My First Cycle: Planning and Executing a Successful First Cycle

[Quester]

What would you recommend as a first steroid to use for a newbie?

There are stickies that answer this question with much greater efficiency than you can get by branstorming every possible bit of information contained in the stickie.

The sticke name is First Cycle.

The answer is Testosterone .

[PTROIDE]

hi, mid cicle blood work after or before test shot? or its the same?

[numbere]

hi, mid cicle blood work after or before test shot? or its the same?

For mid cycle labs the timing of blood work in reference to injection timing doesn't matter much.

Roughly 6 weeks into your cycle pull labs a day or two after your test injection.

[Ron981]

Hey everyone, I'm currently in the middle of my first cycle which I based off of Austinite's original post here. I had two different vials of test cyp. I've been pinning 0.7ml twice a week with this second vial on Wednesdays and Saturdays and ever since I've been getting some reactions that I didn't get while on the first vial. I get the lump in the glute every time I pin now but it's not too much of a concern for me. It barely hurts and goes away after about 3-5 days. However, it happens every time now. When I first started my cycle I only got it a few times in the beginning. I got one bad reaction a few weeks ago where it turned into a very painful lump that spread into a large lump throughout my glute. It was never hot to the touch but definitely warm and at one time it looked slightly bruised but that only lasted for a day or two. It was so swollen that my glute was noticeably sticking out for about 3 days. It's since gone down but the one time I pinned on that side again after that had happened, it aggravated it again to a lesser degree. The odd thing that has happened is that my lower back had developed a bulge just above my tailbone. Searching through different forums, including this one, it seems to happen to some people but I can't find anything on what it might have been. I skipped pinning last saturday to give my body a break and let all the swelling go away. It's pretty much all gone now but I'm weary of pinning tomorrow(Wednesday) or maybe waiting until this Saturday to start again. I'm not sure what information I should provide that might help some of you help me but just let me know! Thanks for reading this essay of a post. All help is greatly appreciated.

[Ron981]

anyone? all the swelling is gone now so I'm going to try to pin again today and see what happens. I'll keep everyone updated. Hopefully someone can chime in on what the lower back bump might be or if anyone here has experienced it.

[Dj Screw]

anyone? all the swelling is gone now so I'm going to try to pin again today and see what happens. I'll keep everyone updated. Hopefully someone can chime in on what the lower back bump might be or if anyone here has experienced it.

Next time make a new thread and you will get a faster response from more people instead of posting on this thread that has been around for years.

If you keep getting lumps and having problems injecting in glutes I would switch spots. Me personally I inject IM (intramuscular) in my Deltoids. Its easy/painless and I dont have to worry about aspirating or getting lumps etc. You can also try injecting in your Quads but you will need to Aspirate to watch out for hitting a vein

[Ron981]

Next time make a new thread and you will get a faster response from more people instead of posting on this thread that has been around for years.

If you keep getting lumps and having problems injecting in glutes I would switch spots. Me personally I inject IM (intramuscular) in my Deltoids. Its easy/painless and I dont have to worry about aspirating or getting lumps etc. You can also try injecting in your Quads but you will need to Aspirate to watch out for hitting a vein

Thanks Dj Screw

[Relogic]

When can I start another cycle? How long should I wait?
-- Time ON + Wait time for PCT + PCT time = Time off. So in our example above, that would be 12+2+4=18 weeks.

So does this mean a full cycle (PCT included) is 18 weeks and then you take 18 weeks off from everything before starting another cycle? Or are you saying that at the end of the full 18 week cycle it's okay to start another cycle?

[Back In Black]

So does this mean a full cycle (PCT included) is 18 weeks and then you take 18 weeks off from everything before starting another cycle? Or are you saying that at the end of the full 18 week cycle it's okay to start another cycle?

18 weeks off everything

[tlaloc]

Thank you for posting this. I just got all the gear you recommended and will be dropping a few pounds before I get started, as you suggested.

[krakken2455]

Thank you...very informative.

