First Cycle: Concerns, Tips, and Questions

Hello All,

I am 23, will be 24 in February, and I’ve been lifting intermittently for 10 years, seriously for about 3. My current stats are:
Height: 5’9
Weight: 185
Bench: 295x1
Squat: 450x1
Deadlift: 500x1
OHP: 185x1

I cut down from 205 (and kinda fat as fuck, like easily 22%) after my gf dumped me around 2 months ago. I’m ready to take the plunge into anabolics and just would like some input from some vets. My cycle plan is as follows:
Week 1-12: Test E 250mg Mondays/Thursdays
Week 6-12: Anavar 30mg ED
Weeks 14-16: Nolvadex 20mg ED
Weeks 16-18: Nolvadex 10mg ED

Arimadex on hand for high estrogen sides, if I notice them: .25 mg on pin days, titrated up if necessary.

A couple of questions:

  1. Am I too fat for a cycle? Pictures attached. I have decent fat distribution but I also think I could cut ~10 pounds and aromatize a little less.
    2.How high is the risk of
    permanent shutdown/suppression? I don’t plan on blasting insane amounts or utilizing heavier compounds, and I’m aware some level of risk is always present, but in your experience can most people adequately recover?
  2. How bad has your experience been with bloating on test? Does anavar help you with that?
  3. What does PCT feel like? Can it’s negative physical/mental sides be somewhat ameliorated? How hard/easy was it to keep your gains?

I’ve done a lot of research, but I am certainly not ready quite yet. However, in a few months I might be prepared to hop on. Thanks for any feedback!

Short answer: don’t do it.

Long answer:

How do we know this for sure?

Assuming we all have a genetic potential and assuming OP hasn’t reached his yet, surely there is an argument that the “rented gains” will be any gains that are over and above his genetic potential? With the above logic, any gains up to an including that point could be maintained naturally.

Yeah, obviously I’m literally sub-novice with AAS, but considering the muscle I gain isn’t supra physiological, shouldn’t I keep a good deal if I eat, train, and pct correctly?

I’d like to think you’d keep a decent amount if you continued to eat sleep and train hard. Maybe it could be seen as a shortcut to your genetic potential? Are shortcuts ever/always good?

Your stats are solid. That’s a great deadlift for 185. Your composition does not line up at all with your numbers. That tells me your training is very good and your diet sucks. Hold off on your cycle for two months. Eat like you want to put on size. I mean really eat for it. I bet you pack on a few pounds and it’s noticeable. If you do that successfully then go ahead and run a cycle, despite being objectively too young. But if you start cycling now without the proper diet you’re just ultimately going to waste your time and make yourself unhappy. That’s a very avoidable outcome.

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Yea, honestly I would describe my fitness acumen as “good training, god awful diet”. The agreement I’ve made with myself is if I can stick to a hyper focused diet tracked down to the micronutrients for about 4 months, I’ll see how I feel about cycling. No point in risking it until I’m sure I can dial it in.

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You’re certainly wise beyond your years

this confuses me. you’re going on AAS to gain more muscle mass than you could normally. so anything you get out of it would be “supra-physiological” if we can even attribute that term to muscle. If you want to keep most, or some, of that when you come off, eat, train & rest just like you were doing on cycle. You’ll lose some of the fullness, water and whatnot, but some muscle will be there. then you’ll have a higher base when you run your next cycle.

Anyway, drop the Var and just do the test for your first go and you should be on your way

This.

We don’t but in my experience this happens more often than not.

This again. You’re age is on your side. Give it a few more years. The risk to your HPTA isn’t worth it. You have solid lifts but you need to work on matching it with a solid physique. Your plan isn’t bad, it’s well laid out. I would just wait … as long as you can.

Any videos of these lifts? Strong regardless

why in the hell would you take steroids to gain muscle you can gain without steroids?

Like most people - like to do the fun stuff and dont want to do the hard work part :slight_smile:

You probably can recover but why would you take steroids if you dont plan on staying on? So you will gain 10lbs, come off, do PCT, and slowly lose 10lbs… Whats the point here?

Anavar has nothing to do with bloating and your test. Its a drug that does its own thing and it doesnt care for your test and your bloat. If you think you can mix “dry compounds” with “wet ones” to cancel them out its like taking sleeping pills and then drinking energy drinks. You get fucked, not cancel the other drug that way, lol.

Like hell. Like shit. Dont recommend.

If you come off you get back to where you started.

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My point exactly