Concerns about starting my first cycle soon

[Arcânn]

I have almost everything I need for my first cycle and as soon as I get it, I'm going to get bloodwork done.

But I started having concerns about "keepability" of gains. I know that obviously I'll lose all the water weight after I finish a test cycle and keep the fat and muscle, at least for a while. But without going on TRT, it's sounding more and more like I'll keep very little by the time I make it to the next cycle, and that's if I do everything perfectly in terms of diet and training (or so it seems). And I'll inevitably slip up sometimes because I have no plans for competing, I just want to be a little bigger than my body would naturally allow (which according to the natural limit calculators, I might already be at/past that). So I'm gonna enjoy life on the few occasions I get. Which is why I have no plans for taking anything past Test and EQ...and maybe some other relatively mild compound. Probably no orals and DEFINITELY no 19-nors.

ANYWAY...on top of my concerns about keeping gains, I know I'll inevitably gain fat on cycle. The problem is, if I had to guess, I'd say I'm 14-16% BF (6'2", 210-212 lbs). I know that's considered on the high end of acceptable for starting a cycle. That came from 4 years of being an ectomorph who decided dirty bulking all the time was a good idea (started off at 150 lbs and 7% BF). It's only in the last year that I've paid attention to diet, and maybe the last 2-3 months that I've been precise enough to actually have my diet dialed in with specific meal plans and calculated macros, etc.

I know I could just adjust my diet and lose some fat before starting a cycle. But my concern with that is that I know I'll lose muscle if I cut naturally, and I'm not sure it's worth the muscle loss, in my case, to do that before a cycle.

So now my real questions are 1: Am I just being paranoid about how much muscle I'll lose after a Test only cycle, even with proper PCT, diet, and training? And 2: Is it okay to do my first cycle as a cutting cycle even if it's Test? I know test isn't considered a "cutting compound" and most probably don't use it for that purpose. But if it could help me keep what I already have while losing fat, it sounds like a good idea to me.

[Windex]

I have almost everything I need for my first cycle and as soon as I get it, I'm going to get bloodwork done.

But I started having concerns about "keepability" of gains. I know that obviously I'll lose all the water weight after I finish a test cycle and keep the fat and muscle, at least for a while. But without going on TRT, it's sounding more and more like I'll keep very little by the time I make it to the next cycle, and that's if I do everything perfectly in terms of diet and training (or so it seems). And I'll inevitably slip up sometimes because I have no plans for competing, I just want to be a little bigger than my body would naturally allow (which according to the natural limit calculators, I might already be at/past that). So I'm gonna enjoy life on the few occasions I get. Which is why I have no plans for taking anything past Test and EQ...and maybe some other relatively mild compound. Probably no orals and DEFINITELY no 19-nors.

ANYWAY...on top of my concerns about keeping gains, I know I'll inevitably gain fat on cycle. The problem is, if I had to guess, I'd say I'm 14-16% BF (6'2", 210-212 lbs). I know that's considered on the high end of acceptable for starting a cycle. That came from 4 years of being an ectomorph who decided dirty bulking all the time was a good idea (started off at 150 lbs and 7% BF). It's only in the last year that I've paid attention to diet, and maybe the last 2-3 months that I've been precise enough to actually have my diet dialed in with specific meal plans and calculated macros, etc.

I know I could just adjust my diet and lose some fat before starting a cycle. But my concern with that is that I know I'll lose muscle if I cut naturally, and I'm not sure it's worth the muscle loss, in my case, to do that before a cycle.

So now my real questions are 1: Am I just being paranoid about how much muscle I'll lose after a Test only cycle, even with proper PCT, diet, and training? And 2: Is it okay to do my first cycle as a cutting cycle even if it's Test? I know test isn't considered a "cutting compound" and most probably don't use it for that purpose. But if it could help me keep what I already have while losing fat, it sounds like a good idea to me.

#1 : Three major factors : diet, training, and genetics. You can control the first 2 but can not control genetics. Without a crystal ball it's anyone's guess what you will keep but controlling what you can is going to give you the best chance. There is going to be some degree of a Yo-yo effect with cycling when you aren't on TRT (one of the few advantages to being on TRT).

#2: You would be better off using clen or ECA in conjunction with fasted cardio and maybe a 200-300 caloric deficit to cut first. I feel that it's easier to keep gains from a bulk because continuing to be in a caloric surplus post cycle gives you the best chance to retain new muscle tissue provided the rest in check.


I personally don't think EQ is worth the space in the syringe - I even turned down EQ from a Vet that I use to work with. I can get behind no orals as I skip those myself, but if you eliminate orals + 19nor you aren't really left with many options.

If you are over 30 and have 5-8k of annual disposable income you might want to consider HGH and 1 or 2 Test only cycles per year