First Cycle - 27 Years Old

This is a summary of weekly averages for the first 6 weeks of the cycle, tomorrow starts week 7. I was able to get up to around 208 and felt lean, but over the past week I’ve ballooned up to 214, and definitely feel like I’ve now added some fat! Was 208 friday, 211 sat-sun, then 214 this morning; averaged around 3700 calories over those 3 days with tons of sodium (most has to be water). Today I’m starting a 4 day recomp, keeping calories around 2800-3k, doing 40 mins of cardio per day, and using lighter weight and circuit training. Should get me back down to 209-210, then will go back to the normal scheme.

kCal Pro(g) Carbs(g) Fats(g)Wgt(lbs) Cardio(Weekly Total Min)
3023 303 310 54 197 60
3270 312 361 55 201 100
3307 311 365 57 204 105
3110 291 341 57 206 75
3387 302 389 65 206 90
3417 316 370 70 209 105.0

Luckily back down to 212 today, will probably stay with the recomp for 2 more days, should get back down to 209.

Today is the last day of week 7. After a few days at 211-212 went back on the normal diet, then on Saturday weighed in at 215, then this morning 217. Hard to get a grasp on the true weight with all this fluctuation, but appears that the gains are in full swing, seeing at least 2lb increases per week over the last few weeks. Definite size added to my triceps and quads, like a fucking inch on triceps!

Still doing the whole body twice over 8 days split, which arms 4x per 8 days.
1 - Shoulders Tris
2 - Legs Bis (sometimes skip bis)
3 - Chest Tris
4 - Back Bis (sometimes add in forearms)
REPEAT

Average diet from the last week: 3300kcal, 300g pro, 365g carb, 60g fat. Ideally this would be more like 265/375/75.

Haven’t been using adex much at all, no signs of gyno, just a lot of bloating and water retention.

Last day of week 8, 2 weeks and 4 more pins to go! Have been consistently sitting at around 215, a total gain of 17lbs from my starting point. I know at least 3-5 lbs of this is fat gain, most likely have gained 12 solid lbs.

The goal now is to keep everything consistent for the next two weeks and hopefully get up to 218-220. After an off week, then 2 weeks of PCT I’ll start cutting for 4-6 weeks and drop 6-10lbs of fat. Hopefully I’ll be at 210ish and leaner then I was at the starting 198!

Squatting again on Wednesday, have seen this lift progress more than any others. Will be going for 405x15, regularly have been getting 13 reps. Rep’d out 8 decent reps on underhand barbell rows this morning with 295. Been getting 5-6 reps at 275 on flat bench (always been a tough lift for me), not bad considering 3 was a struggle before the cycle; this is with major pectoral tendinitis which has lasted months now (cant do any dumbbell pressing, and no free weight shoulder/incline pressing at all).

Hate to be asking this already, but typically how long would one wait to start a 2nd cycle? I’ll be taking at the very least 2 months off. What would be a natural progression to make in terms of compounds/doses for a 2nd cycle considering what was done in the 1st here?

you look better natty than many my buddies who have cycled lol. you sure you havent dabbled into even an oral before? haha. look good man your gunna be a beast after your run. that what most 20year old newbs dont understand. they need a base like so and years of work before getting on and the results and payoff is so much better. good work brother

Time on cycle + PCT = time off cycle. Absolutely no empirical data to back that up but it’s easy to remember I suppose! Really you should be off for as long as you need to be for your body to recover to it’s natural production of sex hormones. People who frequently cycle seem to follow the blast and cruise method and to hell with PCT.

On compounds for your next cycle I guess all I will add it that: 1) stick with what works, 2) less is more in the long run. It’s the guys who try to shortcut the shortcuts without enough experience who always end up in a bad way. You look like you’re squared away on all the important stuff like diet and training so my only recommendation is that if you decide to add something new to the mix then only introduce one new compound at a time. At least if you have a negative reaction to something you’ll know what it is and can steer clear of it (and compounds like it) in the future.

Congratulations, I will look forward to seeing you finish up and hearing about your PCT and what gains you feel like you’ve kept when off.

Thanks so much for the positive words guys!

More weight has been gained… 218 for the first time today, after 3-5 days at 217. Tomorrow is pin 18 of 20. Question, I’d expect the test levels to remain elevated for AT LEAST the week after I take the last pin, and probably somewhat into PCT, is this a reasonable expectation?

New pic, quads looking right: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

[quote]dinomachino wrote:
Thanks so much for the positive words guys!

