My fitness journey had its first spark back in 2004. I was 20 years old, out of shape, ridiculously skinny, and weaker than pretty much all the guys I knew. At the height of 6'2", I weighed a whopping 134 lbs. So basically when I turned to the side, I would disappear. I was always being made fun of growing up by my peers. I think I only had 2 girlfirends before I graduated highschool. Clearly, this was one of the reasons.
Above all, this had me so depressed. These were suppose to be my prime years. I was one year away from being 21 and having access to bars, clubs, etc. I just wanted to be jacked and be known for it so bad.
Like any novice, I joined a gym but had no idea what the hell I was doing. I started hopping on different machines and started doing them as fast as I could and as much as I could. I wanted to look like freakin' Schwarzenegger. I would do whatever it took to get muscle on my already thin, scrawny bones. At this time, I had no concept of what an ectomorph was. I thought everyone was the same, but I just thought I needed to just workout and eat calories, then I'd look like a fitness model.
Well, after about 2 months in this was the result.
<----------------------------------------
I actually lost about 2 lbs and looked a little bit leaner. I had some veins popping out, which I mistakened for muscle gain. My diet barely changed. I was still eating Dunkaroos, Tony's Pizzas, and Burger King on a semi daily basis. And lots of it. Protein? What the hell was that?
It wasn't until I started reading different fitness magazines when I figured out I was suppose to be pounding the protein shakes.
After about a year of working out, this was all I was able to produce.
<-------------------------------------
I weighed about 143lbs and my strength went up a bit in all my lifts. My best friend and I would work out together with the same intensity and same sets/reps count. However, his gains quadrupled mine and looked a lot better. He is a true mesomorph.
I continued working out like this off and on for years, constantly in a hamster wheel. The heaviest I ever got to with this type of routine was around 150 lbs and that's where I stayed for a few years.
I managed to get my bodyfat to around 12%. I had no concept of what a proper bulk or cut phase was. I just thought everyone worked out and was able to make gains, period. Hell, was I in for some rude awakenings and discoveries coming up on my journey later on...
So in this pic
<------------------------------------
is pretty much how I looked from 2007-2010. Clearly, you can see I made some gains, however they looked like beginner gains! UGH!
Testosterone Woes
In 2011, I decided to get in serious shape and stop messing around. I was sick of not making gains. I discovered Greg Plitt on YouTube. I was hooked! I subscribed to his site and followed his workouts and adopted his messages and speeches to fuel my workouts and amplify my motivation. His message and his workouts were so inspiring to me. Around the same time I also discovered Zyzz on YouTube. For those who don't know him, he had a very similar story as me (and most ectomorphs); a scrawny Australian kid, tall and lanky. A hardcore ectomorph who transformed his body in just a few years. He had the actual goal physique that I wanted so bad. This was it, I was set. I had the vision of what I wanted and the proper tools to get to it now. No excuses.
I hit the weights hard and also incorporated super sets, drop sets, increased time under tension, isometic holds, major lifts including squats, deadlifts, and bench press. I managed to get up to 175lbs in about 2 years and dropped my body fat to about 10%. I was not pleased with these results. Especially when I know that I should be putting on a lot more muscle than I have been. I was consuming 4,000+ calories every day and trying to match my lean body mass in lbs to grams in protein for daily intake. I had the biggest gut an ectomorph could possibly have. The rest of my body was lean, tight skin, and lots of striations. I was a fat and lean ectomorph. This was driving me insane.
In the summer, I tried to cut and make my abs pop. Even though I worked my abs 4 times a week (alternating heavy and light days), I was unable to lift the fat off of my belly. Out of frustration, I started doing insane amounts of cardio and even took my calorie intake down to 1,500 calories. I was DETERMINED to have abs! I felt like such a loser. Here I was, an ectomorph, unable to get my abs to show after 2 consistent, intenses years of training. WTF was wrong with me? No matter what I did, I could not get them to pop or shred down the fat on my stomach. I was even doing breathing "vacuums" in an effort to pull everything in tighter.
