My First Ride w/ AAS

[pinnacle_shine]

Hello everyone,

My buddy dumb_aas recommended that I start a log so people can follow my first ever AAS cycle, and hopefully give me some encouragement & advice/criticism along the way. I will first list my stats, and if I leave anything out that any of you are interested in just let me know and I'll add it.

25 years old
5'11 ~200-205 lbs. (fluctuates daily)
I've been lifting off and on for a total of about 5 years (3 in high school/college and then long break... been back at it now for over 2 years)
I grew up an ectomorph and it wasn't until after college that I started gaining more bad weight along with muscle.

I have planned my cycle out to look something like this:

weeks 1-10 - Test E 600 mg per week (300 mg per ml on Wednesday & Saturday)
weeks 1-10 - Exemestane (aromasin) 12.5 mg ED

PCT:
*will start HCG 500 iu daily for 10 days, starting the day after my last Test E injection
weeks 13-14 - Nolvadex 40mg ED
weeks 15-16 - Nolvadex 20mg ED

There, that's it. Nothing flashy or fancy. Going into this cycle with no high expectations as this is my first ever cycle.

I started my cycle last Wednesday evening with .8 ml (240 mg) Test E, and then my second pin on Saturday with .9 ml (270 mg). I did these amounts because until today I had decided I was going to do a 10 week cycle of 510 mg weekly. I've decided I'd rather up it to 600 per week and make it an even ml per pin, so I started doing the full ml today on my third pin (300 mg).

Thank God my wife is an RN because I have always been scared of needles and do not have the courage to pin myself. I had my first pin in my right glute max and it was completely painless - I literally didn't even feel the pin itself. 24 hours later I began to get sore as if I had done squats a few days before. Unfortunately the pain has stuck with me even up to today where it is finally starting to diminish (day 8). That area of muscle feels hard like a flat knot under the skin. I have been worrying myself to death reading all sorts of possibilities for what it could be on the internet, from abscess to infection, although the skin never did turn red or warm to the touch. I'm hoping this trouble was simply caused by the virgin muscle, as my second pin in my left glute is just slightly sore still today and there is no hard area around it. I've been stressing so bad I had started to think that my gear was bad because it was manufactured by an UGL. I have finally calmed my anxiety for the most part and look forward to (hopefully) seeing some gains in the coming weeks and maybe even start to 'feel' the Test E starting to work (or just know that its legit in other words).

Since my first pin my strength seems to have increased slightly, although I am fully aware that its simply mental at this early point in the cycle. I am also much more motivated to get in the gym everyday possible, whereas before there would be days I would struggle to make it in or skip altogether on rare occasion. Unfortunately I haven't hit legs since I started due to the pain in my right glute. It would have been possible to today, but I want to see if it goes away completely first. Hopefully by the end of the week I can get back to squatting confidently.

I have lost several pounds since I began last Wednesday; I am looking much more defined all around IMO, although it might just be in my head... I'd like to think that the Aromasin has dried me up slightly and that is the reason for the weight loss (hopefully). One of my wishes for this cycle is that I hope to not gain too much water bloat and/or fat so I can be somewhat defined at the end of everything.

That's it for now. Time for dinner, my wife just called me to come eat. Man oh man is she a great cook too! I will update again in the coming days, and will try to respond quickly to anyone who might comment or have questions.

I will try start adding photos once I hit the magic post number. Thanks for the opportunity to share my progress with you all. I look forward to feedback/advice/flames/etc.

[phoenix44]

Good luck man.
You might back down to 12.5 every other day that's standard

[pinnacle_shine]

Hmm I did not know that. Will run the idea through my mind and likely change my dosage. Thanks for reading and the advice!

[phoenix44]

Nothing wrong with saving a little money lol

[dumb_aas]

Sounds good man! I think it's time for an update. What is your workout schedule like? Also have you thought about adding clomid to your pct? nolva and clomid have a nice synergy

[pinnacle_shine]

Sounds good man! I think it's time for an update. What is your workout schedule like? Also have you thought about adding clomid to your pct? nolva and clomid have a nice synergy

Ask and you shall receive!

About the nolva/clomid issue... I keep reading conflicting information, so my plan has jumped back and fourth several times. For awhile I was reading that one or the other is the best way for pct, but now I seem to be reading more that its best to combine the two. If what you say is true then I'll likely do just that and use both chemicals. I'm not sure if its against forum policy, but if not could you bros recommend a good supplier for both nolva/clomid? Also HCG if possible. I've read of a few sources for nolva/clomid but I'd like to be positive of their quality before ordering. I imagine the liquid form of both is ok to use, although dosing may be a bit more of a challenge? Is this correct?


