Beginner Cycle, Please Help With Any Thoughts


I am 33 years old and have been, though on and off, and more off lately as I finish my Masters Degree in order to serve active duty in the military, which is my hopeful career goal (a little late for a career?), a dedicated and consistent weight lifter since I was about 15 when I trained at a gym in San Diego with competitor Kirk Aguon, who taught me a lot and was an excellent trainer and role model for a young kid like me.

I got off to a bad start in life, and even had/have to battle some felony convictions that have since been reduced to misdemeanors and expunged. Sorry, I digress…

I started lifting at about 15 years old as stated. I got into powerlifting for a while but preferred strength over size and pulled back from that, especially now that I am a Navy and have to deal with the joint injuries from powerlifting too much, from breakdancing, and just overall partying too much and living too fast for my age… again, I digress.

I am 33 with many years of experience of weight lifting, though admittedly as I have been working hard in this master’s degree program enough that I have gone up to about 18% body fat and suffered some strength atrophy, although, interestingly enough, and happily for me, my actual muscle size does not atrophy much; I tend to still possess the appearance of power in my body even when turning pages in books and keyboarding out papers (technically it’s not called typing anymore, right?).

Now, at the same time, that “appearance of power” is nothing amazing - I’m not trying to step out of my place here, I have nothing on many of y’all here, which is one of the reasons I am respectfully and hopefully seeking out y’all’s guidance and direction.

I wanted to give that background to alleviate any concerns that I’m jumping into something too fast. I have never done a cycle before of anything other than OTC (such as Epistance, Activate Extreme, and some other products that seemed to work very well like Halodrol, X-Factor by Molecular Nutrition, some good creatine, etc.), but last year I across some quality Andriol and cycled that with my OTCs mentioned above and used some OTC PCT. I did have some decent results doing that. But other than the Andriol, everything was OTC.

So now I’m at a point where I want to pursue something more effective. Here’s my stats and then my cycle ideas (not complete, was hoping for some help from you all here, please), and what I am mainly looking for.

33 years old
5’11’
215
Relatively muscular/athletic (my profile pic isn’t the most revealing, but it may help) body type
17% body fat =(

I want to run an Equipoise cycle because I have been led to believe in my reading and discussion that EQ is a great choice to promotes strength gains rather than necessarily size gains, that it increases endurance with the increase in red blood cell activity and the promotion of oxygenating the body, and that, while speculative, there is the possibility that it may perhaps assist in soft tissue strengthening or repair. I know, that latter probably isn’t true, but there’s hope, and a possible placebo for me! =)
But given it is an EQ cycle, I also understand I would need to be run for about 16 weeks according to most folks. Thus, my thoughts on this cycle so far is:

Weeks 1-16 Sustamed 250 Balkan Pharmaceuticals, 1ml injections 3/week, thus 750mgs/week total
Weeks 1-16 Equipoise 200 SP Laboratories, 1 ml injections 3/week, thus 600 mgs/week total

At this point I am dealing with a few different thoughts and would really appreciate some guidance and/or correction from you on here. I’m considering:

  1. taking D-Bol for the first 4-6 weeks at 35-50mgs/day given some comments I’ve read on some forums on the benefits a “cyclist” =) has in taking D-Bol with the slower acting EQ for more immediate results in his cycle.

  2. Taking either some Proviron or Turanabol with the cycle because they are both said to interact very well with Testosterone, are relatively safe in terms of liver toxicity which I would be battling if D-Bol is used (again, please, these are just ideas, I’m not saying I’ll do all of these in one cycle, just thoughts on what I could potentially do in the hopes of getting some guidance and direction), and offer some assistance in either binding with SHBG or at least reducing estrogen build up, though I certainly would not leave out the Arimidex.

I certainly don’t need to add anything more in terms of the hormones themselves as that’s already a pretty legit cycle, I think, but at this point I would like to get an idea from the experts here, based on my statistics and history and the dosages I’ve suggested as well as the dosage replies I receive from y’all, about how much Arimidex I should be taking with this cycle per week, or whether something other than Arimidex should be used?

My final question, and honestly thank you sincerely to anyone who is taking this seriously and still reading, willing to help me out, concerns, obviously, the PCT. I am thinking of using HCG since it seems to have a better reputation than just Nolvadex, though this is where I’m at a loss given that most cycles I see and most people I read use Nolvadex.

