Hi im 5ft 8 160lbs 16% bf.
Will i gain extra muscle weight while taking 500mg test / week even on a cutting cycle of 500 calorie deficit? Help would be appreciated
( Ideally I would like to be 170lbs on the leaner side )
Do you think a 12 week cycle of test / anavar with a 500 caloric deficit this is achievable while dropping a few numbers on the bf %
Cheers!
500mg of test weekly but how much anavar?
The quick and easy answer is yes, you'll certainly recomp. But if you're trying to be efficient during the recomp, I wouldn't cut 500 calories right off the bat. I'd cut 300, track your progress, and adjust by a couple hundred calories every week or so.
Cutting too aggressively can cause your body to hold onto additional calories, and make the cutting process extremely difficult after the first month or so.
In fact, I wouldn't even aim for a caloric deficit, I'd just do enough cardio (on top of your lifting, at a different time during the day) to yield a 300+ caloric deficit daily. If you can just eat at maintenance, but hit a fairly steep deficit through additional energy expenditure, your recomp will go much better.
Anabolics will combat alot of the undesirable effects of dieting hard, but if you're trying to get the most out of your cycle, you're better off utilizing an approach that works wonders even for a natty, then using the AAS to simply enhance the recomp.
The reason increased energy expenditure works better than a caloric deficit, is gene signaling. Basically, the body receives signaling to build muscle while in an environment conducive to building muscle in the form of a caloric surplus, through out a huge chunk of the day, then it's hit with an acute, sudden caloric deficit, after already utilizing most of its nutrients to build muscle. At that point, it really has no choice but to metabolize fat while sparing the muscle it has already exhausted resources building.
Also, do something other than the bro split for your bodybuilding routine. A full body routine is probably best for calorie expenditure, because it jacks your heart rate through the roof. You can realistically hit somewhere around 30 sets per week, as long as you're splitting those sets among compound and isolation. The only real concern is potentially overtraining your connective tissue, since your skeletal musculature will easily handle the load while using AAS (although you'd most likely be able to hit that kind of extreme volume even natty, at least for 6 weeks or so), and you probably don't have the mental fortitude to actually over train the CNS.
TLDR: Eat at maintenance, achieve the caloric deficit by doing cardio at a different time during the day than when you lift, and aim for a high volume routine that isn't the bro split.