AAS- Tips on keeping gains for the moderate user

[marcus300]

Keeping gains-

These tips are for the moderate user and not for the high dose or long term AAS user, these basic methods will help maintain a degree of muscularity while in the off period. If all procedures are carried out during cycle you would of maximise gains and will be carrying new muscle tissue, then you need to focus on the off period and put yourself in an optimal position to keeping your new found gains once the cycle is stopped.

Recovery- One of the areas of focus is the HPTA (Hypothalamus-pituitary-testicular axis), Recovering the HPTA is vital to maintaining gains, typically on a 10-12 week standard AAS cycle will almost certainly cause full suppression/shutdown despite any strategies we might undertake. The natural androgen production needs to be quickly recovered so anabolic hormones are up and running to help maintain the new found muscle. This is why post cycle therapy is vital and the correct protocol's are adhered to. Shorter cycles are becoming increasingly more popular because with these type of cycles there is a significant chance you will have testicular function straight after or very shortly after the cycle as stopped and recovery looks to be alot faster, not in all cases that would depend on compounds used but overall, the shorter the cycle the quicker the recovery.

Once the cycle as stopped we must preserve our gains and if steps haven't been taken during cycle we must now take some steps to reduce estrogen binding in the hypothalamus.You have to look at post cycle estrogen this can be a huge problem for some and this will have a negative impact on recovery of your HPTA just like androgens can and do in this period. The only way to fully recover your HPTA is to completely come off cycle, with this day and age of PCT compounds to recover with, the job will be alot easier. Problems occur if you stayed on cycle for to long or keep taking low suppression drugs to bridge cycles together, all this will have an effect on your HPTA and long term health. Recovery and maintenance of the new found gains are the objects at this stage and stay as healthy as possible, remember suppression and shutdown are linked they both effect your HPTA, so get a decent PCT protocol and recover as fast as possible. The common ancillary drugs what will support the post cycle and the recovery period are clomid,nolvadex ,a-dex and HCG to name a few. Please check out the PCT section and the stickies for protocols and further advice.

Nutrition - is another area which we must focus on to help maintain the new found gains, after a cycle androgen levels are going to be lower than normal even with the above strategies. We have to maximise the anabolic hormones as much as possible while our system is recovering. First we need to calculate the change in the new calories needed for the new tissue gained during the cycle and support the new tissue, a person who under eats to their requirements will be stripped of the muscle mass very quickly.

Overeating has been shown in numerous studies to maximise these factors. Over maintenance calories are needed to promote the anabolic edge, dietary fat has an influence on androgen secretion, monounsaturated and saturated fat raises testosterone levels but polyunsaturated fat does not so a healthy diet containing O'3 and O'6 will help in this period. Eat clean and feed the new tissue with abundance of calories but always have in mind of muscle building foods and not the sugar rich alternatives we can easily lean to in this period. As testosterone returns to normal and recovery is nearly there, eating over the calories can be lowered to maintenance of the new found muscle what's been gained during the cycle. Never start dieting in the recovery stage it will strip you of your hard earned tissue.

Training - If you have been training intensely during the on period you can help to maintain the new found gains with a slight alteration in the way your training. In some cases further gains have been seen in the recovery part of cycling, this is normally with short cycles and very intense training. If you implement more rest days and make sure your C.N.S gets fully recovered, further gains can be seen. Keep the training sessions down to around 30 mins and incorporate longer rest days in-between. Long workouts lower testosterone to cortisol ratio, so don't go for long workouts no matter how strong or fit you may feel, short and fast will help with recovery without further stress on your system.

Still concentrate on the basic heavy movements this and still focus on HIT type of training, also take more attention on the eccentric part of the lift because this causes most of the muscle fibre damage, after warm up do about 2 sets per bodypart and dropset them, which should consist of eccentric reps start with maximum followed by 90% Max, then 80%max, making sure you take a good 5-6 seconds for the eccentric portion of the reps on all dropsets. There are many other ways of training to help recovery but this method does have great benefits by making the workout shorter and the muscle being hit in a different way. Further gains can be achieved if careful planning is done of your training sessions.


Supplements- Its hard to advice what supplements will help and work for you in the recovery and maintenance period. Clearly a quality protein powder,creatine, test booster's,BCAA's, glutamine and vital vits and supps in the off period does help drastically and all aid recovery, past experience will help to pick which other supps may help and agree with your body.

The more advance you become the more advanced procedure need to be carried out, this is just a basic methods and tips on maintaining post cycle for the moderate user.

[Hunter]

thanks for the write up marcus.

[banthar]

Nice Marcus

[CHAP]

Good work

[marcus300]

I think many people forget how important this period is, alot concentrate on the cycle and forget about this very vital part of maintenance.

