-love-steroids.html#post6025)

Part 8 (http://www.swolesource.com/forum/misc/406-i-love-steroids.html#post6318)

weekend
12-10-2012, 01:58 AM
more!

pitboss
12-10-2012, 02:08 AM
Very interesting read ....

Rulk
12-10-2012, 02:50 AM
Glued. More please.

Coolazice
12-10-2012, 04:22 AM
More, please!!!!


You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to burlyman30 again.

BoneDaddy
12-10-2012, 06:07 AM
*tap, tap, tap*

Write faster!!

Cobalt
12-10-2012, 06:54 AM
345

h2s
12-10-2012, 08:42 AM
I vote more as well.


But I definitely agree with you. While never into competing, my fascination with the world of steroids is certainly present (well PEDs in general). I was never a superhero fanatic, but I would really define my interest as the ability to become beyond human, control the body and have it act as I wish.

I am lucky in that this fascination developed in a world of information overload. Anabolics 10, Anabolic Pharmacology, Old published study collections, etc.. are what line my closet shelf. I have said it to you before, I could not imagine how it must have been in the days of discovery you experienced.

Scope75
12-10-2012, 08:53 AM
Good story and I'd like to read the rest.

markam
12-10-2012, 09:10 AM
I vote more as well.


But I definitely agree with you. While never into competing, my fascination with the world of steroids is certainly present (well PEDs in general). I was never a superhero fanatic, but I would really define my interest as the ability to become beyond human, control the body and have it act as I wish.

I am lucky in that this fascination developed in a world of information overload. Anabolics 10, Anabolic Pharmacology, Old published study collections, etc.. are what line my closet shelf. I have said it to you before, I could not imagine how it must have been in the days of discovery you experienced.

346

xxiv
12-10-2012, 09:18 AM
i like steroids but only as a friend.
interesting read, keep it coming.

Mr_math
12-10-2012, 12:05 PM
Looks like a successful pilot for the first season! :)

Cobalt
12-10-2012, 12:38 PM
Looks like a successful pilot for the first season! :)

I'd watch it:
"Burly Man and the River of Juice"

AestheticOne
12-10-2012, 01:05 PM
in for more

Rulk
12-10-2012, 03:41 PM
For some reason I love, love, LOVE, BB stories from the 80's. I used to read Greg Valentino's section in MD because of all his stories about the mecca of BB and the BB'rs who lifted there. Plus, Burly's stories took place right in my neck of the woods, and I remember the dungeon in YMCA that fuled my interest in BB.

burlyman30
12-11-2012, 01:40 AM
Part Two.

(This information is for entertainment value only. Any description of illegal activity is for the sole purpose of entertainment, and should not be considered an admission of or instructions for wrongdoing.)

So, at this point, I had made the decision to acquire AAS. I needed to decide what I wanted to get for my first cycle and also find out was was actually available. It just so happened that the gym I worked out in was owned by the 1983 World Powerlifting Champion, Doyle Kenady. He was a beast of a man, with an abundance of natural born strength. But, in talking with him, you would have found him to be the kindest, gentlest, unassuming man you'd ever have met. He and his team of National and World-level powerlifters were no doubt using anabolic compounds. Watching them train squats and deadlifts in the 800+ range was inspiring.

Well, Doyle (RIP) just so happened to be connected to the steroid world after years in strength training and competition. He was sought out by more than just powerlifters, though. Quite a few professional wrestlers would come to him. Jesse "The Body" Ventura was someone who would occasionally make an appearance at the gym. He would work out, then later disappear into the back office with Doyle before reappearing and leaving for the day. It was common knowledge what was happening in that back room, and I was soon to be a part of that club...

After going back and forth on a few options, I had finally settled on what compounds I wanted to use for my first bulking cycle. Test and Anadrol-50. I went to Doyle and bought Testosterone Enanthate, but he didn't have any bulking orals on hand at the time. In fact, as I would come to find out later, he generally didn't put that type of compound on order, so Dbol or Anadrol was not something I would be getting from him.

It was during this time that I had decided to drive to southern California and meet up with a couple of friends at Disneyland and hang out for a couple of days. Part of my trip was spent with them, part of my trip was spent in Venice, California, heralded as the "Mecca of Bodybuilding". I trained at Gold's Gym in Venice a couple of days, as well as the World Gym just down the road.

I even trained at the old "weight pit", the outdoor gym you see in the movie Pumping Iron. That has all been changed and updated since that trip, and is much nicer. But the aura of all those bodybuilding greats will never be there as it was in the original pit.

I drove by the abandoned building that once housed the very first Gold's Gym. You could still see where the letters of the gym's name had been removed. It was a remarkably small gym. Maybe 2000 square feet in total. My mind wandered a bit as I imagined how all the "superheroes" of bodybuilding were working out side by side.

While I was there, I met Samir Bannout (Mr. Olympia, '83) at Gold's. What an impressive and refined physique he had. He was not training for a contest, but he was quite lean. He was in excellent shape, and looked enormous to my young eyes. I got a chance to watch the Barbarian Brothers (David and Peter Paul) training as well. On the beach, I met up with a couple of amateur bodybuilders and talked to them about what the steroid scene was like across the border. After talking with them, it seemed quite obvious that I would be crossing that border.

I would be remiss to not mention the eye candy on the beach. I had never seen so much beauty in my life. Skimpy bikinis, tanned and well-oiled skin, and perfect 10 figures lined the beach. As a young man who had not yet lost his innocence, this view was almost more than I could handle.

The next day, I found myself walking into a "farmacia" and asking for anabolicas. I was presented with Anadrol-50. It cost me $140, which was more than I was expecting, but I was ok with the pricing. After all, I had just completed the acquisition of my first cycle.

As I began walking back toward the border, I got a bit nervous about walking my most recent acquisition back into California. So one the way there, I stopped in a bathroom and disposed of the box that the bottle came in and poured all the tablets into the small plastic bag that the bottle contained. I put the drug information leaflet in the bag as well. After I disposed of the empty bottle, I tied the top of the bag in a knot and wadded it up and shoved it down my pants, behind my testicles. I felt much more at ease at this point, and walked across the border without trouble.

When I returned from my trip, I would begin my very first steroid cycle. I was a little scared, but mostly excited. This was to be a game changer for me...

End of Part Two. You tell me... Bore, or More?

Rulk
12-11-2012, 02:22 AM
Bro, you know I am hooked^. In fact, I really dig learning about how Oregon had such a big scene amongst the whole landscape of bodybuilding back then. Whole new world your sharing Burly that is begging to be shared. Please continue, this is great stuff and content I can't buy in magazines anymore.

Coolazice
12-11-2012, 03:57 AM
More, please. Definitely not boring!

Sperwer
12-11-2012, 04:45 AM
This!

BoneDaddy
12-11-2012, 06:14 AM
If you ask if we want more 1 more damn time, I swear Burly, I SWEAR..................:cool:

Now, hook us up.

DJM
12-11-2012, 07:21 AM
wendler said in his early years hed go across the border, pin, and come back.....hed even tell the officer when asked why he was headed into mexico 'to inject steroids', which was perfectly legal

AestheticOne
12-11-2012, 08:05 AM
moreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

longBallLima
12-11-2012, 11:48 AM
massss

Freepressright
12-11-2012, 01:44 PM
This is intellectual pornography. Gimme MOAR!!

Rulk
12-11-2012, 07:10 PM
wendler said in his early years hed go across the border, pin, and come back.....hed even tell the officer when asked why he was headed into mexico 'to inject steroids', which was perfectly legal

I remember reading something like that too in Muscle Mag's Anabolic's section. I forget the guy who used to write that column... Then it all turned into one big muscletech info/ad/article:mad:

milehighguy
12-11-2012, 10:28 PM
Great story so far. Reminds me of when I was in college and used to buy all the BB magazines. I was so stupid and really thought those guys trained as they had outlined in the magazines and that they were 'all natural'. It wasn't until after I graduated that I realized that all these guys were juiced to the gills. Pretty cool that you had and inside view.

O_RYAN_007
12-11-2012, 10:29 PM
Great stuff burls, keep the entertainment going!

burlyman30
12-12-2012, 01:13 AM
Part 3.

I was pretty excited to return home from my trip, knowing that my cycle would begin soon. I got in the car, and began driving home, figuring that I would stop maybe 7 hours into the drive, get a hotel, and then finish the journey. Home was about 2000 miles north. As I looked in my wallet, I realized... I had only about 25 dollars left. I'm not sure where the calculations/bookkeeping went wrong, but somehow I had overspent my budget. I had no credit card, no debit card (they didn't exist yet), and no ATM card. I had no checks with me, but out of state checks were not usually accepted anyway.

