So it has been two weeks since my last post. During that time I have completed my final short cycle with the stock I had on hand. This final one, I did a week of test prop and mast prop at 1cc each ED, dropping it to 0.5 cc each after the first few days in order to ensure I had enough mast to make it through the whole cycle. Second and third weeks were back on the blend, but I used the tren ace and mast prop I ordered separately to adjust the dosages.
Weeks 2 and 3 were 100mg tren ace, 75mg mast prop, and 25mg test prop ED for 14 days. At the time I am writing this, I am 5 days after my last injection and a couple days into PCT. PCT consists of 12.5mg aromasin EOD, and two weeks of nolvadex at 40/20. Might stretch that a third week, I have plenty of nolva.
Closing thoughts - first couple short cycles I put on some weight while staying at about the same leanness. On one of them (I posted the pics at the time) I seemed to lean down a little bit. Around the time of my last couple, I found out we have a dexascan at work, and I could have been going in every couple weeks to track my BF. Started doing that for the last couple cycles. First two measures, I gained a few pounds and dropped about a point of BF over a two week shorty. Then, in the intervening weeks leading into this last cycle, I gained a decent amount of BF back (went up 2 points). I’m not real anal with my diet, but I still eat pretty clean - clean enough that jumping from 15% to 17% was unexpected. However, I should have tightened up my diet while on, and stayed fairly tight in between as well to maximize the properties of the compounds used. That being said, while I think the vials actually contained what the label said, i think it was low quality and/or underdosed - I won’t mention names, but they have been conducting a very cheap ‘limited time’ sale for close to a year now. All of the cycles using the blend at equal parts tren and test, I experienced the normal tren sides, though not too severe. Possibly due to the short cycles, not sure. Could just be an individual thing.
The last cycle, with the increased tren and mast, and decreased test, I experienced no sides. I felt a lot better, libido was up considerably, no equipment problems, and I performed better in the gym. It wasn’t full-on beast mode, but I PR’d bench at 370 last week. Best ever, I was pretty stoked. I also, however, gained no new weight and did not lean out as I would have expected. Again, diet was pretty clean. The last week, I lowered my carbs and was taking in mostly protein and saw a little improvement. Actually glad to be done with this stuff, since I am too wiped at the end of a workout to even do a short metcon or whatever - which would obviously help with leaning out. I haven’t been tracking my macros, I’ve just been eating. I counted my calories a couple days ago (before cutting carbs down), and I was at 2750 for the day, and then had 4 eggs and 4 pieces of bacon. So low- to mid-3000s for calories on average, and about 250 carbs. The totals for that day reflect my diet for the last couple weeks, so that gives you an idea of how I have been eating. Wasn’t eating enough to gain more, but would have thought I would have leaned out a little at least.
So, anyway. I tried this out because I liked the idea of short cycles (and still do). It fit my goals, and performed pretty well as expected. If I had put the money out for higher quality gear and/or tightened up my diet better, I probably would have seen better results.
Speaking of goals - short cycles will not put a ton of weight on you in 2-3 weeks. Over the first few cycles, I put on about 10 pounds, then lost some of it, gained and lost, etc. Shorties are good for gradual weight gain that is easily explainable, rather than suddenly ballooning in a few months. This would obviously be the way to go if you are in a career field or other situation where sudden unexplained weight gain would be detrimental. Otherwise, go for the longer cycle. Every one is different, go with whatever approach fits your goals the best. Another good reason for the short cycles is less time in a bad-lipid state. Regardless of what gear is used and how long, your lipids are going to go out of whack. A short cycle allows you to spend less time in that state, and recover from it (and your test production) quicker. I did the short cycles mostly out of curiosity, and because it fit my goals at the moment. I had trouble finding anyone’s experiences using this approach so I wrote this log along the way. Hopefully this helps anyone else who is interested.