GoldenTongue

I’m not sure about either. Sniper was interning in the business back in the IGN days iirc, and I think (not sure) that Warner worked in the business in some capacity. Or, could it be….Ernest Rister? Lol

Sniperpuppies? Warmer? Give us a hint.

As much as I enjoy high-brow cinema, I love me plenty of B-roll schlock. Do those with such schizophrenic tastes qualify? ;p

Wondering (and hoping against) seeing (spoiler from events in those two episodes) in the next episode.

Two new episodes this week

Not really, no. The article cited the basis(es) for the headline, and qualified it appropriately with the fact that the general election is months away.

Which Trump will use as another point against her; how she's being supported by the broken system that's trying to keep him down. Drain the swamp v2.0. And his chuds will eat it up.

I can completely understand. But given the amount of time I've spent being less than active, I don't have nearly as much accumulated joint/tendon wear and tear as you've amassed, despite being north of 45. 1RM efforts for me are something I consider a once/year (maybe twice) type of thing, something I'll consider trying depending on how I'm feeling at the time I'm doing a peaking phase for a competition. Squats are a big question mark for me, but I still feel comfortable enough with exposure to near maximal loads for bench, OHP, and Deadlift, as that's all included in my peaking work; all told, in a full 24 week meso (base phase plus peaking block), there are roughly 4-6 weeks where I'm touching loads at 90% or more of 1RM, and my programming uses submaximal volumizing as a form of progression for most movements, with progression in intensity limited to the big four compound movements along with four variations (done at a lower intensity threshold than the main lifts). I do feel like my passion for strongman/strongman training has had a marked effect in conditioning me not only for heavy loads, but also higher capacity work effort, to say nothing of training to handle disadvantaged loading, which has led to me feeling like my back is damn near bulletproof. Aesthetically? I'd say I'm looking better than I have at almost any point in my life, certainly better than I did for most of my 20's and 30's, although I'm still carrying more fat around the midsection than I'd like. Moving in the right direction there, but being at/near clinical obesity for most of my life means there is a lot of visceral fat to burn through, which is always the hardest to get rid of.

New toys: Saxon Block Barbell Grips. Like Fat Grips, but they simulate a 3"x3" saxon bar (I have Saxon Bar Block DL for reps for an upcoming competition). I'm lovehating them: strange feeling being humbled on a 135# deadlift where pinch strength is the limiting factor, but by the same token, this is going to be a total game-changer for improving my grip strength. No more heavy ass trap bar/farmer carries beating the shit out of CNS; now I can get an absolutely incredible grip strength workout with less than 150# of load. Training going well; feeling good about hitting some new milestones later this year after next training cycle. 405 bench feels very attainable, 275 OHP should be doable, but 550 squat and 600 DL still seem like they might be a ways out. Although tbh, I'm actually wondering if my days of 1RM Squat PR's are behind me: I'm starting to feel a familiar ache in my hips that's happened in the last two cycles around the time my worksets get to ~420 lbs or so, which is right about where I'm at now.

I’m a bit curious myself. Between EMDR and some various types of exposure therapy, to say nothing of some new forms of pharmaceutical interventions, trauma treatment has evolved significantly over the past 10-15 years.

I'm nearly choking on the self-righteous demands of doing research before offering judgement. Take off those rosy glasses and try applying some of that critical thought you're charging others with, yourself. RFK Jr is an anti-vax nut who has acrtively advanced the vaccine-autism causal link BS, repeatedly asserted that COVID-19 was a genetically engineered weapon (and that it furthermore targets certain races while immunizing others), that mass shootings can be directly linked to anti-depressants, has claimed that per capita gun ownership in Switzerland is comparable to the US, that several notable public figures had attempted to exaggerate the COVID pandemic in an effort to profit from vaccine proliferation, among other fanciful and/or outrageous assertions. Ridiculous comments, indeed.

Good to see the majority in the House shrink even further, but I'm skeptical of any forecasting/extrapolating based upon the results of this election. And as someone living in NY who's been absolutely inundated with ads for/against both for the past month...I'm just as glad that those are over. Unbridled smear games played by both sides in the runup to the election.

I could watch it endlessly. The commitment to absurdity is beautiful.