[sctxms]

Ok I have to ask why run HCG through the entire cycle? I have always used it in the last 2 weeks and as part of my PCT what do u gain by running it through out the cycle?

[kelkel]

Because there's zero need to allow your testicals to shut down. Is there any other body part you'd let that happen to? Maintaining testicular function keeps you healthier and makes restarting more effective and efficient.

Read this:

HCG: Why you should use it on-cycle only & how to prepare your hCG for injections

[Stegils]

Thank you

[TommyLee23]

Hello Everyone
Newbie to this forum, tried posting a new thread in the Q&A section but administrator is not approving my thread so thought I would try my luck here. Any & all feedback is much appreciated. Thanking you in advance!

Quick Stats
Age: 27
Height: 6,2 \ 188cm
Weight: 225lbs
Body fat: 12%
Training Experience: Over 6 years training 6 days a week
Goal: Increase muscle mass & strength

12 Week Cycle of Testosterone Enanthate

01-12: Testosterone Enanthate 250mg 2x/week
01-12: Aromasin 12.5mg/day **
01-12: Propecia 0.5mg/day ***

11-14: HCG 250iu 3x/week
13-14: Aromasin 12.5mg every other day

**: Taper up AI dose to 25mg/day or down to 12.mg every
other day based on noticeable oestrogen sides.

***: Extremely prone to acne even at this age. Using Propecia to
reduce conversion to DHT & control its sides. If DHT sides
are not severe move to 0.5mg every other day.

Post Cycle Therapy

15-16: Clomid 50mg/day
15-16: Nolva 40mg/day
15-16: Aromasin 12.5mg Every other day
17-18: Clomid 25mg/day
17-18: Nolva 20mg/day
17-18: Aromasin 7.5mg Every other day

Blood Work:
1 week before cycle starts, End of week 6 Mid cycle & 6 weeks after post cycle therapy.

Additional Ancillary Supplements:
Multi-vitamin, Omega 369, Vitamin C, Glucosamine, NAC

This is my very 1st cycle & I have not tried pro hormones or anything along those lines in the past as I used to play college sport. I tried the Ostarine SARM for the very first time last month and didn't think much of it. Im looking to be as safe as I possibly can and still gain the most from this cycle.

[Back In Black]

TommyLee read the initial post in this thread and you'll see your HCG and your AI and PCT need work.

[leanmac]

i've been reading up and researching a fair bit over the past few months with regards to my first cycle... i think i'm about ready to start, but my biggest concern is increased DHT levels and potential hair loss as a result.

from my understanding, DHT levels will increase relatively proportional to testosterone levels increasing... furthermore, taking hCG during the cycle, the gonads will continue producing DHT as well...

being in my early 30s, i have a thick head of hair and would hate to start hair loss early...

has anyone had much experience with taking Finasteride as a means of keeping DHT levels relatively close to your natural baseline?

i understand Finasteride has potential side effects such as, loss of libido, limp dick, etc.. but that seems to be based on base line levels... obviously taking 500mg test enanthate per week, your DHT base line is going to be increased as well... i think ideally, we want DHT levels to remain at baseline while testosterone is increased?

[kelkel]

How do you even know if you're prone to hair MPB?

[leanmac]

How do you even know if you're prone to hair MPB?

i don't, but i guess i want to be prepared if i am and start to notice hair loss during first cycle... i'm going to get my DHT level tested pre-cycle to see what my standard level is, and was thinking if i notice any hairless, get another blood test done during cycle and compare DHT levels... if elevated, take Finasteride to help decrease DHT back to 'normal'...

that's my thought process anyway

[Shab1864]

Thanks for the materials. Great info


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Gallowmere]

Just wanted to drop in and say thank you for this wealth of information. I have at least another year of hard training before I even consider my first cycle, but this has given me a lot of information to plan execution and expense outlay over that time period.

[aredee]

Is there any reason to make any edits to the cycle in the first post for a first timer? I've never been happy with the growth I've been able to attain on my own and I always come back to the thought of a cycle; lately I'm thinking I might just try it and see what happens, so I've been doing a lot of reading here and elsewhere. I'm a little worried about the side effects, which is why I would follow this regime exactly.