OK so tonight will be my fifth injection (day 15). The first week I pinned 240 mg / 270 mg and this past week pinned 300 mg / 300 mg. Each injection for the remainder of my cycle will be a full ml (300 mg). Once the wife gets off from work this evening I will be pinning #5! I'm still searching for small clues that this UGL test e is legit, but have not noticed any huge changes yet to know for sure - and the few changes I have noticed could just be coincidental (as I'm about to explain). I feel a bit more short-tempered; although my libido hasn't necessarily changed much yet I find full erections to come on much quicker/easier now, as well as moments during the day where I become aroused for no apparent reason (just like during puberty, lol), I'm sweating more when I sleep at night (but its also been warmer at night, although I keep the AC and fans cranked down low year round), I feel like my T zone on the face has become more oily (but its also hotter outside during the day now), and also sweating more in the gym (again, could be because the warmer weather maybe?). From everything I've read it seems most people start noticing legit changes/side effects after 2-3 full weeks, so I'm hoping that I will be assured in the coming week or so. I hate being a paranoid person, lol.

All of my workouts have been going really well. Strength and stamina have been great, and obviously haven't had any huge strength gains yet. Knowing the chemical is in my body helps mentally and I attribute the great workouts to this reason. One problem I have had is that I have been unable to workout legs since I began my cycle due to injection site pain. Both of my glutes were absolutely hammered after the first week of pinning, and I still struggle with pain a few days after each injection. I believe this is virgin muscle pain, because my wife is flawless with the injections. Today was my first off day from the gym this week so I will likely hit legs tomorrow as my glutes are starting to feel much better now.

My weekly routine usually goes something like this:
Monday - Chest (I've made it a goal this year to really develop my upper chest as its always lagged behind, therefore my chest workouts are upper exercises ONLY until further notice)
Tuesday - Back (Haven't deadlifted since right before Christmas but finally got back to it yesterday - my lower back is FRIED today and it feels glorious )
Wednesday - Arms (I just started doing a day dedicated to arms this year - before I would hit tri's with chest and bi's with back, but trying to change it up for now to see if I can get any more growth)
Thursday - Legs
Friday - Shoulders

I haven't trained abs since high school but plan on starting back now that I'm on cycle. Speaking of my waist, I've noticed that my waist has lost substantial fat since I began pinning... My abs are showing through great when flexed now. The best part about all of this is that my weight has stayed the same. When I started two weeks ago I weighed in right around 200 lbs. (a few weeks before I was 210 but burned off some fat before beginning my cycle). I jumped to 205 and am sitting there now, with less fat than before. (Hoping I've burned some fat while maintaining all of my muscle). I doubt the test e could cause me to burn that fat so fast... maybe you guys know more? I've been upping my protein intake as much as possible and continuing to eat clean with no junk food.

I'm sure I left something out but if I think of anything I will add to my post. Thanks for all the readers and would love to hear your feedback/questions/criticism/etc.!!! I will try to not be so lazy and start posting more. If this stuff is legit and kicks into high gear in a few weeks I will definitely be updating more often. I will also possibly try to start record my workouts (exercises/sets/reps/etc.) if anyone is interested. I've also attached two photos at the bottom of this post. The first is from day 1 of my cycle, completely relaxed with NO pump, and my stomach actually poking out a bit more than normal (not sure how to take a 'relaxed' photo of stomach). I look absolutely horrible and washed out/bloated/fat/doIevenlift?... not sure why the pic is so bad but I really don't look that shitty in real life (or I hope not at least! lol) The second pic is from a few weeks prior. It is of my flexing after I got home from a workout, so I have a pump there. These pics are being uploaded as baseline progress photos for later.

One last thing... I took your advice phoenix and dropped the aromasin to EOD at 12.5 mg. Thanks for the advice!

dumb_aas I also want to thank you specifically for encouraging me to make this log and also to continue posting!

[dumb_aas]

Clomid and Nolva can be found at ar-r (top right banner). They're good, you won't find anybody hating on them. If you buy from them it will be liquid form. As for HCG I actually have no clue I don't run it since I've never experienced atrophy but it's always good to have. As for the pain, that's normal. I'm hitting virgin glutes right now and I have to wait 48 hours before a legs day. Don't be too disheartened if you're not feeling it big. Remember it builds up and only reaches "full force" around week 4. The fat loss has to be from a good clean diet, your body is confirming you're eating good.

Oh yeah and getting aroused for no reason? If youve been able to notice this it sounds like an indication as to the quality of your source

[pinnacle_shine]

Ok I'm feeling like today is a good time for an update! Since my last log a couple of changes have taken place. First of all let me mention that my 300mg test E has been causing a good bit of pain after every single pin thus far, beginning 24-48 hours post injection and lasting anywhere from 7-10 days. It was nearly the same deal after every pin: ~2 days afterward the pain would begin to come on, followed several days later by a knot (various sizes), and then very slowly the pain would diminish usually right before I was due for a pin in that area again (a full week's length, as I was switching right/left glute for my Wed./Sat. pins) There was even a time or two when my wife had to search all over the muscle just to find a small area that wasn't swollen in order to inject. I did make sure to keep a close eye on the injection spots - I never experienced any itchiness/redness/spongy feeling but the pain was definitely present (enough so that I still haven't been able to work legs/glutes since I began my cycle) I really began to worry about this UGL AAS after this past Wednesday's injection. Even before the 48 hour mark hit post injection I was beginning to experience more pain than usual, and I even began feeling a bit of heat from the injection spot. I became very worried about the possibility of an oncoming infection as well as the fact that I had yet to notice anything to really give a clue that this gear was indeed legit as I began my third week.

