Hi everyone, I’m a powerlifter (15 yrs exp.) that did his first cycle last year. I just got my bloodwork done and want your feedback on two things:
Key questions:
Am I safe to get back on a cycle?
What do you think about my cycle plan given my goals?
I’ve outlined my goals, numbers, and bloodwork below. Any other info you need to inform your opinion, I’ll gladly answer them. I’m happy to share my last experience on the cycle if that’s needed. Thank you all in advance… onward and upward
******* Details TBD based on blood work results and subsequent advice. I’m hesitant to take more exemestane than necessary since it seems pretty intense from what I’ve read. Another thing I’m curious to get your advice on is the purpose of doing HCG every 3 weeks vs more consistently. Seems like most advice I’ve found encourages regular doses.
Very impressive lifts my friend. Your hormones appear to have returned to normalcy which is good news. While I don’t advise on people’s cycles for personal reasons I will say it’s a pretty mild classic mass / strength plan. I don’t see anything inherently wrong with it. I assume you’re not trying to enter a tested comp?
Thanks for the encouraging words. I completely respect your boundaries.
Yes, APF is untested, so what I plan to do is above board. One guy on reddit said that given my longer term goal of eventually losing fat while maintaining strength, he suggested Anadrol or something similar. Any perspective is appreciated!
Anadrol is a strong oral steroid and will provide greats gains in strength. I’ve never used it as I stayed with the milder anabolics when I used to partake. Tagging @mnben87 who may have some experience with drugs for your sport
Getting to 165 when you are about 180 lbs pre-cycle might make things tricky.
Are you allowed to use wraps in APF raw? I have competed in something called classic raw, which allows wraps. I am asking to understand how far off you are from your goal. If you are only allowed sleeves, what is your best squat in sleeves?
It should get you a boost in performance, but I wouldn’t expect crazy gains from it. I haven’t used Deca, so I don’t really know much there. I do know 200 mg/wk is pretty low for dose.
Some people seem to gain a lot of weight with Deca, so maybe low dose is beneficial in that regard, but I also doubt you get a lot stronger on it. It will likely mask joint pain at that dose, which could be really beneficial during a meet prep.
Another point on Deca is that it has a long half life which makes it more difficult to cycle (long build up, and clearance times). Blast and cruise guys have an easier time it seems. At 200 mg a week, probably not an issue though.
How much do you have to lose?
I wouldn’t use Anadrol for this goal.
I also think if you have time, cut cycles aren’t a good use of gear. People take cycle level of gear to maintain strength and muscle, maybe make small gains. If they were to just cut natty or on cruise, lost a bit of gains, then started eating in surplus with a cycle / blast, the lost gains are back in a few weeks.
Thank you for this insight. Here are my answers to some of your questions starting with a clarification:
Goal clarification: I want to achieve my goal within a year or two max, but have no specific timeline beyond that
To your questions:
24 hour weigh in, so I think it’s reasonable for me to cut 8ish pounds of water weight on the week of the event. That means I have to lose a little over 5 pounds of fat while increasing my squat by only about 5%.
Wow - I’m actually glad you asked. I fucked up and confused Raw with Classic Raw, but luckily, the APF Classic Raw is 10 pounds less than Raw at 540 (LOL!). My best squat in sleeves at 181 was 525 in competition and 540 in gym.
This makes total sense. So given where I’m at, do you think I should try to diet / lose weight slowly with minimal muscle loss, go on a short cycle, then just do a minimal cut? This approach seems to make the most sense.
Good point lol. I just remember posting back in '09 and there seemed to be some crazy expert on everything, but now I think everything is diffuse as are all online media / communities.
Do you know anything about water cuts? I am not an expert, but I think I saw a really good video on it. IIRC, Stan Efferding had one on YouTube.
I think for really anything under 242 lbs, to be really competitive most will guys need to be jacked. Fat helps one lift more, but not as much as if they had more muscle at the same weight. When I say jacked, I don’t mean 5% BF, more like 10%. Clearly visible abs, and vascular.
With higher weight classes, having more fat isn’t a bad strategy. It is unlikely even with PEDs that most guys can be 308 lbs with abs haha.
If you have the Anadrol you mentioned, using that in a good amount after weigh ins might help you regain the weight, along with fluids, salt and food. You only get 24 hours, but if you got in several Anadrol 50s in that time, and during the meet it may help your strength and body weight.
I’d think you could take the wrapped record right now. I am a terrible squatter, but I think when I was about a 450 lb sleeve squatter, I did 507 lbs in wraps at a meet.
I’d try to stay at the same weight post cycle for a little while. Then do a cut. If you were cruising or on TRT, then you could cut sooner. I don’t think it is a good idea to do it as your hormones are recovering though. You’d be in a low T state trying to cut.
Right? It’s encouraging to hear it from others. People outside the community think I’m smoking crack hahaha
Not really, so I’ll definitely check this out - thank you. I wrestled in high school, which only helps me with the mental fortitude / confidence side of the cut, nothing beyond that.
Noted! I don’t have it now but I’ll pick some up.
Got it.
Given that I’m 3 months out from my last cycle and you think I can get the record, it may make sense to do the cut right now and hold off on doing a cycle. What do you think?
Another approach that comes to mind is to do a very light cycle - 200mg Test E / week plus HCG - so as to not induce too much muscle growth but support recovery (while protecting my balls).
After reading your comment, I think you’re right in that I’m basically there. Now that I know I’m really a margin of error away from the record at 165, I think I can just reign in my diet and then go for it.
I should probably do a practice cut with high effort lift the next day a few months away from a meet to see how it goes.
Thanks again for your perspective. PS - Are you in Minnesota? That’s where I am
PPS - Some stuff on diet in case anyone’s wondering… For the past two months, I’ve been eating pretty clean (carbs almost exclusively from oats and blueberries, with white rice and sweet potatoes on training days) and getting about 150g - 200g protein / day. I can keep this up for as long as I’d like.
The jist of it is you train your body to be used to in-taking a lot of water and salt. You will pee all the time. Then when you get close to the meet, you stop drinking fluids, and cut salt. Your body is used to a lot of water consumption, and you will keep peeing like you were when you were drinking a lot of fluids until your body adapts which takes longer than the flush out of liquids.
I’d try doing it a few weeks prior to the meet. I get terrible heartburn that can’t be treated with over the counter products. It impacts my lifting. Some get back pumps (that can be worked around with brief warm ups).
I don’t think the gains are worth it. I am on TRT. On 150 mg/wk, it took about 6 months to notice anything significant for gains.
This makes more sense. I’d also think about EQ over Deca for your goals, since your body weight is a factor.
@mnben87 is giving solid advice. Glad you two could connect. TNation is definitely more reserved/cautious with anabolic use than other forums but I think that’s a good thing.
