Please Critique My First Cycle

Pharma / TRT
1

Hi All,

First and foremost I’m a long time lurker here. I’ve read a lot of information here and elsewhere and so I’ve decided to make the leap to take my first cycle. I’ve read FuriousGeorge’s post on newbie cycles( Forums - T Nation - The World's Trusted Community for Elite Fitness ) and also BONEZ217’s stickys etc. all to try to make my introduction here as painless as possible for you the seasoned forum vet and myself the utter n00b.

Goals:

  • Gain 5kg of lean muscle mass, i.e. after cycle and PCT to keep 5kg of muscle.
  • Increased strength

Personal Stats:

  • Sex: Male.
  • Age: 23.
  • Weight: 105kg
  • Body fat: 16%
  • Training length: 5 years.
  • Reasons: Naturally low test levels, hard gainer.

Lift Stats (1RM):

  • Bench: 100kg
  • Squat: 170kg
  • Deadlift: 200kg
  • Clean and Jerk: 100kg
  • Snatch: 80kg

Diet Stats:
Very strict with diet, went up to 105kg by eating 3,800 calories a day + 300g of protein. Started out 5 years ago at 75kg, for my height that’s scary thin.

Proposed Cycle (similar to “Steroid Newbie Cycle Planning” thread):

Weeks 1-10: Test C 500mg/week (injecting 250mg Monday, Thursday).
Weeks 1-11: Arimidex 0.25mg every second day.
Week 12: Arimidex 0.125mg every second day.
Weeks 1-4: Dianabol 20mg every day.

PCT:

Week 13: Nolvadex 40 mg every day.
Week 14-16: Nolvadex 20 mg every day.

My questions are as follows:

  1. Test E is recommended in the forum post but the cost/accessibility of Test C to me is much easier. Is the only difference the half life for test C is longer? Would this alter my PCT time table?

  2. Is the Dbol at 20mg/day for first four weeks effective or is the dose too low?

  3. Should I leave out the Dbol for my first cycle?

  4. Should I take a liver protector like milk thistle while on this cycle? I.e. for full duration? or just leading up to and during dbol?

  5. I want a quick turnaround on PCT, is this cycle a low risk to benefit one? I want minimum risks but not with maximum gains if you get me.

Thanks for your help! If I’ve overlooked some obvious articles or forum posts please point them out to me!

2

  1. Test Cyp is fine

  2. 20mg is a bit on the low side. I would do 40 or 50mg/day

  3. Dbol is fine for a first cycle if you’ve got it. Another way to run it as opposed to in the first 4 weeks is in the last 4 weeks as your Test E will start to lose its effectiveness by then

  4. You can take milk thistle if you want to spare the money

  5. This cycle is pretty much as minimal risk as you can go and still be worthwhile. For PCT I would do at least 40/40/20/20, not 40/20/20/20

3

Test Cyp takes a bloody age to kick in, unlike the other derivatives.

If i was you i would do:

8 weeks at 800-1000mg/wk

4 weeks at 100mg/wk

And then taper down for 5 weeks:

80
60
40
20
20

Exactly like that.

Use adex if necessary while on, nolva during stasis only if you have gyno, and nolva during taper if you have gyno or if you want a bit of an extra jump.

D-Bol i would leave off till the 2nd cycle - don’t do to many compounds at the start- have to walk before you can run :slight_smile:

4

Frontload the Test, and I think it’s a good idea to continue the AI use into PCT and a bit after. The halflife of Test C is essentially the same as Test E.

I think if you’re going to use 20mg of Dbol, use it before you train.

5

I’d recommend using the dbol weeks 9-12 from personal experience.

Since its your first cycle you will see how you take to the test wth dbol sides and also get a second round of gains from the dbol before pct.

Have you considered hcg?

6

Thanks for the great advice guys. I was a bit nervous as coming across as a complete newbie retard.

@GGlife: Ya from what I’ve read around it seems that 20mg is very small dose but I also hear that dbol is pretty androgenic and thus more change of gyno and sides. Possibly I’ll leave it out altogether for first cycle. If this cycle goes well I reckon I’ll do maybe one cycle a year. I think I will correct my PCT to be 40/40/20/20 It can’t hurt to be over cautious.

@300andabove ya, I was reading about tapering too but in my limited knowledge it seems that tapering is a relatively “new” method, possibly better but most of my reading has come from people’s experiences with traditional PCT routes so I’ll probably leave it at that. 8 week @ 800-1000 seems pretty high for my first cycle and I’m paranoid as fuck about it to be honest.

@Rationalglaze I suppose it can’t hurt to continue using the adex. Maybe 0.125mg eod throughout pct? What would you recommend the dosage be to preload?

@G.I. Joe Galway Ya what you said seems to be consistent with what others have said and I like the idea of testing (pun?) the water with just the cyp first then introduce the dbol. That’s if I decide to include the dbol or not. I’ve not considered any hcg mainly because I’ve not seen much literature on it to be honest and it seems pretty expensive and maybe overkill for my relatively low dosage?

7

The frontload calculation is outlined by Bill Roberts in this thread: Forums - T Nation - The World's Trusted Community for Elite Fitness

You can keep things simple and make the first injection 750mg. And I think 0.125mg EOD during PCT and beyond should be fine. But you might have to adjust depending on how you respond to Adex.