TRT to Test Only Blast

Pharma / TRT
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Alright, done my fair share of reading and training and throwin it out there for the last bit of clarification before diving into it.

History: Been on TRT for a two and a half years, started at 300mg/ml a month in a single shot, obviously didn’t work, talked to the doc, got it to 300mg every two weeks, was a bit better, told her I’d like to do 150/week to maintain levels and she was cool with it, rolled with that and then made it an even 200/ week and have felt great with minimal anything except a bit of acne on my shoulders which is probably partly due to the test and partly due to a dirty, sweaty job in the oilfield.

Training history is solid for 15 years at this point with the last 5 or so documented on here in a log.

Plan on running 400mg/week of test cyp split into two pins a week for 12 weeks. I will have arimidex on hand prior to starting bumping up. Running with the “as little as possible for as long as possible” approach, as it helps to mitigate side effects while providing results both mental and physical.

The clarification I am looking for is in the contradictions I’ve seen with the administration of the Arimidex, I’ve read to do .5mg every other day, I’ve read .5mg on pin days, and I’ve also read that the newer approach is to have it on hand and only use it IF you begin to show side effects.

Any and all help and critiques are welcome.

Thanks guys!

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I think the newer approach is a good idea. A good amount of guys don’t need an AI on doses around 500 mg/wk.

The way I’d approach it is start with no AI. If you start to feel sides, take less AI than you think. Maybe start with 0.25 mg on the days you do your injection. If the sides go away, stay there. If not, bump it up to 0.5 mg on shot days.

I’ll say that you are probably going to be underwhelmed by 400 mg/wk since you have been on 200 mg/wk for awhile. It just isn’t a big change from your normal. I could be wrong. I’d just warn against having high expectations from your blast plan.

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That’s where I was leaning, and 100% 400 isn’t enough according to conventional wisdom to make a dramatic difference, my expectations are firmly rooted on the ground, ha. Thanks, man!

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Your TRT doseage is already borderline what some would call a small cycle (its a massive ongoing debate),

What do your bloods say on 200mg per week?

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Last set of bloods was two months ago, due to get another set prior to ramping up. Off the top of my head the only number I remember is Total Test was at ~1400, blood was drawn pretty close to peak (2-3 days post injection), all my other health markers are solid, have some issues with blood pressure but am in lisinipril already and have it controlled with minimal dosing and diet/minimal cardio haha, I only remember that one because, while my doc is good, and she is willing to listen and work with me, that’s the only number she cared about. For reference I started TRT at 439 total test, worked it up to ~600 with the every other week injections, and then for the past 3 months have been on weekly, that last set was right near the beginning of that change, so I’m curious where I leveled out at. The health markers for blood work and what not were done about a week ago, maybe two weeks at this point.

Edit: Thought I had a photo in my phone for reference ranges but didn’t. Understand without ranges it’s fuck all, ha

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THIS.

And yes, I read that you are aware of this, so then my question is…is there really much to gain from this modest bump? If it were me, I’d make the increase a bit larger-that way you would actually be able to notice the difference. Maybe raise that dose up to 600mg/wk. I can all but guarantee at that dose you WILL see and feel a substantial difference.

With regards to the Arimidex…yeah, keep it on hand and only take it if you start to really notice sides like increased water retention/bloating, sore/itchy nipples, etc. If you do, then I’d suggest maybe taking only like .5mg the day after you pin. If that works to reduce your sides, stay at that level. If not, you might then take .5mg the day after you pin, and then take another .5mg 3.5 days after your 1st dose (for a total of 1mg/wk). You shouldn’t need more than that running less than a gram of test a week.

What most people really fail to realize is just how POWERFUL of an anti-estrogen PRESCRIPTION Arimidex is (I say it like this because if you are actually getting legit, pharmaceutical grade Arimidex then my statement is true. If you are getting some research chemical or bootleg Arimidex then who knows if it’s real or if the dosage stated is accurate). But at only 600mg/wk of Test, I’m pretty confident that .5 to 1mg of Arimidex should be ALL you need to reduce estrogen (without completely eliminating it which is BAD).

