First Cycle - 27 Years Old


BACKGROUND:
6 feet 1 inch tall, 198 lbs, 27 yo, less than 12% bf. Solid training and diet for over 7 years. Train entirely with a bodybuilding style, going for blood volume / hypertrophy. Best lifts to date are flat bench 315x2, squat 435x7 and 405x11, deadlift 455x3 405x8, but strength isn’t and never has been my focus.

CYCLE PLAN:
Testosterone Enthanate: 500mg (250x2) Weeks 1-10
Anastrazole: .75mg (.25x3) Weeks 1:11, .375 (.125x3) Week 12
HCG 500iu (250x2) Weeks 2-11
Clomid 50mg daily and Tamoxifen 20mg daily Week 13, Clomid 25mg daily and Tamoxifen 10mg daily Weeks 14-16

I took the first pin of test on 2/19. I will be using my glutes exclusively as the injection site.

CURRENT DIET:
2860kcal, 275g protein, 300g carbs, 60g fat. I’ve lost at least 6-7 lbs of body fat using this over the last 4 weeks in preparation for the cycle. I will be gradually increasing my calories so that I reach roughly 3300kcal mid cycle, with the protein level remaining constant at 275g. Most common foods: Chicken Breast, 93 Ground Beef, Egg Whites, Sweet Potato, Whole Wheat Pancakes, Broccoli, Apples, Brown Rice, Oatmeal, Coconut Oil.

TRAINING:
Day 1 - Chest/Tris
Day 2 - Back/Bis
Day 3 - Shoulders
Day 4 - Legs
Repeat, add rests days as needed (rarely). Plus 3-4 30 minute steady-state cardio sessions.

I plan on including at least weekly updates to this thread if there is interest. Any advice, tips, or suggestions would be highly appreciated. THANK YOU!

fats are light and i use more adex when thats what i have on hand.

Looks good.

Dont be afraid to eat man, enjoy the cycle.

ty_ty13, this plan has me using a total of ~8.5mg of adex total, but I actually have 28mg on hand. How exactly would you change the dosing protocol?

Also, open question to anyone about HCG. I’ve seen 3 commonly recommended options in my research:

  • 1: Start the day after the last pin, go for 10 days straight at 500iu per day.
  • 2: Run weeks 2-11 at 250iu twice per week.
  • 3: 2500iu eod for 16 days post cycle.

Option 1 and 2 each total 5000iu, option 3 is 20000iu…I’m confused and I highly value my nuts.

Start the hcg week, 250iu 2-3x a week, stop 4-5 days before pct

You’re eating like a bird, but that’s some seriously legit squatting for 200lbs. You should eat more. You look well prepared for a conservative bulk and if you ride that cycle out you’ll gain next to no fat adding another 1000kcal/day. Use the gear to get stronger so that you’re moving heavier weights for more reps when you come off. You have a great build for showing off with low bodyfat but your exercise plan needs to lean heavily on strength to develop further. You’ll gain muscle either way but training like you’ve got some skin in the game will benefit you more in the long run than catching pumps. You’re dumping lots of extra testosterone into your system. Train like it.

Thanks Incredulous, that’s what I’ve been hearing for the most part, up the calories. Last 3 days I’ve upped to 3300 calories and I’ve maintained weight at 198 (switched in a beef meal for chicken, also added a carb portion). I’ll probably keep it here for a week or so and reevaluate.

Yes, squat is by far my best lift, hit legs this morning, finished with a drop set on squats 365x13 into 275x12 into 185x12.
I used to be obese, that’s why I’m having difficulty ‘bulking’, see some water gain and immediately pull back, psychological BS.

Only a week in but I have a few observations. I’ve read that the injection time does not matter on this type of cycle (i.e. morning, night, pre-workout), however the yesterday I tried the pre-workout option. It may have been placebo but I went beast mode on the weights. Secondly I feel like the adex may have helped dry me out, as I have been extra vascular. Had some amount of gyno from puberty, leading me to believe I’m estrogen sensitive, and this seems like validation of that theory to some extent.