Solidly back into my groove, although I'm probably not as far along at this point in the macrocycle as I would have been under better circumstances. Integrating sets of KB swings before and after worksets of my lifts to help develop work capacity and to get some additional density from each workout. Feeling like this cycle will definitely yield improvements in my bench, OHP, and deadlift numbers, but I'm thinking I need to increase my squat frequency in my next round of programming, as that feels as though it's lagging. Sounds like something which might have a lot of specious science surrounding it. There are any number of effective squat variations, many of which can be beneficial for strength-building and injury prevention. So far as bodyweight squats (of any variety) - once the body adapts to the stress of completing the full squat, then there is no further strength development, you are only maintaining the level of strength/mobility required to complete the movement. In order to continue developing strength, the stimulus (resistance) would need to increase in some manner: an increase in load, increase in volume (to an extent), or some other training variable, in order to present the body to a stress to which it is not adapted (that being the mechanism through which the body recovers and adapts during the rest periods between training).

So, while I'm not as active here as I once was, I still lurk fairly regularly, and post on occasion. And wanted to share some good feels on something that I can't celebrate as openly as I'd like out there IRL. Two years ago today, I walked in to a GA (Gambler's Anonymous) room on the recommendation of my therapist. For the better part of two years prior, my relationship with a mobile game (Lords Mobile, for any who might be aware of it), which started as a distraction and grew to something much stronger, compulsive, and toxic, had led me to a point where dissociation from family/friends/work, habitual lying, and any number of other maladaptive behaviors had become the norm for me, all while spending ungodly amounts of money on growing and building my account in the game. Denial was a central tenet of my life - denial that I had a problem, denial of the pain I was causing myself and others, denial of what I was doing to myself, denial that I was "coping" with my problems by (trying to) escape them into the fantasy life of the game and the "social" aspect of the all-too-shallow friendships formed from other players on Discord, Line, Teamspeak, etc. So, I walked into the first meeting feeling pretty hopeless, lost in despair, and more than a little shame and guilt - not over what I'd done (as I deluded myself into believing at the time), but rather, shame and guilt over having been caught lying, stealing (from our joint savings while amassing staggering amounts of credit card debt), etc. I spent a lot of time in meetings in my first few months just talking about how badly I felt, but didn't actually start experiencing any sort of recovery until (at the prompting of another member) I starting opening up and talking about what I'd done, the terrible acts I'd committed, the countless lies I'd told, how I'd reached a point where when asked a question, my first inclination wasn't to tell the truth, but rather to run through this sort of twisted calculus in an attempt to come up with the best answer to satisfy whichever need I felt at that moment, which usually amounted to a need to be left the fuck alone so I could resume escaping into the game. But over time, after 100+ meetings or so, and with continued support from my therapist, my wife, and our couples therapist, I started to recover, to find and regain a sense of normalcy and stability. I started to understand that although I'd done some awful things, that that didn't mean that I was, or would always be, an awful person. Having always been a compulsive reader (one quirky benefit of my own compulsive tendencies), I started studying addiction, learning about the disease model of addiction, among other things. Even more valuable, after regaining a sense of clarity (and empathy, and the capacity for growth), I've been able, between work done in GA and with my therapist, to learn so much more about myself, coming to realize that the seeds of my own compulsion/addiction issues took root long ago, back in my childhood. Which is not to lay blame on anyone else - while there is plenty of baggage I'm still working on unpacking, these issues are my own, and are no less the fault of others than they are of me. But it very much feels like a mixed bag at times: gaining these insights and coming to understand more of who I am, and (to some extent) why I am the way I am, is a blessing, although I'd be lying if I said that there aren't times when I wished I could have gained these insights when I was younger, on one of the many occasions when I've experienced some particularly painful personal falls - gaming took me to a rock bottom, but I've headed in that direction on several occasions in my past, and it's entirely possible that but for some minor twist of fate, that I might have ended up in an NA room, or perhaps AA (although my more destructive compulsions seem more inclined to those which stimulate rather than depress). But regardless, January 25th is now as important a date to me as my wedding date, and in all reality, more personally meaningful to me than my birthday. Life isn't perfect, nor can it ever be, but as many in program can attest, our worst day in recovery is better than our best day in action. It still feels strange for me to say that getting caught by my wife (a truly awful day which I will never forget) might be one of the best things that could ever happen to me. I was cautious and cunning in my deceit, working hard to maintain the facade of stability, and although she knew that something was wrong with me, she had no idea of what I was doing to myself, and the ways in which I was starting to significantly undermine our financial security. If not for an email alert indicating a high balance on one of our shared credit cards, I shudder in horror to think of how much damage I could have done before something far more destructive brought my actions to light. I owe her in more ways than I know how to count, and will never forget the fear and pain in her eyes the night she discovered the depths of what I'd done. Her recovery continues along a track similar to my own; family and friends of addicts suffer a Hell every bit (or more) as nightmarish as those of the addicted. Addiction is referred to at times as the great eraser, in how it can erase and erode the feelings of safety, comfort, and ultimately, love, which bind us to family and friends, and rebuilding those things which have been lost is so damn hard. I'm blessed that my wife has remained by my side, recognizing that the person she was burdened to be around which I was in addiction, is but a diseased fragment of who I truly am (or can be). It is a (at times painfully slow) process, but we are healing, and remain united in the fierce and unwavering conviction of what we can, and will be, together. For those who've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read these thoughts. I'm incredibly grateful for where I am, what I've regained, and for the opportunities I've been granted in recovery. If there is anyone who has any questions and would like some input from someone who's embraced the pain of self-destruction and has been able to start the journey towards healing and recovery, feel free to shoot me a message. Addiction is a terrible disease, and the unfortunate reality is that it can never be truly understood from the outside looking in, but I'm always happy to try to share my own perspective if it can help others find some degree of understanding.

