Well curious....

[ripsid]

Hey guys, well here goes. I'm about 32, 5'10" 170 and I've been working out forever and alot has been off and on, due to various reasons from work to injury. Well, I'm a hard gainer and it f'n pi$$es me off! I hit it and hit it and hit and never gain, even taking tons of Protein and eating.
I know I've haven't been able to work out recently(2 weeks) cause of the kids in soccer and stuff. Well, here's my plan:
Hit it hard or harder for the next 3 months. (I'm still atleast doing cardio and such and light workouts and have a base)
Sept or October find a friend and hit a cycle. Here's where I look for you guys for help. In my cycle I'd like to gain 15 or so pounds while lowering some of the BF, I'm at about 12 now, tried to gain without cardio for a month (what an idiot! right)

I'm also looking for ideas for workouts, I've tried alot and need a better one than I do now.

Well guys I'm curious and looking for help! Thanks RIPSID.

"EJECTTT.......................................... ............."

[Soldier225]

Hey ripsid, and welcome!

Have you ever done AAS before? If not (or even if it's been awhile), I suggest reading the Educational Threads and also the main forum, and learn all you can. Always be sure to have anti-e's on hand (Novaldex) in case gyno symptoms show up, and if you like, you can always run your cycle with Arimidex , Proviron , or Letrozole (aromatase inhibitors). These will greatly reduce any conversion into estrogen. Also Clomid for post-cycle to jumpstart your body's natural Testosterone production.

Some basic AS cycles for gaining mass:

WEEK 1-8 or 10 Test 500mg/wk
WEEK 1-8 or 10 Deca 300mg/wk

or

WEEK 1-4/1-6 dbol 35mg/day
WEEK 1-8 or 10 Test 500mg/wk
WEEK 1-8 or 10 Deca 300mg/wk

Cycle I'm currently running is:

WEEK 1-10 EQ 400mg EQ
WEEK 1-10 Test 400mg/wk
WEEK 7-12 Winstrol 50mg/day
(Will start Clomid immediately following Winny)

Clomid: Take 300mg on your 1st day of therapy, then take 100mg/day for 10 days, and then take 50mg/day for 10 more days, check nuts and continue if needed.

Hope this helps.

Soldier225

[lowell34]

Here's what worked for me. I stopped working out in the evenings about 6 years ago after doing so for 11 years. I started working out early in the morning before work Monday-Friday. This was hard to adjust to and took several months, but when I did adjust I had great results. I learned that I could do just as much in the morning, with better results, in 45 minutes than I could do in 2 hours in the evening. It became clear how much time can be wasted in the gym by socializing, waiting for equipment, too much rest between sets, constantly trying to go heavy, etc.... I now work one body part a day and hit abs 3x/wk and calves 2x/wk. I look better now than ever (and I'm a lot bigger).
As for which AS to use, the best advice I have is to use the "drug profiles" tool on the AR homepage and carefully read each and every drug profile. Then, compare each drug against your goals. Then, when you think you have an idea of what you'd like to try, post it and ask for advice. That's how I did it and it worked out great for me. Hope that helps a little.

[righton]

Well, for one thing you'll have to dedicate at least 4 days/week without taking time off cause of "stuff". Your 1st cycle should look like:

Week 1-4 dbol 35mg/day
" " 1-10 test 200-400/week
" " 1-10 deca 200-400/week

The reason i say only 4 weeks of dbol is because i like to play safe as you get older, your liver might have had been strained because of earlier overindulgence in alcohol ( say Pete, how ya doin?lol) or rec drugs. And the reason for the low AS doses is that ppl doing their 1st cycle respond very well to moderate doses of AS and you could very easy put on 20-25 lbs, as long as you training routine is adequate( check the training forum) and protein intake is up there. As for anti-e's and post cycle soldier225 got that.

[Ajax]

Welcome ripsid! Glad to have you here!

I'll start the post out by telling you that you have come tot he right place to gather wisdom! Keep reading and asking questions; you will get some good "cycle ideas" from a lot of folks: take that as a place to do more research, modify to suit YOUR personal situation, post what you think you like, get feedback and keep doing it until you are sure you have what you want!

Some random thought to help you on your way:

Nail The Basics:

Work on spending the next 3 months getting "The Big Three" down solid. “The Big Three” are Diet, Workout Routine and Rest. Having a job, wife, kids and responsibilities can make it hard to "do them right" and you really do need to have them right before you cycle--and it sounds like you are committed to that. Great!

Expectations:

You said: I'd like to gain 15 or so pounds while lowering some of the BF.

Gaining 15 lbs of Lean Body Mass (LBM) is a reasonable goal; you might achieve more (and possibly) even less, but 15lbs is a good goal. If you get 20lbs or more--then great! If you “only” gain 12lbs, you won’t feel too bad!

However, gaining muscle and losing BF is not as realistic. The choice is this: bulk (add muscle) or cut (lose fat). Pick one and focus on that. (That being said, on a bulking cycle you might wind up gaining muscle and lowering your total BF%)

If you want to bulk, allow yourself the possibility that you might gain a little BF. If you are bulking and you put on a little fat--that means you are getting more than enough calories to maximize your muscle gains--and that’s a good thing! If you worry too much about “getting fat” and limit what you eat, you will miss a prime opportunity to gain LBM.

By the age of 32 you have probably noticed that you have to control the amount you eat; well, steroids change that--so you have to “untrain yourself” of some habits that are normally good; such as limiting calories. On steroids it’s hard to eat enough quality food to keep up with what your muscles need to maximize growth. Eat big on the cycle and go back to moderation after!

Testosterone:

Testosterone is a good thing for most of us older guys. It’s a great steroid and it also gives you somewhat of a feeling of energy and restored youth--which is motivational. Research testosterone.

Also do a little research on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT). If you don’t know much about that, search back-posts by TNT and Androplex; they have posted some good stuff on that topic. Also search the web in general for more info.

You might even want to ask your physician (or an endocrinologist) to check your testosterone levels before you take any steroids. Looking back, I wish I did. There is no way I can get an accurate reading of my “natural” testosterone levels right now--I have to (and plan to) lay off steroids for 3-4 months to get back to “normal” levels, then I will get a test. After seeing what testosterone did to me, I am curious if my levels natural testosterone levels weren’t (aren’t) low. When I started I didn’t know better so I never had them tested--you might want to do that for reference.

Workouts:

Look at BigKev’s Workout. I recommend it for two reasons: 1) He’s huge, it works for him, thus there must be some merit to it and 2) Mine is similar and it works for me. Use that as a template for building one that suits you; feel free to modfiy as needed--we are all individuals and there is no "One Perfect Workout!"

OK. I said more than I expected to. I hope that helps though!

PS: Don’t forget to take some “before” pictures to show us post-cycle!