First Cycle Review

[Incredibarsss]

Background info

I'm 30 years old. I've been training for 10 years on and off.

1 year ago I tried to do a first cycle without any idea what I was doing, as I found out in hindsight.

I did 4 weeks Test E (250mg) and Deca without running a PCT. I wanted to do it longer but when I noticed testicular atrophy, I stopped the cycle cold turky.

I now realize I was completely unprepared. Even though it was a bad first 'cycle', I did make decent progress from it in just one month.

Yet I want to avoid messing up like this again. I've continued to train naturally again for a year while doing a lot more research.

Now I feel I'm ready to do another REAL cycle. I think it can still count it as my 'first (real) cycle'.


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My stats

6ft (183cm)
198 lbs (90kg)
15-20% body fat (estimated from pics)


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My bloodwork

I have not done a baseline blood test so I don't know if the first attempted cycle influenced my base values. The cholesterol is kind of high and some of the hormonal values seem rather low for my age (30)

Cholesterol 206 mg/dL
Triglyceriden 91 mg/dL
HDL cholesterol 51 mg/dL
LDL cholesterol 135 mg/dL
Non HDL cholesterol 157

TSH 3,11 mU/L
Free T4 1,45 ng/dL
Vitamin D 71,5 nmol/L
LH 3,6 U/L
FSH 2,9 U/L
SHBG 21,4 nmol/L
Total Test 542 ng/dL
Free Test 12,96 ng/dL

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My cycle

Week 1-10 500 mg - Test E 250 (Monday - Thursday)
Week 1-10 500 I.U. HCG - 250 I.U. (Monday Thursday)

(maybe run low dose Nolvadex during cycle)


---------------

My PCT

Week 12-15 Nolvadex 20mg tabs ED
Week 12-15 Clomid 50mg tabs ED


Precautions:

I will try to get my hands on some Arimidex (1mg tabs) but as I understand it's not required by default (?)


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I'm not in a hurry to start, I want to feel like I'm correctly informed and 100% well prepared this time.

Your feedback is kindly appreciated.

Incredibarsss

 

[ANHUR]

Your cycle looks very well put together. Here are a few tweeks I would suggest.

- Extend your Cycle to 12 weeks.

- Wait to start the HCG until you notice that your balls have shrunk. During the 2 week gap, where you stop pinning and wait for esters to clear before starting PCT, bump the HCG dosage to 1000iu weekly.

- An AI is not required for cycles, but it is a good idea to have just in case. With this being your first cycle, you have no idea if you need an AI for not. Because of this, you should get more bloodwork done 5-6 weeks into your cycle to check Test and Estrogen levels. This will let you know that your gear is legit, and what type of AI usage you need for estrogen. If it is out of range, or elevated, starting the adex at .5mg/eod would be wise.

 

[EZ_E]

Background info

I'm 30 years old. I've been training for 10 years on and off.

1 year ago I tried to do a first cycle without any idea what I was doing, as I found out in hindsight.

I did 4 weeks Test E (250mg) and Deca without running a PCT. I wanted to do it longer but when I noticed testicular atrophy, I stopped the cycle cold turky.

I now realize I was completely unprepared. Even though it was a bad first 'cycle', I did make decent progress from it in just one month.

Yet I want to avoid messing up like this again. I've continued to train naturally again for a year while doing a lot more research.

Now I feel I'm ready to do another REAL cycle. I think it can still count it as my 'first (real) cycle'.


----------------

My stats

6ft (183cm)
198 lbs (90kg)
15-20% body fat (estimated from pics)


---------------

My bloodwork

I have not done a baseline blood test so I don't know if the first attempted cycle influenced my base values. The cholesterol is kind of high and some of the hormonal values seem rather low for my age (30)

Cholesterol 206 mg/dL
Triglyceriden 91 mg/dL
HDL cholesterol 51 mg/dL
LDL cholesterol 135 mg/dL
Non HDL cholesterol 157

TSH 3,11 mU/L
Free T4 1,45 ng/dL
Vitamin D 71,5 nmol/L
LH 3,6 U/L
FSH 2,9 U/L
SHBG 21,4 nmol/L
Total Test 542 ng/dL
Free Test 12,96 ng/dL

---------------

My cycle

Week 1-10 500 mg - Test E 250 (Monday - Thursday)
Week 1-10 500 I.U. HCG - 250 I.U. (Monday Thursday)

(maybe run low dose Nolvadex during cycle)


---------------

My PCT

Week 12-15 Nolvadex 20mg tabs ED
Week 12-15 Clomid 50mg tabs ED


Precautions:

I will try to get my hands on some Arimidex (1mg tabs) but as I understand it's not required by default (?)