What do you mean by over the knees squats?

Back to the gym yesterday after a semi week off from a cruise last week - went to the gym every day on the ship and did a bit of a full body circuit workout using the machines there. Got a decent pump each day, but definitely fell a bit out of groove. Now that the holidays are done and vacation is behind me, looking forward to really dialing back in on my training. One Strongman comp in April, and another in early May so I'll be focused on development and prep for those, and afterward, I'm thinking of doing minimal strength work and spending six months or so on high volume bodybuilding/aesthetic work. Using the machines on the ship and feeling light DOMS in new places was a nice reminder of the benefits of a more diversified training regimen, and I wouldn't mind the novelty of something genuinely different for a few training cycles. Standard/conventional deadlifts shouldn't really be leaving you feeling terribly sore, unless you're deliberately slowly lowering on the eccentric, but even then, doing so should end up limiting your working load. As far as being more/less risky than squats, there really isn't a valid body of evidence to support either argument. At the end of the day, nearly any barbell movement can be risky if done with poor form/poor bracing. In terms of value, it really depends. The stimulus:fatigue ratio for deadlifts makes them less than ideal for many people whose primary goal is hypertrophy/aesthetic work, although RDL's can be fantastic for hamstring development. But if one's goals include any degree of strength development, then I think deadlifts merit a spot in someone's program. Even if there isn't any perfect direct carryover in terms of how you might have to handle lifting things in real life, development of the posterior chain is beneficial for nearly everyone. And to quote many coaches, there isn't a single muscle in the body that is relaxed during a heavy pull. And for the average person, I'd argue that a simple LP using something like Starting Strength, or (even better) Greyskull LP represents the most efficient use of one's time, when time available for training is limited. Not to pick at too many nits, but that isn't universally true - if trt (or some other form of HRT) isn't pushing levels close to or beyond normative levels, then I'd argue that there isn't really a negative impact. And for those who are genuinely deficient (and not pursuing TRT for optimization, which is admittedly the case for a sizeable majority of the current TRT market), excessively depressed testosterone levels which fail to respond to all other interventions absolutely merit TRT, in terms of risk/reward. My main pet peeve with many who opt for TRT is that they use that as a first resort, without first considering if deficiencies in Vitamin D, or magnesium, or some other micronutrient might be a problem...or if they are getting proper rest, or if they are engaged in a meaningful training program, or, or , or...

