My first cycle : all drawn up, any tweaks i should make?

[ostego]

Hi,

I am 5’10”, 23, 180lbs and lean. I have been weight lifting now for 5 years, and have a very good diet, and train 4 times a week. I have been addicted to the gym since I got into it, and love it as a sport. For two years now, I feel like I have largely plateaued, and now is the right time for me to try my first cycle, I have tweaked my diet and training so much now, I feel like steroids are the natural (ironically so!) progression for me.

I’ve spent the past 4 weeks reading up about steroids, and have built myself a cycle plan based on what I have cumulatively read.

First of all, I already have obtained : 25 x 25 gauge 1 inch needles, 25 x 2.5ml syringes, and alcohol swabs. I have tried pinning myself in the glute (which was one of my apprehensions about AAS, given my fear of needles!!) and didn’t really feel a thing, so feel happy to go ahead, and feel like my convictions to do this easily outweigh my apprehensions about needles.

My only worry about injecting, is how I know when the needle has gone into my muscle? I barely felt it going in, so worry that I may not feel it when it hits my muscle. I have read up about how the check if you have hit a vein etc, but still don’t like the sound of injecting Test-E into anything other than muscle tissue!

The cycle I have laid out in my plan is :

1-12 weeks (84 days) – Test-E (500mg per week) and 0.5mg Arimidex Every other day
12-14 weeks (14 days) : 0.5mg arimidex EOD
14-16 weeks (14 days): Clomid 100mg Novla 40mg
16-18 weeks (14 days): Clomid 50mg Novla 20mg

I plan to take Milk Thistle and other Liver Support throughout my PCT as well

How does that sound?

Obviously I am quite worried about Gyno, so have read up a lot about it’s symptoms, and how to avoid them, which is what prompted me to include Arimidex in the cycle from day 1. Yet from what I have read some people feel Arimidex should only be used if you start to see symptoms like tender nipples (could someone clarify?)

One thing I have read up about a lot is the PCT, and it seems there is a lot of controversy in the Novla/clomid debate. I understand you are going to feel “down” and bad during this stage, but some people swear by clomid only and others by novla only, is taking both right, or wrong?

I also wonder whether the length and extent of PCT is ample, or too much (?) Given my young age (23), from what I have read my natural testosterone production should return to normal more quickly, especially considering this comparably light cycle, so was considering this as a lesser PCT :

14-15 (7 days) Novla 40mg Clomid 100mg
15-16 (7 days) Novla 20mg Clomid 50mg
16-17 (7 days) Novla 10mg
17-18 (7 days) Novla 10mg

Thanks in advance for your advice.

[Times Roman]

It's a basic cycle for a beginner, so no arguments with me there.

"pretty clean diet" really means nothing to me. if you are not hitting your TDEE + a few hundred extra calories, all balanced macros the right way, then your cycle will mean nothing.

So let me ask the dumb question....

...what is your TDEE, and how many calories are you consuming every day?

and another dumb question...

....how often do you change up your lifting routines?

I'll be blunt. Your plateau could very well be due to insufficient nutrition and a lack of rotation on your lifting routines.

Please do tell
---Roman

[RigPig]

I'm very suprised you got so much support from TR, from what I've seen from him he typically doesnt support under-25ers (lucky you !). You seem to have a good plan set up, do you fully understand the risks involved with even a simple cycle at your age? Your progress have got you this far. Ask yourself is it worth it to potentially shut yourself down at your age? Is it so important you cannot wait for another 1.5-2 years? I'm not a guru or even close to that..dont take my word for it, read the link...
http://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-s...-steroids.html

[ostego]

It's a basic cycle for a beginner, so no arguments with me there.

"pretty clean diet" really means nothing to me. if you are not hitting your TDEE + a few hundred extra calories, all balanced macros the right way, then your cycle will mean nothing.

So let me ask the dumb question....

...what is your TDEE, and how many calories are you consuming every day?

and another dumb question...

....how often do you change up your lifting routines?

I'll be blunt. Your plateau could very well be due to insufficient nutrition and a lack of rotation on your lifting routines.

Please do tell
---Roman

My diet is very high in protein, Every day i always eat 0.75kg of cooked chicken breast per day (1kg uncooked), with carbs and a full range of nutrition, I aim for about 3,000 calories per day, including high calorie protein shakes, etc. I supplement with vitamins and minerals as well

With regards to my lifting routines, I do vary them, and typically will switch every 1.5-2 months, with tweaks inbetween, and i also like to vary rep ranges as well.

I have plateaued for around 1.5-2 years now! That is why I feel i am at this stage... I have tried all of the other more healthy/lifestyle options, and am still at this brick wall!

I do have a very good physique, and people do already ask me if i am on steroids, so I feel i have reached or am very close to my body's full potential!

I don't take the decision to consider AAS lightly, and it has taken me a month of reading and consideration to get to this stage. I don't see this as me making my move into a lifetime of steroids, but more as an experiment, to see where they can take me, or how they can help me overcome this plateau, and re-gain my momentum like i used to see.

With regards to the issues surrounding taking steroids at my young age, I am aware of the problems, and have read into them. I have already read the post you linked RigPig and many like it. Whilst I acknowledge the information given in them (and trust me, it has brought home the issues a lot more), I feel from what I have read that I have already reached my growth potential in terms of height and weight considering my family history, in fact... height/build wise (excluding what I have added through weightlifting) I feel was reached at around 19 years old, using my father as a reference based on our genetics.

I know there is a strong moral consensus on the forum to put younger people off steroid use and rightly so. I am happy to hear of any concerns and issues that may be prevalent for me at my age, and will consider them; that being said, I feel i am already fairly aware of these issues, and wouldn't enter myself into something if I didn't feel well-informed and sure enough to know that I felt the benefits would outweigh the risks.

Whilst I am still open to hear any concerns regarding my age and the issues that could ensue, I would still appreciate some feedback on my proposed cycle in the meantime, so that I can make my decision based on a balanced view of points and advice.

[Times Roman]

^so it sounds like you don't know your TDEE nor the macros you consume?

[jdc91gt]

Read this and get back to Roman: http://forums.steroid.com/diet-nutri...penditure.html

Of note - your AI arimidex should be run through out the cycle. I would suggest starting at .25mg EOD. Clomid at 100 could be a bit high for you. But, I would listen to Roman about diet and routine. Read more and educate. Best of luck!

P.S. You are a bit too young to being doing AAS. Just my opinion.