A panic struck me. How do I eat? Where do I sleep? How much gas money will I need to get home?

Luckily, at least I had a full tank of fuel. And I had a little Plymouth Horizon at the time. They were similar in size and shape to a VW Rabbit and very fuel efficient. The other "good" news was that I had about half of a loaf of bread and a little bit of peanut butter left. I would have to ration it and make it last. I could not afford to buy food.

I drove 55mph the whole way, in order to conserve fuel. I kept the windows rolled up for better fuel mileage, and kept the air conditioning off. Problem was, the temperature was in the mid to upper 90s (fahrenheit) and the car was well over 100 degrees inside. I was sweating profusely. Every so often I would roll the window down to keep from meeting certain death. At one of my fuel stops, I bought a gallon of water to drink in order to replace the fluids.

I drove non-stop, except for a short nap at a rest area. I barely made it, fuel-wise. I drove into my home town on fumes. Thank goodness for the days of 90 cent per gallon gasoline.

After getting back into the swing of things at work, I decided it was time to start my cycle. My training and eating was on point. At this point, my weight ranged between 155 and 160 lbs. I was not a big guy, but I was muscular at my height (5'6"). Keep in mind that I had already gained 60-65 lbs naturally up to this point, so it was no mystery why I was having trouble packing on more size beyond this.

I was ready.

I had talked to a couple people about self-injecting, and I was a pretty fearless kid. My very first shot took a while to get everything set up, get air out of syringe, decide on the exact injection location, etc. And I was a little bit nervous, but not scared. Just unfamiliar. It was a bit exciting at the same time. The 21g needle plunged slowly into my glute and I pressed harder to get all 1.5 inches submerged. I injected .5ml (100mg) with a plan to increase each week in a pyramid fashion. (For those of you unfamiliar with old school techniques, pyramiding up and down during a cycle was thought to ease you in and then help you begin to recover and you came down.) The needle came out with very little blood and all was good.

I started my first dose of Anadrol 50 that day as well. I started with just the single 50mg tablet daily.

Even within 24 hours, I could feel things changing in my body. The Anadrol was very powerful. I could tell that I felt a little fuller in my muscles within only a few hours. This continued to progress throughout the week. I was about 5 lbs heavier by the end of the week. This blew my mind. Considering how hard I had been working to make the numbers on the scale rise, and this little pill did that in a week. Even as a first time user I knew that it wasn't all muscle gain. I could tell it was water retention, but much of it was intramuscular water retention. I didn't feel fatter, I felt bigger.

The next week, I stayed at the same dosage of Anadrol (50mg/day), but raised up my Test to .75 ml, or 150mg. I continued to grow in size and in strength. Each week, I was using more weight than the week before, and my endurance rose as well. Suddenly, I could work out longer, do more reps with each set, and do more sets before my body screamed out begging me to stop. I had read the informational paper that came with the anadrol and I was aware it increased red blood cell count, so I surmised that the extra oxygen delivery was to be credited for the endurance. By the end of the second week, I was up about 11 lbs and stronger than I had ever been.

Week three, I increased the Anadrol to 50mg, 2x/day and the test went up to 1ml (200mg). Again, my strength shot up. At this point I remember my bench press being about 30 lbs higher, and my lighter (burnout sets) were done at the weight that I used to use for my heavy sets. I really could not believe what I was seeing in the gym. I was blowing past PRs weekly and felt almost like Superman. My muscular size was also rapidly increasing. My chest, an eternal lagging point, was showing some serious signs of thickening up. My arms were up in size, my lats were growing thicker, and my legs were blowing up.

Week four, much of the same continued. My Anadrol dosage stayed the same as the week previous and I increased the test dosage to 250mg for the week. I was now up about 20 lbs, about 175-180 lbs and I was still amazed at what seemed to be daily changes in my physique. Strength was rising at about 10lbs a week on the bench press and about 20-25 lbs a week on the squats. I had this feeling as though I could lift 800 lbs. I was eating enormous amounts of food, somewhere north of 6000 calories daily. I wanted to give these compounds every chance they had to increase my size and I wasn't about to shortchange them at feeding time.

But things began to take a turn for the worse in week five....

End of Part 3.

Rulk
12-12-2012, 02:14 AM
Loving it Burly. And 90 cents a gallon... Wow. Oh and nice cliffhanger you left us on my friend, can't wait for part 4.

O_RYAN_007
12-12-2012, 06:51 AM
You can say that again NOA! But who need the Walking Dead when you have Burly's great stories!?

Mr_math
12-12-2012, 09:18 AM
Anyone else picturing burly walking around in yellow posing trunks during this whole story?


:)

h2s
12-12-2012, 09:19 AM
Anyone else picturing burly walking around in yellow posing trunks during this whole story?


:)

Uh, Not I. lol

Cobalt
12-12-2012, 09:23 AM
360

Christ burly, 2k miles from the border? Don't think I would drive that far.

Mr_math
12-12-2012, 09:28 AM
Uh, Not I. lol

Lol.

- - - Updated - - -


360

Christ burly, 2k miles from the border? Don't think I would drive that far.

Hahahaha. That pic.

DJM
12-12-2012, 09:46 AM
Anyone else picturing burly walking around in yellow posing trunks during this whole story?


:)

pink is his color

Mr_math
12-12-2012, 10:06 AM
pink is his color

Hmmm. Now I see it a little clearer. Lol.

AestheticOne
12-12-2012, 10:14 AM
burly you make anadrol sound sweeter then candy lol

BoneDaddy
12-12-2012, 10:16 AM
burly you make anadrol sound sweeter then candy lol

Even that 'spicy candy'??

Cobalt
12-12-2012, 10:37 AM
pink is his color

362

burlyman30
12-12-2012, 01:04 PM
pink is his color

It was the 80s.

That is all.

lol.

burlyman30
12-12-2012, 01:08 PM
Christ burly, 2k miles from the border? Don't think I would drive that far.

It was an epic trip for me. To see and experience where the roots of modern bodybuilding began was like walking through a living history book. The gear was just icing.

That, and I'm a road warrior. I love a good road trip. I can drive 12-18 hours straight and love every bit of it.

burlyman30
12-12-2012, 01:12 PM
burly you make anadrol sound sweeter then candy lol

Just wait til part 4.... ;)

Cobalt
12-12-2012, 02:46 PM
It was an epic trip for me. To see and experience where the roots of modern bodybuilding began was like walking through a living history book. The gear was just icing.

That, and I'm a road warrior. I love a good road trip. I can drive 12-18 hours straight and love every bit of it.

Hell, the biggest trip that I've done in one sitting was about 500 miles, and took a good 10 hours. Mainly because the last quarter was through (and up) the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was exhausting to be in the car that long, until I hit the 60 degree sharp turns on the VERY steep roads. My right ear still has a ringing from my wife screaming, but damnit, I used my car's tuned suspension like it was meant to be used.
Open highways? No thank you.

xxiv
12-12-2012, 05:40 PM
is there any way to put these in order at the begining of the thread?

Rulk
12-12-2012, 06:32 PM
You can say that again NOA! But who need the Walking Dead when you have Burly's great stories!?

Lol! No doubt!

burlyman30
12-12-2012, 06:46 PM
My right ear still has a ringing from my wife screaming

Apparently you need a car to make this happen. Sorry :rolleyes:

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

burlyman30
12-12-2012, 06:48 PM
is there any way to put these in order at the begining of the thread?

I can do that later, no problem.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Cobalt
12-12-2012, 07:20 PM
Apparently you need a car to make this happen. Sorry :rolleyes:

I KNEW you would say something like that, lol

Scope75
12-12-2012, 07:32 PM
It was the 80s.

That is all.

lol.
Pink is a relevant color in 2012, and REAL MEN WEAR PINK!!
I LOVE BOOBS!!

Oh and keep the stories coming!!
I have all of them copied so I can read them on my flight home.

Scope75
12-12-2012, 07:34 PM
Just wait til part 4.... ;)

I can't wait so post it up!!


Please!! Lol

burlyman30
12-13-2012, 01:00 AM
Part 4.

Things had been going amazingly well during the first four weeks of my cycle. I was getting everything I wanted from it, AND MORE. So, being consistent with previous weeks, I ramped up dosages once again. I bumped the Anadrol to 150mg/day and the Test to 300mg for the week.

I noticed a bit of a headache starting that first day, but I didn't think much of it. Then it continued to get worse each day. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, so I didn't really let it affect what I was doing too much, but it began to affect my training. Any time I would strain in the gym, my head felt like it was in a vice and about ready to pop from the pressure. A LOT of pain. Again... I toughed it out, even though each day seemed to get worse than the previous. I only planned to stay at this dosage for a week anyway before I began tapering down, so I was determined to stick it out.

