If you train for another year, say, you will likely be able to retain more of your gains once you do cycle. If you start a cycle at 20-22% bf, depending on your diet, you could put on another 3-4%. I’m not an expert yet on cycling but I’ve seen many recommendations saying you should try and get down to at least 16% or less before going on a bulk cycle. What’s the sense putting on 10 lbs of muscle if you’re going to be at 25% bf or more.
All good info! Are you saying that a Test only cycle should be done on a bulk only? My plan was to recomp, which I am doing at the moment pretty successfully. I was hoping a short blast would speed up that process.
Well at “6’0” 197lbs at about 20-22%” I assumed a bulk I guess. Without a picture it’s hard to tell what that looks like.
I agree with @dragon1952. A lower body fat percentage would be beneficial since more of the mass you will gain will be lean body mass. I think a test cycle is better during a bulk.
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You’re around my height and weight but like 5-7% BF higher. I’d advise you to do a cut first. Do it intelligently, then you won’t lose much muscle mass which will then give you a very good starting point for a cycle at say 15% BF or lower.
That would be a cut down to 180 lbs which should be achievable in 8-10 weeks.
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I’m probably about 3-4 months away from getting to 10-15% body fat without trying too hard with my diet. I’ve been loosing about 0.5lbs/week over the last 3 months which I’m totally fine with if I can get stronger. I’d say I’m eating a ballpark of 2800-3000 calories per day of high nutrient food and am not really ever feeling hungry or having craving. I’ll have a cheat meal and a couple drinks on Saturday nights, but I keep everything else very strict.
Perhaps I’ll wait until January until I try a cycle since I have some vacations coming up this fall. It will give me more time to think it over and prep for it. I do agree it makes more sense to do it in a bulk phase to get the most out of it.
As far as monitoring goes, what should I look out for? Should I regularly be checking blood pressure? Would it be wise to just donate blood every 3-4 weeks on the cycle?