Nutrition

Your nutritional practices need to be the same regardless of the anabolic substance you choose to use – we say the same, but what we mean by the “same” is excellent.

Whether using steroids for cutting or bulking purposes, you shouldn’t even think about hitting the gym until you know precisely how much you should be eating on a daily basis in order to achieve your goals.

In order to figure this out, you need to head to freedieting.com and use their daily total calories calculator.

Answer all of the questions honestly on there, and select the calorie total that is relevant to your goal (weight loss, muscle gain, etc.)

From there, head onto the nutrient ratio calculator and select either the “moderate” setting for weight gain purposes, or the “low carb” setting for fat loss purposes.

Ensure that your meals consist of green and leafy vegetables, lean protein sources, low GI carbohydrate sources and healthy fats (omega 3 and 6.)

Nutrition is going to account for 80% of your results when using steroids and training in general. It is almost the entire difference between sustaining and generating quality muscle whilst bulking, and sustaining / maximising the visibility of muscle mass whilst cutting.

Many people make the unfair assumption that anabolic products can achieve the above end results on their own, but this simply isn’t the case. Steroids cannot work to an optimum or even moderate standard without a sufficient nutritional intake.

Training

Your training practices whilst using sustanon need to revolve primarily around muscle gain, therefore you must adhere to a specific series of training guidelines during your time with it.

Some basic (non-cycle specific) training guidelines that absolutely must be adhered to are:

• Take the time to slowly control each repetition, and “squeeze” at the bottom of the movement to fully incorporate every fiber of the target muscle
• Ensure that you always adhere to your specified rest periods
• Ensure that you always adhere to your specified rep range
• Never advance your weight loads until you have truly “mastered” your current weight range for the maximum rep range relevant to your cycle with excellent form

• Perform each movement for a set count of between 3 – 4
• Perform each exercise for between 6 – 8 reps
• Integrate one “heavy” week every three weeks (whereas exercises are performed for between 3 – 5 repetitions, as this will help to advance growth as a result of maximum load capacity increasing)
• Take between 90 – 120 seconds rest in between sets
• Try to ensure that your sessions never last for longer than one hour
• Ensure that your sessions consist of primarily (80%) compound exercises with some isolation (20%) added to the mix in order to maintain shape

The above series of guidelines will provide the perfect foundation for developing and sustaining excellent skeletal muscle of a dense and “thick” nature.

This is exactly the kind of muscle you need to focus on developing during an off-season.

Sustanon Training

By the time you start enhancing your physique with Sustanon, you absolutely must have good training and nutrition principles already down to a T. This includes a certain level of strength and fitness. As a bare minimum, you should at least be bench pressing and squatting your body weight, and deadlifting at least 1.5 times your body weight.

Ideally though, you’ve have wanted to reach, or be close to, your maximum genetic potential. By building as much muscle as possible prior to beginning steroid use, you will have more androgen receptors and a larger base to build upon. This gives you a better chance of reaching an overall larger size during a cycle.

There is really no need to alter your training routine too much when using steroids. Some users to increase the volume of low or medium volume routines by adding additional exercises or sets. However an overhaul of your training program is not necessary.

One common training program used is ‘The Body Part Split’. This allows a bodybuilder to train each muscle group throughout one week in 5 or 6 training sessions, For example:

This type of program is one that needs to be approached with a certain amount of experience. It would prove too taxing for a gym newbie. If you choose to train a 5 day split, it is essential to deload regularly to avoid injury.

The Basic Nutrients

A nutrients is something that provides nourishment. Nutrients can be broken down into 3 basic forms, known as macronutrients. These are as follows:

The role of nitrogen can be simply explained. When a positive nitrogen balance occurs, the body is in an anabolic (muscle building) state. When a negative nitrogen balance occurs, the body is in a catabolic (breaking down tissue) state.

Therefore, if you are not ingesting an adequate amount of protein daily, your body will go into a catabolic state and start breaking down muscle tissue to meet its daily protein needs.

The common recommendation for muscle growth is to take in 1-1.5 grams of protein per lb. of body weight. However to also ensure your body remains in an anabolic state from a positive nitrogen balance, you also need to be taking in an adequate amount of both carbs and fat. If you are struggling to meet your protein requirements through daily food intake, supplement with whey protein shakes is an acceptable option.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates have a bad rap for being responsible for fat gain but the simple fact is that carbs are the body’s preferred fuel and energy source. A common complaint from people on low carb diets is their noticeable lack of energy. It is true however, that if you consume too many carbs throughout the day, you will gain weight. The simple safeguard against this is to calculate your daily requirements.

For mass gain, we recommend around 2-3 grams per lb. of body weight.

Fats

It may surprise some people that fat is actually an essential nutrient for our optimal health and wellbeing. Not only is it used as an energy source, it is responsible for cellular construction and the regulation of most of our bodies processes.

Fat can be broken down into building blocks called fatty acids which fall into three main categories:

Calculating macronutrient intake

To gain the maximum amount of muscle with the minimum amount of fat, a suggested starting point is 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat.

This is your daily target, however you have the freedom to not follow this with every single meal. The reason for this is because your energy needs will change throughout the day, along with your body’s ability to process and utilize different types of fuel.

By considering nutrient timing, we are able to give our body exactly what it needs at the correct time of day, which in turn enhances body composition changes.

Why Timing is So Important

Let’s use the example of an athlete who trains in the morning. Immediately following training, their body can resemble a sponge, ready to rapidly absorb carbohydrates to kick start the muscle repair and rebuilding process.

The optimal meal to have in this instance is one that is high in carbohydrates and low in fat. This will ensure your body is supplied with energy rapidly, with lower fat assisting digestion.

However at dinner-time, this athlete would have a very different dietary need. Because our athlete hasn’t trained in several hours, their glycogen stores have already refilled. Their body doesn’t require a quick acting energy source at this moment.

Instead, our athlete would need to ingest a meal that is higher in protein to ensure the continuation of protein synthesis and, in turn, muscle building, especially during sleep. It should also be high in fat and low in carbs.

As you can see, tracking macronutrients allows you the freedom to exploit your body’s dietary requirements and take advantage of its natural changes in organic chemistry, enabling an athlete to grow muscle without unwanted fat gain.

One final subject to touch on is the flexibility that tracking macronutrients offers.

Some people choose to adjust their diet in various ways when using Testosterone such as consuming the total daily carbohydrate allocation immediately following a workout. Others may choose to split their total carb intake in half and consume one portion early in the day and the second portion immediately following their workout.  

What’s important is that you try different methods and note how your body reacts. As every body is different, you will benefit the most by discovering the method that works best for you.