More weight has been gained… 218 for the first time today, after 3-5 days at 217. Tomorrow is pin 18 of 20. Question, I’d expect the test levels to remain elevated for AT LEAST the week after I take the last pin, and probably somewhat into PCT, is this a reasonable expectation?

New pic, quads looking right: Imgur: The magic of the Internet

[/quote]

Enanthane should clear in around 10-12 days. PCT should start after it clears.

Great job so far, congrats. To echo what others have said, keep eating! Eat more if you can. I understand the concern regarding fat gain but take advantage of what you have going right now.

I would recommend a test taper for your PCT, also I would advise something longer than 10 weeks, 12-15. Prisoner 22 has some great info on here for the taper protocol, look it up when you have some time to read.

Thanks Monopoly19, great advice. I read it an it appears his advice is only relevant for more dramatic cycles, he’s talking about 1g per week of AAS, and compounds in addition to test (I could be wrong). I unfortunately don’t have enough supply to extend the cycle any further, but this was a learning experience and I want to leave some room for increasing the intensity of the protocol for the next go around, I’m thinking probably around August.

I had 6000mg, needed 5000mg, have been overfilling the pins a bit, getting more like 525-550 ish per week, could actually have a 3 week taper if needed. I was going to take 2 more pins of HCG, but for some reason I’ve had a lot of seepage from the vile when extracting so ran out of supply (22g too big? bubbles up a lot more than the test…), he’s convinced me I don’t need this (also not really seeing any atrophy). Based on your interpretation of his advice, could you please tell me what you would recommend (including anti-E protocol)?

Haven’t been using any adex in weeks, no signs of gyno, less bloating, etc.

After a whole week consistently at 217, I had two lower cal consecutive days (3100) and am down to 214, must have been holding some water. I’ll take your advice and instead of resuming my 3300, I’ll jump to 3500. Finally starting to see some of the gains translate into my chest/delts, pectoral tendon has gotten a lot better so almost ready to resume DB pressing (just hitting bench as a BB movement, all else is on the smith). Legs gains are far beyond expectations.

Last pin is 4 days from now!

All I can tell you is my experience.

My first cycle I ran a gram of test for 12 weeks, with 350mgs of winstrol for the last 6 weeks (which I hated by the way, never used it again).

I did a full traditional PCT protocol. HCG, clomid and nova. I crashed hard and it sucked. The clomid make me even more emotional and I was all over the place.

The next cycle (750mg test) I did, I tapered down with something very close to what prisoner recommends. I felt WAY better and held on to a lot more of the gains. His principles on this work the same regardless of dose. Once you are shut down, your shut down. Does not matter if the does is 200mg or 2,000mg. I again personally did not use anything for an anit-e as thankfully my sides are almost non-existant with test and I try not to over complicate things. I think his adex protocol is good though, and if I was planning on coming off I would try it again.

Thanks! How long did you taper for, and what were the dosages if you don’t mind me asking?

[quote]dinomachino wrote:
Thanks! How long did you taper for, and what were the dosages if you don’t mind me asking?[/quote]

Man it’s been so long I’m not sure. Think it went something like this;

weeks 1-12 - 750 test e
week 13 - 350 test e
weeks 14-15 250 test e
weeks 16-17 125 test e

Here are 2 links I found quickly while searching

Thanks again Monopoly19. I’m going to do this:

Week 11 - 250mg (2x125)
Week 12 - 125mg (1x125)
Week 13 - Start PCT

Got sick earlier this week and dropped 5lbs in 2-3 days, went down to 213. Stopped cardio, increase calories (broke 4k yesterday), back up to 217 as of today. Plataea’d on strength this week, likely related to this. I’ll probably start increasing cardio and pulling out calories in week 12 to initiate a cut to get a true sense of what has been gained.

Changed training split and added an arm specific day to allow a bit more rest for my lower back:

1 - Chest/Tris
2 - Back/Bis
3 - Shoulders
4 - Arms
5 - Legs
6 - REPEAT

Diet is around 3300kcal, 275g pro, 375 carbs, 70g fat.

Pic from this morning (CRAZY pump): Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Weighing in at 216-218 every day. Keeping the calories a bit lower now, 3100-3300 per day, trying to eat more at maintenance as the test clears out. Very excited to see what I look like after 4-6 weeks of cutting.

Lifts have been solid, finally able to incline DB press again after months of problems with my pectoral tendon. Got a nice strict set of 110s for 10 reps this morning, easing back into it.

I’ve started tapering off of the test. Changed the protocol around a bit, now its perfectly linear - 400mg, 5 days later 300mg, 5 days later 200mg, 5 days later 100mg, 5 days later start PCT. 5/9 will be the 200mg day, so still some time before PCT. Still not feeling any mood changes.

