This is my first post on this forum I have been an avid reader on T mag for many years however it’s come to a stage where I need advice from fellow readers.
I’m in my 40s I’ve been on TRT for a year I’m in reasonably good shape I have been lifting since I was 18. I have done a few heavy cycles in my early 20s however I haven’t done a cycle for over 15 years.
I am pleased with how much physique is developing on TRT however I would like a little more muscle once I’ve added the muscle I’m wanting to maintain on a TRT dose. What I’m asking is should I run a high dose of say 1g aas for 6 weeks or should I run a low dose of 125mg test and 200 deca 25mg car for longer cycle say 14 weeks. My health is more of a concern to me at my age. I’m thinking run high dosage really short term and let all my levels then come back into range or should I run a low-dose that won’t affect my levels too much.
I’m thinking run highafterThank you in advance for your input guys much appreciated
Neither… So running 1g of a non specific steroid makes no sense. Long ester for sure not… short esters maybe. Test/deca is a hairy subject due to ED and DHN. You basically need a DHT derivative or high enough test to combat the DHN unless you are just lucky enough to not have symptoms.
Point being… you need to read the first cycle posts again. I know you’ve ran them in the past but lets consider that old news since it was 15 years ago. Then lay out a sample cycle, specify your interested compounds and seek comments.
Agree with @blshaw. You should look at this like a completely different era of your life and adjust your plans accordingly.
Philosophically, yours is a question that’s asked often. I think there’s a good argument to be made for both camps, which is a polite way of saying “nobody has any idea which is better long term”. But let’s pretend we can actually know rather than simply making educated guesses. A short term, major stressful event vs a longer term less stressful event is going to hit your health in different ways depending on what is being stressed. If it’s short term liver stress then it’s not a big deal (assuming that it’s within reasonable parameters; taking 60mg of superdrol for four weeks would be significantly worse than taking 20mg of dbol). But if you’re going longer and really crushing your cholesterol then I would imagine that’s more harmful. But what if you’re longer and it’s only moving your numbers out of your normal range by, say 10%? Is that worse than very bad short term effects? Maybe not. The point is that you don’t know enough to make this judgment ex ante. Genetics play a role here as well. If you’re like me and have lipids of the gods then it takes a lot to make a serious impact, but how bad is said impact on me, given my genetic predisposition to having great numbers? Perhaps my body responds poorly to changes that to other guys would be serious but to me are minor. You simply cannot know. So you pick your poison and monitor your health. After that it’s out of your hands.
@iron_yuppie I know we are about the same age if I recall. Have you ever had a Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC) test performed? I’ve read its a good indicator of heart disease. My dad had a heart attack at 40 and several more subsequent heart attacks of the years. I always figured I would be next but I had my CAC done which is basically a CT scan of the heart and they scored me at 0 which is the best you can get. No calcium means likely no plaque and very low risk of heart disease. Plus… its only $99 out of pocket.
I have not but that’s not a bad idea at all. I probably need another few years before I start to worry about that, at least based on my family history.
Yes with no family history it’s not really recommended before 45-50 minimum. My family history combined with my use of anabolics made me want a baseline. I was surprised as hell with my results. Plus, it’s $99 for a full blown heart CT… couldn’t pass it up.
I am younger than you, but in my thirties. Also on TRT due to having low test on multiple blood tests. I am also a powerlifter, and am going with the same plan as you. Low dose for 12 or so weeks. I figure I am in it for the long haul, why not start slow and really figure out how my body reacts.
I’ll probably just try 300 mg/wk of test for 12 weeks as my start. Not much risk, but should be able to put on a couple lbs. Research indicates that these doses are pretty effective.
I like the idea of basically being able to keep all the gains on TRT.
Will this be your first test blast/cycle? I would agree you should get some moderate gains in size and strength on that.
In my experience this was the case the first couple times only. After that the lbs stopped sticking on a test only blast… more of just a yoyo effect. Up during blast, down during TRT cruise. I’ve never gone above 600mg/wk though. That’s just my own personal comfortability level for a single compound max dose.
Yep it will be the first blast. I’ve been on TRT about 8 months now. I have a PL meet in February, so I am thinking about running this low test blast.
I agree that as you build more muscle with subsequent blasts, and go back to cruise you will lose more and more, but perhaps your ceiling raises a bit too (not sure on that one). I would think eventually you would have to increase the cruise to hold onto anything past your set point muscle limit on the cruise.
Ronnie cruised on 5g of test to hold his size, but he really only did 2 blasts a year, its just that they were 26 wk blasts.
LOL had me laughing for real on that one. I’m actually considering running one more cycle and then actually doing what you are with just low dose blasts here on out. Even though the weight doesn’t stick anymore I feel great on higher test. I’m naturally full of anxiety and it diminishes greatly when blasting.
I definitely believe in the law of diminishing returns. I would consider running some dbol in the future. I will probably never run deca, npp or tren. I know they work really well, it is just not worth the risk to me. EQ also appeals to me, but I do get anxiety, and depression, and I have heard EQ increases those. Not worth it if that happens. If I try EQ it would be low (400 mg/wk). Stuff I would try:
Test (already on TRT)
Dbol
Mast
EQ
But obviously not all at once. Just test to start.
I like it. Those have been safe compounds for me personally. I’ve tried them all and the only one I didn’t like was EQ. I ran it at 500mg/wk and got nothing much out of it. My anxiety seemed worse as well but that could have been placebo since I know its a side effect.
I’m wondering if I ran it too low. I read constantly that 400-500mg is the min effective dose of EQ as far as adding mass goes. The thing is I never run high doses of compounds so I would think I would have at least seen something but it was probably my worst cycle. 300test/500eq with tbol. I gained on the tbol and once the was done… nothing.