2nd Cycle question

[Olddawg71]

Greetings all,

I have been reading, studying and researching this forum and site for quite some time. I wanted to tell the experienced members thanks in advance to your answers to my questions. I do appreciate you taking the time.

Anyway, I have a question regarding my 2nd cycle and dosages.

Stats and Background:

Age: 39
Height : 5'9
Current Weight 201 lbs
BF % 11.4 ( six sight caliper )
Powerlifting training for over 20 years. Raw and natural.

First Cycle - 300mgs taken in 1 injection, once per week for 12 weeks + 20mgs of Halotestin ED for 4 weeks ( all of this was prescribed by my Dr. I do realize the dosages are a bit low, but I did see some small but nice results )

I have been powerlifting for over 20 years. I was upto a very fat 286 lbs at the end of August, 2009 and through diet, change of training, working with a well respected nutritionist I have dropped to my current weight and BF%. As you can imagine, I also lost strength ( in the form of lifting totals ) and some lean mass. I completed my first cycle at the end of Oct. Ran the PCT that I read about here, HCG, Aromasin, Vit E, Nolva for 6 weeks.

Current goal for 2nd cycle: Following a very clean, lean gain diet, once again working with a very experienced nutritionist, I would like to maintain, or stay close, to current BF% but begin to add back some muscle size and strength.

I will begin my 2nd cycle the first of March ( due to travel schedules ) and since I now have a very good and well stocked supply of both Test Cyp and Halotestin I was going to run those both again for my 2nd cycle. My question is in regards to dosages.

Do you think it would be better to take 500mgs per week, taken in 2 dosages, of Test Cyp or 600mgs per week, taken in 2 dosages?
40 or 50 mg per day or Halo for 4 weeks split between AM and pre-post training? Finally, Halo for the first 4 weeks or last 4 weeks of cycle?

I have or will have before starting, my complete PCT along with AI and all aux meds.

Any and all opinions and experiences are very welcome. I look forward to them as well as continuing to participate in this forum.

Thanks in advance
an old dawg

[Olddawg71]

Just bumping this one time to see if any vet has any opinion or advice regarding my 2nd cycle and the dosages.
Thanks again

[eGGz]

Ran the PCT that I read about here, HCG, Aromasin, Vit E, Nolva for 6 weeks.

I assume your PCT protocol was HCG during your cycle w/aromasin to control water/bloat and nolvadex starting 2 weeks after your last shot ?
Since your first cycle was 300mg per week, I'd say that 500mg per week should fit your goals nicely.
I pretty much avoid orals at this point and cannot advise you on the halotestin. I have successfully used anavar at the end of a cycle in the past.

[Olddawg71]

My PCT protocol, which I did begin 12 days after my last shot, was the one listed in the PCT forum, as PCT by Steroid.Com, written by Pinnacle it was as follows

Week Nolvadex HCG Aromasin Vitamin E
1 20mgs/day 500iu/day 20-25mgs/day 1000iu/day
2 20mgs/day 500iu/day 20-25mgs/day 1000iu/day
3 20mgs/day 500iu/day 20-25mgs/day 1000iu/day
4 20mgs/day 20-25mgs/day
5 20mgs/day 20-25mgs/day
6 20mgs/day

It seemed to work great. I felt great, I kept my 10lbs of LBM gains. I seemed to drop a bit of strength after completing the PCT, which was around Dec 14th. My work capacity has dropped a bit since my cycle and PCT but that was to be expected. I also do not seem to be recovering as well as I was during cycle but once again I expected that. I too was thinking that 500mg of Test would be a good second cycle for a couple of reasons it seems to be what is recommended for a novice, which I clearly still am at AAS. Also since my Test Cyp comes in 10ml bottles at 200mg per ml, at 500mg per week I would get 4 weeks from each bottle which works out nice.
I only ask about the orals, Halo, since my Dr. has prescribed them and I have enough to run what I have read to be the recommended amount of 50mg per day for 4 weeks. As I said above I ran 20mg per day for 4 weeks and liked the results. I do take Liv-52 for liver care which also from my research seems to be a good liver supplement.
eGGz, I really appreciate you taking your time to reply and offer your advice.
If anyone else has an opinion or experience with the Halo at either 40 or 50mg per day, I look forward to reading it.

[eGGz]

As you increase the amount of test you are running, there will of course be more estrogen to deal with. I like to run Aromasin during cycle @ 12.5mg eod. This is @ 750mg test per week.
Glad to hear the PCT worked great for you. I'm on TRT for life so PCT is basically a non-issue for me.
The only reason I asked is just from hanging around these various boards I see a lot of guys running HCG during cycle and not during PCT.
The theory being, if you keep things nice and plump and up and running, it will be less of a struggle to jump start your natural hormone production later on. Might be worth looking into.
I recently started using a product by CTD called "Liver Armor." It has the same ingredients as liv52 with the addition of Milk Thistle, N-Acetyl Cystine and Alpha Lipoic Acid. Give it a look if your interested.
Best of luck ... eGGz

[Olddawg71]

eGGZ..Thank you again for the advice. I will look into the "Liver Armor". Also I will do some research on using HCG during cycle.
I know I have read many mixed opinions on Halo and since I have plenty from my prescriptions I was wondering if anyone has an opinion on either 40 or 50mgs per day and if you think it would be good to use that amount for the first 4 weeks of my next cycle to kind of jumpstart things or at the end to kind of harden things up?

[Swifto]

I think you should start on the exact same doses you were on proir, then increase them when gains slow or stop. Increase cals weekly slightly too.

[Olddawg71]

Swifto..Thank you for the advice. I never actually thought of that. I guess I was just kind of wrapped up in the idea of more is better..hahaha....Once I read your response, I actually thought about it and decided you are right. I felt good on my first cycle, made nice moderate gains, lost some body fat, and had very little side effects. So that settles it.
Well thank you to who responded, I appreciate you taking your time.
Kind Regards
The Old dawg

[Duckhombre]

How did like Halo at that dose pre-work out? Did you get headaches? Are you going to use the cycle to get ready for a comp? I would use a different oral if the cycle did not culminate in competition.

[Swifto]

Swifto..Thank you for the advice. I never actually thought of that. I guess I was just kind of wrapped up in the idea of more is better..hahaha....Once I read your response, I actually thought about it and decided you are right. I felt good on my first cycle, made nice moderate gains, lost some body fat, and had very little side effects. So that settles it.
Well thank you to who responded, I appreciate you taking your time.
Kind Regards
The Old dawg

Here:

http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...grow+into+dose

[dec11]

stay at the same dose until it stops yielding decent results, no point in hiking it up, if not broken dont fix. beta for your health and your wallet!

[Olddawg71]

Swifto..Excellent!!! Thank you to the link for that post. Very informative, I missed that while doing my research. I completely agree, with you and dec11, I am going to run the exact same cycle as my first. The only difference being is instead of restricting calories I am going to be increasing slightly. I will get my BF % measured weekly and adjust my diet accordingly.
Duckhombre, I did use the halo leading up to my first comp since dropping 90lbs. I liked using 10 mgs before training followed by 10 mgs post. On non training days I just took the same amount at about the same times. I liked the results. It seemed to harden my muscles up a bit and I did notice an incressed aggression, and increased strength. Not huge or life altering but like I said, I felt great on that cycle and am going to repeat it.

Thanks again I appreciate everyones time in responding.