Trying to get back to a point where I don't feel weak af in the gym. Between a particular rough bout of COVID in November, RSV in December, and being busy as hell with the holidays, I feel like I lost almost two months of training time. Combine that with starting a new training cycle which is higher volume/lower intensity (my programming periodizes toward lower volume/higher intensity over time) and the time away plus being detrained to the higher work capacities required, and it seems like I'm feeling disgusted with myself as often as not when I finish my workouts. But, the DOMS cramping is less notable with each week since I started the new cycle a couple weeks ago, and I can feel the conditioning and strength coming back, even though it's slower than I'd like. My goal was to hit a 405 bench at the end of the peaking phase after this cycle; not sure if that will happen, but I feel like hitting it after the next training cycle should be achievable. After that, the only major strength goal I'll have to check off my list will be a 315# OHP, which could take another couple years based on where I'm at now (hit a 255# single at the end of October just before I got sick), especially I'm planning on dropping another 15-20 lbs over the next year. And since I got a podium finish competing Novice class in my first three strongman comps, I'm taking the advice of a friend/coach, and jumping over to Masters for more of a challenge. Weights are typically identical to what I'd be handling at the weight I'm working to get down to, although the competition will definitely be harder since most guys in the Masters division seem to have 5-10 years of comp experience.

It feels as though my wife (and me, by extension) are gradually cutting her mother out of our lives - it may not be wholly a complete cutoff, but contact is being reduced more and more over time. It's weighed on me at times, partly because it was an incident regarding me that somewhat represented the final straw (so I can't help but feel some responsibility, even though Shea made the decision on her own and I've never tried to influence her either way), but the issues with her mom (and dad, to some lesser extent) go back into her childhood and teenage years. It's really unfortunate, as her mother is a deeply unhappy woman, but her inability to cope with whatever issues are causing her unhappiness have turned her into a deeply narcissistic person who is unable to see beyond her own needs/wants, and incapable of recognizing her role in the problematic dynamics which exist within the family. But I often experience a strong reaction to any idea of willfully and consciously severing ties with someone else in one's family. My father passed away about 21 years ago from complications of diabetes. He and I had an extremely difficult relationship growing up, to the point that I almost cut him out entirely. Thankfully, we were able to resolve some of the differences, and while we never really addressed the problems we'd had earlier, we ended up having a pretty positive relationship in the last few years of his life. And while I still struggle at times with feelings of responsibility for his death (it couldn't be confirmed, but the nursing home staff believed he may have died of an insulin overdose, the night after he and I had had an incredibly difficult and painful discussion about what his future might look like), I'm incredibly grateful for the time we got before he passed, and I can't imagine how much worse my feelings might have been had that not been the case. Which is not to pass any judgement at all to those who've felt and/or acted on the need to cut off a family member - my circumstances are my own, and I wouldn't try to project them to others whose experiences are wildly divergent from my own. But that doesn't change the fact that there is that part of me that wants to implore others to consider how short life can be, and to "do more" to make the most of the time we have with family.

Unless the person is being a deliberate ass, I try to offer feedback/corrections in such a way as to assume best intent. Gender identity and its expression has evolved significantly within the past several years, and practical application of those changes often butts up against years or decades of programmed behavior. If someone is making a best faith effort to recognize another's gender identity, I think it's easy to cross the line into arrogant self-righteousness when correcting them on a mistake. My brother and sister-in-law's child, about 6-8 months ago, decided that they no longer identified as "he/him", but rather, "they/them". The child's siblings have assimilated the change into their regular interactions with Gideon very quickly, whereas their parents still have somewhat regular slip-ups (which they self-correct as soon as they realize).

I'm a sucker for Pentatonix; many of their songs tend to hit me pretty hard in the feels. This may be about my most favorite Christmas song, in terms of something I can enjoy any time and could listen to endlessly on repeat.

