Here’s an update on the impact of rapamycin on my strength after a few more months. I can’t comment on muscle growth until I get another DEXA. I didn’t have time in December, as was my plan.
First, I’ll note that with 8mg+fat my blood levels are 3.5ng/mL after ~24 hrs and 1.9 after ~70 hrs. I metabolize at about a 54 hour half-life rate. For resistance training, I follow a structured progressive overload plan that’s now a variation on push-pull-legs 6 days a week (really modified PLP), and all sets, reps, and weights are recorded. I aim for a minimum of 10 dedicated sets per muscle group per week. l take most sets past the first set to genuine failure and try to keep rest periods uniform, tempo moderate, form as meticulous as I can, often taking videos to check. Strength levels are intermediate to advanced by age-adjusted standards.
Also note that I’m on daily dosed testosterone cypionate that gives me high testosterone levels and quick recovery times. I would expect my results to be worse without the testosterone.
At up to 5mg/wk week, I see no impact when lifting weights 48 hours after a dose taken with fat. My strength and total workload increase as expected.
At 6mg, I have some trouble reaching my rep target for the first workout, but I can still progress week to week. Progress is definitely impeded, though. I would say this dose is borderline tolerable, but still a bit too high if the goal is building muscle.
At 8mg, I am noticably weaker for workouts through 84 hours post dosing, but by the end of the week I’m doing slightly better than the week prior. Still, week to week progress is at a very slow crawl. I can increase reps but strength increases are not anywhere close to what they should be. I would say this dose does not make sense at all if the goal is to build lean tissue, but is okay for maintaining.
I have verified that the issue is the dose, because after trying 8mg and then dropping back to 5mg, my strength increases resumed. The difference is substantial and shows up in my tracked metrics.
Based on labs, to get into the therapeutic range of 3ng/mL for about a third of the week, I probably need a dose of 10mg. I speculate that that would most definitely impede muscle accrual.
My conclusion is that the most I can do is half the therapeutic dose while trying to build muscle. Maybe a full dose is okay on a deload week.
