35 year old - considering hCG or test e

[Dingalanga]

Hi!

I am overweight, but work out consistently. I am on 4mg of Reta every 6 days, working my way down to 12-13%bf. My plan originally was to wait before maybe starting a mild cycle (think TRT-levels), but I want more opinions. I am now also thinking about trying out a hCG mono, but I am reading many different opinions. Maybe my test results could shed some light on what would be an appropriate start for me.
My tests were done with about 4 months between them, and around 15KGs of fat gone.

My first test, on the low side:

Total testosterone: 10.3 nmol/L
SHBG: 22 nmol/L
Free Androgen Index (FAI): 4.7
Urine albumin/creatinine ratio: 0.6


Here's my latest result:

Total testosterone: 16.5 nmol/L
SHBG: 26 nmol/L
Free Androgen Index (FAI): 6.3
Blood drawn in the morning.

I would greatly appreciate any feedback. I am trying to build a decent physique, ideally for summer but I don't think that is very realistic at the moment.

 

[Noneya14]

You didn't answer the fertility question. Are kids on your radar?

Personally I would run some test for sure and let the fertility answer dictate the hcg answer.

 

[Dingalanga]

No more kids - all done! I was thinking hCG because I read it wouldn't crash natural test to the same extent test will.

 

[buck]

Whether you use HCG or test to raise your T levels. Your pituitary will likely down regulate natural T production to the same degree.
Seems your goal is to raise your T levels slightly from where they are mid range to high normal. i would expect little noticeable difference

 

[Dingalanga]

Whether you use HCG or test to raise your T levels. Your pituitary will likely down regulate natural T production to the same degree.
Seems your goal is to raise your T levels slightly from where they are mid range to high normal. i would expect little noticeable difference

Thank you!

If you were in my shoes, would you;

a) Lose weight while being natty, then start test and do a lean bulk when I am at about 10-13BF,
or
b) Lose weight while doing a moderate (150-ish) amount of test and then do a proper cycle and lean bulk when I am at about 10-13BF?

I do want to try my absolute best to find the balance between risk and rewards, and I assume option A will provide the least amount of risk, but also less return, the question is how big the difference would be. With option A I am looking at another 6-ish months of a pretty aggressive cut (1-1,5k deficit) to get down to the goal BF. This would be my first cycle, so I guess a good option c) would be to just drop the weight and stay natty, the end. I just don't think I'll be content with the end result.

 

[buck]

Thank you!

If you were in my shoes, would you;

a) Lose weight while being natty, then start test and do a lean bulk when I am at about 10-13BF,
or
b) Lose weight while doing a moderate (150-ish) amount of test and then do a proper cycle and lean bulk when I am at about 10-13BF?

I do want to try my absolute best to find the balance between risk and rewards, and I assume option A will provide the least amount of risk, but also less return, the question is how big the difference would be. With option A I am looking at another 6-ish months of a pretty aggressive cut (1-1,5k deficit) to get down to the goal BF. This would be my first cycle, so I guess a good option c) would be to just drop the weight and stay natty, the end. I just don't think I'll be content with the end result.

As long as you are not stressing your body out where it can't recover causing T levels to drop, natty weight loss is fine.
When i was still natural i lost a lot of fat once while getting stronger and growing some muscle.
Comes down to how smart/consistent you are about diet, traing and recovery.
Drugs make it easier to make mistakes and still make progress.