Thus, my questions would be, given the cycles and what I’ll be taking, what PCT(s) should I use? Is HCG more preferable than Nolva? Also, in a 16 week cycle, should I being my PCT a few weeks early, such as Week 14, then continue on until week 18, 19, 20? How much should I take?

You guys on this forum are frickin awesome, I signed up recently and have loved the kind of info and answers I have been finding here. Absolutely legit, I’m glad I signed up. Please, help a newer friend to the forum as best you can with the awesome experience and knowledge y’all have built up.

One more thing… I am doing this same cycle with a friend of mine, who will do the same dosages, same time, exact same cycle length and quantity and that comes with the exact same questions I am asking (I want to help him out with any answers I can get for his stats as well). He, too, has a solid lifting history for over ten years and has even been more consistent than I have lately. He’s 6’2, 225, 14% body fat, 28 years old. If you could please assist with the answering of these questions for both of us as this is both of our first cycle I/we would be very very grateful to you guys! Thank you, y’all, honestly; it’s great to know that one can come before such experienced and equipped hard working folk and get assistance with something that is cleary very important to us men.
Have a great week, brothers.

Beau

dude you’ve been training “consistently” since you were 15 and you look like that? no offense mate but you should consider what you’ve been doing.

learn how to train and eat before considering steroids.

Nooo!! Sorry, Barret, I wasn’t very specific on here. When I stated the since I was 15 I wanted to let anyone concerned here know that health and fitness are something I’ve been involved in for many years. I wasn’t always a lifter, though, and that’s why you see what you see. When I was working on my undergrad in Los Angeles I was huge. But we started running and boxing out at La Habra Boxing Gym, and in both cases I kept fatiguing heavily because of my size. I was told to avoid the weights and just do the push ups, sit ups, pull ups, etc. So I did, and I lost an insane amount of weight. I was also dieting. So my body is not bulky like it used to be, not at all. I was not trying to give the wrong impression, forgive me. I only wanted to get anyone out there who could help an idea of where I was at now in terms of composition. My muscles are strong and hard and can endure long sets of push ups, pulls ups, etc. I’ve been doing the calisthenics intensely.

As for diet, I’m only recently beginning a heavy diet again. I take about 1.5 mg of protein per pound of body weight and have a low amount of carbs in the morning and afternoon. Fats are very mild, I have one day a week where I can cheat.

Sorry for the confusion, brother. Thank you for replying. Please let me know any thoughts you could give for concerns and questions I raised. Take care, sir!

beau

at 17% I would want to make sure you have your diet dialed in and start losing weight naturally before you cycled. You will see much cleaner results if you start with a lower BF%. 17% is pretty high for 5’11 215. Get your diet dialed. Study up some more. Come back with a more concentrated plan and hammer it hard.

Brother, thank you for the thoughts, I appreciate the concerns. Please don’t think to ill of me for still wanting to do this. I am a pretty disciplined mesomorph and can add and drop weight very easily, I have a very generous metabolism (my wife is pretty jealous at what I can get away with). I think it’s because I was so active and dedicated for most of my young teen and early 20s to this. I am very experienced and education in health and fitness and nutrition, having actually taught at churches, groups, seminars, and high schools (nothing too huge, I’m not that good). I have studied and taught on the issues of proper weight gain and loss, the problems of the American diet in terms of its acidity given the mass amount of people being fed and the lack of natural productions methods, resulting in many chemicals and enhancers added to our foods as well as preservatives used for the food to make long journeys and not spoil. Acid is a major result of American obesity, as well as stress, but acid is stored in the body’s fat cells and when there’s plenty of acid, there’s also plenty of fat, as well as other issues. I’ve taught on the importance of dark green leafy foods that provide an alkaline body system that sustains proper health and permits better growth and anabolic function. I’ve talked about the lack of iodine in the American diets and how that can directly affect weight control as it affects the hypothalamus and its proper functioning in the body. Unless we are taking seaweed supplements, we need to consume more iodized table salt since its our only real means of acquiring the iodine. However, at that point we need to consume more potassium, the electrolyte that counterbalances salt in the volumizing of the body’s cells, and consume more water to avoid the issues caused by too much sodium chloride.
Point being, I am not a newbie to the health and fitness. My main concentration has been acquiring my Masters Degree to serve active duty in the Navy and now that I’m married and interning at my church, I haven’t had as much time in the most recent past to maintain the lifestyle I’ve maintained up until then.
The products I have listed above should arrive relatively soon, and I would really appreciate any thoughts or comments any of you could provide for me concerning what I will be getting into. I have benefitted greatly from this board and from the very helpful advice and comments many of you have given. Please, your experience and understanding can only benefit me further and make what I am doing much more effective and safe. Please consider helping me out, I understand I have no right to make demands and am not doing so, please don’t misunderstand me. I come only with respect. If no one will help me I understand and will not act rude or whinny. None of you owe me anything, I understand that. I am doing what I think is best for my life and body and would be better off with your assistance, thus I ask anyone willing to please help me work through some of these thoughts I have on these issues. I have done much of my homework and I think that is relatively clear in the OP, but I am just unsure about a few specifics. Either way, thank you all for what you do and all you’ve offered on this board. Many of us are better for what y’all have provided. Have a great day and no hard feelings either way. Thanks, fellas.