I'm 33, been training since I was 18 (though, if you subtract the time wasted with Men's Health type workouts, my training age is more realistically about 10 years instead of 15). Right now, my bf is around 15-17%; started a cut this week to get that down, wouldn't start a cycle until it's over and my bf is down closer to 10%. I had my testosterone checked last year, just out of curiosity, and I was at 644.

Regarding hair loss: I already experience this, have since my early 20s. I've been on finasteride for years now, which has stopped my hair loss and grown a bunch back. Would/could a cycle cause this to start again, even while on finasteride?

[kelkel]

Great questions aredee! Good to see someone thinking and not entering into this carelessly. Side effects should be minimal to none if you follow this link. I'd suggest BW again ahead of time though. Also make sure you are ready to keep your nutrition and training on point. Running a cycle and gaining quality muscle is great but in reality a waste of time if you lose it all afterward.

In essense, what I mean is to maintain any newly built muscle you have to eat to support it. If you're 180 lbs and want to be 200 lbs then you have to eat like your 200 lbs. You won't keep it if you can't do this. It's not easy at all so be prepared to do this if you choose to cycle.

You will be fine using Fina but the dose will matter. Normally for hair loss it's a low dose. For BPH it's 5mgs. I don't know if you've tracked the effect it's had on your DHT but it's amazingly effective at a 5mg dose. I'll give you a personal example. I'm currently running a low dose rehab type cycle due to an injury. It consists of 400 test and 250 deca . I checked bloods and my DHT came back at 22 on a scale of 30-85. Impressively effective.

Welcome to the forum aredee!

[aredee]

Great questions aredee! Good to see someone thinking and not entering into this carelessly. Side effects should be minimal to none if you follow this link. I'd suggest BW again ahead of time though. Also make sure you are ready to keep your nutrition and training on point. Running a cycle and gaining quality muscle is great but in reality a waste of time if you lose it all afterward.

In essense, what I mean is to maintain any newly built muscle you have to eat to support it. If you're 180 lbs and want to be 200 lbs then you have to eat like your 200 lbs. You won't keep it if you can't do this. It's not easy at all so be prepared to do this if you choose to cycle.

You will be fine using Fina but the dose will matter. Normally for hair loss it's a low dose. For BPH it's 5mgs. I don't know if you've tracked the effect it's had on your DHT but it's amazingly effective at a 5mg dose. I'll give you a personal example. I'm currently running a low dose rehab type cycle due to an injury. It consists of 400 test and 250 deca . I checked bloods and my DHT came back at 22 on a scale of 30-85. Impressively effective.

Welcome to the forum aredee!

Hey, thanks so much! I'm definitely not approaching this carelessly, definitely taking it very seriously.

Yeah, I'm planning on following the guidelines for blood work. I mentioned last year's test in case my natural testosterone was at a level where it wouldn't make sense to do a cycle or would require some adjustments.

I don't think I'm going to try and get too much bigger. There's definitely some primal part of my brain that wants to be a 5'7", 200#+ dude, but I really don't think I have it in me to get, and stay, that large. So, realistically, I'm thinking I'll either be around the 165# weight class (where I have been the last couple of years), but leaner and therefore bigger, or closer to 180#. I don't really care to be back into single digit body fat again - been there, like cookies too much to get back there again. But I definitely have more fat than I want at the moment and not as much muscle as I want.

The work itself isn't so much a concern; I don't skip workouts for anything other than trips, illness, or injuries. I am glad you mentioned the food thing is a challenge because I have a lot of trouble putting on weight, unless I'm eating absolutely everything without much regard for what it is beyond basic IIFYM thing - hence the ~15%ish BF, when I've been underweight or very lean up until age 30. I know there is more I can do with my diet when it comes to bulking, but I've tried lots of approaches and nothing has really clicked with me. Do you change your diet on a cycle? And once off, do you maintain the same diet or do you need to adjust it at all?