Then things got worse.

I was driving in town (I had a '78 Datsun 280Z at the time) and I sneezed. When I went to wipe the wetness off my nose and upper lip, I realized it was red. Blood red. My nose was bleeding pretty seriously and it took a few minutes to get it stopped. I didn't think too much about it until training time came and it was squat day.

Well, I was using what was heavy weight for me with all this new found strength. I was up to about 465 for sets of 6-8 deep reps. I wasn't going to break any powerlifting records, but for a guy of 180 lbs, it wasn't too bad. So I worked up through my warm up sets and worked my way up to the 465 range. At this point I am doing my best to block out the excruciating pain as I strain to push the weight up. About 6 reps in, my nose decides to explode again. Blood all over the mat. All down my face. I obviously wasn't going to be doing anything heavy for the rest of the night.

I took some time to get the bleeding stopped and everything cleaned up and just settled for doing some leg extensions and curls to finish out the leg night. I knew these problems were obviously tied to the higher dosage of Anadrol, but I was determined to see the week through, and I had one more workout to complete.

The last workout of the week came and I knew what I was up against with the headaches and nosebleeds. After all, by this time I had experienced several nosebleeds throughout the week, so I tried to play it smarter. I tried to avoid exercises that would create the greater internal pressure from strain and ended up relatively unscathed for this workout.

I was SO HAPPY to be able to taper back down on my Anadrol. The constant headaches had gotten so bad from the higher dosage that I could barely think straight or concentrate on anything. I finally gave in and dropped the dosage a day early. Within a couple of days, I was feeling much better and the headaches subsided.

Unfortunately, I wasn't ready for what would hit the next week...

End of Part 4.

BBG
12-13-2012, 01:04 AM
Holy crap.

Rulk
12-13-2012, 04:39 AM
It gets worse i'm assuming?! Damn the suspense! I have actually seen a couple of times, where guys get a nose bleed while working out and some of em had to stop because the bleeding would not stop. Your a fucking warrior Burly! Anadrol is helluva drug. Waiting for part 5...

Coolazice
12-13-2012, 04:40 AM
You're getting a little too good at the use of cliffhangers!!!

h2s
12-13-2012, 07:51 AM
I have only once seen a guy get a nose bleed in the gym. Although, he got it from coming down a bit close to the face on dumbell bench.

AestheticOne
12-13-2012, 11:06 PM
okay now the drol doesnt sound so sweet :( shouldve stuck with 100mg for 6 weeks ;p

O_RYAN_007
12-13-2012, 11:11 PM
I love this show!

iron
12-14-2012, 01:10 AM
awe man i have to stop, crazy! what episodes next 'gyno strikes!' attack of the killer nipples

Scope75
12-14-2012, 01:15 AM
As soon as I saw this thread at the top I thought part 5 was posted!

Rulk
12-14-2012, 01:31 AM
As soon as I saw this thread at the top I thought part 5 was posted!

I know...

burlyman30
12-14-2012, 01:54 AM
Part 5.

I was quite grateful to be done with the previous weeks Anadrol dosage, understandably, and was back down to 100 mg/day and for the first week since I began my cycle, I did not increase the test dosage. It remained at 300mg and would stay there until I began to pyramid downward.

As rough as the previous week was on me as far as feeling good, it actually resulted in about another 5 lbs of weight gain, so I was up to about 185, and that was an increase of somewhere around 30 lbs of gain at this point. I was visibly bloatier, but not fat looking. Bodyfat % had risen probably from 14 to 16 and then the additional water retention probably put me at a visual 18%

My muscles felt full all the time, but the newfound mass and bloat had reduced my flexibility significantly. I noticed basic tasks like grabbing the seatbelt in the car was more difficult. Rather than grab it with the hand closest to the belt, I would have to use the other arm and reach across. Bending over to tie my shoes became much easier to do if I put my foot up on a chair rather than bend over to reach it at floor level.

I noticed that all this additional weight was taking its toll in another way. I was walking from my car to the front of the gym one day and thought to myself, "who is breathing so dang loud?!" And then I realized it was me. Walking 100 feet had me in labored breathing. This was new and unexpected, for sure. Having never experienced this symptom before, I began to get a little concerned for my heart health, not computing the additional 30 lbs I was carrying. Of course, this was just one more reason to keep cardio off the menu. :)

But another thing occurred this week that I had not experienced before. Severe lethargy.

I really didn't want to get off the couch. At all. I would pry myself off the couch to eat, use the bathroom, and train. But that was about it. Oddly, when I would get to the gym, everything seemed fine and my workouts would go great. Full pumps, strength increases, and some serious aggressiveness.

On top of that, yet ONE MORE THING to add into the mix of things-- Lack of appetite. This was actually more concerning to me than the lethargy, though I secretly wondered if the internal toxicity of Anadrol was causing my body to shut down. So at this point, force-feeding became the name of the game.

I would eat as much as I could, but at a certain point, I actually felt like I was going to vomit, so I HAD to stop and wait for it to digest a bit. I was determined to gain more muscle and was not going to waste one day on this cycle. So, 6 meals a day, I shoveled in as much as I could and tried to keep it down.

You'd think lack of appetite, flexibility, and cardio health would be enough for one update, but in true infomercial fashion I'll say... "But wait, there's more!"

I mentioned above that my aggressiveness in the gym was evident. Well, this played out in an unexpected way during this week. I was training one day at a different gym than my usual powerlifting gym. It was a local fitness center that my friend belonged to and that I used to work at as a trainer. I went in there and my friend was giving me crap and poking me in the chest for some reason. He did that sometimes when he was trying to make a point and I generally found it annoying, but always gave him a pass on it and said nothing about it. This was not one of those times....

I grabbed his finger, mid-poke, and twisted it and his wrist around until I saw pain register on his face. Then I began yelling at him, ignoring the growing crowd of interested watchers. I just lost my temper completely. I was giving him a royal reaming in a public venue, telling him just what I thought of his finger poking and stupid comments. It was probably only a minute, but it seemed like several at that point. Once the steam was let off, I began to normalize a bit and realized what I was doing. I let go of his finger turned around and walked off. By the time I had left the room, I was already feeling badly about what just went down and was pretty confused about it, too. I've always been a mellow guy, so this was way out of character for me.

I had to call the guy up later and apologize profusely for what I did. He was gracious (knew I was on a cycle) and let it go. Interestingly, though... he never poked me on the chest after that. Never again. lol.

The aggressiveness arose only one other time during this cycle. Unfortunately, it was after being pulled over by a police officer...

End of Part 5.

Coolazice
12-14-2012, 02:09 AM
Still NOT getting tired of reading this stuff!!! :cool:

Scope75
12-14-2012, 02:22 AM
These are the best reads ever!!
They keep we wanting more and they are a cool look into the past.
Thanks again for taking the time to write and post these.

- - - Updated - - -

Would give you some reps but I can't right now!!

weekend
12-14-2012, 02:24 AM
love these every time. keep em goin.

Rulk
12-14-2012, 02:42 AM
WHAT!!!???? Damn Burly! YOu know how to keep us in suspense. I'm just gonna say it now. Best Thread Ever.

Scope75
12-14-2012, 02:50 AM
WHAT!!!???? Damn Burly! YOu know how to keep us in suspense. I'm just gonna say it now. Best Thread Ever.

X2!!!

h2s
12-14-2012, 07:34 AM
Write a book already!

Scope75
12-14-2012, 08:03 AM
Write a book already!

I'd buy it..

burlyman30
12-14-2012, 08:09 AM
Write a book already!

Tales From the Dark Side

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Scope75
12-14-2012, 08:17 AM
Tales From the Dark Side

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

I want a xeroxed copy of it autographed to make it as underground as possible.

burlyman30
12-14-2012, 08:38 AM
I want a xeroxed copy of it autographed to make it as underground as possible.

Lol. Awesome. Repped.

Edit: "You must spread around reputation before giving it to Scope75 again."

h2s
12-14-2012, 08:39 AM
I want a xeroxed copy of it autographed to make it as underground as possible.

Duchaine style.

burlyman30
12-14-2012, 08:45 AM
Write a book already!

Consider this your underground ebook. First edition.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Scope75
12-14-2012, 08:45 AM
Lol. Awesome. Repped.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2


Duchaine style.

I knew you guys would like that!
Burley when the series is finished you should print them out and sell a limited number!! Lol

Mr_math
12-14-2012, 09:48 AM
So that's why they say people are angry and aggressive on cycle..