Oh, I forgot to add…if you can, you might want to run that increased dose for 16-20wks, reason being, the longer you stay at the elevated dose, the more likely you are to hold onto more of the gains you make (just be sure you are working out with high weights/high intensity and eating 1.5g protein/lb of bodyweight). And since you are already on TRT and thus shouldn’t need to worry about being “shut down”, you can and should run this blast for longer. After all, when you’re done, you’ll still go back to taking 200mg/wk which is a VERY healthy TRT dose/light cycle dose in itself. And at 200mg/wk, that might help you to hold onto those gains you make at 600mg.

Good luck and I hope you reconsider your dosage increase.

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This. I’d get blood work week 5-6 and if e2 is high with symptoms you just can’t live with, then consider starting at a low dose after each injection. I would not automatically start taking it, or take it without blood work.

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IME on TRT I need to triple my dose to really feel the benefits of the blast, if using test only. Around 480mg I can get some pretty decent gains

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Likely because the pills are 1 mg each. So most people assume that 1 mg is the minimum dose. 1 mg is used to dramatically lower estrogen in women with breast cancer.

If adex was designed from the get go for men on TRT / blasting / cycling, the pills would probably dosed much lower.

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I appreciate your time! I hadn’t seriously considered upping it, to be honest, I’m a very cautious dude and tend to stick with ‘safe’ approaches until I can figure out what’s going on, and everything I’d read and dudes I’ve talked to were pretty much at a consensus that 400/week is about as ‘safe’ as you’re gonna get, ha. Same with the duration, 12-16 weeks is considered standard so I stuck with the low end. As far as the Arimidex, was definitely leaning towards only if/when needed, it is from a fairly reputable research chem site, but the last thing I want to do is crash my estrogen. What you’re saying with dosage and duration make complete sense and I genuinely appreciate your feedback, and will take a look to make sure all the math adds up and consider it!

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What you could do if you increase duration a little bit is 6 weeks at 400 mg/wk, then 10 at 600 mg/wk (if everything is good on 400 mg/wk). That is what I did on my second blast (first was 325 mg/wk, which was underwhelming).

400 mg/wk could make a significant difference to my muscle and strength, but I’d have to be on it awhile for that to happen. More like 20+ weeks.

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Went through and did all my math, could do 500/week for 15 weeks with what I’ve got and have plenty of arimidex on hand for anything that may arise.

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I think you’ll have pretty good success doing that then! Even though it’s only a moderate increase in your test dose, be sure to treat it as if you were getting on a cycle…meaning consistent hard and heavy training, high protein intake 24x7, sufficient sleep, solid supplementation intake, etc. etc…you know what I mean.

Good luck and let us know what changes occur!

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I’ve experimented a bit with 200-400 mg/week dosing for the last year plus and there’s been no noticeable difference for me in this time period. I would guess if I cruised 400 for years there’d be a decent difference with 200, but for the 3-ish months of doing 400 and dropping to 200 for a bit off and on, it’s likely just been a waste of T.

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12/6 Update

8 weeks at 500/week hasn’t been a “blow your doors off” difference from ~200, but I’ve felt good, dense as hell, and strong. Lifts have increased as good or better than expected and I’ve physically changed. I’m sitting at 230, up from around 225, waist size has been unchanged while pants and shirts have begun to feel quite snuggish, I can feel a bit of fatness in my face (may be in my imagination) and I’ve definitely added weight, but it doesn’t feel like a dramatic amount of fat and with the scale movement of 5-8lbs and the top end of my lifts moving well, it would indicate that it’s going well. 4 more weeks at 500 and then down to a cruise of 150

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HA! Someone actually came back to their post and updated! Awesome dude! Thanks @Despade

Yeah…I had wondered if the changes you might experience would be somewhat minimal since you were cruising already at 200mg/wk. While I had hoped going to 500mg/wk would make a difference, I guess it did not. But when I think on it now, I also realize that you just increased the amount of testosterone in your body, but that is the ONLY change. Or, to better put it, there wasn’t a change in your biochemistry like if you had introduced say a brand new AAS, such as Equipoise or Deca for instance. But it’s interesting to hear your response to simply upping your dose of test from your TRT dose.

