Paying dues - How much should I lift to ensure I don't go to snapcity when I use?

[AngryNR3C4]

I'm 28 y/o, 5'11'', 208 lbs, ~25% bf.
It's my first year of serious training.
After cutting way too hard, I bulked and doubled my lifts in 5 months.
My 5 rep maxes in squat and dl are 200 lbs, bench 130 lbs.
What numbers should I hit before diving in?

[diesel101]

I would keep training hard until your natural gains hit there max. I would work on lowering youre body fat before even considering gear might not hurt to go over to the nutrition section and have them look at your diet.

[scotty51312]

There is no set limit where to start. But I can tell you with your stats you're not there. Just for an example, I'm 5'11 and was about 210lbs when I did my first cycle. my max squat was well over 400lbs, bench over 300, and to be honest I still wasn't at my full potential.

I completely wasted my first cycle. I tore ligaments in my wrist and forearm and 3 months after my cycle I was weaker than when I started.

But along the way you have to remember its not about the weight. Putting your ego aside is the hardest lesson you will have to learn if you want the look.

[clarkey02]

Focus on nutrition. Nobody would recommend a cycle till you cut that bf in half, and those weights are nowhere near what someone your size should be at before starting. I'm 6' 225 and my 5 rep max for squats when I did my first cycle was 315 to the ground, bench 315 off my chest, and military press 205 to the bottom of my neck. Lots of natural potential yet for you.

[RangerDanger830]

Am I reading this right? 5 rep max as in you/he can bench 130lbs 5x maximum?

[Black]

Am I reading this right? 5 rep max as in you/he can bench 130lbs 5x maximum?

If you have nothing constructive to add, please refrain from posting immature nonsense.

[RangerDanger830]

If you have nothing constructive to add, please refrain from posting immature nonsense.

That wasn't immature at all although I do understand why you would think that. It was a genuine question, I do not act immaturely or negatively criticize others for enjoyment. I simply want to know. If those were his true weights I was going ask him to elaborate more on his workout routine.

[AngryNR3C4]

Thanks for replies guys, I know I'm nowhere near. Just wondered what are some good basic numbers.

Yea, those are my lifts, I doubled them in 5 months.
Squat was 100 lbs, bench was 68 lbs at lowest, but it was because of extreme cutting, not program.
This was last year, it's my first year of lifting. Then I went on a bulk, and I've found a program (icf 5x5) that lets me progress good.
I'm aiming to hit at least 450 on both sq and dl and 220 on bench by the end of the year.

[RangerDanger830]

Thanks for replies guys, I know I'm nowhere near. Just wondered what are some good basic numbers.

Yea, those are my lifts, I doubled them in 5 months.
Squat was 100 lbs, bench was 68 lbs at lowest, but it was because of extreme cutting, not program.
This was last year, it's my first year of lifting. Then I went on a bulk, and I've found a program (icf 5x5) that lets me progress good.
I'm aiming to hit at least 450 on both sq and dl and 220 on bench by the end of the year.

Well we all gotta start somewhere. There are a ton of good reads in the exercise techniques section. More info than we could possibly share here. I would recommend heading over there and exploring some of those options. I go there from time to time to make sure I am not falling into routine, becoming complacent, and stalling myself.

There really are no set weights you should be doing before you start AAS. People just want you to be working out right and eating right so that when you cycle your tendons and ligaments are strong enough to support the fairly fast muscle growth that will be going along. The more prepared you are, the better. You should wait til your BF is lower like others have suggested and just continue to build muscle and shrink fat. I would suggest losing the BF then re-evaluating yourself then.

[AngryNR3C4]

Thanks, I'm gonna slow cut now, maybe I'll be ready to go this or next winter.

[RangerDanger830]

Best of luck