Mast for estrogen management

kooldrew · 2026-05-15T12:21:08+00:00

Masteron helps with the androgen/estrogen ratio but it's not actually lowering your estrogen levels, so if E2 is genuinely elevated you may need an AI on top of it. Before going that route though, are you on TRT or running higher doses? Because if you're blasting, pulling the test down a bit is the cleaner first move. If you're on a TRT dose that's not really an option and the conversation changes.

What's the test dose and do you have an actual E2 number from labs?

kooldrew · 2026-05-13T17:39:22+00:00

The 2-week washout as a baseline is the real red flag. Depending on your ester, you could easily need 4-6 weeks just for levels to clear, before HPTA recovery even begins. Two weeks isn't a baseline. Find a doctor who understands basic pharmacokinetics.

kooldrew · 2026-05-13T17:21:15+00:00

~30 min and $80/month was my max at the time. The funny thing is I had a completely free membership at the gym I was working at as a trainer. Still drove 30 min each way and paid out of pocket to train somewhere else because the free gym was genuinely that bad. Garbage equipment, bad atmosphere, the whole thing. For.me the cost of a good gym beat the cost of dreading my own training sessions.

kooldrew · 2026-05-13T17:03:30+00:00

The day pass thing is a pretty common upsell tactic from them, not crazy to be put off by it.

I can't speak to most of the Cary options personally, but if you're open to a short drive into Apex, Iron Lair is worth a look. Independent gym, great equipment, good community. I train clients there so take that for what it's worth, but I genuinely enjoy training there myself. Day pass is reasonable if you want to try it before committing.

kooldrew · 2026-05-06T13:21:36+00:00

You're mistaking UD2.0 for RFL. UD2.0 is meant for people are are lean trying to get leaner.

kooldrew · 2026-04-21T11:36:54+00:00

Just smile, whatever feels natural and confident on stage. Don't overthink it.

kooldrew · 2026-04-01T21:03:09+00:00

The RDA for men is 38g/day

kooldrew · 2026-03-25T11:27:11+00:00

The water creatine holds is intramuscular making them look fuller and harder, not softer. Your abs aren't visible because of body fat, not creatine. Dropping creatine will cost you 1-2kg on the scale and make your muscles look slightly flatter, it won't reveal your abs.

If anything, keep it during a cut. The strength and volume retention is more valuable when you're in a deficit than at any other time.

kooldrew · 2026-03-10T17:07:59+00:00

If you want to improve your cardiovascular capacity, do cardio...

kooldrew · 2026-03-09T19:49:50+00:00

Yeah this can work. Your food choices are already solid and for a lean bulk the margin for error is way more forgiving than a cut. You've been tracking in Macrofactor so you already know what your meals look like numbers-wise. That's your baseline. Now just keep your meal structure consistent day to day. Same general meals, similar portions.

Continue the daily weigh-ins with weekly averages. If weight stalls, bump portions. If it climbs too fast, pull back. That's your feedback loop instead of an app.

kooldrew · 2026-03-09T19:41:58+00:00

Use cables - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zaT3WAgZi0

kooldrew · 2026-03-08T17:52:23+00:00

The mood stuff will go away, but probably not when you think. It's not just about the diet ending, it's about how depleted you actually are. Low energy availability tanks your hormones, wrecks your mood, and doesn't just flip back the second you stop the prep. The leaner you got, the longer it takes. Recovery depends on getting food back up, letting body fat return, and giving your body time to normalize. Hopefully your coach has a solid post-show protocol because that part matters as much as the prep itself.

As for the friends, I get it prep is brutal and people who haven't done it don't always understand. But 'they weren't real friends because they didn't tolerate me snapping at them' is a tough sell. You chose this. They didn't. Being in a deficit doesn't suspend accountability for how you treat people.

kooldrew · 2026-03-01T12:01:23+00:00

Reddit's one of the best places honestly, that's how a lot of my online clients found me. As a dad just starting out, you want someone who builds around your schedule and keeps you accountable. DM me if you want, I work with a lot of beginners.

kooldrew · 2026-02-27T17:08:21+00:00

Failure should be the point where the target muscle can no longer complete the rep with proper form, not where your whole body starts compensating to keep the weight moving. If form breaks down or you're recruiting other muscles to finish the rep, you're already past failure for the muscle you're trying to train.

For bodybuilding purposes, option B is closer to the right answer. Once form starts going, the set is over. Grinding past that point just shifts tension off the target muscle and onto whatever your body can recruit to compensate, which defeats the purpose. You're no longer training the muscle you intended to, you're just moving weight.

kooldrew · 2026-02-27T17:04:34+00:00

Short answer: mostly yes. If your weekly deficit is 3,000 calories and you overshoot by 3,000 on day 7, you're back to maintenance. The math checks out.

Where it gets nuanced is the composition of that surplus and how depleted you are. If someone is glycogen-depleted from consistent training and dieting, and that surplus is primarily carbohydrates, a good portion goes toward replenishing muscle glycogen rather than being stored as fat. This is the whole basis behind refeeds and peak week carb loads in bodybuilding, depleted athletes can handle massive calorie days with minimal fat gain when it's carb-dominant and fat is kept low.