Thanks for the input on the fina. In what I've read, and heard from doctors, there isn't any reason to take more than the 1mg or so daily. I have a prescription for 5mg, which I just cut into quarters and take daily. Of course, that's without any cycling. Do you need to increase the dosage from a cycle?

[htdsparky]

Hi

I am a 52 yr old man. I had been lifting on and off since i was 17 yrs old but had been a hard gainer and never really bulked up significantly despite going on high calorie/high protein diet several times. The upside, i could still pass myself up as a 30 yr old despite my age. Downside, I've never really experienced what its like to achieve impressive gains I see at the gym all the time.

Lately I found myself with the time and resource i need to actually try but my question is;

Is it already too late to experiment on steroids at this stage?

[Gallowmere]

Hi

I am a 52 yr old man. I had been lifting on and off since i was 17 yrs old but had been a hard gainer and never really bulked up significantly despite going on high calorie/high protein diet several times. The upside, i could still pass myself up as a 30 yr old despite my age. Downside, I've never really experienced what its like to achieve impressive gains I see at the gym all the time.

Lately I found myself with the time and resource i need to actually try but my question is;

Is it already too late to experiment on steroids at this stage?

"Too early" is a thing, but so long as you're not dead, I'm pretty sure that "too late" is not.

[htdsparky]

Thanks Gallowmere. My sentiments exactly.

I've recently manage to get hold of Sus250 and Deca200 which I was planning to run for 10wk cycle. What would be the right dosage? I also have nolvadex (only) for pct wk 13 onwards? Is this sufficient for my very first cycle?

Stats:

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 84kg
BFT: 16%

Any recommendations would be most welcome and appreciated..

[kelkel]

Hi

I am a 52 yr old man. I had been lifting on and off since i was 17 yrs old but had been a hard gainer and never really bulked up significantly despite going on high calorie/high protein diet several times. The upside, i could still pass myself up as a 30 yr old despite my age. Downside, I've never really experienced what its like to achieve impressive gains I see at the gym all the time.

Lately I found myself with the time and resource i need to actually try but my question is;

Is it already too late to experiment on steroids at this stage?

Step one is full blood work. Let's see how you're doing (including a hormone panel) and then decide what's the best course of action. Maybe it's time for TRT and if so it can be a life changer. Optimized hormones can do wonders for you. Take a look in the Finding A Doc sticky thread at the top of the HRT Forum for a complete list of blood work.

[kelkel]

Hey, thanks so much! I'm definitely not approaching this carelessly, definitely taking it very seriously.

Yeah, I'm planning on following the guidelines for blood work. I mentioned last year's test in case my natural testosterone was at a level where it wouldn't make sense to do a cycle or would require some adjustments.

I don't think I'm going to try and get too much bigger. There's definitely some primal part of my brain that wants to be a 5'7", 200#+ dude, but I really don't think I have it in me to get, and stay, that large. So, realistically, I'm thinking I'll either be around the 165# weight class (where I have been the last couple of years), but leaner and therefore bigger, or closer to 180#. I don't really care to be back into single digit body fat again - been there, like cookies too much to get back there again. But I definitely have more fat than I want at the moment and not as much muscle as I want.

The work itself isn't so much a concern; I don't skip workouts for anything other than trips, illness, or injuries. I am glad you mentioned the food thing is a challenge because I have a lot of trouble putting on weight, unless I'm eating absolutely everything without much regard for what it is beyond basic IIFYM thing - hence the ~15%ish BF, when I've been underweight or very lean up until age 30. I know there is more I can do with my diet when it comes to bulking, but I've tried lots of approaches and nothing has really clicked with me. Do you change your diet on a cycle? And once off, do you maintain the same diet or do you need to adjust it at all?

Thanks for the input on the fina. In what I've read, and heard from doctors, there isn't any reason to take more than the 1mg or so daily. I have a prescription for 5mg, which I just cut into quarters and take daily. Of course, that's without any cycling. Do you need to increase the dosage from a cycle?