Luckily over the weekend I hooked up with a new source and was able to pick up two 10ml vials of test cyp 250mg from a very reputable lab. Saturday afternoon I took my first 250 mg pin and even now have yet to have any issues from the injection spot, while at the same time my opposite glute is still knotted and in pain, although the pain is finally starting to falter. I hope everything goes alright and I'll actually be able to finally hit legs this week! It also seems that over the weekend despite suffering through numerous knots/pain from the test E 300 the stuff is finally beginning to show signs of life inside of me (I think at least!) My workouts since Friday have been absolutely wonderful - I've hit new PR's on reps and on some weights and finally think I'm 'feeling' this gear starting to turn its 'gears' a bit... That or the placebo effect is really doing a number for my workouts. I'm starting to think the Enanthate I have is legit although 'brewed' sloppily inside someone's kitchen.. My body just does not seem to like the oil or BA % that this particular brand consists of. Funny thing is my friend who is running the same stuff has had a few painful pins, but nothing like the complications that I've experienced (knotting etc.) This week I plan to begin recording at least some parts of my workouts for comparison down the road, but for now I can note the following specifics from the weekend's workouts as PR's:

Friday:
Incline BB Press 185 x 7 x 3 (weight x reps x sets)
Incline DB Press 75's x 10 x 3
Incline Smith Press 185 x 7 x 4 (not really 185 lbs since the smith bar is so light + mechanical advantage, but I had a 45 and 25 on each side so its easiest to figure that way)

Note that to anyone reading this log the above Incline numbers probably sound absolutely weak to most of you, but realize that I really just started hitting upper chest hard this year and have had an extremely weak upper chest in the past, therefore I am trying to really bring it up now, hence my upper chest-only workouts.

Saturday:
Can't remember my specific numbers for my back workout, but my rowing #'s are really starting to improve.

Today (did arms today... my weekly rotation is starting to waver due to not being able to hit legs, lol):
Close grip BB press 185 x 10 x 1 and then 205 x 4 x 2. Just to show how much I've improved since last week's arm workout, I did 185 x 6 x 2 then, and that was a PR at the time too.
Skullcrushers w/ EZ Curl Bar (15 lbs.) 85 x 10 x 3 superset w/ Close Grip Press 85 x 10-15 x 3

Keep in mind these are just new PR's that I can remember over the course of the weekend. I sincerely hope this is due in part to the Enanthate starting to run its course and not just a silly placebo effect... Only time will tell I suppose.

One last thing to mention, I have been debating on whether or not to run HCG during/post cycle, and I had begun to lean towards running it during as well as post. However, after a little more reading I have decided to eliminate the idea of using any HCG DURING, and its still up in the air on POST - although I will likely run it after my last pin. Its just that I seem to be reading more and more that HCG is really not needed for light Test-only cycles, but I want to make sure not to risk any problems w/ my PCT. I'd love to hear anyone who cares to give their input on the matter. Another problem I seem to be having is locating sources for HCG. I'm sure its against forum rules to ask for such sources, so I'm not going to, but it seems that HCG can be extremely difficult to locate (legit stuff, not the oral/sublingual BS that all the scammers run ads on) I did not use any Aromasin towards the tail end of last week as I was beginning to doubt my Enanthate, but I have since picked it back up to 12.5mg EOD as of Saturday when I began the 250 cyp.

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend and I'm looking forward to my workouts for the week, picking back up with delts tomorrow afternoon.

Oh! I almost forgot... I went to weigh-in at the gym today but could not locate where they had moved or what they had done with the scales I had been using.. Although earlier in the day at work I weighed at 212 on the company's scales (translates to about 206-207 by my gym's scales if I'm not mistaken). Looks like I've added a bit of water over the weekend!

[gonzo6183]

I would strongly suggest the following changes:

PCT should be:
Clomid 100/100/50/50
Nolva 40/40/20/20

You should also run your HCG throughout cycle at 2 x 250iu weekly to maintain, rather than using in attempt to restart during PCT

[pinnacle_shine]

I would strongly suggest the following changes:

PCT should be:
Clomid 100/100/50/50
Nolva 40/40/20/20

You should also run your HCG throughout cycle at 2 x 250iu weekly to maintain, rather than using in attempt to restart during PCT

I will add Clomid. The more I read about PCT the more it seems to be the ideal mixture. Thank you for the advice.

