First Cycle!

[YrRndFit21]

I plan on competing next year and I really need to take my body to the next level, which is why I am considering my first cycle.

A little bit about me...I'm 21 years old, about 6' tall and float in between 180 and 185 lbs, lean. I've been lifting for about 6 years now, and my diet is in check. I eat 5-6 square meals a day, all containing a protein, a carb, a vegetable, and a fat, also supplementing protein shakes a couple times a day. For supplements, right now I am taking Opti-men, Optimum Gold Standard whey, Jack3d, Universal Torrent, Xtend, and fish oil. I have an ectomorph body type, but don't look like it anymore.

I have a good "beach body," but I'm looking to pack on serious muscle, to the point where you can see muscle separation on every muscle. I want to bulk up to about 195-205lbs and stay lean.

My body seems to be very happy at this weight no matter how much food and supplements I stuff down my throat. My body seems to be getting more balanced as the years go on, but I've been stuck at this weight for about 1.5-2 years now.

Anyways, I really need to break this plateau, but I just have no idea where to start when it comes to cycling. Any help on what to do for my first one would be great. Thanks!

[The Bear 79]

By Marcuss300


AAS: Things to consider before starting a first cycle (Great Read)

This is a article I wrote for MD online, due to all the newbies around here i feel I should post it here.



Discipline and dedication are principles that you are going to have to master if you are serious about bodybuilding , being consistent with your diet and training will help you succeed in achieving your goals. Don't have tunnel vision in thinking you will only build muscle if your taking AAS, below are some of the main principles you need to consider before taking any AAS


AGE
In humans your Endocrine system is not fully functional until an average age of 25yrs, although the main development is up to around 21yrs it still fluctuates a little bit up to its fully functional age. There is a risk of permanently damaging your HPTA if you take AAS to young and you could end up with symptoms of andropause and HRT for life. Symptoms could be Limp dick, low libido, depression, low energy, low endurance, erection problems and many more but.......are these the types of symptoms you want to have in your 20's?. Believe me its hard to cope with these in your 40's yet alone in your prime of your life.

Around this age your Testosterone levels are the highest they going to be in your life naturally, so use what you have and don't take the risk of damage, I am passionate about this because ive seen it many times with young kids wanting to looking like their heroes and they think the answer is in an injection /tablet.

Taking AAS to young can also cause problems with development, one other main problem is premature sealing of your epiphyeal bone and the consequences mean that you wont grow as big as your genetics could allow you to, there is a test which can be done to see if your growth plates have sealed yet but the average age is around 21yrs old.



TRAINING
You need a few years of hard training under your belt before even considering taking any kind of anabolic support, people who jump on a cycle to soon without having some quality years under their belt usually results in injuries, it takes time to develop your connective tissue, tendons and nervous system to heavy overload training. Slowly getting your own system use to these kinds of extreme's will only help in muscle growth later on when you do decide to start taking AAS.

Build a solid foundation for muscle tissue to grow and maintaining and development will be far greater than without it. Many younger guys will start cycling before they have reached their genetic potential which is crazy when a good solid diet and training program will be far beneficial and productive to muscle building.

Workouts should be mainly focused on basic movements with a priority of over loading the muscle each and ever time you train, increasing your strength and ability to lift in proper form will help with building the foundation for future development


DIET
A lot of younger bodybuilders don't know how to eat. Researching and understanding how your own body responds will help you get to your natural limit, the right food at the right time and a full understanding of proteins,carbs, and fats will only help you succeed in achieving your natural goals. Keeping a diet diary will also help you understand the importance of macro, nutrients, calories and should help you see in which areas you could be going wrong in adding lean muscle tissue.

No matter how much anabolic support you have it will be worthless without proper nutrition , food will help build and maintain your valued muscle weather its natural, cycling or in PCT . Adjusting your food intake and consuming muscle building foods coupled with a solid training program will help you achieve your natural limit and foundation before you start AAS use.

This area is a huge problem with the younger guys and I can't express enough how important diet /food is when first starting out, post and pre training nutrition are very important and understanding how to load and feed the body will help push growth and create a very natural anabolic environment.

