Hey all,
I’m a 28 yo male, 6’5", 230 lbs, 10% BF measured by DXA scan. I am seeking advice on my upcoming 16 week cycle at the beginning of the new year. I have been training for over 5 years and am just looking to stimulate some new growth. Diet and training are on point. I’m mainly looking to see if there are any glaring errors in the design of this cycle. A couple things I wanted to note:
1.) I realize my EQ dosage is lower than most forum posters advise. I am in the camp of “why max out dosages early in your life if smaller doses will be effective?” I recognize the standard minimum is 600 mg on here but I’m happy with 450 given the research I’ve done. Same goes for the lower test concentration. The cycle is essentially a slow clean bulk/recomp with an aggressive cut at the end. I’m not looking for astronomical gains.
2.) How likely are the DHT based sides associated with Tbol if only taken at 50 mg for 4 weeks? I know it’s genetically dependent but I’ve heard androgenic sides are relatively mild. That’s the hope.
3.) Is there anything you would add or subtract from the cycle to make it more effective? Thanks for you consideration.
I wouldn’t get caught up in thinking you need x for an effective dose. Everyone reacts differently to different compounds, and 450mg of just about anything is a dose effective enough to elicit results. Don’t listen to the “only x dose is effective”
People tend to be way overkill on the gear, you’re on 750mg/wk AND an oral kickstart (equating to even more)… trust me, if you’ve got you’re shit together (and even if you don’t at these dosages) you’re in for some sweet results. Just make sure you’re educated as to the myriad of risks associated with use of anabolic steroids.
If I could perhaps recommend a support supplement. Ubiquinol (active form of coq-10, better bioavailability)… excellent supplementation for cardiovascular health. If you can afford it, I’d highly recommend it
I just ran 300mg test / 500mg EQ cycle with a tbol kick start earlier this year. I got very little out of it. The tbol was great but either my EQ was bunk or it just didn’t do much for me. I’ve done better on test only. That was my sole experience with EQ and won’t try it again. I did love the tbol which was a first for me also.
Did you have the boldenone tested for purity and presence of EQ? Given the unregulated market we dabble within, its very possible to receive underdosed or even entirely bunk gear
You got nothing out of 300mg test/wk? I find I maintain or even gain small amounts of muscle mass over prolonged periods of time on 200-250mg weekly without programmed, vigorous exercise!
No sir never done a test before and honestly it could have been bad gear. The test and eq came from one source and the tbol from another. I know the tbol was real as I gained/recomped a decent amount during the kick start but after I ceased the oral I got nothing. In fact I backtracked a bit.
The test may also have been bad. I know folks say its rarely faked but I didn’t gain a lb on the cycle. Now, keep in mind, I don’t usually gain but 8-10 lbs anymore even on 500mg of test only blasts. My body just doesn’t respond much over my TRT dose anymore.
For example I just started a pharma grade test blast of 500mg/wk last week. I started at 192lbs. I bet at 10 weeks I will be 198-202lbs. I’m going to finish with tbol this time so we will see if I’m able to creep up a bit more.
That’s great advice. Thanks a ton. I’ll definitely look into ubiquinol. On the theme of cardiac health, what hematocrit would you suggest donating blood to reduce the strain on the heart. With my doses I think chances are slim but I plan on doing blood panels to make sure my rbc’s don’t get too high. Thanks again!
Depends, a hct over day 56% I wouldn’t recommend holding onto for a prolonged period of time. But if you’re young and healthy, 50-52% (typically, I don’t know you’re medical history) isn’t anything to worry about
Skip the N2Guard and save some money. Get NAC and TUDCA instead. At least those aren’t a scam. Skip the SARM, especially since andarine has some legitimately worrying side effects. You’ll get more than enough out of the other two orals. Skip the testo-max or whatever that is. It’s snake oil and in the presence of a SERM it won’t do anything but cost you your hard earned money.
I don’t have any idea why you would bulk for 12 weeks and then just cancel all that out by aggressively cutting immediately. You can just skip that whole process and not bother cycling at all. It’d be a lot cheaper.
Someone who wanted to bulk and then cut after would be cautious about how to time that. You’re going to be slowly adding size and as soon as you’ve gained it you’re going to restrict calories and starve that brand new muscle. Scientifically it makes zero sense. You need to have some time at maintenance so you get a new set point. The only guys who get away with a bulk followed by an immediate cut are those who are stepping on stage. If you have seen their drug protocols then you understand how they can have success with such a messy plan. You want to do this at lower doses and presumably are trying to be health conscious. That’s good. But don’t shoot yourself in the foot by screwing up the timing.
This is all wonderful information. In regards to the N2guard, doesn’t it have TUDCA and NAC in it? But that’s great advice to save some money.
Would you skip the GW as well? I figured it’s not really a SARM given is acts on PPAR, so wouldn’t that be a fine addition? I’ll take your advice and lose the S4 though.
The testo-max I got at some wholesale supp shop for $1 a bottle and I figured even if it’s snake oil it was worth the minimal investment.
I’ll also take your advice on the aggressive cut. I’ll just be anal retentive about my surplus and hopefully it will mitigate any excessive damage to my body fat percentage. I’ll bulk all 16 weeks. Thanks so much for the advice. Anything else you would add or subtract to make this an intelligent and effective cycle?
Would going from bulk cycle to TRT (little higher than top of range) mitigate the in between “maintenance phase” before starting to cut or do the same rules apply?
It’s more about maintaining calories and allowing time to get used to that new weight. But bridging with a cruise type dose would certainly help. But if someone is going to pct then that’s just an added hurdle to recovery.
You’re at 10%, you obviously know how to stay lean. Trust your ability to manage your calories and if you get a little fluffier from your bulk it’s not a big deal. You can cut down to where you want to be, even if you overshoot the mark a little when you’re bulking.
Next to tren which I wont run anymore, TBOL has always been a favorite of mine even in low dose. I found it was lean gains and strength went up with zero side effects.
another oral I ran that I absolutely hated was m1t. Blood pressure through the roof and unreal bloat.
Cardarine is not going to make you burn fat or muscle. Is that why you were going to take it?
In regard to S4, my opinion is that SARM probably sucks (I’ve never taken it), but LGD is different. I was gonna write something up here, but I will let the graph do the talking. It seems to me that if you wanted to try stacking a SARM with real gear, a mere couple of mgs of LGD would be the way to go.
Iron, is there a brand that you personally find to be of good quality for TUDCA & NAC? I’m paranoid about buying supplements these days and these aren’t ones I’d want to take a chance with.
For TUDCA I like Nutricost. Amazon ships it in two days, so I can’t complain. For NAC I use Jarrow. They make a duel action tablet. One part is instant release and the rest is slow release. That way I only have to dose it once a day. Neither of those have given me any issues in the digestion department. I’m sometimes sensitive to new supplements, so it’s always a nice surprise when I take something that doesn’t make my stomach feel like I swallowed razor blades.
Just got blood work back and after not using any orals for about five weeks. I had slightly high AST. The catch? The night before I lifted heavier than usual. So who even knows how much damage orals are doing vs just lifting heavy very often.