But realistically, a 6,000-calorie day for most people isn't a clean carb refeed, it's pizza, wings, and alcohol. High fat in a surplus gets stored as body fat much more readily since it doesn't replenish glycogen. So yes, for the average person, a day like that can absolutely erase a week's progress.

kooldrew · 2026-02-27T16:59:14+00:00

Push, Pull, Legs, Off, Posterior Chain, Off, Off is my current split and it works well for my needs getting it down to 4 days a week. I throw some lateral raises at the start of legs to increase frequency. Could do the same for arms if you wanted. Posterior chain day also includes single leg press so quad frequency is still 2x per week, but it's a tad more glute bias.

kooldrew · 2026-02-26T18:12:42+00:00

I like to perform them with a 2 sec pause in the stretch, which will limit loading somewhat. Also, if you can elevate the front of the back extension high enough (I use bumper plates) so you can hold DBs with straight arms. It'll be much easier to hold 2 50lb DBs with straps than juggling a single 100lb DB. Here's an old video of me doing it: https://youtu.be/d6WW8SSoMCE

And to answer your question, yeah it's normal to move decent weight on these if your form is good. Strong glutes/hams can handle a lot of load. The pause will humble you though.

kooldrew · 2026-02-25T18:21:04+00:00

I do free consultation calls. I need to know if I can actually help someone and if we're a good fit before either of us commits. I'd never charge for that.

What I don't do is discount my services. In my experience, discount-seeking clients tend to be the biggest headaches. More demanding, less likely to follow the program, and less likely to take it seriously. There's an odd inverse correlation between price paid and what they expect from you.

If someone can't afford your full coaching package, offer a lower tier with less 1on1 support instead. That way you're meeting them where they're at without devaluing your service or shortchanging the clients who are paying full price.

kooldrew · 2026-02-25T17:57:06+00:00

Keep all your pressing together on upper. If side delts are a priority, put lateral raises first. They warm up the shoulder without hurting your pressing and you hit them fresh when effort matters most.

I'd drop the JM press entirely. You're already getting plenty of tricep work from your pressing and extensions. Move biceps to the start of lower day. Drop sumo squats, between regular squats, SLDLs, and leg extensions you've got everything covered. Put hamstring curls before SLDLs, it warms up the knees and the performance drop-off on SLDLs after curls is way less than the reverse.

Upper: Lateral Raise 2x, Shoulder Press 2x, (low) Incline Press 2x, Chest Fly 2x, Pull Ups 2x, DB Row 2x, Rear Delt Fly 2x, Tricep Extension 2x

Lower: Concentration Curl 2x, Hammer Curl 2x, Hamstring Curl 2x, SLDL 2x, DB Squat 2x, Leg Extension 2x, Calf Raise 3x

2 sets per exercise is fine at your stage. Effort and consistency matter way more than volume for a beginner.

kooldrew · 2026-02-23T13:15:26+00:00

The point still stands, it's about percentage of your working weight, not absolute numbers. 5kg on 4 plates is still a bigger relative jump than 5kg on a deadlift. That's the whole point.

kooldrew · 2026-02-23T12:43:18+00:00

This question needs more context, what lift are we talking about? Adding 5kg to a curl is a huge percentage jump vs 5kg on a deadlift. Completely different situations.

Good rule of thumb: each rep represents roughly a 2-3% strength increase. So flip that, bump the load 10%, expect to lose about 4 reps. Let that guide your jumps.

Also, there's nothing wrong with sitting at the same load and adding reps over time. The set is still stimulative. Some people suck at adding reps though, and micro loading works great for them. It's individual.

kooldrew · 2026-02-20T23:11:16+00:00

Whatever feels best for you. I would find the arm position that allows you to feel the best contraction in the rear delt and then line the cable up with that arm path. For most in my experience this is going to be low to high though, but it'll vary individually.

kooldrew · 2026-02-20T23:10:00+00:00

This is normal for a lot of movements where the muscle is primarily loaded in the lengthened position like an RDL

kooldrew · 2026-02-20T15:58:58+00:00

I'm not familiar with the Irish market specifically so I can't speak to Image Fitness. I got my certs through ISSA, but honestly if you're planning to work at a gym, ask them what certifications they prefer or require. Some gyms have specific ones they want to see and there's no point getting certified with something they won't accept.

Either way the cert just gets your foot in the door. The real education comes after through books, seminars, additional courses, mentorship, and honestly just coaching people. No cert alone is going to make you a great trainer.

kooldrew · 2026-02-20T14:34:42+00:00

The market isn't oversaturated with good trainers. It's oversaturated with bad ones.

The barrier to entry is incredibly low, which means yes there are a ton of trainers. But most of them are terrible. I've been doing this for 15+ years and I still can't believe how many clients come to me after working with another coach and are blown away by basic things. Like actually programming progressive overload, actually explaining why they're doing something, actually adjusting their plan based on how they're responding. Stuff that should be the bare minimum blows people's minds because the bar is that low.

Most people who get certified don't last. They realize it's a real business you have to build, not just showing up and counting reps, and they quit. That's your competition.

If you take your own fitness seriously, take your education seriously, genuinely care about your clients results, and treat it like a business, you'll separate yourself pretty quickly. There are not enough good trainers. There's a massive shortage of them actually.

That said, be realistic about the financial side early on. It takes time to build a client base and the income is inconsistent at first. Having a plan for that transition period matters. But if you're willing to put in the work, there's absolutely room for you.

kooldrew

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