Also, I was on the verge of eliminating HCG completely from this cycle... I've been reading alot lately that its not necessary for a test only cycle. Can you help me decide/talk me into it? Another problem I'm having is locating a good HCG source. I'm afraid I might not be able to before this cycle is over. My balls have not shrunk yet either, well maybe just a very tiny bit... I guess this will come in time?

I will give an update on my progress either later tonight or tomorrow. Going to work out at my buddy's gym with him tomorrow. Looking forward to lifting in a new environment and having a friend to compete/train with. Unfortunately its his chest day so I'll be hitting chest again, though it won't be entirely upper work this time as I'm planning to try his workout. I did finally get a leg workout in today. Ass is feeling much better!

Oh yeah funny thing... This is day 24 of my cycle and each of the last three days I've had someone comment/ask if I'm on steroids. I find it very pleasing to just laugh at them like they've made a good joke.

[Brohim]

You need to find some HCG. It will help you recover faster in PCT. Also keep your ball size.

[pinnacle_shine]

Time for an update, although I'm getting the idea that I don't have all that many readers that care, lol.

I still haven't found any HCG but the test E has kicked in high gear. My strength is increasing dramatically, libido is through the roof, etc. I can see what all the hype is about - this stuff is so much fun I wish I never had to come off of it. I'm still taking my aromasin 12.5 mg EOD but occasionally notice my right nipple to be a bit puffy and/or slightly sore. I guess this is acceptable and I should not worry about gyno issues becoming any worse than this so long as I keep up the exem???

I worked out with my buddy on Saturday at his gym. I followed his routine, which is basically a Dorian Yates regime. We worked chest and biceps, and it just so happened to be upper chest day in his rotation so I got to hit it again, lol. I'm sure everyone know's Yates' HIT style, so we started with incline DB press and did 2 warmup sets with light weight, and then 1 working set with heavy weight for 8 reps. When I grabbed the 85's and threw up not 8, but 10 slow, controlled, perfect reps, I really knew then what this testosterone stuff is all about. In the past, even last year when I was at my strongest, I never even got close to the 80's on incline... I might have done the 70's or 75's one time in the past, and that was only 1 set for 6 sloppy and fast reps. I feel I could easily hit the 90's next time or maybe even 95's... I'm so excited!!! I hope this newfound strength keeps increasing!

Yesterday I went back to his gym as a solo visitor and hit back. I had no set routine as I was unaware exactly what all back equipment his gym had, so i pretty much did a couple of sets with anything new that my gym does not have, like hammer strength lat pulldown and a few rowing machines. I also included standard bentover barbell rows, a few sets of pullups, and plenty of other work. I did a huge volume back workout, and was rewarded this morning for my effort with an extremely sore back (my back hardly EVER gets sore!)

After work this evening I went to my gym and hit shoulders. I hit a new PR with seated DB shoulder press after my warmup set with the 55's... I grabbed the 70's and pumped out 12 reps, and then grabbed the 80's for my final two sets and got 6 and then 5 reps. First time hitting the 80's.... Feels good man! I then did something totally new, as my gym does not have a seated BB shoulder press rack, I went into the unoccupied power rack and set up shop there. I had no clue what kind of weight to use, so i threw a 25 lbs. on either side of the bar and did 15 easy reps. Next I put the 35's on and did 12 easy reps. Finally I replaced those with 45's and did 3 sets of 135 lbs. for 8-10 reps. Considering it was my first time doing seated BB press and the fact that my delts were already slightly fatigued from the seated DB work, I felt pretty good about my BB efforts. I enjoyed using the BB more than DB's so I plan on incorporating it into my delt workouts from here out. I am confident that I should be able to increase from that 135 lbs. easily... Hopefully as soon as next go around! I also did other exercises to hit all three areas of the shoulders, but nothing worth mentioning as far as new PR's go.

I probably have more that I need to add but I need to go now so the wife and I can get dinner. One last thing before I go, since switching from the enanthate to the cypianate I have had no more problems with severe pain post injection... After my last injection I got a hard knot at the injection site, but it is starting to diminish quickly now and most importantly there is no pain. I would like to find a method or hear from you guys the best way to go about heating up my enanthate... I think due to it being from a UGL and the higher dosage (300mg/ml) and my virgin muscles (at the time of use) all of the pain I was experiencing was from fall-out (I guess that's the term for when the chemical crystallizes inside the muscle). I've read that if you 'cook' the vial for a certain amount of time around ~250 degrees that it will eliminate this problem... Can anyone vouch for this? I'd love to use the enanthate again at some point but do not want to go through the pain again. Any help here would be GREATLY appreciated!

[< <Samson> >]

Sorry for the stupid question. But, how big are your arms?

Just wondering since I'm about your size, just a inch shorter.