[Mooseman33]

marcus, always spot on man....thanks for the info.....

[TITANIUM]

Excellent write up!Hope to see this in a sticky.BUMP!

[*Admin*]

Great thread... made this a sticky and locked it at the top of the page... this one is for comments... enjoy!

[Dukkit]

very nice bro

[V6A6L6O]

Bump...Sticky???

[hankdiesel]

I have made the mistake of dieting right after a bulking cycle. Very dumb. This is all good info. I am going to try the shorter and intesnse workouts during my recovery time which starts soon.

[marcus300]

I have made the mistake of dieting right after a bulking cycle. Very dumb. This is all good info. I am going to try the shorter and intesnse workouts during my recovery time which starts soon.

I have made the same mistake years ago, trying to cut up during and just after PCT, big mistake. I prefer to keep in good condition all year now, no need to carry pointless fat around.

[Immortal Soldier]

Another terrible thread by Marcus, what a troll

[Arms]

good post!! I to tried cutting my diet after my cycle.

[jasperhup]

here's my idea: what if you go a little overboard on an 8-10 week cycle in terms of cardio, eating on the low side of calories, volume, and extra conditioning work.

then when you hit pct, you take creatine, drop the cardio to next to none, and go higher fat and carbs for the following 4 or 5 weeks?

basically getting very lean and a bit overtrained and using that as a bit of a sling shot so that when off cycle your body is given way more fuel and recovery time?

has anyone done this intentionally to see what the results are vs a more traditional approach?

[xephonics]

great post m8, this is going to help me a lot, as I am a first time user.

so does that mean i should do 10-12 weeks of test E instead of my planned 14 wks? Or would something like taking HCG near the end of the cycle help when doing longer cycles?

[feeldapump89]

great post m8, this is going to help me a lot, as I am a first time user.

so does that mean i should do 10-12 weeks of test E instead of my planned 14 wks? Or would something like taking HCG near the end of the cycle help when doing longer cycles?

Is this your first cycle? You shouldnt be running over 12 weeks if it is, 10- 12 is plenty. Great thread by the way keep it up marcus your a goldmine of information.

[bene7422]

great post marcus,thanks

[TRT,MAN]

that was a very good thread marcus. it makes noobies understand what it takes afterwards to retain gains, and that there is still more work to be done post cycle.

[marcus300]

Thanks everyone...........bump

[xo3et]

Great thread, thanks Marcus

[vpchill]

This is Great Info.. Thanx Marcus

[marcus300]

Bump zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

[T-MOS]

^^ hey big guy, you do know a copy of this IS already a sticky right???....LOLOL

[marcus300]

haha mmmmmm i know but how many really read them?

[T-MOS]

haha mmmmmm i know but how many really read them?

True !! BIG BUMP THEN

[marcus300]

True !! BIG BUMP THEN

Fuk thats bigger than mine, you bitch

[T-MOS]

Fuk thats bigger than mine, you bitch

yea, thats what your girl told me too, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings.....LOLOL

[marcus300]

yea, thats what your girl told me too, but I didn't want to hurt your feelings.....LOLOL

Got news for you, my girl is really a bloke post op!

[T-MOS]

Got news for you, my girl is really a bloke post op!

damn good doc, she/he is HOTT !!

[marcus300]

damn good doc, she/he is HOTT !!

Shame she has got aids/hep-c but thanks for making her happy for me xx

[rocafella]

great post, thanks for the info bro

[*El Diablo*]

pump

[sitries]

great post.

iv had a nightmare with my latest 'cycle'. 20weeks (10 on deca and 20 test, with some superdrol thrown in for 4 weeks up to pct). then i did pct for 5weeks. i put on 20lbs during the cycle, by the time pct was over id lost 10lbs of this. then i strated cutting coz i was going on holiday and lost another 5lbs!! so im left with 5lbs of gains which to be honest has ****ed me off!!!! im now taking anavar while i cut to try and keep what i have!! is this bad news considering iv only had 2weeks 'offtime'??? considering my pct was only 2 weeks ago. coz iv lost so much size im even considering an 8week or 6week burst of sustanon at 750mg to try and pack some size on. then do another pct. am i going to **** myself up for life here???

its just so frustrating when you work so hard to put on the muscle then you just deflate!!

sorry to hijack by the way - just though this might be relevent to the topic.

[Matt]

Very good read lol...

[Narkissos]

Solid info here Marcus.

BUMP!

[RANA]

Great info again Marcus

[AlphaMaleDawg]

is it really that important not to exceed 30 minutes of weight training? i was been doing 45-50 minutes while off and havent lost much gains

[kblunt]

great info thanx

[ScotchGuard]

Good info Marcus. Have learned, will implement.