Taking the plunge - First Cycle

[GoLers]

Hey Fellas,

So I have been lurking for quite a bit gathering what knowledge I could. I knew eventually this time would come. I was planning a cycle about 2 years ago and after getting everything planned out and having my blood work done I asked myself if I was "there yet" and truly ready to go enhanced. Had to be honest with myself and decided that I was not - at somewhere between 6'2-6'3 and about 195 when lean I had a decent look but my strength was not great from the 4 years of bro lifting (lot of upper body and legs was pretty much just machines). I stopped using previous injuries as an excuse and started back with squats and deadlifts. After about 6 months of this when I got comfortable with the movements I switched to powerlifting training. In the past year and a half I put on some more size and gained a good bit of strength. I now sit around 215 granted I am not as lean as I used to be and my last maxes are as follows (not great but much improved):

B: 340
S: 415
D: 495

Legs are still lagging in strength but to be honest my build is complete shit for powerlifting which is why I am switching my focus towards strength and looks not just purely strength. Show and Go as they say. Training will still push heavy on the big 3 but with a lot more high rep BB type movements added and less pure strength accessories.

tldr - bro-lifted for 4 years, lifted heavy for 2. Currently 29, somewhere between 6'2-6'3 and ~210-215 with a little extra from pushing the strength training natty. Lean everywhere but a tad bit extra in the midsection not sure of body fat % would just be a guess.
Goals keep gaining strength but add some focus on aesthetics (recomp a bit).

Cycle:

Week 1-12 500mg test-e (250mg pinned twice a week - M and Thur)

Week 6 - Blood drawn around 48 hours post injection.

Week 4-12 Anastrozole .25mg eod into e3d (playing this one by feeling .25mg every other day is assuming I feel the high e2 sides - will get the 6 week blood test also which should help me adjust) I am very much open to any suggestions from the vets here if my plan is not good.

From last pin I am planning 17 days of nothing then PCT (last pin will be a thurs - friday, saturday, sunday + 2 weeks) I have often heard 21 days suggested, if that is better will wait 21 days.

4 weeks of PCT
clomid 50/50/50/50
nolva 40/40/20/20

Everything is already on hand.

Diet will start at ~3500 calories per day (~400g carbs, ~100g fats ~250g protein) I am betting this will need bumped up as I have always found my maintenance to be around 3200 when training power lifting with a day or two of not so disciplined eating per week. This go around will be very disciplined diet and higher volume training. Calories will be adjusted as I go.

Pre-bloods attached:

First pin was tonight went well - here is to hoping the PIP and test flu stays away. Open to any and all suggestions or advice.

 

[Robert123]

Exciting times, have fun!!

 

[Flaming Dragon]

Hey Fellas,

So I have been lurking for quite a bit gathering what knowledge I could. I knew eventually this time would come. I was planning a cycle about 2 years ago and after getting everything planned out and having my blood work done I asked myself if I was "there yet" and truly ready to go enhanced. Had to be honest with myself and decided that I was not - at somewhere between 6'2-6'3 and about 195 when lean I had a decent look but my strength was not great from the 4 years of bro lifting (lot of upper body and legs was pretty much just machines). I stopped using previous injuries as an excuse and started back with squats and deadlifts. After about 6 months of this when I got comfortable with the movements I switched to powerlifting training. In the past year and a half I put on some more size and gained a good bit of strength. I now sit around 215 granted I am not as lean as I used to be and my last maxes are as follows (not great but much improved):

B: 340
S: 415
D: 495

Legs are still lagging in strength but to be honest my build is complete shit for powerlifting which is why I am switching my focus towards strength and looks not just purely strength. Show and Go as they say. Training will still push heavy on the big 3 but with a lot more high rep BB type movements added and less pure strength accessories.

tldr - bro-lifted for 4 years, lifted heavy for 2. Currently 29, somewhere between 6'2-6'3 and ~210-215 with a little extra from pushing the strength training natty. Lean everywhere but a tad bit extra in the midsection not sure of body fat % would just be a guess.
Goals keep gaining strength but add some focus on aesthetics (recomp a bit).

