First Cycle - Test & Tbol w/ Questions!

[Johimbe]

Hey Guys,

I'm 32 years old & I have been lifting for a long time. I generally train for performance vs presentation. I think my age finally started catching up to me this year as I lost all motivation to go to the gym and I suffered a fairly serious injury playing football that slowed things down further.

I decided it was time I tried something new.

I'm not looking to get into bodybuilding, I am more interested in delaying the inevitable on set of age. Currently I am 6'3" @ 242lbs. I just got my bench over 405lbs again. This isn't the largest or the strongest I've been but I'm finally feeling close to 100% again.

I'm 7 weeks into my first cycle as the following:

Test E (Pinned twice a week)
Weeks 1 & 2: 250mg
Weeks 3 to 5: 500mg
Weeks 7 to 15: 750mg

I am also taking tbol at 50mg/ED (8 weeks).

This was on the recommendation of a friend. He said I would be fine w/o PCT but every where I look they have different recommendations. I'm not getting irritated nipples or anything along those lines. I have a few questions!

What should I consider taking for PCT?

Should I include Winstrol at the end of my cycle?

I want to maintain a lean 250lbs - What should I do for my next cycle? How long should I wait before beginning that?

At this age is there any reason to not be injecting Testosterone? My friend mentioned a "stand" cycle.

I'm am also considering taking GH for its regenerative properties. I know it is just speculation but I would like your opinion on that as

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I have taken every over the counter supplement you can purchase - a lot of which made me feel incredibly sketchy. I'm enjoying my first cycle, it feels much more normal and its really convenient not having to ingest 25+ capsules every day.

I look forward to being a part of the MESO-Rx community!

 

[Cory Gabe]

What should I consider taking for PCT?

You should read the guide in the stickies of the pct section, that will explain things in great detail. I completely disagree with your friend's suggestion that pct won't be necessary. While there might be some anecdotal evidence that testosterone cycles are "easier" to recover from, there is absolutely no guarantee that that would happen on its own nor that it would take a short time (in all fairness, it may take many months or more). Actually, by skipping pct you increase the chances of crashing, prolonging your recovery and losing whatever progress you made on cycle.

Please, start asap to collect the necessary medication and if possible rely only on pharma grade compounds.

Also, do bloodwork to monitor how you are doing.

Should I include Winstrol at the end of my cycle?

You are already running a hepatotoxic oral for a significant time span. I think your stack is already more than it would usually be recommended for a first cycle. You should get bloodwork to see how your liver enzymes are, among many other things.

I want to maintain a lean 250lbs - What should I do for my next cycle? How long should I wait before beginning that?

If you can maintain 250 lean naturally, the obvious answer is nothing! Don't feel compelled to cycle again just for the sake of it, only because you did it already. Sometimes, the best solution is the simplest.

If you ever set yourself up to do another cycle, you could run test+tbol again. In all honesty, most people with your goals won't need anything else than test in their cycles and they will be perfectly happy and satisfied. However, I would start at 500mg/w right away and run it 8-12 weeks. If you chose to use an oral again, I would not run it more than 6 weeks, ideally 4 and in all cases I would do bloodwork to monitor liver function.

Regarding how long to wait, the typical recommendation would be: time on+time to wait to start pct+pct = time off.
Note: that is intended as minimum time off.

At this age is there any reason to not be injecting testosterone? My friend mentioned a "stand" cycle.

I am not sure what your friends meant.

There are many reasons why a person should be careful using steroids. Some of them: risk of impairing your natural test production, increased cardiovascular risk (steroids do a number on your cholesterol), possible liver damage. If you already suffer from a condition, that could be aggravated by using androgens.

That's why monitoring with bloodwork is very important, although often overlooked.

I'm am also considering taking GH for its regenerative properties. I know it is just speculation but I would like your opinion on that as

See how your natural GH levels are, first. You are not old.

 

[Johimbe]

Thanks for the detailed response Cory. I had meant to start at 500mg/week but I misread his directions so I was only doing half of that. I will look into the PCT ASAP.

 

[Johimbe]

&& What I meant by a stand cycle was that people will take small, varied doses around 250mg EW just to keep functioning at an elevated level.

 

[Cory Gabe]

Thanks for the detailed response Cory. I had meant to start at 500mg/week but I misread his directions so I was only doing half of that. I will look into the PCT ASAP.

No problem. Do research and be safe.

&& What I meant by a stand cycle was that people will take small, varied doses around 250mg EW just to keep functioning at an elevated level.

So he's basically suggesting to go on HRT or blast and cruise. I don't think there's any need for that at this stage, at all. First, I'd complete the cycle you are running and assess how everything went. You are not trying to compete and your goals sound realistic. If you can achieve them through this one cycle, or maybe cycling sparingly, for example once a year, that's a hell of a lot better than having to depend on test injections year-round. Plus, consider that if you go the HRT route, then coming off could prove very very challenging.

 

[Boybravo]

Not to take over this thread, but I'm interested in hearing anyone's opinion on TBOL also....I don't have any Tbol experience .......looking to start a EQ-TBOL-TEST run.....Looking for lean gains

 

[Johimbe]

Not to take over this thread, but I'm interested in hearing anyone's opinion on TBOL also....I don't have any Tbol experience .......looking to start a EQ-TBOL-TEST run.....Looking for lean gains

I cut the tbol after the comments on this post. I gained 27 lbs combined with the test in 6 weeks? My bench went from 6 reps to 13 reps at 315lbs. Take in mind I'm just getting over an arm injury, 13 reps is my PR at 315lbs and I was eating like an animal. I'may not sure if I am still gaining strength running on just test but Thursday is my big weight day so I'll hit it then and get back to you.