Realistic Anavar Muscle Gains?

Turn 42 on Monday. Have been on TRT since Nov 2021. Was a skinny fat 182lbs when I started and was able to add 15 lbs of mostly good weight. A few months ago I had a terrible bulging disk that was pinching a nerve so I wasn’t able to lift for 2 months. In that time I lost 4-5 lbs and 3 of it was muscle based on a Styku body scan at work. (Not perfectly reliable) Anyways I’m finally back feeling 100% and considering my fist cycle. I’m considering adding anavar on top of my trt.

Current stats.
42 years old 6’2 195lb. 12%-16% BF depending on machine used. (In body, Styku, Dexa)
Test Cyp 200/week pinned once per week

Goals are to add a bit of lean muscle without adding any fat. In my reading there’s 2 schools of thought regarding muscle gain on Var. Some say no you won’t gain, others say of course you will. If I could gain 5lbs of legit tissue over the cycle while maintaining my current BF % I’d be happy. Seem realistic? Always wanting to get most out of the least I was thinking start 20 mg a day for 4 weeks then up it the last 4. But I’ve read anything less than 50 a day is a waste of time. Including a photo as well so you guys can tell me I’m an idiot or not lol.

4 Likes

Don’t trust that at all. DEXA is about as good as it gets, but still can only do so much because of hydration levels.

Why?

Everything except the maintaining BF%. Sure, anavar can help reduce excess fat gain, but it will not outright prevent it.

I’d run 40mg for 6 weeks instead, but that’s just me. 20 could help prevent unwanted sides (which are super unlikely) but even then, it’s got like a 12 hour half life - so if you saw issues, you’d just stop it and it’ll clear by the next day.

So I’m sticking with 40mg.

Thanks for the picture btw - not enough new guys post them. It helps a lot when trying to scale advice accurately.

2 Likes

Honestly? Simply vanity. I was steadily adding muscle on my TRT protocol, and that slowed dramatically. Then had the bulging disk and slid backwards. I want a leg up leading into summer to be in the best shape of my life.

2 Likes

I understand. Try this (not instead of, but in addition to Var)

  1. Dial in your diet. By far the most important step.
  2. Adjust your training to something that is virtually guaranteed to add size, like DoggCrapp or Jordan Peter’s stuff.

^these two things alone will do more than the Var ever could. But Var can help a bit.

1 Like

100% wouldn’t go into the cycle half ass and am ready to lock down with regards to diet. It’s the comment “var can help a bit” that’s making me go hmmm and has been even before you said it. If I’m not going to see great results with it plus dialed diet and programming I guess I don’t see the point.

1 Like

I mean, it’s only Anavar… literally known to be mild lol. There will be some benefit, otherwise pros would never take it. That being said, it won’t be extreme.

Most of the benefits that come from anavar were already present via TRT. It still does have some unique properties (like binding to adipose tissue and increasing strength while reducing some fat gain).

3 Likes

For sure. “Mild” is what attracted me to it for a first cycle obviously. If it’s so mild I can’t gain 5 lbs on it then shit I dunno haha. The goal is to add muscle and be lean while looking natural not add 25 lbs of wetness so Var was what I landed on. Appreciate the help so far

If you dial in your diet and training, i think you will see 5lbs return in a couple months - with or without anavar.

FYI, most do not consider anavar to be a cycle, unless they are female.

4 Likes

Fair enough. Thanks!
Edit: it took me about a year to add 15 with trt alone but it’s stalled. Admittedly my diet adherence tapered off a bit as well.

1 Like

Sincerely, dial in your diet and give DC or Jordan Peter’s training a shot. Every guy i know whose bigger than me trains like that.

1 Like

I like Anavar. Years ago, I ran 50 mgs/day for 8 weeks (25 am, 25 pm) alongside my TRT and enjoyed it. Great muscle pumps, nice strength gains and I felt more energetic. My liver values and hematocrit were elevated of course, it is an oral steroid, but went back to normal after cessation. Everyone I know that has used it has been pleasantly surprised.

Furthermore, you’re not “cycling”, you’re simply adding a compound to your TRT protocol. Try it out and see how you respond.

2 Likes

Is DoggCrapp something beginners can do? I was reading some of the journals over at AM and guys have added 50lbs of muscle in a couple of years enhanced as beginners but it seems like novices probably can’t push that hard and unless you have insane genetics and are on grams of gear you likely wouldn’t see the same results right?