Cycle:

Week 1-12 500mg test-e (250mg pinned twice a week - M and Thur)

Week 6 - Blood drawn around 48 hours post injection.

Week 4-12 Anastrozole .25mg eod into e3d (playing this one by feeling .25mg every other day is assuming I feel the high e2 sides - will get the 6 week blood test also which should help me adjust) I am very much open to any suggestions from the vets here if my plan is not good.

From last pin I am planning 17 days of nothing then PCT (last pin will be a thurs - friday, saturday, sunday + 2 weeks) I have often heard 21 days suggested, if that is better will wait 21 days.

4 weeks of PCT
clomid 50/50/50/50
nolva 40/40/20/20

Everything is already on hand.

Diet will start at ~3500 calories per day (~400g carbs, ~100g fats ~250g protein) I am betting this will need bumped up as I have always found my maintenance to be around 3200 when training power lifting with a day or two of not so disciplined eating per week. This go around will be very disciplined diet and higher volume training. Calories will be adjusted as I go.

Pre-bloods attached:View attachment 103926

First pin was tonight went well - here is to hoping the PIP and test flu stays away. Open to any and all suggestions or advice.

Finally someone who took the time and done their research on how to properly run a good cycle!! I would recommend that you give between 4-6weeks of nothing before PCT..The half-life of Test E is around 3-4weeks before it clears your system. Due expect around week 4 to 6.. you'll feel like shit and not motivated to train.. IMO, it's the best time to lower the weights w/high reps and work on proper form, keep your diet in check, and hit them cardio!.. Many folks who lack discipline and resort back to their old habits (eating bad, not training, etc..) will see major drops on the "gains" and usually restart their cycle (before PCT ended) w/increase dosage.. you know how that leads too...

will keep a tab on your progress.. good luck bro!!

 

[GoLers]

Finally someone who took the time and done their research on how to properly run a good cycle!! I would recommend that you give between 4-6weeks of nothing before PCT..The half-life of Test E is around 3-4weeks before it clears your system. Due expect around week 4 to 6.. you'll feel like shit and not motivated to train.. IMO, it's the best time to lower the weights w/high reps and work on proper form, keep your diet in check, and hit them cardio!.. Many folks who lack discipline and resort back to their old habits (eating bad, not training, etc..) will see major drops on the "gains" and usually restart their cycle (before PCT ended) w/increase dosage.. you know how that leads too...

will keep a tab on your progress.. good luck bro!!

Much appreciated - I will take that advice and bump the time between last pin and PCT to a minimum of 4 weeks. I have yet to experience the highs or lows of a cycle but in this fitness game natty or enhanced discipline has always been the key for success. I have full intentions of keeping all my gains that I possibly can, don't mind a bit of suffering to do that during those weeks between last pin and PCT.

I have already made the promise to myself that regardless of how this first cycle goes I will stick to the old school rule of time on equals time off while I am still new to this. If there is a second cycle it will be at least 12 weeks from PCT. From what I have read about the half-life of Clomid it would take at least 6 weeks before I would want to get blood work to confirm if I have returned to near my baseline anyways. Which ideally would be my goal before I consider a second cycle.

As far as PIP goes from first pin - it honestly is not so bad atm. I have read some horror stories but it feels like nothing more than a deep bruise. I know its there but in no way would it effect training. I did right glute to start, next will be left. Considering just rotating back and fourth on the glutes for awhile. Quads seem intimidating to me.

 

[KillaBig]

Welcome to the dark side!

 

[Robert123]

Felt the same about quads until I started pinning them, easyiest body part to do in my opinion now

 

[Hawkins]

Cycle-
Good first cycle dose and duration. This will suffice for a 2nd cycle too, if you’re truly conservative and off for 12 weeks like you said...

PCT-
Good for you for not blasting and cruising. That’s dumb. Hormones work better when you come off completely and you’ll be healthier in the long run. Wait at least 28 days before starting PCT meds. You won’t “lose gains”. You’ll drop sub-q water. Don’t shoot for 30lbs. It’s a trap dudes fall into.