[The Bear 79]

Double post......................

[The Situation]

you have been stuck at that weight and your only 21? Doesn't sound right. You say that you have a solid diet? Well post it, it is most likely not "solid".

[iforged05]

great post by marcusss

[The Bear 79]

great post by marcusss

Just 1 of MANY! He's VERY knowledgeable.

[RowRow]

I think Bear is gonna eat yo ass. post your diet in the diet section. This is not a question for the Anabolic section. 6 foot and stuck at 185lbs at 21 is not a gear issue but a diet/training issue.

And no offence but at 6 foot and 180 at say 8-9% (possible underestimate) you'll be looking at say around 170 on stage, honestly i think you should pack on the lbs before worrying about competing

[YrRndFit21]

Diet yesterday 8/12 (This is basically what it is like every day)

6:30 1 scoop whey, 1 medium banana

7:30 3 whole eggs, 3 egg whites, 1 tsp canola oil, 1 cup oats, 1/2 grapefruit

9:30 7oz albacore tuna(in water), 2 slices ezekiel bread, 1 tbsp natural peanut butter, 1 cup green beans

12:00 1 scoop whey, 15 almonds

1:00 8oz chicken breast, 1 cup broccoli, 1/2 cup oats, 15 almonds

2:00 Jack3d (PW)

3:45 Universal Torrent (Post Wo)

5:00 6 oz beef, 1 ezekiel tortilla, 1/4 cup peppers, 1 tbsp salsa, 1/2 cup green beans

7:30 10oz turkey burger, 1 cup organic brown rice, 15 almonds, 1 cup broccoli

9-00 5oz chicken deli meat, 2 slices ezekiel bread, 1 slice provolone cheese, 15 almonds

10:00 2 cups fat free milk

[YrRndFit21]

I'm at about 8% right now...And yes I'm trying to pack on mass...I would like to bulk up to about 205 before I cut. I have 10 months.

[RowRow]

protein is bob on maybe a little high actually-around 400g (taking all weights to be cooked-this is just rough btw, i'm not going to blug your diet into fitday) carbs are a bit low though around 300g? and fats about right actually. so i think thats your main problem is that your carbs and calories are low as a result, you want to be on around 3800 caloris by my calcualtions to gain weight, yet you are on at most 3400. Just try it, its what 150g more carbs a day to get there, and that may be all the difference

if i wanted to nit pick a few digestion and carb/fat timings could be altered but they are only minor really. let me know if you want a bit more advice, i don't mean to come across as a douche. (i'm not against gear young, particulalrly if you want to compete, hell it would be hypocritical if i was.)

[YrRndFit21]

Ok, I'll give it a shot for a couple months. It is really difficult just to get this amount of food in right now because of my schedule, but I'll definitely try to add in more carbs before I cycle. I don't really have much time though, so after I up my carbs for two months, and I'm still not gaining, I will strongly consider cycling. What do you think about carbs towards the end of the day? If I am getting close to bed time do you think I should be slowing down the carb intake so they don't get stored, or does it even matter? Thanks!

[RowRow]

Good cal mate. if you drop protein down to around 330g that frees up another 100g of carbs. and will leave you slightly less full after each meal in theory. so you'll be looking at macros of; 3800 cals, 500g carbs, 330, protein, and 70g fat.

if you drop out some of the veggies and switch from breads/tortilla to sweet potato etc you will free up more space as breads are harder to digest. maybe even combining one or two meal together? your eating sometimes as close as 1 hour apart and other than first thing and post workout thats not necessary.

there is no real need no, if we are focusing on getting your weight up beyond what it is now then we can't be too picky about how we do that so just eat like normal.

a tip that may help is moving the red meat meal closer to bed as red meat leaves you more full for longer and so may impact your eating. Also digestive enzymes help me with food too.

[YrRndFit21]

Awesome, thanks for all the tips! Where's the diet section btw? I'm really trying to make my diet perfect

[YrRndFit21]

Nevermind! Sorry idk how I didn't see it before

[RowRow]

No worries. Let us know how you get on, will be here when you want to cycle