Background: I have done 5 or 6 bulking cycles in the past (like way in the past) and this is my first cut. I went with test, because that is all i have ever used, and it has worked without any sides. My dosage is lower than I have used before @ 400mg/wk with the rationale being that I am trying to preserve muscle and wouldn’t need as much. the reason for the cut cycle, is that I tore my labrum at MARSOC A&S, then had surgery a year ago. After PT and a long time working back, I am back to working out with no restrictions, except being cautious about weight overhead. At any rate, I mostly just want to get back to where I was weight wise. I followed advice, not to really restrict calories while healing and that led to some weight gain that I didn’t really like. I am following Renaissance Periodization’s cut template for diet and working out along my usual routine. Drugs involved are Test Cyp, HCG and I have Anavar on hand for a finisher and obviously Nolva.
Question: Despite certainly experiencing the symptoms of a caloric deficit, the weight on the scale continues to climb 3 weeks in. It’s not at an alarming rate, and I suspect that a lot of this is water. I have never needed an AI, and wasn’t planning on using one this time unless symptoms arise requiring it, but again, this is the lowest dose I have ever used, so it seems unlikely. Having never cut before, I have never concerned myself with water retention. How much water weight would a 200lb (5’11" 33YO) person around 15% BF really expect? Since I am only concerned about the result at the end of the cycle and not the aesthetics I achieve, should water weight bother me at all? It does make it harder to tell whether I should move on to a more restrictive part of the cut template or not. Part of me wants to up the dose (I certainly have enough test, hcg, etc to do that) and go on to the most severe part of the cut, but maybe that is just a panic move.