I’ve been kicking around the idea of doing a blast myself, and while I had just been considering upping my test dose, after reading this I might switch gears and instead introduce a new brand new chemical to spark some change…of course, I’ve got a fondness for EQ (although many do not, I don’t know why?). Yes, you do have to use a pretty large dose mg-wise, but when you do run it at 6-800mg (I like to use 800) a week, you will definitely know you are taking it. Although it’s a mild anabolic, again, at that dosage the effects are very good and the size you put on, while not a massive increase, is good (at least 10 maybe 15 pounds), but it is not “watery” weight. In addition, I love the pumps from it-working out on EQ is unlike anything else (ok, maybe taking dbol at a higher dose, but those gains ARE bloat/water and you get the back pumps/cramps). Vascularity is also crazy. Appetite…eh, it never really seemed to do that for me but then again I don’t just eat when hungry, but rather I eat by the clock or every 3-4 hours.

Have you needed any arimidex? I know you were asking about that also, but you probably didn’t end up needing it I’d guess…or if so, maybe just .5mg/wk. I think you said you had research chems for arimidex. Man, I just hope you found a real legitimate source though. When I got on TRT I was using research chem arimidex. Well, for my doctor’s first check up (I “thought” I had been taking .5mg/wk), my bloodwork said my estrogen was 129! I was livid, the research stuff was obviously fake, but luckily when my dr. saw that number (yes, he did the sensitive test as I requested it) he just wrote me a script for pharma anastrozole. So, if you ever want to check if your research chem arimidex is legit, try taking like .5mg/wk, for a few weeks before you do bloodwork. If you estrogen comes back high, or really, higher than say 40-50, then you know it’s bunk.

Good luck man and keep us posted. Oh, real quick…has your training been solid? no missed days (hopefully you’re going at least 4-5 days a week? you should def be able to handle the volume with your test dosages). Getting in your meals/calories/protein daily? If not, get that shit on lock and you’ll squeeze even more lbs. and gains outta your blast bro. Keep us updated.

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It seems that the people cycling have a more extreme boost from something like 500 mg/wk, than those that start on TRT. Perhaps some of that is less bloat since the TRT / cruisers already have close to maxed out E2 if their dose is on the higher end of TRT. If they don’t get the bloat or nearly as much bloat, the strength increase will be less, as well as the scale gains.

I think of Test as a bit slower than some things too. It isn’t a crazy change in the first month type of thing. More of slow builder.

What is your thoughts on deloads while on blast? I know some advocate for it (thinking Mike Israetel from RP training). I assume this is a gray area. How advanced is the person type thing. If you’re average height at 250 lbs and abs, you maybe need a deload week, where someone who is also average height at 150 (shouldn’t be using, but it happens) can likely get away without any breaks the whole cycle.

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Yeah, it’s been a really excellent experience. I have been using the arimidex, .5 the day after injection. I was noticing quite a bit of acne across my shoulders and water retention. Added the .5 and it took care of it immediately and haven’t had any issues since.

Edit; I will note that my ‘hunger’ to train has just picked up again in the last two weeks, before, my desire to train was below average, but it’s back up to a solid “can’t wait to get in” point. Training has been solid tho, I’m 4-6 days a week, got a log on here actually.

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Would you mind elaborating on how much your lifts went up. Start point and where they are now? What lifts have you seen strength gains on. I am asking just to compare to myself. With Test I do get stronger, but it is a slow process. My bench has seen big gains in the past on a Test blast, but I was training bench like a maniac at the time (like sessions with 10 sets of 10 of bench one day a week, and another day with 5 sets with more like 5 reps).

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So while cruising, I hit 315 for 3, which was a huge jump from previously (315 for MAYBE 1 when the moon was aligned) and then 8 weeks later I hit 335 x 3 for what felt like solid speed. Deadlift I’ve hit 525 for a true max, and I’ve now hit 315 x 20 and plan on getting 15+ at 365 today. Squat ends up messing with my low back too much so I’ve been doing minimum on back squats. I’m not chasing a true 1RM, as the chance of messing something up when I can more safely stick with 3-5 reps for heavy stuff is more appealing. It hasn’t been some obscene jump, no one is going “holy shit he’s on tren” but the upward movement in all my lifts has been apparent after years of grinding in mediocrity haha OHP has moved as well, I’ve hit 225 for a single or a double here and there, but now it’s just, there. Confidence plus some extra juice probably has a bit to do with all of it as well.

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