-------------


I'm not in a hurry to start, I want to feel like I'm correctly informed and 100% well prepared this time.

Your feedback is kindly appreciated.

Incredibarsss

Live and learn, we all made stupid mistakes.

1st thing you need to do is drop your BF wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy down, get into the 10-12% range.

I think you'd do well with 400 mg's/week.

I agree on 12 weeks & having AI. But I'd run it from the beginning. If you have E issues it could be too late by the time you realize it.

HCG is started near the end of the cycle and run into PCT

 

[Incredibarsss]

Your cycle looks very well put together. Here are a few tweeks I would suggest.

- Extend your Cycle to 12 weeks.

- Wait to start the HCG until you notice that your balls have shrunk. During the 2 week gap, where you stop pinning and wait for esters to clear before starting PCT, bump the HCG dosage to 1000iu weekly.

- An AI is not required for cycles, but it is a good idea to have just in case. With this being your first cycle, you have no idea if you need an AI for not. Because of this, you should get more bloodwork done 5-6 weeks into your cycle to check Test and Estrogen levels. This will let you know that your gear is legit, and what type of AI usage you need for estrogen. If it is out of range, or elevated, starting the adex at .5mg/eod would be wise.

Thanks Anhur for your reply.

Last time I didn't really experience any negative feelings after coming off the steroids without the PCT, though I must have been shot down due the Deca & Test, my balls had definitely shrunk.

So my MAIN motivation for the HCG is to prevent them from atrpophy, that's why I plan to take it from the start (week 1, first shot of test).

I'm not sure if imagined but I think I never restored them to 100%, I'm at 95% of their size and it's been over 10 months I came of that 'cycle'. So I'm afraid it could be permanent. Is that possible?

I want to avoid any permanent or even temporary atrophy on this cycle.

So is there any reason to wait till week 2 - 3 (i.e. after being shut down already)?

I've read about desensitizing the testes to the body's natural LH, that would be a lot worse than just having them shut down for a while. But I read it's not really back by research (and/or) would only happen with prolongued use of HCG at higher doses.

Live and learn, we all made stupid mistakes.

1st thing you need to do is drop your BF wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy down, get into the 10-12% range.

I think you'd do well with 400 mg's/week.

I agree on 12 weeks & having AI. But I'd run it from the beginning. If you have E issues it could be too late by the time you realize it.

HCG is started near the end of the cycle and run into PCT

Thans EZ_E for the feedback.

What's the motivation behind dropping the BF way down before starting the cycle? Will I be more susceptible to the negative side effects (e.g. high estrogen) at this bf percentage?

---

I will run the HCG from week one till I start taking my PCT.

I will start 0.5 adex eod from week one as well until I get my bloodwork and then taper it.

I'm not sure if I'm sensitive to the E; during my last cycle I got sensitive nipple in week 4 (same time my nuts shrunk), they didn't hurt but more an itchy feeling. Not sure if it was 100% mental, but I was focussing a lot on the feeling.

 

[jtmdell]

The reasoning behind having a low bodyfat before starting a cycle is that it will make you less susceptible to high blood pressure, increased estrogen conversion among other bad side effects. It's always best to start when you are in top shape.

 

[EZ_E]

HCG - human chorionic gonadotropin - is started near the end of the cycle and run into PCT

 

[gymrat827]

HCG - human chorionic gonadotropin - is started near the end of the cycle and run into PCT

yep, start when you only have 4-6wks left. use hcgenerate before that to keep production going.