[pinnacle_shine]

Definitely not a stupid question! I love questions, comments, criticism, etc.! Ask away!

I just measured both arms. cold (no pump), flexed: 16.5 inches each, plus a millimeter or two.

[pinnacle_shine]

Oh yeah I'll also try to get a progress picture up tomorrow, since it will mark the end of week 4. I regret taking my first baseline picture in that area. The lighting seems horrible and makes me look like complete shit, no matter what. Ah well, it would ruin the whole idea if I were to change location/lighting/etc. for my first progress pic. Might as well keep everything the exact same.

[< <Samson> >]

Cool, right on bro. . . Good luck with the cycle!


Same exact size as mine as of now.


16 seemed huge when I had 14" bi's 5 years ago.

[pinnacle_shine]

Thanks! If you don't mind me asking, how big are you arms?

[pinnacle_shine]

OK so I decided to go ahead and take progress pic(s) because I'll likely forget tomorrow, lol. These were taken in the same bathroom, same shitty lighting, same mirror (albeit much dirtier now.. so embarrassing.. haha), same relaxed pose (in the first pic). I also took a second relaxed pic, though holding the phone a bit different. And finally the third pic is awkwardly flexed (hard to flex symmetrically while taking a photo with phone in one hand). I should have gotten the wife to take the pics but shes already asleep. The pics are even taken with the same kind of phone, except last time it was my wife's htc evo and these are from my htc evo, but for some reason the quality got screwed up..



I definitely regret picking this spot for my progress pics... I feel confident in saying that I look much better in real life. Something about the lighting and mirror in my bathroom just make me look like a soft marshmallow

I would also like to ask one final question before I call it a night.. Can someone give me an idea about what time period in a standard 600mg test enanthate/cyp cycle does the most growth generally occur? I hope the best is still yet to come. Would like to read some input on this. Goodnight all!

[< <Samson> >]

From what have read it fully kicks in at about 3-4 weeks.

[pinnacle_shine]

Yes I know it starts to build up around that time but I'm wondering when exactly the most growth occurs, or begins to occur. Is it around the 6 week mark? If so, does it continue then until the end of the cycle or does it taper off as you get closer to the end? Anyone? Also still wondering about 'cooking' the enanthate 300 to prevent crystallization. HELP!!!

[< <Samson> >]

Good question, man.


Cooking the test enan? ? ?

[pinnacle_shine]

Don't have time to update today, but everything is still going great. Will be taking my tenth pin this evening - I'm right smack in the middle of week 5 today. Just wanted to quickly post up these progress pics... It hasn't even been a week since those last pics but I decided I was going to start taking the progress pics in another room where the lighting is a bit better at showing my 'true' physique. Got my wife to snap these last night, including a back pic (an area I hope to drastically improve during this cycle). Would love to hear comments/critique/criticism.



One more thing, would like to mention that during Thursday's chest workout I hit 205 x 6 on my final set of incline BB press - a new PR for me. I can't wait to bench 2 plates on incline for a full set!

[OnTheSauce]

About time for strength to go up drastically

[< <Samson> >]

Nice progress, shit works. . . . . lol

[Bobby B]

Hey I just started reading your thread today and really enjoyed it. Its very informed and the progress picks are cool to boot. Im still leanin so this thread is great for me and makes me stoked to see you results. Keep it up. Also what was your 1rm before and so far, that is if you know, and have you started legs yet ( at least calves) seems like a waste of a good thing if you cant train your legs.

[BokBok]

Hiya mate. A couple of bits of info for you.

Generally when Enanthate and Cypionate are dosed higher, more Benzyl Benzoate is used. I have found that with my Propionate brews it was the BB causing me the pain and now I just brew it using Oil, EO, and BA. So it might be the BB causing you the issues (I found I could never get used to the BB regardless of how many times I injected).

Regarding the HCG. Personally I would never run a cycle without it now. Even 600mg of test per week will shut your down. And if you can prevent that by using a few hundred IUs per week, then why not? Using HCG post cycle will (as far as I'm aware) hinder your recovery.

[ironbeck]

Good posts....we have alot in common, same cycle and wife is a nurse......

[pinnacle_shine]

About time for strength to go up drastically

That's what I'm thinking as well... I still haven't seen my strength (other than chest) explode or anything... I know I'm stronger but again, other than chest I'm not just blown away with any strength gains yet... I hope this is still to come? I'm wondering now if that enanthate 300 I took for the first 3 weeks wasn't possibly underdosed? That or the huge bump in strength is still yet to come??? I was wondering, when do you really start packing on the pounds during a test cycle? I gained about 10 lbs. since the start but for the last few weeks my weight has been steady, maybe only a couple pounds gained.

