Anavar timing and competition

[Epiphany]

Alright guys, could really use some help with a situation I've got goin' here.

I am currently on the sixth week of my first var cycle (by itself, at 10mg). My goal with this was to gain muscle mass. I've been following a clean bulk diet with it...and training taking only one day off a week. No cardio (saving that for pre-competition metabolism speed-up). I've definitely gained some good muscle...but there's plenty of fat that came with it as well.

My next competition isn't till March, and right now I'm confused as to what I should be doing as I'm in the second half of my cycle. Should I be trying to lose some fat now, while still on and the var can help me reserve as much muscle as possible...or still bulk and go on a cutting diet/cardio routine 14 weeks out of competition?

I don't have enough time to restart a var cycle as I begin my competition cut and am afraid that I'll lose my hard-earned muscle mass as I diet and do cardio in preparation for competition. I also know that my metabolism will slow down once I'm off...and I'm sure that will make my cutting efforts that much more difficult (part of the reason I held off on cardio).

Just lost and confused...NEED some input/ideas/suggestions...whatever you guys have for me. ANYTHING's appreciated. And if any of you are confused by the above, I don't blame you--so please tell me to clarify whatever you're unclear about.

THANKS again!

 

[superqt4u2nv]

How much weight have you put on? What was your body fat at before and what is it at currently?

As long as you didn't put a ton of fat on you should be good to go for your cut. If you are satisfied with the amount of mass you have put on thus far you could switch gears a bit and cut down your calories and make efforts to drop a little fat. Women tend to hold there gains much better then men, as long as you keep your protein intake fairly high over your prep you really shouldn’t lose that much muscle.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

What is "plenty of fat"? How much %age wise?

 

[Epiphany]

Hey ladies; thanks so much for responding!

Before my cycle, last July, I competed at 125 & about 7% bf. I'm currently at 147, but with double the strength I had before...my upper body has definitely gotten much more muscular...as well as my legs. I'm also holding water, so it's hard to figure out exactly how much fat I've gained...but I'm thinking I'll have to be at around 130 for my March competition.

Hope that helped, and thanks again!!

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Well, when you cut down for comp you WILL LOSE SOME MUSCLE. That is inevitable, esp as a female. The goal would be to try to maintain as much as possible. You can do this through GOOD training, AWESOME diet (timing of meals and watching ratios will be vital here) and lots of prayers, lol.

I would really get your BF% done so you know where you are sitting right now. It is virtually impossible to tell you how to plan your training/diet/contest prep without knowing SOLID numbers.

 

[Sassy69]

Personally I'd try to be around 14% bodyfat at the start of my Pre-comp phase. Regardless of what you are now, that's where you should be at 14-16 weeks out. I know for some people it is a challenge to really bulk up the muscle w/o getting the fat as well - but that's part of learning how YOUR body responds to not just cutting but bulking.

As far as use of var, 6 weeks isn't much to get any gains on the cycle right now so if you can, run this cycle for at least 12 weeks if you can. If possible take at least a month off to clear your system. But when it comes to cutting, some of the value of var will come not just in preserving your muscle as you cut, but also in recovery time. As you are cutting your cals, increasing the aerobic aspects of your training & jacking up your cardio, being on an ever-tightening & stressful schedule, it will help keep you from feeling completely run down, achy, etc. To that end if you can do at least 8 weeks up to your show date I think it will be very helpful to you.

The caveat I will include on using var during a pre-comp phase - from your current experience, pay attention to how you react to it - do you bloat or retain water on it at all? If yes, then you should cut it out of your cycle no less than 10 days out from your show date to give your body a chance to clear out any of the water retention effects of it. Otherwise if you don't have any sides that interfere w/ your cutting goals & show prep schedule, then you should be able to run it all the way up to show date. Also noting still no reason to run it at high doses at any point in this prep. Just what works sufficiently for you as you are experiencing the sides with the current cycle.

And just in general, for supps I'd make sure to include lots of good anti-oxidants (e.g. r-ala, grape seed extract, cranberry extract, etc.) to support your body while you use this stuff. Also some women can experience things like vaginosis / yeast infections while on pretty much any AAS because it can throw off the balance of "good" & "bad" bacteria "down there". For that you can include acidophilus in your supps pile as well. And the usual -- for acne, Vit B5 (pantothenic acid) is a great (and cheap!) supp to include.

 

[Epiphany]

Thanks for responding to my post Daisy, I know how difficult it is to respond without accurate info...I'll post back as soon as I have the proper info for you guys, hopefully it'll be easier for you to help me then.

Sassy--that was an incredibly helpful post!! THANKS a TON for taking the time to type out such a well-thought out response...you've hit every point I was concerned about in your post!!

I was actually under the impression that the time off a cycle should optimally be equal to the time running it. Because of this, I didn't think I had the time to restart another var cycle once I begin to cut. If I had known that a month's break is sufficient, I wouldn't have been worried that much in the first place--I would probably just stick with the clean bulk, put on all the muscle mass I can, and after a short break restart my cycle along with a cutting diet/strict cardio!

I'll definitely add a little post w/o cardio for now, try & make sure I'm at around that 14%bf mark as I think that makes lots of sense. Also, I'm glad you mentioned the bloating...it's definitely quite apparent with me--I was wondering how some girls run var straight into their shows without problems...guess it's a case by case kind of thing. I would definitely need to stop it a couple of weeks ahead of time to lose that water!

Thank you again for taking the time, your help is MUCH appreciated guys!

 

[Sassy69]

Thanks for responding to my post Daisy, I know how difficult it is to respond without accurate info...I'll post back as soon as I have the proper info for you guys, hopefully it'll be easier for you to help me then.

Sassy--that was an incredibly helpful post!! THANKS a TON for taking the time to type out such a well-thought out response...you've hit every point I was concerned about in your post!!

I was actually under the impression that the time off a cycle should optimally be equal to the time running it. Because of this, I didn't think I had the time to restart another var cycle once I begin to cut. If I had known that a month's break is sufficient, I wouldn't have been worried that much in the first place--I would probably just stick with the clean bulk, put on all the muscle mass I can, and after a short break restart my cycle along with a cutting diet/strict cardio!

I'll definitely add a little post w/o cardio for now, try & make sure I'm at around that 14%bf mark as I think that makes lots of sense. Also, I'm glad you mentioned the bloating...it's definitely quite apparent with me--I was wondering how some girls run var straight into their shows without problems...guess it's a case by case kind of thing. I would definitely need to stop it a couple of weeks ahead of time to lose that water!

Thank you again for taking the time, your help is MUCH appreciated guys!

I don't think I'd just say 'eh dont' worry about the time off' -- but you are on a schedule here. If you are at a very low dose the whole time then its not as critical to get that time off within your schedule -- but generally speaking and as a rule I'd recommend to be planning your cycles related to a competition schedule MUCH further out so you can actually accommodate a good break. Var is a little more forgiving than just about every other AAS, but it is still an AAS and has to be respected as such - pay attention to and constantly evaluate how YOU (your body, your sides, how you feel, how bad the sides are, do you notice them accumulating or getting worse?) respond to your cycle as you go and plan ahead to get enough time off and include the support supps in your program to enable you to optimally make it thru the whole process....

Just for future reference, definitely plan your cycles to include time on = time off & make it a practice. Constant use of even light stuff can have a cumulative effect and some of the sides that normally go away, maybe won't after a while.