To be blunt, only use AAS if you trying to put on muscle, imho. Using it to lean out is simply not worth it. Again, my opinion. If trying to put on muscle then take to heart what i said about eating enough and be prepared to do so. It's hard. No, I don't change my nutrition on cycle as I'm always trying to put on LBM. That's one of the issues guys suffer with though. On cycle they do everything right, off cycle they eat less, train less and lose motivation. Then wonder where their gains went.

Yes, you'd probably need to increase the dose for a cycle. Consider your T levels will be much, much higher therefore the conversion of test to DHT via the 5 AR enzyme will be much greater as well. I'd at a minimum just split the pill in half and take 2.5 mgs.

[aredee]

To be blunt, only use AAS if you trying to put on muscle, imho. Using it to lean out is simply not worth it. Again, my opinion. If trying to put on muscle then take to heart what i said about eating enough and be prepared to do so. It's hard. No, I don't change my nutrition on cycle as I'm always trying to put on LBM. That's one of the issues guys suffer with though. On cycle they do everything right, off cycle they eat less, train less and lose motivation. Then wonder where their gains went.

Yes, you'd probably need to increase the dose for a cycle. Consider your T levels will be much, much higher therefore the conversion of test to DHT via the 5 AR enzyme will be much greater as well. I'd at a minimum just split the pill in half and take 2.5 mgs.

Oh, sorry if I was unclear: I'm leaning out now with diet and working out since my BF is higher than was recommended (and frankly, higher than I want). If I were to do a cycle, I'd 100% be looking to put on muscle. I just meant I am not looking to put on 30+ pounds of it.

Do you have a prescription for finasteride? If so, how did you approach the higher dosing with your doctor? I have a 5mg prescription, but I only get like 8 pills per month, since I quarter them.

Sorry for all the questions - really appreciate the help!

[kelkel]

No worries aredee and good, a first cycle should always be about adding LBM. Yes, I'm prescribed Fina for BPH. You may be able to find more via an overseas pharmacy for a good price.

[aredee]

Thank you again for all the help!

One last question (I think ): Let's say something happens and I get hit with a side effect, like depression hits or libido tanks. Is it safe to stop the cycle and move to the PCT or does there need to be some kind of taper? If it's safe to stop and move to PCT, would I follow the same waiting period as if I had done the full cycle (i.e. 14 days)?

[kelkel]

Be positive. Most guys have an increase in libido assuming estrogen is controlled properly. But yes, it always safe to stop and pct remains the same.

[aredee]

Positive thinking goes a long way! Just making sure I have all my ducks in a row.

Thank you again!

[Burgerwcheese]

Thank you for the info! About to start my first cycle and i'm excited...only part i'm nervous about is i've never personally handled a needle, what better time to learn.

[kelkel]

Thank you for the info! About to start my first cycle and i'm excited...only part i'm nervous about is i've never personally handled a needle, what better time to learn.

You'll be fine. Spend some time on spot injections dot com, youtube or google and you'll find plenty of good instructional videos.

[ZoomyR6]

What would be a good starting AI dose for Test E @ 250mg/wk?

[kelkel]

What would be a good starting AI dose for Test E @ 250mg/wk?

Arguably a waste of time. That's 50mgs over many guys TRT dose. Start with 500 so it's worth shutting down your HPTA.

[ZoomyR6]

Arguably a waste of time. That's 50mgs over many guys TRT dose. Start with 500 so it's worth shutting down your HPTA.

Appreciate the concern but that really wasn't the answer I am looking for.
Everyone preaches to start safe and small. That's what I'm doing.

Anyone else, what would be a good starting arimidex dose for 250mg/wk

[kelkel]

Appreciate the concern but that really wasn't the answer I am looking for.
Everyone preaches to start safe and small. That's what I'm doing.

Anyone else, what would be a good starting arimidex dose for 250mg/wk

May not be the answer you're looking for but it's accurate. My guess would be a minimum of .25 adex the day of each injection and check bloods 4-6 weeks later. It's a guess until you pull BW. Starting small is always the correct choice, which is what this thread preaches with the recommended starting dose of 500 mgs. Again, you'd be shutting down your endogenous production for what many consider just a small amount over a hormone replacement dose.