Hello all,
There is so much excellent information in this entire forum, and the newbie thread alone is worth its weight in gold. I had no idea that so many had the use of PEDs down to a science from both a performance and body chemistry perspective. I had always been absolutely terrified of the side effects of PEDs and thought that there was no safe way for these to be used but thanks to this board (and specifically this thread) I have learned that when used intelligently in a responsible way, many people are able to accomplish their goals. I should mention that I have never taken a PED before so I’m completely new to this.
Here are my stats.
Age: 28
Weight: 204lbs
Height: 6’1
Bodyfat: 12%
Squat: 340lbs 3RM
Bench: 285lbs 3RM
Deadlift: 385lbs 3RM
Goals: First, a little context. You’ll notice that I’ve listed 3RM’s above and that’s because I’m a professional/semi-professional athlete. As some of you might know, coaches rarely have us work up to 1RM, they tend to design programming off 3RM’s because performance in sport comes first and they’re worried about wearing us out. I am an MMA-type combat athlete and I am subject to drug testing, however I will not be tested until December/January at the absolute earliest so this is a great time for me to make some good quality gains. I have 9 years of training behind me, the last 4 of which have been at a very high level. My training is focused around a lot of explosive sprint/jump work and then the lifting is never near max effort because the coaches concern is recovery so that I can perform on the mat. Diet involves intermittent fasting and has been manipulated to the point where I can swing 7/8lbs (heavier going for 2800cal or lighter going for 1600cal a day) with nearly no or minimal loss in performance.
In a perfect world, I would like to add a small amount of lean muscle and decrease my body fat a small amount as well. The reasons for this are two-fold. Adding a significant amount of size in a short period of time will raise some eyebrows and I'd like these gains to be more discreet. Secondly, adding too much size through the use of PEDs would actually hamper my performance as an athlete. Things I have to consider would be along the lines of a slower sprint or reduced explosiveness when it comes to jumping/sport.
So taking all that together an ideal outcome would be to add no more than 5-6lbs of lean muscle and drop 4lbs of bodyfat with a total swing of approximately +2lbs.
Finally, as someone new to this and semi paranoid about destroying my endocrine system, I'd love to keep things as simple as possible. The less complicated I can make things and the less likely things are to go wrong (and the more prepared I can be in case something is amiss) the better.
Potential Cycles:
Reviewing Furious George’s posts earlier in the newbie thread and taking into account my goals, I really liked the idea of either a medium or short cycle. In addition to my goals FG advises that both of these types of cycles minimize side effects and make recovery from shutdown easier. With that in mind I’ve taken some time to put together some potential cycles and I’d love some feedback on how these mesh with my goals.
6 Week Var Cycle
Week 1-6 20mg 3x/d
Week 7-8 PCT Nolva 20mgED
Upside to this is that from what I have read, Var seems to mesh perfectly with my goals and does have minimal side effects. It doesn’t aromatize either so that means I do not need an AI and the PCT I have listed here is erring on the side of caution from what I understand. On the downside however, this is an expensive 6 week run and from what I gather Var can shut you down, which without any additional test being pumped into your system can cause issues. The solution would then be to add some test to this (since it’s only 6 weeks I think test prop would be appropriate) but the concern with that would be finding the perfect dose that might line up with my goals and I’m confused as to what that might be.
Short Cycle 2 weeks on/off D-Bol
20mg 3x/D Weeks 1-2, 5-6, 9-10.
Nolva 20mg each day Weeks 3-4, 7-8, 11-12
I picked this out from FG’s first post on short cycles. While I understand DBol is a mass building compound that retains water and bloats I would assume (perhaps incorrectly so please correct me if I’m wrong) that in short cycles I might be able to add the small amount of muscle I desire when it’s all done. I’m not clear however on whether the Novla should be used during off weeks and if so what the dose should be. FG and my other research indicate that because of the short term two week use, FSH/LH levels shouldn’t bottom out and my system should be okay coming back on it’s own during the cycle. If that’s the case, am I better off waiting until the end to use Nolva because it will be most effective for recovery? Finally, I assume that with this protocol, at a minimum it’d be prudent to keep Adex on hand. Would it be safer however to have a small dose of Adex during the weeks where I am taking the DBol to keep estrogren under control and at the same time maybe reduce any water bloat? Or does the short term nature of the cycle mean that isn’t necessary the way it would be during a longer cycle?
Many thanks in advance for feedback and critique. I’m new to this whole world and have done some research but at the same time I know that I still have much to learn before I undertake use so please correct me if I’m way off base on any thinking.
I am very much open to suggestions for other methods to pursue that might fall in line with my goals. (I know that Test Prop might be a recommendation and I’m reading up on a potential program with that as I post this).