In April of 2013, a light bulb finally lit and I had a feeling I knew exactly why I wasn't hitting my fitness goals like I wanted to. Low testosterone levels. I started researching the hell out of this topic. But wait- "I'm only 28!", I said to myself. There's no way this is possible. I work out hard, eat healthy, and do moderate cardio. How could I possible have low T?! Well, further evidence directed in that direction because I also couldn't remember the last time I had a morning erection. I used to get them ALL the time. But not in the past year or so. This was also a symptom of low test. Also the excess fat around the mid section too. Alarm! Alarm! I called my doctor's office the next day to get paperwork to get bloodwork for testosterone levels.
Lab tests were back and I met up with my doc to discuss the levels. He told me that my total testosterone score was 193. Sounds pretty high right? That's over 100. Well not exactly. He continued to explain that I had the test levels of a healthy male in their 70's. WHAT?!?!! I just coudn't accept this. There was no f***ing way! But it was true.
Doctor analogized it as "being in a racecar with 4 flat tires". Even in a perfect world of perfect diet, perfect training, perfect supplementation, perfect recovery, etc, there was no way I would continue building an ounce of muscle without testosterone. As you can imagine, I was depressed for a few weeks. All that work. All those hours. All that money spent on supplements. All the sweat. The tears. The late nights at the gym. Paid my dues but my ROI was below minimal. This was the biggest crisis of my life.
The next steps were to get on Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). At first, my doctor prescribed me a product called Testim 1%. A topical gel that I rubbed onto my shoulders daily. A one month supply came with 30 little tubes of gel that I would use daily. I hated it. It made my clothes stick to me and it was just a hassle each morning. Worst part about it was it cost $184.00 a month even with insurance! This was going to be the death of me. But I was trying to stay positive and I rolled with this for one year and got another test blood work done. It raised my score barely to 280. Still ridiculously LOW! I decided to get on some TRT forums online and explain my situation to anyone that would listen. Immediately, people were telling me to get the hell off of Testim and demand my dr. to put me on testosterone injectables. It would also cost a fraction of what I was paying for Testim and I was promised it would work. I spent a little more time researching the different testosterones: cypionate, enanthane, propionate, etc.
So I told my doctor exactly what I researched and demanded to give Testim the boot. He could tell that I was distraught and not a happy camper. He prescribed testosterone cypionate to me at 50mg every two weeks. He said this was a low amount and wanted to see how my body would react. That seemed VERY low to me. I took this back to TRT forum and explained the news to my new friends. There was one hell of an uproar. They all agreed that 50mg every two weeks was like trying to take 1/10 of an advil pill to help cure a MASSIVE migraine. 50mg wouldn't do shit! They recommended 100mg a week or 50mg every 3.5 days. And that's where I'm at today.
I've been taking testosterone cypionate since February of 2014 at 50mg every 3-4 days. My test levels are around 590. Definitely room for improvement, but at least I got out of the low levels. I know have fully working erections that greet me in the mornings and have hit 186 lbs. Strength has also gone up too.
Definitely a litle bit happier now. Things are still going well and I no longer feel grey. All my lifts are increasing week by week.
Here are few of my current workout stats that I had trouble improving before:
-Shoulder Press with 60lbs dumbbells
-Standing Curls with 50lbs dumbbells
-Squatting 260lbs
-Triceps Dips with 2 45lbs plates strapped by chain
Upsidedown Situps with 65lbs dumbbell as resistance
70lbs incline dumbbell press for chest
So that was my ectomorph journey from hell up until where I'm currently at now. I am now gun shy when I hear about people unable to make gains when training hard for years. Without normal testosterone levels, there is no amount of creatine, protein, reps, sets, or ANYTHING else that will make up for it. It was one of the hardest lessons that I learned and wished I identified sooner. I feel like I now have finally started my new body transformation.
My Personal Struggle Of Being An Ectomorph W/ Low Testosterone
by Eli Georgaras | October 27, 2014