What‘s my BF%? How lean should I get before starting my first cycle?

[an03l371]

I want to start a 20 week long cycle with Testosterone at 500mg per week and 30mg Anavar per day for the last 6-8 weeks in a few months, but before that my goal is to become really lean.

Currently I‘m 5'9" and slightly above 180lbs. I‘m using 140mg Test E per week since three months and eating in a calorie deficit that makes me lose 1.5-2lbs per week. Strength is slowly increasing and appetite control isn’t an issue for me.

Thanks and sorry if this is the wrong place to post, I‘m new here!

 

[lukiss96]

You're ready to cycle based on your development level. Of course you could always grind and gain additional 5lbs of lbm, but that's not necessary at this point.

Before your first cycle I'd say get as lean as you physically can without feeling starved or uncomfortable all the time. Your body fat is around 15-18% as you seem to store most of the fat in your back and lower body it seems. Need more pictures with neutral standing position to say more. But it seems you are in the leanish category by general standards.

Are you on TRT, is that the reason why you're taking 140mg per week currently or what is the reason and point of it?

Keep your first cycle as simple as possible and don't take anything more than Testosterone at 250-500mg per week. I believe 20 weeks is a bit excessive, stick to more regular 12 weeker or maybe 16 at most. You can always up the dose remember that. Don't add anything else, master the Testosterone first. After that you may increase your dose or add something in to the mix, your second, third and so on cycle.

 

[an03l371]

You're ready to cycle based on your development level. Of course you could always grind and gain additional 5lbs of lbm, but that's not necessary at this point.

Before your first cycle I'd say get as lean as you physically can without feeling starved or uncomfortable all the time. Your body fat is around 15-18% as you seem to store most of the fat in your back and lower body it seems. Need more pictures with neutral standing position to say more. But it seems you are in the leanish category by general standards.

Are you on TRT, is that the reason why you're taking 140mg per week currently or what is the reason and point of it?

Keep your first cycle as simple as possible and don't take anything more than Testosterone at 250-500mg per week. I believe 20 weeks is a bit excessive, stick to more regular 12 weeker or maybe 16 at most. You can always up the dose remember that. Don't add anything else, master the Testosterone first. After that you may increase your dose or add something in to the mix, your second, third and so on cycle.

Thanks for the response. I feel like I can definitely continue cutting for some time, especially with summer coming up and when it helps to get the most out of a cycle.

I started with self-prescribed TRT to be able to cut more efficiently without losing muscle mass and also to get used to pinning and everything.

From what I‘ve seen 500mg is more or less the standard for your first Testosterone cycle, but I‘m open to starting lower and increasing the dosage over time if that helps with side effects. As for the length, I feel like 20 weeks is fine because it took me 6-7 weeks to feel the effects after starting TRT. I will keep the Anavar for my 2nd or 3rd cycle then.

 

[JWalsh]

"Maximum out of minimum"

Starting at 500mg in my opinion is too high.

My first cycle was a Test base 300mg/week, split into two shots.
Even for your second, third or even fourth cycle, keep the mindset of above quote. Don't feel like you have to keep increasing the dosages or introducing new compounds every cycle.

You can always increase dosages as and when you need too. But once you go into deep waters and run high amounts, it's hard to come back down. Keep things basic, get bloods done regularly, and only increase your dosages when you feel like you actually need to.

 

[an03l371]

"Maximum out of minimum"

Starting at 500mg in my opinion is too high.

My first cycle was a Test base 300mg/week, split into two shots.
Even for your second, third or even fourth cycle, keep the mindset of above quote. Don't feel like you have to keep increasing the dosages or introducing new compounds every cycle.

You can always increase dosages as and when you need too. But once you go into deep waters and run high amounts, it's hard to come back down. Keep things basic, get bloods done regularly, and only increase your dosages when you feel like you actually need to.

Sounds like a sensible approach, thanks.

 

[an03l371]

I have a few questions, posting them here with the hope of someone seeing this.

1. Would it make sense to do some cardio directly post workout or should I wait to prevent any interference with recovery?

2. Should I increase my dosage now to 200-300mg of Test E per week, to cut more efficiently, or wait until the bulking phase starts?

3. I‘ve calculated that my weight loss over the last two months was 1.78lbs per week with 2600 calories, not including the first week of cutting due to water weight. Since one pound of bodyfat contains 3500 calories, does this mean my maintenance lies at roughly 3500 calories?

 

[UncleBuns]

Cardio after is fine. Don't over think it.

Cutting in TRT is a great choice. Cut down to lean as you want to go but stop before you feel horrible. You'll know when you get there. No reason to go super lean feelings like shit unless not a specific reason or goal

Do you have an AI in hand? Have an AI before starting cycle.

Nothing wrong with starting at 300 - 500 test. You may be surprised how much you can get out of even 350 test. Personally I front load injectables to hit baseline levels right away but I do shorter cycles mostly.

Do you have blood work pre trt and yet blood work? Get it if you don't. What is your plan for cycle blood work?

 

[marsupial]

You’re close but I would recommend cutting to 12% bf first. Take a more neutral pic with appropriate lighting for a more honest assessment of bf.

The closer you get to 10% before blasting, you’ll get far more out of the blast…because on blast, especially if it’s your first, you’re going to gain at least some fat

 

[Benf15harp]

I say 20%. Shoot for low teens.

 

[an03l371]

I‘ve lost a few more pounds and the bodyfat guessing AI and what I can see from comparisons, my bodyfat percentage lies around 15% now. I‘m going to cut until my weight is in the low 160s.

As for blood work, luckily I have a good doctor who I can always ask for a full check.