I would have twisted that damn finger too.

Freepressright
12-14-2012, 09:50 AM
Awesome! Can't wait for the next chapter!

Cobalt
12-14-2012, 12:45 PM
LOL, you lose it when you get pulled over by a cop? This should be fun.

longBallLima
12-14-2012, 01:04 PM
lol this is too much fun burly

AestheticOne
12-14-2012, 04:52 PM
i <3 this thread, thanks for sharing these experiences with us burly :)

Rulk
12-14-2012, 05:27 PM
This read could easily be in print magazines and as seen here at SS, guys would eat it up. It's a fantasticly detailed journey that is part frankenstien, part self-discovery, personal triumph, downfalls and hopefully redemption. Elements that make for good reading.

pitboss
12-14-2012, 09:04 PM
More, Burly, this is a fun read!

burlyman30
12-15-2012, 04:01 AM
Part 6.

After getting through the past week, I was still able to eek out a bit more weight and size gain, even though the lethargy and the lack of appetite didn't put me in the best circumstances for this. I was able to put on another 4 lbs, bringing me just shy of 190. Strength had continued to rise, albeit slower than it had advanced earlier in the cycle. Progress was still being made in the gym and was visible in the mirror.

I reduced my Anadrol dosage to 50mg/day for this coming week and maintained my test dosage at 300mg/week. It was my hope that the lower dosage would allow me to get my appetite back and reduce or eliminate the lethargy.

I had never been a good bench presser. Even with great technique that I learned from the powerlifting guru who owned the gym, I was just never well suited to the lift. However, it was about this time that I was able to finally hoist 3 plates up for a single. It was a short-lived ego trip, as the powerlifting team would come in the next day, and I would see the "weak" team members bench press in the 400s. Watching this team always fascinated me.

Doyle, the aforementioned gym owner and prior world champion was an extraordinary coach, with the ability to train others to become national-level champions. His enjoyed notoriety in the PLing community (as well as the wrestling community). One day I was in the locker room and I saw a short and stubby guy as he was dressing and about to leave. As I looked up, I saw his face... this was Dr. Fred Hatfield, the first man to do a 1000 lb squat.

I didn't know it before, but it turns out Doyle and Fred were friends. Some of you may or may not recognize the name. In the mid to late 80s, Hatfield was the editor in chief and a major contributor for Muscle and Fitness magazine. Some of the magazine's best and most scientifically backed articles were written in that magazine during this period. Mostly by him. Very smart guy.

I usually trained a little after 9pm, because I knew the PLing team would be just finishing up their workout. When the PLers in the gym would see me enter they used to yell things like "Here comes the 'bodybuilder' " or "Nice quads. How much can you squat with those?" I just laughed. It was a good group of guys there. All except for one. I'll have to leave him for another chapter. ;)

Though the PLing team never really understood why someone would be into bodybuilding over strength competitions, they really didn't realize that I trained fairly heavy too. I trained as heavy as my body would allow, anyway. It's just that size was the end goal and strength training was used to achieve that goal. At this point in my training, I was doing stiff-legged deadlifts with 425 for sets of 12. Not breaking any records, but not too bad for a guy who just trained "for looks" and weighed under 2 bills.

I had actually cut my leg training down during the cycle as their development had always been ahead of my upper body. I began to train squats/quads only once every two weeks and stiff-legged deadlifts/hamstrings on alternating Wednesdays. Wednesdays has historically always been my leg day. Just one day a week. My philosophy was to blast them to oblivion and let them recover. Alternating my leg days worked very well, and allowed my upper body to catch up during the cycle.

The lower dosage of Anadrol helped my lethargy and appetite a bit during the week, but I think it had to do with overall cumulative load on my system over the previous weeks. I figured I would have to detox a bit from the methyl before I would feel better. Nevertheless, I trudged on. I still had to force-feed myself. I wouldn't feel as nauseous while eating as I did the week prior. So at least there was some improvement there. I still had a hard time removing myself from the couch, though. I just generally felt a bit crummy. Until I got in the gym. That's when everything went well and I would really feel good.

I think feeling a bit crummy also affected my mood, or at least amplified a bad mood when it would occur. I experienced this during one of my off-training days.

I had a black '78 Datsun 280Z and I had been pulled over and ticketed numerous times with this car. The black sports car seemed to really attract the eyes of the law. It just so happened that I liked to drive on the edge of lawfulness/lawlessness. I had gotten a notice from State Farm stating "...if you receive any more citations, we will suspend your insurance coverage". So I needed to lighten the pressure on the accelerator, obviously. But this was easier said than done.

One dark night I was driving through my town on a stretch of road that has a 40mph limit. Well, my little car really preferred to go faster and I obliged. She and I were traveling about 70mph when we went through a yellow left turn light and onto the adjacent road. Just as I made the turn under the yellow light, the nearby streetlight cast a glare on the road behind me and as I looked in my mirror, I saw that a car was following me. With it's lights off. It's no wonder I didn't see him in the dark. It followed me through the light, which by then was certainly red. I saw him behind me, running with no headlights or parking lights and I kept my speed at the speed limit. Well, I only made it about 1/2 mile down the road when red and blue flashers went off in my rear view mirror.

I pulled over and promptly exited my vehicle and began walking toward the police car. I was met midway by an officer who asked me to step back over by my vehicle. That was just fine, so I complied. He asked me how fast I was traveling down the road I had been on before. I told him that if he was asking, then apparently he didn't know and "let's just keep it that way, shall we?" Well, that sort of pissed him off. He wanted me to admit to speeding, but he had neither a radar reading, nor was he able to pace me to confirm a speed. I wasn't going to do his job for him.

Aggravated by my response, he asked me why I went through a red light. I told him "I didn't, but you did." Now, the light may have turned red once I was under it, but certainly not before. I was going way too fast to go through a red, anyway. :) Well, apparently the officer was not well pleased with my witty remarks. He began to yell at me about how unsafe it was to be driving too fast (unproven) through red lights (unconfirmed) at night. I reminded him that he and I were the only ones on this road at 2am. Well, as you can imagine, that didn't go over too well, either. His anger continues to escalate and now I am getting pissed because he's chewing me out for crap he can't even ticket me for.

At this point he tells me to give him my license and registration. I was standing a couple feet away from him and I began reaching into my jacket's inside breast pocket. The officer grabbed my arm while my hand was reaching for my wallet, pushed me against the car pretty hard, and drew his gun on me. Adrenalin spiked. Heart was racing. Without knowing what to do, I finally told him "Do you want my license or not? It's in my pocket!" I was at the point where I thought I might change from mild-mannered Bruce Banner into the Hulk at this point. Anger for the whole situation was welling up in me and this guy just pulled a gun on me. I was furious inside and trying to keep my composure on the outside. I was sweating like mad under my jacket. I was in fight or flight mode. But I couldn't do either.

Well, eventually he allowed me to slowly retrieve my wallet while his gun was aimed at me. Nerve wracking, to say the least. I pulled out the wallet slowly and couldn't help myself from saying, "Is this what you were afraid of?" He holstered his weapon and finally took the license and registration from my hand.

He was about to walk back to his car, and I was pissed, so I said "I think we need to call your supervisor out here." His response should have been "I will get him on the radio." Instead, he said "Why?" I said, "Because if you plan on ticketing me, I think he needs to know that you broke two laws while coming after me and that you assaulted and intimidated me without cause". My heart was still racing. I didn't know if he was going to arrest me, intimidate me more, or what at this point. But I stood my ground. Pissed off as can be. Seething, really.

Well, apparently he looked up my license and saw I was a law abider, except for a few traffic tickets. And somehow I think that as much as it may have pissed him off, I was right about his tactics and was smart enough to relay all this information to a judge in court. Or I would be talking to his boss in a matter of minutes.

After making me wait about 15 minutes (I think for the sake of spite), he returned my license and registration and I asked if his supervisor was on his way. He said "theres no reason to have him here if I don't ticket you." "But I asked to talk with him", I responded. "He's on another call and cannot respond, so I am sending you on your way". My B.S. meter was going through the roof. And I was livid that he, once again, defied protocol. But, at the same time, my feelings of anger were mixed with relief and gladness for not receiving the ticket that would certainly have gotten my insurance cancelled.

So I drove off, and practiced relaxation breathing to calm my nerves. To this day, I'm not sure how I held my composure. One of life's little mysteries, I suppose.

Getting back to the cycle...

As I went through this week, I knew I only had about 16 Anadrols left by the end of the week. I was getting afraid that I would lose a lot of my size as I dropped my dosage completely. So I came up with a plan...

End of Part 6.

