The Downsides Of Being Natural Or Off AAS Cycle

[Bouncer]

I like to think we are pretty honest here about the downsides of steroid use. Not many here will deny that it comes with both mental and physical side effects.

What I want to talk about here is just the opposite. The downsides of being natural. Specifically if you are the type that likes to kill it in the gym. If you are a lifetime natural or simply someone that has gone long periods off an AAS cycle I'd like to hear your thoughts.

*Can you realistically make real progress if you are someone that has been training hard for years?

*How easy do you feel it is to over-train?

*Does training too hard have a major impact on the endocrine system/cortisol levels?

*Does your body use what you feed it or do you find that you have to cut back on meals?

My personal opinion is that if you are an experienced lifter that works hard in the gym and has diet nailed down, the best case scenario for you is to simply maintain. Making real progress as a natural lifter is all but imposable if you're an experienced lifter. To me, the prospect of simply maintaining rather than making real progress is a depressing one. Tell me if and why I'm wrong.

[Bouncer]

Just to be clear, I'm not implying that progress cannot be made if you are just starting out. Obviously you can make some great gains naturally simply by joining a gym and changing your bad eating habits. This thread has more to do with naturals that have been at it for a long time. People who have been eating clean and training hard for years. Seems to me that this is where being natural starts to really suck as you hit that wall and run out of options to keep moving forward as your body just cant keep up. If you train harder you start getting into over-training/taxed endocrine system and high cortisol level territory.

[rado]

There is no downside on being natty, if anything it's quite the oposite.

[Bouncer]

There is no downside on being natty, if anything it's quite the oposite.

Then why would you ever consider steroids if being natty has no downside?

[chuckz28]

Initial gains aren't bad being natural but in my case a wall was quickly met to where everything has to be perfect to make continual progress. Genetic potential is going to be a much bigger factor being natural for sure.

I found myself excercizing just for the sake of excercize and general health because it felt like a chore to put on a pound of muscle. Not being careful you find you put on some size where you put some extra focus but lose size in other places. Some lifts got stronger at a slow pace while others went down. Coming off cycle for long periods everything comes down for a while before anything will come back up. Body fat goes up so you have to cut back or get fat, strength was a continual decline the entire 4 months I was off until I couldn't take it anymore. Focus is lost, libido is much lower, energy is lost, muscle mass is lost.

I'd say the only advantage to coming off is feeling lighter on my feet, better breathing, ability to produce natural testosterone, improved organ health (this is the biggest) and blood pressure/values, and lack of dependence on a substance that is illegal to acquire and has to be continually used. I do think that even blasting and cruising coming 100% off for a month 2 times a year would only benefit though. Not much was lost during that time frame and it would allow the blood pressure to come down, give the kidneys and liver a break. Look something like blast 3, trt 3, 1 off then repeat. Better health, and clean receptors. Just my opinion though.

I never had any issues with my endocrine system while being off. For me it worked better. Last year I was sick two times while on cycle and both felt long and drawn out but no issues while being off. I rarely got sick while natural. This year no sickness yet though.

Feeling overtrained was always a problem whether on cycle or not until I introduced BCAAs. Severe DOMS was my biggest issue that is now just mild. In this case I feel much more recovered than aas alone.

[Bouncer]

Great post chuck. Exactly the kind of response I was looking for with actual thought and effort.

[chuckz28]

It's always "the grass is greener on the other side til you get there" thing. Everything has negatives and we have a good ability to let the negatives stick in our mind until they consume us to the point of change. We change and it is great til those negatives get in our mind and our perception of them gets worse. This is a constant life struggle we as humans deal with on damn near everything.

[Bouncer]

Feeling overtrained was always a problem whether on cycle or not until I introduced BCAAs. Severe DOMS was my biggest issue that is now just mild. In this case I feel much more recovered than aas alone.

you think bcaa has a bigger role to play in natty peeps than it does for enhanced peeps?

still debating if bcaa would be valuable to me.

[chuckz28]

you think bcaa has a bigger role to play in natty peeps than it does for enhanced peeps?

still debating if bcaa would be valuable to me.

Not sure. The difference for me was noticeable being on cycle. I'll continue them when I come off and see if DOMS or lethargy increases or not.

[jack tors]

Training natty pretty much sucks. The average or even above average persons genetics will allow them to make gains but with body fat. The best case scenario is small gains and maintaining.