Despite noticing no gyno during the cycle, I now feel a slight lump on my right nipple, just the right side. I took 2 .5mg doses of adex last week, but won’t be taking anymore as PCT starts soon. Not a huge deal, had pubertal gyno before even starting the cycle, and eventually will get some from of surgery anyhow for both my chest and all the skin on my midsection.

Again I have no HCG left for a HCG blast, but I did run 250iu 2x per week from weeks 4-9. Maybe a very slight bit of shrinkage, but not concerned. Would be more diligent with this on a higher dose or multi-compound cycle.

[quote]dinomachino wrote:
Pic from this morning (CRAZY pump): Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Weighing in at 216-218 every day. Keeping the calories a bit lower now, 3100-3300 per day, trying to eat more at maintenance as the test clears out. Very excited to see what I look like after 4-6 weeks of cutting.

Lifts have been solid, finally able to incline DB press again after months of problems with my pectoral tendon. Got a nice strict set of 110s for 10 reps this morning, easing back into it.

I’ve started tapering off of the test. Changed the protocol around a bit, now its perfectly linear - 400mg, 5 days later 300mg, 5 days later 200mg, 5 days later 100mg, 5 days later start PCT. 5/9 will be the 200mg day, so still some time before PCT. Still not feeling any mood changes.

Despite noticing no gyno during the cycle, I now feel a slight lump on my right nipple, just the right side. I took 2 .5mg doses of adex last week, but won’t be taking anymore as PCT starts soon. Not a huge deal, had pubertal gyno before even starting the cycle, and eventually will get some from of surgery anyhow for both my chest and all the skin on my midsection.

Again I have no HCG left for a HCG blast, but I did run 250iu 2x per week from weeks 4-9. Maybe a very slight bit of shrinkage, but not concerned. Would be more diligent with this on a higher dose or multi-compound cycle.

[/quote]

Wow, great job and great progress…you most certainly did deliver with this log. I would say that your experiment (from your log & pics) was a success!

As an overview DM, how would you rate your firsthand actual experience (and expectations) in terms of: size gains, strength gains, endurance, libido effects, skin changes, blood work, etc…where there also any surprises (positive or otherwise) from your first cycle that you didn’t anticipate?

Just curious as to how well this first run went, in your opinion, as to what you experienced versus what you hoped to achieve. I know that you are still in taper mode, but this would be great close for this first cycle log.

Damn bro very nice gains. I learned a ton just reading through this post. Congratulations on the success. Hopefully my cycle goes as well as yours

Agreed great log. Good to see someone is doing things right.

Posts keep getting deleted, this is a test

Size: Net 19-20 lbs. Goal was 12 lean lbs. Estimating around 14 lean gained. Very satisfied. The majority of the size appears to be in my triceps, quads, and upper chest… chest is making everything else look small.
Strength: Set some PR’s, squat 405x15 not to parallel…, rack deads 495x8, bent row 315x8, leg press 26 platesx8. Hard to judge shoulders/chest/arms because of the shoulder tendinitis, but easily added 3 reps across the board. Could have added A LOT more strength, but size was the goal, all high volume hypertrophy training.

Endurance: Amazing endurance/recovery. Trained 7 days a week, 90 mins per, every body part at least twice per 8 days. Other than tightness in my lower back, and tendinitis in my left pectoral tendon, recovery was never a concern.
Libido/Mood: Fealt slightly different around weeks 3-8, increased libido at first, some aggression (confirmation bias?), but subsided and returned to more normal levels by now. Not looking forward to changes during PCT.
Blood: Did not have any blood work done, have been very healthy in all respects prior to the cycle.

Skin/Water Retention: Definitely got some backne, and didn’t really come on til at least weak 8. The hardest part of the cycle was dealing with the bloating, and not falling into the trap of then over-dieting or increasing cardio or increasing AI dosage. Had to accept the water retention and not expect to look shredded 24/7.
Sides: Slight bit of gyno in my right nip, despite seeing nothing during the cycle this just snuck up on my recently. Taking some AI now, but wasn’t before because no symptoms, but need to stop soon for PCT. May have lost a very minimal amount of hair from my scalp, but probably just seeing things!

Learning/Mistakes: Buy extra HcG incase needed. Run an AI regardless of visible symptoms. Take slightly more rest, focus more on strength gains. Take progress pics in a more consistent location/lighting/etc.
Future: Will run a 2nd cycle around October (too soon?). Will add in an oral (Dbol or Var) and will increase the duration/dose/ or both of test E, maybe 600mg for 12 weeks or 700 for 10 weeks, not quite sure on this.