[pinnacle_shine]

Hey I just started reading your thread today and really enjoyed it. Its very informed and the progress picks are cool to boot. Im still leanin so this thread is great for me and makes me stoked to see you results. Keep it up. Also what was your 1rm before and so far, that is if you know, and have you started legs yet ( at least calves) seems like a waste of a good thing if you cant train your legs.

Thanks bro I'm so stoked that I have some readers now! lol! When I logged in and saw I had so many new replies it absolutely made my day! If you have any questions feel free to ask! I hope I can be helpful to you like everyone else has been to me during my first cycle.

Don't worry, I am hitting legs weekly. Definitely want to see my squat weight improve, and beef up the calves! I haven't taken any progress pics of the legs but I have always had pretty muscular legs due to playing so many sports growing up. My calves aren't out of this world though (they look decent from the front and back, but not very thick from the side), as most ectomorphs' aren't, so hopefully I can add some size here in the next few months.

As far as 1rm, I'm assuming you're talking about flat bench? I can't remember the last time I maxed out, but when I was at my strongest sometime towards the end of last year (before I took a 6 week hiatus and lost a LOT of strength) I could do 3 sets of 245 for 6 reps (no spot or anything). I would imagine my max around that time was somewhere in the neighorhood of 280-285... Here in about two more weeks I'll likely switch back to flat bench primarily and will try to get a guestimate of my 1rm before my cycle is over for you. Right now my temporary goal is to do a set (at least 5 reps) of 225 on incline. Hopefully I can achieve this goal before everything is said and done!

Once again thanks for reading my log... I am so thrilled! I'll try to start updating more now that I know I have some readers! I'll update later tonight about my shoulder workout today too.

[pinnacle_shine]

Hiya mate. A couple of bits of info for you.

Generally when Enanthate and Cypionate are dosed higher, more Benzyl Benzoate is used. I have found that with my Propionate brews it was the BB causing me the pain and now I just brew it using Oil, EO, and BA. So it might be the BB causing you the issues (I found I could never get used to the BB regardless of how many times I injected).

Regarding the HCG. Personally I would never run a cycle without it now. Even 600mg of test per week will shut your down. And if you can prevent that by using a few hundred IUs per week, then why not? Using HCG post cycle will (as far as I'm aware) hinder your recovery.

Thanks for the help! I took the enanthate 300 from an unknown UGL for the first ~3 weeks of my cycle and then switched to a cypianate 250 from a different lab (pretty well known and reputable) due to the pain/knots that the enanthate was causing (it was bad enough that I couldn't do squats until I switched over). The cypianate will cause small knots for a few days after each pin sometimes, but they go away fairly quickly and the pain is basically nonexistant. I was thinking the same thing - that the BB is the cause of knots/pain - especially in the UGL enan 300. My body does not like BB apparently!

I want to be taking the HCG now, my only problem is I can't locate a reputable source I hope I'm not messing up my pct or hurting my chances of retaining my newfound muscle because of not taking it yet. So if I take it post-cycle (take for 10 days following last pin) then it is basically useless and will hurt my gains? Is that what I'm understanding?

[pinnacle_shine]

Good posts....we have alot in common, same cycle and wife is a nurse......

Awesome! Brother from another mother! haha. Does your wife do all the pinning also? Are you logging your cycle? I would love to see the specifics/progress you've made. Thanks for reading!

[jasc]

I want to be taking the HCG now, my only problem is I can't locate a reputable source I hope I'm not messing up my pct or hurting my chances of retaining my newfound muscle because of not taking it yet. So if I take it post-cycle (take for 10 days following last pin) then it is basically useless and will hurt my gains? Is that what I'm understanding?

On cycle would be ideal, but if you can't get it in time, taking it between the last pin and beginning pct would also be helpful.

[BokBok]

Thanks for the help! I took the enanthate 300 from an unknown UGL for the first ~3 weeks of my cycle and then switched to a cypianate 250 from a different lab (pretty well known and reputable) due to the pain/knots that the enanthate was causing (it was bad enough that I couldn't do squats until I switched over). The cypianate will cause small knots for a few days after each pin sometimes, but they go away fairly quickly and the pain is basically nonexistant. I was thinking the same thing - that the BB is the cause of knots/pain - especially in the UGL enan 300. My body does not like BB apparently!

I want to be taking the HCG now, my only problem is I can't locate a reputable source I hope I'm not messing up my pct or hurting my chances of retaining my newfound muscle because of not taking it yet. So if I take it post-cycle (take for 10 days following last pin) then it is basically useless and will hurt my gains? Is that what I'm understanding?

I don't believe your gains will be affected that much. Previously when I have just run Clomid only for PCT (an no HCG during a cycle), I have felt recovered within a few weeks (felt, as in I didn't actually get tested). With the HCG I feel I recovered a little quicker. I guess there are individual variances how much an amount of Testosterone will shut your down. I think of HCG as a bit of extra insurance to prevent shutdown as much as possible.

