I’m 31 years old, have been training since I was 18 years old, even longer if you count the sports and track I did throughout elementary and high school. I’ve decided that I want to do a 1 time cycle to help me maximize/break a plateau and just pack on some more muscle. I have no intention to do future cycles just want to do 1 the safest and get maybe 10lbs of lean muscle from it. I play basketball alot so don’t want massive weight gain.
My stats:
Height 5’7
Weight 154lb
I’ve done research for more than a year now and trying to educate myself. It seems the consensus is test e cycle 300-500mg/week for about 8 weeks then a 3 week pct. I have a fear that I may be estrogen prone as I tend to carry more body fat at my chest and lower belly then the rest of my body. Hence fear the aromatization.
The alternative I looked at was turninabol as it give more dry weight and more suited for athletes, I play basketball as well so don’t want to be body builder huge at the same time.
Hooboy. I hasten to ask, but where precisely did you do your research? Because the conclusions you’ve drawn About cycle length and pct are not the correct ones. And your size is a big red flag. What’s your bf currently? Because unless it’s like 8% then you’re not anywhere in the vicinity of needing a cycle. Instead I would imagine your actual need is a better diet and a training program that is suited for your goals.
(If your bf actually is really low then disregard that part of my commentary)
I’m about 11-12% when I checked 2 weeks ago. I’m glad I asked that then if the information I provided is incorrect. What would you advice I change on my cycle?
Your dosage sounds good. I would run 10 weeks of test only and Nolvadex for pct 6 weeks @ 40mg for the first two weeks and 20 the last 4. I would start pct A week or two before your last injection.
If you want to gain 10lbs of muscle on cycle, you will need to let the cardio go and focus on pushing the weights. How much basketball? There are several fats guys i know that Ball 3 days a week. They don’t move much on the court. And I have a buddy that claims he gets a lot of exercise officiating football games… He is fat too.
How do your legs look? I think you can do it if you push for it. To me, 10 lbs will be hard. You will have to eat a lot and you will have to gain some fat. You look about 15-17% BF right now. I wouldn’t want to raise my BF myself.
Why do you want to do this? You look good already.
Hate to break it to you, but you’re not 11-12%. How many days a week do you lift? How many calories a day are you eating?
Depending on what your legs look like, I’m quite certain you can add 10lbs+ naturally. You’ve got some fat that can be cut, and a decent amount of muscle that you can gain.
Got a good frame man, focus on training and eating!
I definitely don’t think it’s worth a one time cycle. Not worth the risk of shutting down your natural production for something you can do naturally. You have very attainable goals, no need to get crazy.
How did you add so much size in just 3 years? the heaviest I ever bulked to was 170 and I thought I had way too much fat so cut down to my current size. It was a winter bulk a few winters ago but I didn’t like how I felt with the extra fat, and felt more sluggish with my athletic performance. Are you pretty lean at that weight?
I’ll try taking some pics of my legs tomorrow as I don’t have any currently. I feel like I look too “skinny” and think solid 10lb of lean muscle would fill my frame.
I used the electronic weight scale, not sure if that accurate or not. I workout daily, lifting I do a push pull leg routine 2 x weekly each, basketball 1-3x week just depends. Currently I’m eating 1900cal as I’m trying to lean down more, but as I mentioned I feel like i’m just getting skinnier. macros are 150c 190p 50f if you want specifics. Would you recommend I eat more and bulk or cut down more first?
You’ve got some fat around your midsection, and a bit on your chest, but if I had that physique personally, I would be trying to add muscle and get bigger. That’s a personal preference thing though. Remember though, more muscle = more calories burned daily, and will help you lean out.
Something isn’t adding up though. You’re low on the calories, AND playing basketball. You should be losing more fat. Are you sure your diet is keyed in? What types of food are you eating for that calories? Drinking soda?
Basketball is phenomenal cardio. I had to actually stop because it made it so much harder to gain muscle, but I was sub 8% when playing ball.
Please, figure out your diet and training stuff first. Once you’ve got everything dialed in and understand how your body responds to proper nutrition and training, THEN you will be able to get the most out of a cycle.
Remember, once you come off of a cycle, you won’t keep your gains and progress if you haven’t already got your nutrition and training on point.
I’m fairly lean at this weight, heaviest I got was 186 which was a bit chunky. I ride my bike to and from the gym, only 4 miles round trip but that keeps me from getting completely out of shape.
I used to run a lot so when I stopped doing that and focused on just the weights it came on quickly. I came to realize that whenever I bulked it was 50/50 fat to muscle gain and the fat always came off easy due to naturally being on the skinny side (graduated high school at 135lbs).
I think with your goal of gaining 10lbs you wouldn’t have to go heavier than 170, if you just chase your log book and keep trying to lift a little more while eating enough to do so, you’ll gain weight fairly easily. I had managed to get down to just under 10% bf at 163lbs a couple years back after a 5 month bulk followed by running 3 days a week and lifting 4x a week. Not saying you have to do a serious bulk but your goal weight is right around the corner with some focus and consistency
No that’s about 15-17%. 12-14% would have visible abs. I think @loganator nailed it. Still some work to do before considering a cycle and even then… with that work, I don’t think you’ll need it.