Speaking anecdotally (again), I've seen this as well. In addition to what I referenced before, I've been a member of GA since January of last year - my own compulsion was related to a mobile game (Lords Mobile), which started as a diversion/hobby, and escalated into something much worse. Aside from many common behaviors typical to all addicts (tendencies toward isolation and dissociation, an increasing tendency toward lying while trying to cover up my addiction and its effects), I spent an ungodly amount of money and absolutely became addicted to the constant reward-stimulus structure of the game...and its interconnection to certain forms of social media really exacerbated the problem, helping to foster this idea that I wasn't really isolating because I was "engaging" with others through Discord, Line, Teamspeak, etc...it wasn't until after I'd stopped and starting on recovery that I came to recognize how many "LM friends" were likely as captive to it as I had become. I consider myself incredibly fortunate that a number of factors helped wake me up to my problem before I really did irreparable damage to myself, my marriage, and our financial stability, and remain grateful that the work I've done over the past ~2 years has helped me not only overcome this particular compulsion, but also led me to a stronger understanding of any number of underlying maladaptive tendencies that I've struggled with for much of my life - aside from GA, I work with an individual therapist, and my wife and I are continuing work with a couple's counselor. I think your observation of the generational divide in how getting help is percieved, holds some validity, although as it pertains to those whose difficulties lead them toward 12 step programs, I think there is a bit of a difference: programs like Al-Anon, Gam-Anon, and others, which are focused on the family/spouses/partners of those whose addiction have caused damage, have served as a strong gateway for getting help for decades now. The spouse/parent/sibling sees what is happening to the addict, often being directly impacted by their behavior, and they turn to the support programs for help, which includes assistance with confronting the addict to help them get to a point where they can accept the need for help, whether that comes from an intervention and rehab, or just starting with a 12 step program. So, speaking personally, I can say that for New York (and at least 25 other states for which I've gotten information from the GA ISO office), the median age for new members has absolutely plummeted since 2020, with a disheartening trend of surges in new membership within the first year or so of gambling becoming legalized in a state. I'm obviously somewhat biased in my perspectives as it pertains to gambling, but so much of what I am seeing and reading has convinced me that it's growing to become a huge problem, potentially worse (in time) than drugs or alcohol, particularly since gambling addiction isn't nearly as recognized as a disease, as alcoholism and drug addiction, by the layperson. But while I do have that bias and sympathy for gambling addiction, I believe that in many ways, that can often be an offshoot or extension/progression of some form of digital addiction, which, in one form or another, continues to grow as an increasingly pervasive and toxic influence in our lives. And while younger people are (generally) more open to help in the form of therapy or some other form of intervention, I can't help but feel that a growing host of factors is having the net effect of disadvantaging an entire generation in multiple ways, increasing the likelihood of coping through escape...which is very frequently how the seeds of addiction and mental health problems sprout and begin to grow.

I don't know how quite to properly characterize it, but I believe that we are just starting to see and understand the magnitude of what amounts to a mental health crisis among younger people, particularly those in the 18-30 age bracket. It's difficult to draw substantive conclusions from this type of anecdotal data, but my wife (who works for ICP, an organization focused on specialized mental health care training) and some of her colleagues who work with various 12 step programs like AA, NA, GA (Gambler's Anonymous), Sex Addicts Anonymous, Love & Sex Addicts Anonymous, and even newer/less established program like Computer Gaming Addicts Anonymous, almost uniformly report that the single largest demographic of new members, for well over two years at this point, are people under the age of 30. Data like that needs to be carefully qualified for a host of reasons (difficulty in accurate and comprehensive reporting of new members, a preponderence of those who may call a hotline or attend one meeting and then never return, etc.), when one considers that most programs' stats indicate that something like 1 in 500-900 addicts actually seek treatment from 12 step programs, but the dramatic shift toward younger new members is something that has many addictionologists and various treatment organizations deeply concerned. Gambling, in particular, is emerging as a particularly horrific compulsion, with increasing presence of sites like Fanduel, etc., which allow for bets on nearly every type of play, leading to continual hormonal spikes which can quickly lead from one "abuser" to "addict", while also facilitating the accumulation of absolutely crushing debt. There are believed to be a host of factors associated with this, and while the causal elements and the magnitude of their impact can be debated, it's an unfortunate fact that articles like the one that @Commissar SFLUFAN posted represent the tip of a large and growing iceberg. My wife and I discussed the topic of children while we were dating, and we both felt relieved that neither of us wanted to bring children into this world, for many of the same reasons. The ONLY aspect which is somewhat disappointing to me is that my mom had always looked forward to having grandchildren, but she understands how Shea and I feel, and has come around to agreeing with our reasoning for it.