From my understanding, HCG acts as an LH analog to stimulate the Leydig cells in your nuts to produce testosterone. So small doses during cycle make your nuts 'think' everything is okay and they should keep producing testosterone because they're receiving a hormonal signal to do so. Now take compounds like Nolvadex and Clomid which are traditionally run during PCT - these 2 compounds both tell the pituitary gland to make LH and FSH. I guess this is where it gets a little bit hazy for me. I always assumed the HCG might affect the LH amount produced by the Nolvadex and Clomid, so this is why I have only stuck to using it during cycle and not for PCT.

[Bi6 7omo]

Keep up the good work , Iv enjoyed reading about your experience !

[doodz]

wow i just read your whole log!! im running test E too,i started yesterday! i had my first pin in my left glute and honestly didnt feel anything till today,it hurts a little bit,im doing legs tomorrow,i hope it wont bother me!!! im gonna run liquid torem for my pct! and im gonna get some amiridex just in case of gyno! hows your libido so far? im asking cause i read online that test can shut you down pretty bad,but the funny thing is i asked a few guys that runned test before and they all said that never had a problem there

[pinnacle_shine]

Ok I have lots to catch up on. Didn't mean to be so lazy over the weekend and not post up anything! My bad!

Anyway, first of all, I was able to find pregnyl 5000 (hcg) last night online, from what seems to be a legit source. I made the purchase, but am expecting the shipment to take a good amount of time. The important part is that I was able to find some, so hopefully it arrives in a somewhat timely manner. It took me an hour of Googling to find somewhere that I felt safe enough to purchase from...

I am starting to think that the UGL enanthate 300 I started off the first 2 1/2 weeks of my cycle with is considerably underdosed. My mind has been playing games with me here the last 2 weeks - I'll have days where I think things are going great and then days where my mind is telling me that the enan 300 is bunk or underdosed. I don't believe it is complete bunk because my libido has been much higher, my pumps/muscle fullness (at all times, not just during workouts) has been much better, my face has been much more oily, blood pressure feels higher, aggressiveness higher at times, balls just a wee bit smaller, and my nips have at times been a tiny bit sore/swollen. The one thing that is driving me crazy is the fact that I haven't gained anymore weight since the first week or two. I've MAYBE gained a pound or two in the last week, but my scales at work have been ranging from 210-213 for awhile now. I haven't really noticed any bloat, but I attribute my 12.5mg EOD of aromasin to that. I still haven't felt that huge increase in strength in my shoulders and more particularly my back... That should have already come on by now and I feel like I should have already gained more weight... Am I right???

The good news and one thing that is keeping me sane is the fact that I only ran the enan 300 for 2 1/2 weeks... I purchased/began pinning my cypionate 250 on Saturday April 7th and have been pinning it twice weekly since then for a total of 600mg a week (1.2 ml per pin). Tomorrow will be time for another pin, and will mark the 2 1/2 week period in which I have begun the cypionate 250. I am fairly confident that it is legit product, as there is a good bit of literature on the web about this particular brand. So right now I'm sitting here hoping that the cypionate will begin working its magic here in the next 2 weeks, and I'll really start to see what AAS is all about. That or everything I just posted is wrong and the enanthate 300 is legit which would mean tomorrow would be the beginning of week 6 in which I still haven't absolutely ballooned up in size and my strength has increased, but not to the extent at which I was expecting before beginning this cycle. Maybe my expectations have just been too high? I sure would appreciate some of you guys throwing in your opinion on the matter - I am a desperate man on the verge of insanity at this point!!!

Ok so moving on from my rant, (sorry about that, I've been meaning to get it out of my system for a minute though!) Sunday I did a shoulder workout at my buddy's gym again. I began my workout with a warmup set of seated db press, then moved onto the 70's for 10 reps, then went straight to the 80's (thinking that my strength should be increased fairly well by now) and only managed to get up 4 reps... DOH! That's when I started wondering about the enanthate's dosage/legitimacy and started my crazy thinking. One thing that might have caused the 'poor' performance with the DB's is the fact that the chair this gym has for seated press is designed to make the athlete sit strictly upright, with their feet rested on a bar attached ahead of the chair. I am not used to this setup, as the chair at my normal gym is older and the person sitting in it usually is sitting at more of an incline, which allows more cheating during the lift. Anyway, I was so frustrated at my seated DB failure that I immediately reracked the 80's and moved on to standing military press with 135 lbs. I did 135 x 8 x 5, and then headed to the seated BB military press station. I was stoked to use this as my gym also does not have one of these. I only began trying my luck at seated BB press last week when I set up shop at my normal gym's power rack. I did 135 lbs. x 10 x 4 here (confident I can move up in weight 10-20 lbs. next time). I then did a few more exercises to hit my rear delts and then called it a day.