Scope75
12-15-2012, 04:05 AM
It finally pays off to be up late!! Lol
Thanks for posting this at this hour.

Coolazice
12-15-2012, 04:28 AM
Another awesome chapter in this saga! I'm pretty surprised there wasn't a stronger verbal or physical reaction to the way that officer was 'performing his job'. Glad to hear that you held your composure though and made him look like an idiot in the process. He was likely sweating bullets too once he realized you weren't some random loser out looking for trouble that late at night.

- - - Updated - - -


It finally pays off to be up late!!

Or this early in my case. ;) lol

Scope75
12-15-2012, 04:39 AM
Yeah I'm up early to early!!
Can't sleep so I'm doing push-ups.

h2s
12-15-2012, 11:32 AM
Wow crazy update. I understand the frustration with the gun draw. I have very strong opinions on law enforcement and their use of intimidation. I had one similar situation with multiple guns drawn on me (a story I would prefer not to share publicly), and I remember a very similar emotional blend of anger and frustration

Scope75
12-15-2012, 12:09 PM
I've had the cops pull there guns on me twice for no reason other than I was bigger than them. Lol
Once when I was 14 and another time when I was 24. Crazy thing is I'm more than easy going and polite to the cops no matter what.

But yeah you handled that situation very well and I can't wait for part 7!!!

Cobalt
12-15-2012, 03:08 PM
Never had a cop pull his gun out on me, but I had one unsnap his holster and ready to draw once.
I almost just dropped straight on the ground when it happened, LOL.

Scope75
12-15-2012, 03:53 PM
Never had a cop pull his gun out on me, but I had one unsnap his holster and ready to draw once.
I almost just dropped straight on the ground when it happened, LOL.

That's what I did when I was 24 because it was 3 cops and guns puts me on the ground without them telling me. Lol

Rulk
12-15-2012, 04:01 PM
That is funny to hear how cops handled and did things back then. Driving with the lights off? LOL, real clever there gumshoe! It was easier to become a cop back then too, so you could have bumbling idiots like the one Burly had to deal with.

burlyman30
12-16-2012, 12:33 AM
Part 7.

The training went fairly well during the previous week, and even with the lowered dosage of Anadrol, I was able to at least maintain my strength from previous weeks, and even move up a bit on a few lifts, though only in small increments. I knew that as the Anadrol dosage continued to be reduced that I would likely suffer some strength loss and weight/size gain potential. However, I had already been on the methyl for 6 weeks and I was trying to be cautious in continuing its usage too long.

Beyond that, I only had about 15 tablets left. I wanted to use them wisely, and I really was a bit paranoid about losing my gains, so I halved and quartered the remaining 15 tablets and now had 60 quarter tablets. This week, I would take 1/4 tab morning and 1/4 tab at night, a total of 25mg/day. Test would remain at 300mg/week.

I continued this dosing schedule for 3 more weeks, actually. I noticed a reduction in bloat from the reduced Anadrol dosage and my appetite began to return. Lethargy was somewhat present but not as bad as before, and seemed to be improving weekly. I know this put my methyl usage at about 9 weeks at this point, but I felt the reduced dosage also reduced any significant health risk as well.

During this time, most of my focus was trying to maintain my strength and bodyweight. Strength did decline a bit, at least 5% during this time. And I had less of that "runaway freight train" feeling as I was hitting the weights. I struggled to keep my weight up, but I was still holding steady between 188 and 190. Though I would have liked to gain more in this cycle, I really could be nothing but happy at this point in regards to the weight gain in comparison to where I had been pre-cycle. I knew as time went on that holding that weight would present a challenge, but was determined to give it my all.

Rewinding for a moment, there's one item I had forgotten to mention during the middle of this cycle. The gym owner gave me a bottle of some Cheque Drops. For those of you who do not know, this has been long-regarded as one of, if not the most toxic steroid commercially available. It was originally developed for female dogs, in order to stop them from ovulating. It has been rumored that Mike Tyson was using Cheque Drops prior to his infamous "bite" on Evander Holyfield. It is known for creating strength and aggression, but it's toxicity generally prevents it from being used more than a few days. I opted to use it pre-workout only, so about every other day.

I'm a pretty aggressive person when it comes to my time in the gym, so while it may have created a bit more aggressiveness, it was not a night and day difference for me. One interesting thing about this compound is the speed in which it absorbs into the system. It is almost instantaneous. For those unfamilar, it is a liquid, and its lid has an eye dropper attached to it. I just placed it in my mouth, squirted it in, and swallowed. It had a very warming effect on the tissues in my mouth and throat. You could literally feel the warmth go down your throat after you swallowed it. Very odd. The main indication of its fast absorption was that my sweat drastically changed its smell. It turned into a very pungent musky smell during my nightly workouts. The next morning, no such sign of that smell existed. It seemed to have gone in and out of the system very rapidly.

I used the Cheque Drops for about 3-4 weeks mid cycle, every other day, and then saved the rest for another future cycle. As I mentioned before, I can't say I saw or felt a huge difference, but then, I was already on my peak doses of Anadrol during that time so it is hard to say with certainty how much gain I received from it.

So anyway, I was only about 3 weeks from the end of my cycle at this point. Dosages would begin dropping more, and I was already feeling remorseful about the impending end of my cycle, but knew I could not stay on it forever.

I had no idea what the "pct" period would look like for me having never done it before, but as you will read in the next installment, things did not go so well...

End of Part 7.

Freepressright
12-16-2012, 09:17 AM
Loving it!

VayneZ
12-16-2012, 10:30 AM
I started reading this thread last night, actually. Had to sent the pages to my phone so I could continue reading throughout this whole day.

And I gotta say Burly, (not that I'm trying to sound negative here bro) if you die tonight, you HAVE LIVED THE LIFE MAN!!! I love the fact that you had earned 50+ pounds completely drug-free, and developed such an amazing physique to have even placed in 3rd place at your first show. Also that you really gave your body time to actually reach a plateau before even considering using what you called ''the juice'' haha.

You're an example, of a person that did things the right way. I noticed that it didn't go perfect (so far up to part 7) but bro, compare to the MAJORITY of guys out there, amazing start! And the details and all... Burly you are an inspiration to ME bro! mad props my friend. Looking forward for part 8! I'm on it! :)

Scope75
12-16-2012, 10:55 AM
Damn the thread is just hands down EPIC!!!

O_RYAN_007
12-16-2012, 09:34 PM
just playing catch up, great episodes.

Scope75
12-17-2012, 12:19 AM
I'm ready for part 8!!

Scope75
12-17-2012, 11:14 AM
I'm more than ready for part 8 now!! Lol
I have all 7 parts saved to my phone for when I want a good read whenever I need one.
Great series and thread!

xxiv
12-17-2012, 12:57 PM
great read.

pitboss
12-17-2012, 03:13 PM
:D more!

AestheticOne
12-17-2012, 04:13 PM
burly where is my update for today? sitting in the airport with a 3 hour delay and i was hoping to get in my fill dammit ='(

...guess ill re-read them all at once :) should be fun

Scope75
12-17-2012, 04:37 PM
I'm bored at work and need something to make this last 1.5 hours go by.

burlyman30
12-17-2012, 05:04 PM
lol... guys... sorry for the delay... I was tired and went to bed last night prior to writing the next installment. I'll write it up tonight, somewhere around midnight Pacific Time, maybe after. Nice to hear you are hungry for more.

longBallLima
12-17-2012, 05:07 PM
what?? unacceptable!!!

i kid, i kid...

LOL on a side note, i've been banned from AM for asking ippy to suck my balls :P

VayneZ
12-17-2012, 05:23 PM
what?? unacceptable!!!

i kid, i kid...

LOL on a side note, i've been banned from AM for asking ippy to suck my balls :P

Damn dude... you should've thought twice before you asked that! Especially since you're a LONG ball Lima... the board was not ready for such insanity

Scope75
12-17-2012, 05:23 PM
Looks like I'll have to pull another all nightier and wait up for the next installment.

longBallLima
12-17-2012, 05:26 PM
Damn dude... you should've thought twice before you asked that! Especially since you're a LONG ball Lima... the board was not ready for such insanity

makes it that easier for him to suck it :P

i dont really care, i only used that account to troll ippy. i guess i don't get to see the insanity that is his log unfold. that kinda sucks lol

Enuke65
12-17-2012, 05:37 PM
I got a warning from ippster for liking the ball sucking post
what a fucking fanny fairy

longBallLima
12-17-2012, 05:41 PM
I got a warning from ippster for liking the ball sucking post
what a fucking fanny fairy

LOL too funny

Coolazice
12-17-2012, 06:19 PM
what?? unacceptable!!!

i kid, i kid...