Day 8, still sitting at 197, even with the increased calories. Time to eat even more =)

[quote]dinomachino wrote:
Thanks Incredulous, that’s what I’ve been hearing for the most part, up the calories. Last 3 days I’ve upped to 3300 calories and I’ve maintained weight at 198 (switched in a beef meal for chicken, also added a carb portion). I’ll probably keep it here for a week or so and reevaluate.

Yes, squat is by far my best lift, hit legs this morning, finished with a drop set on squats 365x13 into 275x12 into 185x12.
I used to be obese, that’s why I’m having difficulty ‘bulking’, see some water gain and immediately pull back, psychological BS.

Only a week in but I have a few observations. I’ve read that the injection time does not matter on this type of cycle (i.e. morning, night, pre-workout), however the yesterday I tried the pre-workout option. It may have been placebo but I went beast mode on the weights. Secondly I feel like the adex may have helped dry me out, as I have been extra vascular. Had some amount of gyno from puberty, leading me to believe I’m estrogen sensitive, and this seems like validation of that theory to some extent.
[/quote]
Ya its placebo, same thing happens to me after my first pin i convince myself its woking right away. Use it to your advantage like i do, if you think you can lift heavier you usually can.

eat more mate, you’ve got an awesome base and clearly know how to get cut, but you’ll enjoy your cycle a bit more if you ease up a little

[quote]dinomachino wrote:
Day 8, still sitting at 197, even with the increased calories. Time to eat even more =)[/quote]

somewhere at end of week 2 into 3 you should start noticing the weight gain.

Day 9, weighed 200 lbs this morning, most likely due to water retention as I ate 425g of carbs yesterday.

Will start HCG tonight.

Side Chest from this morning after delt/tricep workout:

I’ve just discovered I need bacteriostatic water to mix the HCG, apparently the solvent it comes with can only be used for 1 single injection and the additional contents cannot be kept refrigerated, so it would be a waste (I have 3 2000iu vials). The instructions I found say with the bac water you can mix the entirety in a vial and take as needed, making sure to store it in the fridge. I’ve kept the unmixed contents refrigerated to be careful. Can anyone confirm this?

This also means I will only be able to start HCG in the 3rd week, not the 2nd, but I also heard that is not problematic because of the low dose cycle.

yes, you need bac water for hcg. Sterile water doesn’t keep. hCG mixed with bac water keeps for ages.

I wouldn’t worry too much about having to start it week 3, your long esters haven’t even finished building up by then

Thanks bro, your wisdom is much appreciated!

Day 11. 199 lbs this morning. Starting to feel more powerful in general, hit chest real hard this morning.

Sample diet:

Meal 1: 1 Scoop Xtend (Pre-workout), 1.5 Scoops Craze (Pre-workout), 1 Scoop Size On (Intra-workout), 1.5 Scoops Iso-100 (Post-workout)
TRAIN
Meal 2: 1 Egg, 8 Egg Whites, 80g carbs through whole wheat pancakes, anavite (multivitamin), animal omega.
Meal 3: 8 oz chicken, 70g carbs through sweet potatoes, 1/2 cup broccoli, tbsp of coconut oil.
Meal 4: 8 oz chicken, 70g carbs through sweet potatoes, 1/2 cup broccoli, tbsp of coconut oil.
Meal 5: 8 oz beef tenderloin, 1 cup oatmeal
Totals: 3300 kcal, 290g protein, 375g carbs, 65g fats

I’m jealous of how many carbs you can eat while being that lean. Look great before starting, can’t wait to see the results.

I’ve been running at 200g carbs a day for a long time prior to this cycle, this intake is not my norm. Actually dropped a good 8lbs of fat over 4-5 weeks at that level. But I do train with a shit load of volume, and the motivation is quite high at the moment, so I felt a need to crank it up, and surprisingly I’m maintaining weight. Plus look at my carb source choices, all complex and Low GI (inviting a bro science comment to come my way). Just be prepared to shit solid bricks on a diet like this lol.

Day 12 - 203 lbs, Day 13 - 204 lbs, Day 14 - 205 lbs… noticeably carrying more water in the abdominals, especially after two 3700kcal 400g carbs days on the weekend, but clearly adding some quality weight. Will put up some pics later this week.