THankfully, I'm not paywall-blocked, and will comment as someone else who's read the book, although I'll also note that it's been about three years since I last read it. IMO, the article draws some rather uncharitable and unfair conclusions, and I believe that some of the observations are more than a bit misrepresentative (particularly with regard to characterizations and references to the Triune Brain Model). As well, I believe that the book, in many instances, identifies the myriad ways in which our understanding of neuroscience and neurochemistry are very much in their infancy, citing as an example how long it had taken for the DSM to legitimize PTSD. I also think the article is doing the book and its author a disservice in comparing it to self-help books published by Oprah and others like her. Personally, I rate it extremely highly in terms of practical value in understanding more of how we react and respond to certain conditions. THINKING, FAST AND SLOW is still my go to in that regard (I try to read through it once per year), and WHY ZEBRAS DON'T GET ULCERS is also an eminently practical reference regarding stress and its effects, but THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE is something that I think many would benefit from reading, and couldn't disagree more that it should be labeled as "self help". Honestly, I think that the article's author may be allowing some personal biases to influence their critique - in their own words, "I wanted the objectivity and rationality of science to impose order on my grief," and THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE is not a book which conclusively answer that...nor does it try to. Rather, it explores a host of factors and conditions, describing (based upon the best information available at the time) our current understanding, all the while qualifying any number of points where further research is needed and/or ongoing.

Woah. Haven't seen this thread in a while. Plenty to share from over the past 6-12 months: 1) Competed in my first two Strongman competitions - went novice class considering they were my first and I'm competing at the age of 46. Was not dissatisfied to come in 3rd for each, and absolutely love competing in the Strongman community. Everyone is striving to win at a comp, but at the same time, everyone is cheering everyone else on to do their best. Awesome, awesome atmosphere. Between the two shows, I've: thrown a 50# sandbag clear of an 18' high bar; finished an ascending frame deadlift run starting at 480; increasing in 50# increments, topping out at 680#; completed a press medley which included a 120# circus dumbbell, 185# log press, and a 205# axel bar clean and press for (6) reps; completed a 550# frame carry/push circuit (90 feet each way), lifted 225#/245#/265# Atlas Stones to platforms at 60"/56"/52", completed a max log press of 250#, completed a max axel wheel (16" elevation) of 675#, and completed an ascending yoke pick round starting at 600#, topping out at 950# done for reps. I have another comp scheduled for next weekend which I'm hoping to do well enough in, but my peaking/practice work isn't as on point as I'd like, since my last comp was last weekend, and I'd devoted a lot of training time prepping for that. Also signed up for a comp in April of next year, which I am planning on competing in the 220# men's open MW class. Since I resumed training in May 2022, I'm now down about 90 lbs of fat, and up about 18-20 lbs of muscle. My last two training blocks, first of which started in February, have paid off extraordinarily - my Squat PR is the only one which has remained somewhat flat at ~510 (which isn't surprising since I spent several months trying to work through/around a hip injury), but my bench PR is up to 385, OHP PR up to 255, and deadlift PR is at 575, all of which are huge jumps from this time last year, especially since I was about 35 lbs heavier then. Part of my training included resuming high volume kettlebell work, started with averaging about 900 swings per day in September, jumped up to ~1600/day for October when I was pushing to complete 50k swings for the month. Really feels like the high volume KB work (mostly done interval style) has exploded my work capacity while also helping me continue to chizzle away at the fat I'd accumulated since becoming pretty sedentary back in March 2020. Also nice seeing my resting heart rate down in the high 50's/low 60's. Starting a new powerbuilding macrocycle at the end of the month, which will last until my peaking work for the April comp starts in mid February. Main workouts are four day U/L/U/L split, with two other days spent doing some strongman event prep type work (power cleans, loaded carries, sled work, etc.). Will also continue regular KB work, although at a slightly reduced capacity...averaging 1500+ per day has required two interval sessions of swings each day, along with sets of swings done between work sets in the gym. Awesome for conditioning, but JFC, did it ever make my gym sessions drag out longer. Aside from improving my performance in Strongman, I'm hoping that by April next year, I can clear 405 on bench press, 275 OHP, 550 squat, and around 625 deadlift, ideally with my BW down to around 220 (currently at roughly 235). But regardless, seeing the ratios of bodyweight:1RM for the main lifts from this time last year, to now, is incredibly validating, even if I can feel some twinges of what seems like body dysmorphia starting to manifest. It's nice, having reached a point where I can say with absolute certainty, that I'm stronger than I've ever been before, and feel like I still have plenty of time/room for growth. Especially since jumping onto the "TRT+" train - my levels were never low enough for my doctor (and insurance) to approve it, but they also weren't optimal, and aside from some elevated hemoglobin values (mitigated by donating blood every eight weeks), my blood work has improved across the board since starting, and I'm relatively certain that I'm feeling some improvements in recovery and training capacity, even at 160mg/week (microdosed at 40mg 4x/wk to limit aromatization to mitigate the need for an AI).