LOL on a side note, i've been banned from AM for asking ippy to suck my balls :P

Did he PM you trying to arrange a time and place?

Scope75
12-17-2012, 06:22 PM
Did he PM you trying to arrange a time and place?

Poor guy doesn't even need to be around to get bagged on.
Ippy will live on forever!! Lol

Coolazice
12-17-2012, 06:28 PM
Poor guy doesn't even need to be around to get bagged on.
Ippy will live on forever!! Lol

Yeah, as a legend in his own mind.

Scope75
12-17-2012, 06:35 PM
Yeah, as a legend in his own mind.

The kid who lives for roids!!!
I just stopped reading his shit on PP and I hardly ever visit AM and wouldn't read his log if I was there. Lol

Now I feel like running a 8 week SD LV and TZ cycle!! Lol
I'd only run the SD at 40 and the TZ at 4ml so no supports will be needed.

Rulk
12-18-2012, 01:43 AM
This story should be mandatory reading for any 1st time aas users.

burlyman30
12-18-2012, 01:52 AM
Part 8.

As I mentioned earlier, I was a little afraid of muscle loss after dropping Anadrol and the previous 3 weeks I had quartered the tablets and taken 25mg/day. Well, over the next three weeks, fearing size loss, rather than drop Anadrol completely, I halved the dosage for the next 3 weeks, to 12.5mg/day. Now, at this low dosage, it may not have been doing anything at all. But psychologically, it helped me feel better. My dosage of test would reduce each week, 200, 100, 50 in pyramiding fashion to end the last 3 weeks of the cycle.

Now, as I stated before, pyramiding up and down in a cycle was common practice in those times. It was thought that pyramiding down would help your body begin to recover. We now know this is incorrect, but if the guy who is bigger and stronger than you tells you to do it, you just do it. And I did. There are many guys from the "old days" that still believe this, actually. I was just correcting a friend of mine over the summer and telling him that things had changed since we first got involved with "the juice".

SERMs were just in their infancy back then. I remember hearing the word Nolvadex, but people didn't really know how to use it.

I finally ended my cycle after 12 weeks, and although things had not gone perfect, I was much stronger and larger than when I began. I viewed it as a raving success, in spite of the side effects I experienced. It gave me the boost I needed in building the additional tissue I would need to compete in the future, and I viewed it as a means to an end. And, foolishly, I somehow thought I could keep all of it except the 5 lbs of bloat...

Well, PCT barely existed back then. Compared to today's multi-compound PCTs, we truly were in the dark ages. I was given a couple bottles of HCG (and water) and was told to inject 1500-2000 mcg, 3x/week for 2 weeks or until I ran out of product. For those of you who do not know, this is about 6-8 times the normal amount that AAS users will generally use while on cycle.

I can tell you that at the end of my cycle, my testicles had not just shrunken... they had absolutely shriveled. I am not exaggerating in the least when I tell you that they were -- no joke -- the size of raisins. Not grapes. Raisins. But I can tell you that HCG brought them back to normal size within the first week of HCG. It was like watching a water balloon getting filled in slow motion. Pretty impressive to see that much change in that short of time, especially since it took so many more weeks for them to shrink up.

Here's the problem with HCG. It plumps up the testicles, but it really doesn't get the body's HTPA back online. In fact, the high dose HCG creates so much aromatization of estrogen when the testosterone is rising quickly, that the estrogen actually suppresses and delays recovery. These are things I didn't know then, of course.

How much estrogen can be aromatized from high dose HCG? How suppressed was my androgen level? I, unfortunately, was unlucky enough to find out...

During week two of my HCG usage, I began to feel some slight nipple tenderness. I incorrectly assumed that this would just go away once the HCG usage stopped. I was wrong. In fact, it got significantly worse. My pectorals began taking on a more cone shape at the nipple area. The nipple area was extremely tender to the touch. The swelling was noticeable. I didn't feel comfortable wearing tight shirts because of the additional protrusion. It was embarrassing. And I didn't know how to correct it. The powerlifters at the gym didn't seem to know what I was talking about. I got no indication from them that they did anything different with their post cycle protocol than I did.

So in the coming weeks, with androgen levels tanked and estrogen levels high, my size and strength plummeted. Strength eventually returned to just barely above pre-cycle levels, and seeing that strength loss was downright depressing. And if it was only strength I had lost, it wouldn't have been so upsetting.

Unfortunately, I did lose a lot of the muscle size I had gained. I had gained fat by eating extra calories during the cycle, and now I had the extra fat on me while I watched my muscles wither. Looking back, and realizing how off kilter my hormones were, it is no wonder I lost so much strength and size. But while I was in the middle of it, I was depressed. My joints hurt. I felt quite miserable. I felt weak not only physically, but also my immune system felt weak. Though hard to explain, I felt sort of thin or hollow. Quite frail.

During this period, I dropped down to between 172-178 lbs in bodyweight, with a bit more bodyfat than before (though not much). My appetite was low. I just couldn't be motivated to eat much. I drank a lot of protein shakes in order to get calories in me and maintain as much size as possible.

I still worked out as hard as I could, but nothing could stop the ravaging effects of cortisol from my hormone imbalance. It took a few months of this to feel somewhat normal again, and at that point I just expected that every cycle and post-cycle would be like this.

So I began my search to accumulate more compounds for my next cycle...

Rulk
12-18-2012, 02:36 AM
Damn the ups and downs of this whole ordeal.

Scope75
12-18-2012, 07:59 AM
Damn good story!!!

I agree with NOA that this should be manditory reading for all new aas users.

burlyman30
12-19-2012, 12:51 AM
FYI, for your ease of reading, each installment I write I will also put in the first post of this thread, listed by number, for your reading convenience.

Be patient... more installments are coming.

Scope75
12-19-2012, 01:23 AM
FYI, for your ease of reading, each installment I write I will also put in the first post of this thread, listed by number, for your reading convenience.

Be patient... more installments are coming.

Sweet!!
Even better is I have them all saved in order on my phone and ready to read whenever the times comes.

Can't wait to read the next part to this story.

Sperwer
12-19-2012, 01:40 AM
After you finish the series, Burly, you really should think about working it up into a book. It would likely be better than any of the competition out there. Take a look at Fussell's "Muscle" as a benchmark of sorts - even if you don't care for his rather supercilious tone (the saving touch of which is that he doesn't spare himself from the satire - wearing his belt to let everyone on a plane ride know he's a bona fide body builder, indeed - hah!

burlyman30
12-19-2012, 01:51 AM
After you finish the series, Burly, you really should think about working it up into a book. It would likely be better than any of the competition out there. Take a look at Fussell's "Muscle" as a benchmark of sorts - even if you don't care for his rather supercilious tone (the saving touch of which is that he doesn't spare himself from the satire - wearing his belt to let everyone on a plane ride know he's a bona fide body builder, indeed - hah!

Interesting idea... I have to say, I underestimated the interest in my experiences. This thread has been well supported by the members and lurkers here, for sure. So before I go further, let me just thank everyone for your continued interest. I hope there are some valuable and useful nuggets of information you will all be able to glean from my experiences and that this might help you all avoid some of the pitfalls I encountered.

Scope75
12-19-2012, 01:55 AM
Burly thank you for taking the time to write it all down.
Its a pleasure to read and we should all be thanking you.

BBG
12-19-2012, 04:11 AM
Just read through these all... all I have to say is fuck gyno.

Crazy that on 300mg test per week you were fine, but hcg and post cycle hormone inbalance was what caused the gyno.

Scope75
12-19-2012, 08:14 AM
Just read through these all... all I have to say is fuck gyno.

Crazy that on 300mg test per week you were fine, but hcg and post cycle hormone inbalance was what caused the gyno.

That's what I was thinking.
Test and anadrol but the HCG gave him gyno.

Rulk
12-19-2012, 04:00 PM
Burly thank you for taking the time to write it all down.
Its a pleasure to read and we should all be thanking you.

Here here.

Scope75
12-21-2012, 08:32 AM
So I've been up for 2 days waiting for the next installment...
Where is it!! Lol

burlyman30
12-21-2012, 08:53 AM
So I've been up for 2 days waiting for the next installment...
Where is it!! Lol

Sorry bro... been pretty busy/preoccupied between the holiday preparations and the failing health of my father. Might be a bit longer. :(

Scope75
12-21-2012, 08:59 AM
Oh man!! That's not what I wanted to read.
Sorry to hear about your Dad!!
Hope all turns out good and you and your family have a great Christmas and New Years.

BoneDaddy
12-21-2012, 09:07 AM
Sorry to hear about your father, Burly. We will be here brother. Take care of family!