Training/diet-
Don’t let these slip. You will continue to progress through PCT. The advantages the hormone will give you lingers well after discontinued. Track food meticulously. Do not ease up on training. You will surprise yourself on how much tissue you keep. Again, don’t try and “blow up” and just move the scale. Pure tissue that’s gets built will stick with you as long as it’s fed and stimulated.

Health-
Bloodwork, good job. Your AI might not be needed, pay close attention here.
Sound like you’re ready for this lifestyle. Enjoy and reach out with questions.

Train hard man...

 

[GoLers]

Well week two underway. Nothing to exciting to report yet. Still got another week or two I figure before the real effects start kicking in. PIP was very minimal from from the third pin. I did get a bit of a cold starting end of last week - nasal congestion and fatigue, could have been test related or could have just be seasonal. Either way that has just about cleared up and my training has been fine anyways.

As far as training and diet goes been staying on track. Recovery seems very good right now. Squat yesterday and bench today both up 5kg on the final peak set. At this point, I would attribute that to mostly diet since I do not think the test would really be kicking in this fast. Going to keep training hard and keep the diet strict. Very excited to see where this takes me.

 

[Hawkins]

Heck yeah, keep us in the loop...

 

[GoLers]

Mid-way through week 3, figured I should send out an update. I am starting to feel the effects for sure now. Strength is up a bit, recovery is fantastic, and all around feeling great. I find myself having to say "stick to the plan man" since I am feeling way more energetic and wanting to keeping doing sets beyond what is planned.

I am on a six day a week training schedule so managing that fatigue is important. I am also starting to phase in AM cardio (using the airdyne in the basement). Right now doing 200 cals 3-4 days a week.

One interesting thing that I have noted is the lower back pumps are pretty intense. I have heard this reported with certain compounds but not often with test. Could just be my reaction to it but it is interesting.

Anyways will keep the updates rolling but early impressions, fucking great!

 

[Midas]

Good luck! You and I are very similar. Long time researcher and reader. I ll be following your log. I hope to take my dark side voyage in September....

 

[Worf]

Wheres the hcg?
Everything else looks good

 

[GoLers]

Wheres the hcg?
Everything else looks good

I certainly debated adding HCG and went back and fourth for awhile. From what I could gather the main purpose of adding HCG would be to "keep the boys going" throughout the cycle to some extent. In theory this may make recovery into PCT easier. I don't question the efficacy of HCG, I question the necessity in a simple test cycle. A lot of what I could find was anecdotal. Some said it helped others said they did not notice much difference in recovery.

As an analog of LH the benefits, as I understand, would be keep some natural test production, fertility benefits, and reduced shrinkage. Shrinkage I am fine with, certainly hoping I don't knock the girl up at this point in my life, and maintaining a small amount of natural test production whilst pinning a very unnatural amount of exogenous test seems tantamount to pouring a bucket of water into a lake. As far as I see it, the question became will it make recovery easier? The common answer was maybe/maybe not but why not add it anyways? My response to that was - this is my first cycle and I want to keep it as simple as possible, so I opted to leave it out. If I am speaking out of ignorance please do correct me. I am new to this game and have no practical experience, only what I have gathered from reading (often hard to separate the bro science from actual science). So to anyone else who is new to this take what I say with a grain of salt and vets feel free to correct if anything I say is wrong.

After this cycle and the appropriate amount of time plus full recovery confirmed by bloods. If I decide to do a second, it will be the same, in which I will add HCG and use this run as a control to form an opinion based on experience. After all you never really know how you will react until you try it.

 

[Holidaypay]

I certainly debated adding HCG and went back and fourth for awhile. From what I could gather the main purpose of adding HCG would be to "keep the boys going" throughout the cycle to some extent. In theory this may make recovery into PCT easier. I don't question the efficacy of HCG, I question the necessity in a simple test cycle. A lot of what I could find was anecdotal. Some said it helped others said they did not notice much difference in recovery.