It is realistic but i believe you wont be able to see it. At 6’2(same height as me) even 10lbs are barelly noticable.
Anavar is is also cosmetic drug so it will pop out more, the abs will look deeper, muscles will look fuller and you will get the idea that the muscle you gained gave you that look. In reality as soon as you stop the Var, the “var look” goes a way and you are left with maybe slightly increased scale weight that doesnt look like much on the body, and since you got used to how you look on var, you will actually feel like you look WORSE now.
I use Anavar and Winstrol combo for summer months, but when someone compliments me on the look i always say : “its not real, its anavar” and i say that to myself every day, so its easier to get off it in september.
So even if you gain the weight, the most benefit is the fake cosmetic effect, not the weight, and when the Var look goes away you most likely will see the gained weight as fat watery mess. So its better to use it for cutting as it puffs your look up when you are depleted and look like shit. So when you come off Var, you can up the kcals, and fill out at the same time, and then even tho you lose the definition, at least the fullness remains the same and you dont feel so bad.

Also keep in mind that whatever you gain on var, goes away as you stop it. If you are on TRT, the way you look on TRT is the best you can. Adding stuff is just renting weight for a while. If you are not willing to up the cruise dose, you wont be able to maintain.
Basically if you run 200mgs and cant gain 5lbs, no matter how you gain the 5lbs with what drugs, in order to keep it, the 200mgs will have to go up.
The big guy TRT looks like a small guy cycle for that reason. The more you want to maintain, the more your cruise dose is. So unless you are ok with constantly increasing the “trt” there is no real point to gain 5lbs for 4 weeks and then go back to where you were.

Id agree with this, especially for us, tall guys. We need twice the muscle to get any noticable effect, so whoever says 30mgs is a good dose of anything, is probably 5’7 and 175lbs. An elephant needs more of everything in comparison to a big dog. So basically whatever are the ranges of recommended drugs, tall guys probably need the far end of those.

Photo is the only reason i even answer with anything worth reading.
By the photo id say you could probably enhance the look by leaning down a bit, instead of gaining. There is nothing on the planet that looks better than abs do. Dont obsess about weight as such. You would look much bigger and more athletic if youd have some abs and get a tan. And that you also could be maintaining forever.
If you want to add stuff, add 1-2ius of GH. Will add some fullness in the muscle and help with fatloss.
And if you decide to trim down a bit, then you could actually add Anavar a bit when you are completely depleted, to get that nice shredded Var look.
Anyways, at 42 idk if the shitty cholesterol is worth it unless you can also get on statins.

3 Likes

Sincere thank you for the response. I was under the impression that most of the gains would remain once coming off with the exception of losing the extreme leanness. Seems like even if I do decide to run it, it’s best to wait a bit so that it’s in full effect during summer. But like you said, if the gains just fade away to puffiness, not sure it’s worth the elevated cholesterol.

1 Like

Eating at maintenance, using 48.5mg daily, I saw about 1lbs per week increase for 8 weeks, then kinda tapered off for the last 4. Very few side effects, little tired maybe. It wasn’t dramatic, but decent gains

2 Likes

I mean, that sounds like exactly what I’m looking for, but curious did the results fade away super quick or did you feel like you retained a good amount of the gains

The results will stay if the stimulus stays: good hormone environment, diet, gym

2 Likes

They will stay if you are below natural level.
I can bet all the money i have, i could take that amount of anavar and not gain shit, for example.
There are many people who claim gains without pictures for us to see - how do those gains look like and what they started with.
The author of the topic is very tall, and has done some training which we can all see. The delts are there which indicate that the low dose steroid gains are already present.

Each case is different. Id suggest @Joseph72 to read the info with a grain of salt about gains that no one has ever seen.
In my experience there are people who claim 30lbs muscle gain from 300mgs of tren, and kept it all. Turns out its some teenagers going from 140 to 170 for example. Basically still within natural range and ofc it is maintainable then.
Its very different for a 6’2 and 200 pounder.

1 Like

No. You need to be able to blindly trust your form when you’ve fully exhausted a muscle. Not for beginners.

3 Likes

I have no reason to lie, but sure, photo evidence to back up claims of 30lbs muscle gainz is always appreciated. Sadly I don’t have any for you from my little Var run.