Bucks
12-21-2012, 10:07 AM
Luv this read Burly.

Hope for the best with your Dad. My Dads brother passed last weekend and he is having a hard time of it with the season.

markam
12-21-2012, 11:27 AM
Sorry bro... been pretty busy/preoccupied between the holiday preparations and the failing health of my father. Might be a bit longer. :(

Been there, also. Tough when your parents health starts to deteriorate, you have my sympathies.

burlyman30
12-22-2012, 11:57 PM
Thanks for the well-wishing, guys. I appreciate it. I've been burning the candle at both ends, mentally exhausted with the stress of the situation. Dad needs full time nursing care and we are beginning to move in that direction, but everything moves slowly and until things are in place, I am helping my mother with a lot of the care duties, wheelchair transfers, etc. Dad is not an easy person to deal with, either, which adds to the fun.

I look forward to resuming this thread soon. Most of my writing is done at night when wifey goes to bed and I get some peace to myself. But my brain is just wiped out at the end of the day right now. Have no doubt, I'll come back with more stories of illicit purchases and sales of different steroids, different cycle descriptions and my impressions on many of the steroids for both size, strength, and contest preparation.

Rulk
12-23-2012, 01:20 AM
Take care Burly and we're here to suppport you anyway we can.

Cobalt
12-23-2012, 07:26 AM
I lost my dad almost 4 years ago. Lived at home with him and had to watch him go down hill. It wasn't easy and it was horrible to experience.
He was a green beret officer in the army, so he was stubborn as hell with everything.

If you need anything, we're here for you burly.

Scope75
12-23-2012, 09:20 AM
All my best wishes and prayers are sent out to you and for family.
Haveing a sick parent(s) sucks!!
My mom fought threw breast cancer and that shit killed me on the inside!!!
I always stayed strong on the outside to not show her I was scared or worried but damn it was hard.
Just stay strong man just stay strong...

h2s
12-23-2012, 11:28 AM
As someone facing a hard situation with my grandmother, all the best.

xxiv
12-23-2012, 01:48 PM
If you need anything, we're here for you burly.

x2.

burlyman30
01-12-2013, 01:19 AM
Continuing on...

Part 9.

Having experienced the highs and the lows of my first cycle and post cycle, there was no doubt that I would cycle again. The good side of cycling steroids still overpowered any and all of the negative parts of the cycle and post cycle experience.

I had my local source, but being a powerlifting gym, there was not a lot of selection. So while things like test and sustanon were always available, you just never knew what else might be in that well-worn canvas duffle bag that the gym owner always kept close by.

Several months had gone by and it was time for another road trip like I had made before. But this time I would be bringing along two friends. Neither of them had taken steroids before, but both wanted to follow in my footsteps after seeing my dramatic results. It so happened that one of them had a connection in Oceanside, California, near SanDiego. It was a cousin of his who was also a bodybuilder. We called ahead and made arrangements to meet him on a given day and then began our travel plans.

One of my friends was a year younger than me, and a diabetic. This would prove to be interesting later on in our journey. He was pretty lanky, but definitely of the hardcore mindset and wanted to get big. My other friend was a Japanese exchange student that I had met at the gym and he and I hit it off from the first day we met. Both of us were competitive bodybuilders. He had done shows in Japan and in the USA. He was very lean and was in the lightweight class, but wanted to move up into the next weight class. His English was pretty good, but there were deficits, which often proved hilarious.

I took a week off of work during the summer, while my friends, let's call them Masa and Steve, were on summer break from college and highschool, respectively. We all had some money stashed away not only for the trip itself, but also for the gear we were hoping to buy. We had no idea on pricing. We didn't even know what was available before we drove down to Cali. We just knew that we wanted some steroids, we had a connection, and we had money to burn. The rest was just a lot of details that we would figure out along the way.

We all jumped into my Plymouth Horizon with our food and duffle bags of clothes and started the drive. We had about 1300 miles to drive, so with ample enthusiasm and plenty of adrenalin, we cranked up the stock stereo and the crackly speakers and headed south. We planned to drive straight through and decided to take shifts. I began the first shift in the afternoon and drove several hours. During our trip, we would pull out food to keep ourselves nourished. This took many forms. One such item was Masa's rice ball. He was in the back seat while I was driving and he apparently pulled out a compressed ball of japanese sticky rice wrapped in a sheet of seaweed. Then, to flavor it, he began liberally coating it with fish flakes from a shaker container. The smell from these fish flakes was that of old and rotten fish. Putrid. Potent. And they instantly filled the cabin with an odor that made me think someone had just had diarrhea all over the inside of my car. After much yelling and swearing, the fish flakes were put away, the windows were rolled down to provide breathable air, and Masa was stuck with bland rice balls to eat.

Eventually we made it to the Oregon/California border. We pulled over to use the rest area that was available. Steve and I returned to the car. Where was Masa? Huh. So we waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. 45 minutes passed and he FINALLY arrives back to the car, gets in and sits down. In his thick Japanese accent, he says, "Ohhh... Hurt so bad... My ahhshole is buhhhrning!" Steve and I were in hysterical laughter at this point with his expressiveness and sincerity. Then, suddenly, Masa's eyes got wide and he says, "OH NO! Must go bahhck!" And with no further explanation, he opens the car door and sprints back to the restroom. We could not help but laugh at this point, but he was seriously affecting our time table for fun in the California sun!

By now it was getting late, and I was starting to get tired, so when Masa finally emerged from the toilet again, I told him that it was his shift to drive. The journey was only just beginning to get interesting...

End of Part 9.

Rulk
01-12-2013, 01:40 AM
1st in on this bawse

Scope75
01-12-2013, 09:11 AM
Finally!! Lol
Another great installment.

jpk
01-12-2013, 11:03 AM
Burly,

I got a mind to paste this material into a program I use and generate this as a mobi or epub file. Then you could sell it as an e-book!

burlyman30
01-12-2013, 03:56 PM
Burly,

I got a mind to paste this material into a program I use and generate this as a mobi or epub file. Then you could sell it as an e-book!

You tech guys always have a program for everything! Interesting idea. I'm not sure how much interest that most people would have in my life, though. Guys from here and PP know me, which makes it entertaining, I suppose. To be honest, I'm flattered and humbled that you guys enjoy the stories.

Cobalt
01-12-2013, 05:23 PM
Are you kidding? These are great.

I can only picture burly walking into a classroom with sheets of paper, badly held together with clips, holding them up to his face and going, "Its story time!!"
All of the huge, swole guys sitting at desks scream, "OH BOY!" and runs over to a brightly colored rug in the corner, and sit in a circle around a chair.
Burly takes his place, turns to a new page and starts to read.

THAT is what my mind does when I see an update.

burlyman30
01-12-2013, 05:26 PM
Are you kidding? These are great.

I can only picture burly walking into a classroom with sheets of paper, badly held together with clips, holding them up to his face and going, "Its story time!!"
All of the huge, swole guys sitting at desks scream, "OH BOY!" and runs over to a brightly colored rug in the corner, and sit in a circle around a chair.
Burly takes his place, turns to a new page and starts to read.

THAT is what my mind does when I see an update.

LOL.

DJM
01-12-2013, 05:35 PM
Are you kidding? These are great.

I can only picture burly walking into a classroom with sheets of paper, badly held together with clips, holding them up to his face and going, "Its story time!!"
All of the huge, swole guys sitting at desks scream, "OH BOY!" and runs over to a brightly colored rug in the corner, and sit in a circle around a chair.
Burly takes his place, turns to a new page and starts to read.

THAT is what my mind does when I see an update.

http://www.politics-prose.com/files/politicsandprose/Bear_Song_Storytime.jpg

Scope75
01-12-2013, 05:57 PM
Burly these stories are great and well written.
Damn things have me wanting to read more when they are finished.
I have them all saved on my phone.

Grape Ape
01-12-2013, 07:05 PM
Fuck I love a good story!!!

AestheticOne
01-12-2013, 09:59 PM
fuuuarrkkkkk yesss story time! i've been waiting for this :)

jpk
01-14-2013, 02:45 PM
So far there's 8449 words in the nine parts already posted. Short novels have around 50,000 words, but I have no doubt that there's a hell of a lot more to come here. Burly could make 50,000 words easy just going through the science aspect.

Scope75
01-14-2013, 02:54 PM
I'm sure he could be up and over 50k already because these stories are just a quick run down of what took place.
Would be cool to see this turn into something more.

markam
01-14-2013, 04:56 PM
I'm sure he could be up and over 50k already because these stories are just a quick run down of what took place.
Would be cool to see this turn into something more.