Also, for what it’s worth the 17% comment was from a test taken a few months ago. In preparation for the upcoming cycle I’ve been hitting the aerobics harder than this past year and have gone back to proper meal preparation rather than the constantly on-the-go eat what I can when I can method a hectic life has forced upon me. That picture is pretty recent, I really doubt I am still at 17% body fat. I can drop weight easily, it’s always been a genetic gift in my family. Here’s a more recent pic as I’ve been jumping back into the heavy lifting and fat reduction. I am confident by both my own and my wife’s appraisals that I am not at 17% body fat any longer.

just before i recieved my commission in the military, i made a thread on the internet about using illegal drugs and posted pictures showing my face.

why do you need a masters degree to serve active duty?

am excited to hear with felony convictions how you are going to make that happen. especially during this planned drawdown.

you ‘possess the appearance of power’? lol you look like a normal person. actually you look kinda chubs.

and not in the ‘holymac is jacked so his chubs is pretty sexy’ way.

pics of you being ‘huge’ while doing your undergrad in LA.

pics of you ‘too big to box’ lolz

i’m willing to bet i could standing overhead press what you can squat. without a doubt more than what you bench.

so much for ‘a dedicated and consistent weight lifter since I was about 15’

thank god they keep you out on a ship away from any of the srs business

Wow, there’s little point to replying to most of that. Really, bro, if that’s all you had to say, was there any reason to even post it? I just cannot understand those kind of personalities. You are right about the pics and the military, though. I hadn’t thought of that, and at some point I will need to take this down I think, though hopefully I’ll receive some helpful replies before doing so. I am hoping to get some replies from people who have something to say that doesn’t involved merely taking shots for the sake of taking shots. I need a masters degree because I am going in as a Chaplain, brother. I like to help people, and serving God and country is an excellent way to do that. I have my BA and I also have my commissioning; I’m serving as an Inactive Ready Reservist, a Chaplain Candidate, until completion of my degree and fulfillment of my licensure, which should take a couple more years for the latter.
Again, if anyone would be willing to help me out, I would really appreciate the help. Thanks fellas.

Lol a wannabe Chaps is posting face pics on a public online forum about using illegal drugs wut? Like HM said, VERY curious how you’re supposedly gonna get a commission as a Chaplain with previous felony convictions? In the pic you posted, you don’t even look like you lift…after EIGHTEEN years of training? And you’re considering using steroids!? Reality check brahski. It’s time for one.

if you’re going to do it, you should at least do it right.

test only for a first cycle tends to be the norm

Gotta follow man’s laws as well as God’s laws, bro. It seems like you have alot of noble goals so it is a bit odd that you want to take such an extreme measure that should really only be considered by advanced athletes and those willing to take the legal risks involved. I wish you the best with the choices you make.

[quote]hungry4more wrote:
Lol a wannabe Chaps is posting face pics on a public online forum about using illegal drugs wut? Like HM said, VERY curious how you’re supposedly gonna get a commission as a Chaplain with previous felony convictions? In the pic you posted, you don’t even look like you lift…after EIGHTEEN years of training? And you’re considering using steroids!? Reality check brahski. It’s time for one. [/quote]

dude i hope you were standing at attention when you typed that out to him