As an analog of LH the benefits, as I understand, would be keep some natural test production, fertility benefits, and reduced shrinkage. Shrinkage I am fine with, certainly hoping I don't knock the girl up at this point in my life, and maintaining a small amount of natural test production whilst pinning a very unnatural amount of exogenous test seems tantamount to pouring a bucket of water into a lake. As far as I see it, the question became will it make recovery easier? The common answer was maybe/maybe not but why not add it anyways? My response to that was - this is my first cycle and I want to keep it as simple as possible, so I opted to leave it out. If I am speaking out of ignorance please do correct me. I am new to this game and have no practical experience, only what I have gathered from reading (often hard to separate the bro science from actual science). So to anyone else who is new to this take what I say with a grain of salt and vets feel free to correct if anything I say is wrong.

After this cycle and the appropriate amount of time plus full recovery confirmed by bloods. If I decide to do a second, it will be the same, in which I will add HCG and use this run as a control to form an opinion based on experience. After all you never really know how you will react until you try it.

Everything looks great bud the only thing I can see is to test where ur ai dosage gets you some are very sensitive an some aren't at all like me I take 12.5 mg exemestane every 7 to 10 days when I'm on a gram of test it would suck to crash ur estro u might wana look into taking a test a couples weeks into ai usage to c were ur at imo besides that good job looks like a fuckin solid plan

 

[Worf]

Just take the hcg man. It's $40. Youre missing the big picture. HCG is not about boosting your test on cycle. You want that test production to kick back in asap. It makes pct so much easier and can even help with dosing serms. No need to drown yourself in clomid ( still use if you can tolerate, just lower the dose). If you arent aware clomid and nolvadex both have their own set of sides and not everybody can tolerate 350mg of clomid and 240mg of nolva a week without turning into an emotional blind mess. HCG use is not anecdotal or hearsay, it works end of discussion. You will recover more easily and keep your gains. There's no such thing as a simple test cycle, blah blah blah. Shut down is shut down. Dont be fine with shrinkage, your going to fuck yourself up. Testicular atrophy= future problems. Your total t is at 530, you start running cycles and relying on clomid nolva only you may regret it and be back on here in the trt forum in 6 months. Plenty of guys here can attest to running a couple cycles with only nolva or clomid pct and all of a sudden their dick doesnt get hard anymore or they cant get their girl pregnant. Why take the gamble?

 

[GoLers]

Just take the hcg man. It's $40. Youre missing the big picture. HCG is not about boosting your test on cycle. You want that test production to kick back in asap. It makes pct so much easier and can even help with dosing serms. No need to drown yourself in clomid ( still use if you can tolerate, just lower the dose). If you arent aware clomid and nolvadex both have their own set of sides and not everybody can tolerate 350mg of clomid and 240mg of nolva a week without turning into an emotional blind mess. HCG use is not anecdotal or hearsay, it works end of discussion. You will recover more easily and keep your gains. There's no such thing as a simple test cycle, blah blah blah. Shut down is shut down. Dont be fine with shrinkage, your going to fuck yourself up. Testicular atrophy= future problems. Your total t is at 530, you start running cycles and relying on clomid nolva only you may regret it and be back on here in the trt forum in 6 months. Plenty of guys here can attest to running a couple cycles with only nolva or clomid pct and all of a sudden their dick doesnt get hard anymore or they cant get their girl pregnant. Why take the gamble?

Valid points - so unfortunately I do not have any on hand. Since I can't exactly go Amazon Prime for this and have it within a day I figure with Monday being the start of week 4; assuming domestic, I could have it and start by week 6. While I never planned on using it this cycle - what I could gather was the protocol for this seems to vary quite a bit. Some say 200 or 250iu EOD, some say same numbers 3 times a week, some say 250iu twice a week (given the half-life ~24-36 hours that seems too far in between). Certainly open to suggestions here. If for some reason I can not integrate it this cycle, will be sure to on the next assuming there is one.

As for an update on the side effects thus far - I have not felt or observed any of the negative sides. Certainly feeling the strength gains and the scale has gone up a bit. Also horny as a pubescent teenager. I have not touched an AI yet as I have not felt any obvious high e2 related sides. Blood work will be middle of week 6 and I am just now starting week 4 (monday) - so that could change before then. I have no plans of taking the Anastrozole until I feel the side effects of high e2 or the blood work proves it is elevated, which ever comes first. As Holidaypay pointed out - I don't yet know how my body will react to the AI yet so getting that blood work as a basis of comparison will be nice. I know one thing is for sure - splitting these tiny ass pills is going to be a bitch lol. Anyways fellas appreciate the words of wisdom.