Just needs some $3 Hookers and some guns and he's G2G.

Scope75
01-14-2013, 05:27 PM
Just needs some $3 Hookers and some guns and he's G2G.

The days he was down south the hookers where still 2 bucks!!! Lol

Cobalt
01-14-2013, 07:10 PM
DON'T FORGET THE VIDJA GAEMS.

Cause we all know that roid users are uncontrollable mad men that do drugs, fuck hookers and play violent video games.

burlyman30
01-16-2013, 02:23 AM
Part 10.

I moved to the back seat of the car and let Masa take the wheel while I got some much needed sleep.

Driving to southern California was pretty simple from Oregon. There is one main interstate that runs all the way from Cali to Oregon. Just one. So you can imagine my surprise when, just maybe 3 hours later I wake up and realize we aren't driving anymore. We are parked.

I asked why we stopped, and Masa, who is furiously and confusingly looking at a map says, "ohhh nooo. Sooohhh lohhhhst." Lost? How in the heck does someone get lost while driving in a straight line? I decided to get out of the car and take a leak while we are stopped. I open my door and I hear something brush against the door. It is pitch black out, so it is hard to see where we are, but as my eyes adjust... I realize we are smack dab in the middle of a wheat field. Astonished by this new information, I begin frustratingly asking Masa how in the name of all things good could he possibly have driven us off the road and into a wheat field. And kept driving.

By this time, I was wide awake and partly pissed off because he drove my car into a field, partly stressed out because we are lost, and partly in hysterics because of what has transpired. So it is time to put some fresh eyes on the map to see where we might be and where we need to go to get back on the interstate. It took some figuring out, but eventually we got out of the field, onto the road, and found the interstate once again. There was no way in hell I would be going back to sleep after all this happened. We were already behind the schedule we had set up.

When we arrived in the Santa Monica area, we were tired, hungry and not to picky about how to deal with either of those problems. We found the closest restaurant, a Subway, and got a quick bite to eat. Then we found a cheap looking motel in a shady part of town. It was one of those motels where some people rent by the week or month as well as by the night. We paid very little for the room, but then realized we had no sheets, pillow cases, or towels. We had to go back to the office to get those, and then make our own beds. The place was pretty ratty looking. Dirty, too. When we turned on the shower, the loud screeching sound the pipes made convinced us that someone would call the police and claim a murder was occurring in our room. We eventually settled in and got some much needed sleep. We had lots to do the next day. This motel earned a name from us. We called it the Flea Bag Inn from that day forward.

We happily left that place behind us the next morning and were surprised when we went down to the car and found that it had not been broken into or vandalized. If you saw this place, you would understand. We drove to Venice beach that day. I wanted to show Masa and Steve the Weight Pit on the beach from Pumping Iron. While we were there, we walked up and down the boardwalk. There were cheap Tshirts there ($3), cheap sunglasses ($5), and vendors for all types of things. There was a stage where a guy was juggling chain saws. No Joke. Lots of other people who had a service or product to promote and sell were there. A guy doing calligraphy and creating other words with the letters of your name was selling his service. A quadruple amputee dwarf was dancing on the boardwalk and collecting money for his efforts. And a shirtless man wearing a turban, rollerblades and some wrapping around his middle was rolling up and down the boardwalk while playing an electric guitar. What is this place?? Venice! Where you can do just about anything and find a way to make money at it.

We brought our workout clothes this day, and made our way to Gold's Gym in Venice. My friends were as amazed at the sight of extremely large bodybuilders as I was when I had visited the year before. What was amazing is that I had never seen any of these guys in magazines. These were all amateur bodybuilders, not pros. And I didn't even recognize any national-level guys, so these guys in the gym were "lower level" amateurs, or maybe didn't even compete at all. Steroids were alive and well in Venice. But we had no connection there and were too afraid to approach anyone. So we would just wait until we drove further south to take care of those matters.

While we were there, we all knew we were in a very special place. Lot's of history there. Arnold and Franco trained there. They earned their titles while working out there. They were grabbing the very same dumbells and barbells that we did. We used the squat rack that was used in Pumping Iron. There was a bit of magic in it all. To be so close to where so much had happened in bodybuilding history was pretty special for me and, to a somewhat lesser extent, my friends.

The next day, we worked out just down the street at World Gym. Joe Gold, the original owner of Golds Gym, had sold Golds and decided to start World Gym. It was a very nice, clean, and quiet gym. Quite the opposite of Golds, which was loud, gritty, and sweaty. Though we got a good work out at World and the equipment was of almost endless varieties, my friends and I much preferred the atmosphere of Golds.

We were getting in some great workouts in Venice, but it was time we went further south. It was time continue our journey and meet Steve's cousin, who had used steroids in the past and had some connections as well...

Coolazice
01-16-2013, 03:14 AM
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to burlyman30 again.

Scope75
01-16-2013, 09:30 AM
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to burlyman30 again.

Reps sent!!!

Great installment and can't wait for the next one.

Cobalt
01-16-2013, 12:50 PM
445

How the fuck did the guy drive out into the wheat field anyways?!

Scope75
01-16-2013, 02:04 PM
^^^That's what I've been thinking about..
Burly we need more info about the wheat field.

burlyman30
01-16-2013, 03:55 PM
How the fuck did the guy drive out into the wheat field anyways?!


^^^That's what I've been thinking about..
Burly we need more info about the wheat field.

Well, I was screaming the same question to my friend. I was asleep, so I don't really know what went into the decision: "I'm lost, so maybe I should pull off the road into this wheat field." It was at street level, so it's not like we careened off a cliff to get into the field and was easy to get back on the road once we knew which way to go. But waking up to that situation ranks as one of my all time head scratcher moments.

Scope75
01-16-2013, 05:02 PM
How deep into the field did he drive??
That's more what has me thinking because I'm picturing that he went aways before stopping.

Rulk
01-16-2013, 08:22 PM
The picture and questions brought up of driving into a wheat field... Awesome little detail and twist. This sounds like a buddy movie from the 80's. Gotta love the bungling foreigner.

I almost got goosebumps the way you described Golds, Burly. It's probably not the same today as it was back then. Was the olympic bar bent like the one in Pumping Iron?

burlyman30
01-16-2013, 11:11 PM
I almost got goosebumps the way you described Golds, Burly. It's probably not the same today as it was back then. Was the olympic bar bent like the one in Pumping Iron?

All the bars are straight until you put enough weight on them. :)

burlyman30
01-16-2013, 11:13 PM
How deep into the field did he drive??
That's more what has me thinking because I'm picturing that he went aways before stopping.

He drove probably a couple hundred feet in from the road. Let's just say that if your judgement is poor enough to drive into a field, it doesn't suddenly get better once you are in the field. lol

Rulk
01-16-2013, 11:24 PM
^ reminds me of grandmas driving into lakes due to tom toms.

Sperwer
01-16-2013, 11:28 PM
Reminds me of the recent bona fide news story about the woman in Brussels who set out to drive to a friend's in a neighboring town, set the GPS - and folloed for several days until she realized something was wrong in Croatia :)

burlyman30
01-16-2013, 11:30 PM
Reminds me of the recent bona fide news story about the woman in Brussels who set out to drive to a friend's in a neighboring town, set the GPS - and folloed for several days until she realized something was wrong in Croatia :)

Serious? :eek:

Grape Ape
01-16-2013, 11:38 PM
How nice it sounds before the internet.

Sperwer
01-16-2013, 11:39 PM
Yup, true story

Scope75
01-16-2013, 11:54 PM
He drove probably a couple hundred feet in from the road. Let's just say that if your judgement is poor enough to drive into a field, it doesn't suddenly get better once you are in the field. lol

Hahahaha!!
Just as I pictured.
Sounds like some good fun times.

burlyman30
01-16-2013, 11:59 PM
How nice it sounds before the internet.

Sad, but true. It was a different age.

Enuke65
02-13-2013, 05:24 PM
Any updates? I loved reading the new posts every morning while eating breakfast

burlyman30
02-13-2013, 07:27 PM
Any updates? I loved reading the new posts every morning while eating breakfast

Thanks for asking. I've been meaning to get back in here to continue story time. My attention and focus has suffered lately. Dad went into the hospital and is now in a nursing home under care of hospice. He may have weeks or months left, just not sure. So I DO plan to continue this series. I just haven't had the focus, energy, and time to do it. Once things get a little more "normal", I hope to jump back in.

Thanks again for enjoying the series. I promise that it will rise again, just like a zombie :)

Enuke65
02-13-2013, 08:39 PM
Awesome. Sorry to hear about the family situation, I know it's tough and I wish you the best man. Take care.