General Questions for the Future

Pharma / TRT
1

I don’t plan on doing a cycle any time soon.

But being that I <3 bodybuilding since I’ve started lifting it’s been something that has floated around in my mind.

So I guess I’ll list of a few concerns I have for deciding whether or not it would be beneficial for me to cycle.

  1. I haven’t had my natural test levels taken in a while but last I checked my TT was in the low 300s (I have a thread in the TRT section) and my estradiol was a little high (low-mid 30s)
    Everything else was pretty decent in the normal range, not all optimal but still fairly decent.
    I’m currently trying to lean down to help my T:E ratio

----Do you think if when I get lean if my hormone levels are still not so great that it would be a bad Idea to run a cycle or two with proper PCT or do you guys think my hpta would have trouble restarting?

----Is there anything wrong with just being the type of dude that might want to run 1 or 2 cycles throughout a life time?
To expand on my question is would the gains from 1 or 2 moderate cycles be maintainable when coming off the drugs and not planning to ever cycle again?

----Has anyone done a couple cycles and noticed any advantages for the rest of their life?
I’m not speaking of just being awesome and super human for the rest of you life, I just know some people argue that once you use you are never “natural” again because of I guess permanent/hard to lose changes in muscle cells I believe referring to myonuclei.

Don’t be fucking dicks.

2

well firstly I am a little taken aback that you think we would be dicks, so to that I say

FUCK YOU YOU DICKHEAD MOTHERFUCKING PRiCK

but seriously, the only posts that get flamed around here are people who clearly don’t know how to train or eat, and ask stupid shit. You are none of those, so with that in mind:

I’ve never seen any scientific evidence that people with lower natural T find it harder to restart their HPTA, however anecdotally there does seem to be a link. Check out a thread on here called “HPTA restart log” by a dude called Singhbuilder, he is having an awful time trying to recover and I think I remember that he had low T to begin with. Things to consider with his situation are:

-I might be wrong about his having low T originally
-he runs fucking heavy ass cycles
-he runs fucking long-ass cycles

so his situation probably doesn’t apply to you, but it certainly gives food for thought.

As for running only a couple of cycles a lifetime, that’s what everyone says before they start. I thought I’d only ever do one; I have done two so far, and I will definitely do another. I’ll probably do at least one a year now for the next 10 years to be honest (I’m 27). It’s just that good.

But yeah if you only did a couple and weren’t carrying outrageous amounts of muscle that you could never hope to hold on to naturally, I don’t see why you couldn’t keep it, so long as you’re training and eating enough to support the new muscle. A lot of the supposed “gains” people lose when they come off are just water weight anyway. I have kept 99% of the strength and size I gained from my cycles, and it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere anytime soon.

As for the permanent changes, it’s funny you should say that but I think I am getting bigger faster than I used to. I can’t be sure but it definitely seems that way. For the first time in my life, I look like I lift. Lol. I’ve heard that steroid use permanently upgrades your androgen receptors, so maybe.

Anyway that post was a LOT longer than I meant it to be. I’m not an expert, and someone who’s more experienced will probably come on and completely refute everything I’ve said. I can handle that, thanks to the roids I’m strong enough to carry that weight.

Hope that helps!

3

[quote]rds63799 wrote:
I’ve never seen any scientific evidence that people with lower natural T find it harder to restart their HPTA, however anecdotally there does seem to be a link. Check out a thread on here called “HPTA restart log” by a dude called Singhbuilder, he is having an awful time trying to recover and I think I remember that he had low T to begin with. Things to consider with his situation are:

-I might be wrong about his having low T originally
-he runs fucking heavy ass cycles
-he runs fucking long-ass cycles

so his situation probably doesn’t apply to you, but it certainly gives food for thought.

As for running only a couple of cycles a lifetime, that’s what everyone says before they start. I thought I’d only ever do one; I have done two so far, and I will definitely do another. I’ll probably do at least one a year now for the next 10 years to be honest (I’m 27). It’s just that good.

As for the permanent changes, it’s funny you should say that but I think I am getting bigger faster than I used to. I can’t be sure but it definitely seems that way. For the first time in my life, I look like I lift. Lol. I’ve heard that steroid use permanently upgrades your androgen receptors, so maybe.

Anyway that post was a LOT longer than I meant it to be. I’m not an expert, and someone who’s more experienced will probably come on and completely refute everything I’ve said. I can handle that, thanks to the roids I’m strong enough to carry that weight.

Hope that helps![/quote]

Thanks for your response RDS!

Ha yeah I’ve scanned over that thread and I did notice he did an outrageously long cycle. Which I would never do. :slight_smile:

Goals change with time obviously but I feel like at the age I’m at now and with my experience in the gym I probably wouldn’t do very heavy cycles nor would I do very many, assuming I reached my goals…

Which are pretty moderate since I don’t desire to look absolutely insane or even comparable to a massive IFBB pro or anything. I’d just like to surpass what most would assume my natural limit was by about 10-15lbs which atleast to my knowledge would be attainable with a couple moderate cycles and my commitment to training/nutrition/recovery.

I’m also interested in other uses of anabolics like I believe I read somewhere that anavar can have restorative effects on connective tissue health?

Also as previously mentioned the possible long term benefits that some say AAS might have even after a user comes off cycle, are incredibly interesting and tempting if it is true that cycling permanently increases myonuclei in the muscle cells.

4

Just so you know it will not be one and done, i think all of us probably said “only one or two”. Yes you should be able to keep your gains. I will also say that i notice now while off cycle i make better gains (no science to back it up just what i notice).

As far as goals mine are modest as well but are always evolving and im sure the AAS is what is constantly making me set higher goals. I’ll let some of the more veteran posters address your HPTA question.

5

[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
I’m also interested in other uses of anabolics like I believe I read somewhere that anavar can have restorative effects on connective tissue health?
[/quote]

anavar does supposedly increase collagen synthesis, but it’s not really anything you’ll notice. Deca has a reputation of being good for your joints but there’s just as much science saying it is bad for your joints as there is that says it’s good.

HGH is your best bet for healing, it’s awesome for healing, terrible for wallets.

There’s a peptide called TB500 that works really well for reducing inflammation and healing beat up joints. I’ve used it and it’s awesome. It’s not a steroid either so you can use it and still sleep at night, knowing you’re still natty