 

[Worf]

So in this scenario I would get some HCG, 5000iu will do and min 5cc of bac water. Theres a few labs in the underground that have it for cheap. Youll need some slin pins and after mixing it must be refrigerated. Run your cycle as you would and wait 7-10 days after your last shot. This is ester clearance time, no serms yet. Take the hcg 500iu eod until you run out,(there may be a day or 2 of overlap with the serms) this will restore testicular function and prepare the testes for normal function, the serms will do the rest. you will keep more of your gains, less likely to have fat gain or low t later in life if you decide not to cycle again.

 

[Flaming Dragon]

I'll throw in my two pennies regarding HCG and AI's. I would say most simple cycle (test only) you would not need them as part of your cycle. It's only when you start to increase the dosage and adding in different compound when you will run into issues.

The best is to keep to your plan and do the bloodwork on the 6-7th week mark. 48-72hrs after pinning and early morning to see best results. This will be a good indicator if you need HCG or AI. If everything's within norm.. I say less is best!

Don't expect any magic until week 6+ as it takes that long for test E to kick in. Once it does, it's an awesome ride! Always remember, muscle is build in the kitchen..

 

[GoLers]

I'll throw in my two pennies regarding HCG and AI's. I would say most simple cycle (test only) you would not need them as part of your cycle. It's only when you start to increase the dosage and adding in different compound when you will run into issues.

The best is to keep to your plan and do the bloodwork on the 6-7th week mark. 48-72hrs after pinning and early morning to see best results. This will be a good indicator if you need HCG or AI. If everything's within norm.. I say less is best!

Don't expect any magic until week 6+ as it takes that long for test E to kick in. Once it does, it's an awesome ride! Always remember, muscle is build in the kitchen..

Yeah I will have the HCG by end of cycle so can go either way. Blood work is not to far off so that should tell a lot. I did however take the first dose of AI today. The nipples have been very sensitive to the touch and constantly hard lately (like when you get really cold). Sex drive has also decreased a bit as has morning wood. Not exactly the most scientific approach but certainly feels like some high e2 signs. I plan on waiting a minimum of 3 days before I will consider taking another .25mg based on sides. No gyno or anything like that so it is not drastic and I prefer to keep it to a minimum till blood work. At least with this I can estimate a bit how sensitive I am to the AI drugs.

As for the scale - I have been up around 8-10 pounds. I am sure a lot of this is water. Strength is still increasing at a rate that is very pleasing. If you say the magic happens at week 6+ I cant wait to see what that will be like. For example:

1/7 Comp Bench (powerlifting rules - pause) 4x5
110 kg
115 kg
120 kg
120 kg

1/29 Comp Bench (powerlifting rules - pause) 4x5
120 kg
125 kg
125 kg
130 kg

Granted I slacked over the holidays so was a bit de-trained but quite a good increase for a month. Squat increases have been even better and deadlifts are exploding off the floor. Makes sense since I have the most room to improve on those lifts.

I have also added 300 calories per day to the diet since appetite has been increasing. I always have believed diet is fairly intuitive and it has worked for me so far. If I was cutting that would be a different story but I want the most of my gains, so under eating will not be an issue here.

 

[Flaming Dragon]

Keep doing what you do and apply the research you've done to this cycle. Remember, the sides for high/low E2 is almost the same. So it can be difficult to gauge your E2 level without blood work. I normally take about .25 E3D when running multiple compounds and that's years of blood work and listening to my body. I've seen many running 1mg EOD to keep their e2 level in check.

I had run HCG and it does keep the boys well hung. For me, I have tried with and without HCG during/after cycle and noticed my recovery is about the same (give/take a week). I would say if you have HCG as part of your cycle, it wouldn't hurt and could help you in recovery.

Now, I do noticed that running HCG would spike my E2 levels so that could be something for you to think about.