 

[marsupial]

Tbh I’d keep a cutoff at 170. If you’re cutting right now and you lose too much strength that’ll also make it harder to benefit from the blast

 

[Laxbro88]

Tbh I’d keep a cutoff at 170. If you’re cutting right now and you lose too much strength that’ll also make it harder to benefit from the blast

Idk man, strength comes back fast. I think he’s better off continuing to cut until his body really puts the brakes on his weight loss through thyroid downregulation. Yes he will be depleted but his body will be primed for EXPLOSIVE growth assuming he eats in a decent surplus.

The lower your body fat the more run way you have on your bulk before having to implement a mini cut or go back to maintenance.

 

[an03l371]

Idk man, strength comes back fast. I think he’s better off continuing to cut until his body really puts the brakes on his weight loss through thyroid downregulation. Yes he will be depleted but his body will be primed for EXPLOSIVE growth assuming he eats in a decent surplus.

The lower your body fat the more run way you have on your bulk before having to implement a mini cut or go back to maintenance.

How quickly does your thyroid rebound when you start eating normally again?

So far I‘ve only had to drop my calories once and increase cardio a bit, but I‘ve also started with a high calorie deficit from the beginning.

Strength loss is still not a concern for me, I can usually even add the next weight increment or one rep for most exercises every workout.

 

[Laxbro88]

How quickly does your thyroid rebound when you start eating normally again?

So far I‘ve only had to drop my calories once and increase cardio a bit, but I‘ve also started with a high calorie deficit from the beginning.

Strength loss is still not a concern for me, I can usually even add the next weight increment or one rep for most exercises every workout.

Pretty quickly unless you have done damage to your thyroid from abusing t3, like a week or two of eating at maintenance or having a couple of really high carb days in a row will get it going again.

If I were you I would keep cutting. I wish I had kept cutting instead of bulking last fall/winter. I’m just now getting back down to a bf I’m happy with and it took about 5 months of dieting.

 

[an03l371]

Pretty quickly unless you have done damage to your thyroid from abusing t3, like a week or two of eating at maintenance or having a couple of really high carb days in a row will get it going again.

If I were you I would keep cutting. I wish I had kept cutting instead of bulking last fall/winter. I’m just now getting back down to a bf I’m happy with and it took about 5 months of dieting.

Thanks for the help. I haven’t planned to stop cutting now, but I will slow it down a bit and implement one or two longer maintenance phases. During summer I‘ll be on lots of trips anyway. There’s no point in starting a cycle when you’re not at home for half the time, so my plan is to start in fall with perfect starting conditions.

 

[marsupial]

Pretty quickly unless you have done damage to your thyroid from abusing t3, like a week or two of eating at maintenance or having a couple of really high carb days in a row will get it going again.

If I were you I would keep cutting. I wish I had kept cutting instead of bulking last fall/winter. I’m just now getting back down to a bf I’m happy with and it took about 5 months of dieting.

Damn lol. 5 months of dieting? Pretty brutal. Would definitely recommend prevent having to do that again in the future

 

[Laxbro88]

Damn lol. 5 months of dieting? Pretty brutal. Would definitely recommend prevent having to do that again in the future

Yeah it was not fun, more importantly that is all time I couldn't spend building tissue in a calorie surplus. Going to try and do a leaner bulk this fall. I went from about 200lbs to about 230 lbs in 14 weeks or so. Call about 10lbs of that water weight so I have lost roughly 20lbs in 20 weeks which is about what I was hoping for.

 

[Eddie.]

Yeah it was not fun, more importantly that is all time I couldn't spend building tissue in a calorie surplus. Going to try and do a leaner bulk this fall. I went from about 200lbs to about 230 lbs in 14 weeks or so. Call about 10lbs of that water weight so I have lost roughly 20lbs in 20 weeks which is about what I was hoping for.

Did you kept losing weight until the end? I'm kinda pissed rn with my progress, i was around 25% bf before i start my cycle and deficit, i've lost around 7 kg and recomped due to test and primo but now i've stalled, i'm in deficit since February 26 and i still have much bodyfat to lose. Probably sitting at 18-20% and calories are now low for 228 bodyweight at 6', ~2250 6 days a week and i have a free meal which this day i end up around 3300. My maintenance on TRT was 3200, i have 5 weeks more to go and i'm wondering if cutting more calories is the answer or continue like this and see what happens. Thing is i'll have to do another cutting phase before my winter blast, and this just sucks big time.

 

[Laxbro88]

Did you kept losing weight until the end? I'm kinda pissed rn with my progress, i was around 25% bf before i start my cycle and deficit, i've lost around 7 kg and recomped due to test and primo but now i've stalled, i'm in deficit since February 26 and i still have much bodyfat to lose. Probably sitting at 18-20% and calories are now low for 228 bodyweight at 6', ~2250 6 days a week and i have a free meal which this day i end up around 3300. My maintenance on TRT was 3200, i have 5 weeks more to go and i'm wondering if cutting more calories is the answer or continue like this and see what happens. Thing is i'll have to do another cutting phase before my winter blast, and this just sucks big time.

You may try doing a diet break and bring the calories back up to upregulate your thyroid production and then go back on the deficit. It does suck but man its so worth it at the end and your bulk will be exponentially more productive.

 

[Eddie.]

You may try doing a diet break and bring the calories back up to upregulate your thyroid production and then go back on the deficit. It does suck but man its so worth it at the end and your bulk will be exponentially more productive.

Yeah, something like that is gonna happen but not now, since i have 5 weeks of my cycle and then i'm going to cruise. I'm thinking doing a 6 week minicut before my bulk blast, lose as much as i can in that short period of time and then bulk. Otherwise i'll have to increase food only a tad throughout my bulk to not get very fat. Probably i'm gonna lower calories more towards the end of this cut, maybe last 3 weeks to go 2000..fakking bikini diet with 18% bodyfat lol