Yesterday I had a beastly arm workout. I did notice how much my strength has increased on close grip bench press... I'm not sure I've posted much about my numbers with this exercise, but if I remember correctly it was only a few short weeks ago that I had moved up to 185 lbs. on my final set or two, and then only being able to muster out 5-6 reps. Now fast forward to yesterday and I did a warmup set with 135 followed by 185 x 10 x 4! Going to attempt a set or two of 205 next time! I won't go into any more details about this workout, but I will note that it was an exceptional day at the gym.

Today was leg day. I don't believe I've mentioned my leg workouts to you guys yet, so I'll first give you a little history of my workouts/goals from last year. I hadn't touched my legs since working out in high school up until this past year, and even then I would work them lightly and only on occasion. When I was at my 'strongest' towards the end of last year I was able to get 3-4 reps of 315 for my final set or two of squats, but once I got up to that weight I would not go completely 'ass to the grass' ( I shouldn't have even unracked that much weight if I was sacrificing ROM, but I did it anyway out of pride ) So shortly after that I went back to neglecting my legs and only just started back hitting them here about two weeks ago (once those painful knots from the enan 300 subsided). So anyway, I'm just now really getting back into hitting legs regularly. I will make it a priority from here out though. No more excuses! So today I did my standard warmup set of 135 x 12, then did a set of 225 x 10, then 275 x 6, and finally 295 x 4 ass to grass (could have gotten another rep or 2, and had planned to do another set or two with the same weight, but a personal trainer was waiting with his client to use the power rack and my legs were pretty fried so I did the nice thing and gave the rack up to them. I then tried something new, something I've been wanting to incorporate into my leg workouts for some time, but just now today really worked up the courage to try it......... GLUTE HAM RAISES!!! I did 4 sets of 12 reps to get the feel of the exercise (still going to take some practice to get the mind-muscle connection strong on this exercise) but it will totally be worth it in the end! I finished off my workout with work on a hack squat machine and then ham curls and some calve work. At the end of my session I walked up out of there like Igor from Frankenstein, and noticed that both my legs were shaking for a good while after I got home!

Wow I just realized how long this post has been... Crap I'm sorry to rant on about a bunch of nonsense! I commend those of you that take the time to read all of this and will dance at your wedding if you can give me suggestions/comments/thoughts on the dilemma I've been having mentally with this cycle. I don't guess there's anything else to include today, so I'll cut it off here and hope to hear back from some of you! Thanks for reading and participating everyone, you bros are so awesome and I am tremendously lucky to have you tagging along for the journey!

P.S. Tomorrow is chest day - so long as I feel my tri's have recovered sufficiently from Monday... Can't wait for chest day! My favorite day of the week! GOODNIGHT EVERYONE!

[pinnacle_shine]

wow i just read your whole log!! im running test E too,i started yesterday! i had my first pin in my left glute and honestly didnt feel anything till today,it hurts a little bit,im doing legs tomorrow,i hope it wont bother me!!! im gonna run liquid torem for my pct! and im gonna get some amiridex just in case of gyno! hows your libido so far? im asking cause i read online that test can shut you down pretty bad,but the funny thing is i asked a few guys that runned test before and they all said that never had a problem there

Congrats on starting your cycle bro! Yeah injection site pain usually delays for a day or two, but so long as your substance isn't from a crappy UGL that makes harsh brews then you should be fine and dandy to hit legs tomorrow. I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. As far as the libido goes, mine has been great since beginning the cycle. I'm not sure if my body is completely offline yet, but hopefully I won't have any libido issues arise during my cycle. I am trying my best to keep estro levels balanced. I would recommend you check out aromasin (exemestane) for your gyno needs... I could be wrong, but I've read several things stating that aromasin is superior to arimidex when it comes to combating gyno... If anyone who is more knowledgeable on the matter is reading this and knows otherwise then PLEASE correct me - I want to help doodz not hurt him.

[canadianbrah]

^I've also read that from one of the forum vets. Good log btw, lots of interesting info to read...keep us updated!

[pinnacle_shine]

Time for an update! I've been a bit down in the dumps over the last week because I was starting to wonder if even this cypionate is legit, not to mention that I just feel totally lost in this cycle now that the original plan w/ the enanthate 300 didn't work.

Today I guess you could say I have recovered a bit and feeling somewhat more optimistic after a BEASTLY (for myself at least) upper chest workout! Its so funny how I tend to usually have my best workouts when either I'm sick or haven't had much sleep the night before (slept like utter sh!t last night)... Let me try to remember the juicy bits:
Started off on incline BB press with a warmup set of 15 with 135 lbs. From there it went something like this:

185 x 8 x 1
205 x 6 x 3 (had a spotter but he was not needed as I pushed through every rep like a champ!)

After this I took the 35's off and added the 30 lb. ea. chains to each end (along with a 45 plate on each side)

135 + 60 lb. chains x 10 x 3 (NO SPOTTER NEEDED!!!)

Now it was time to move on to incline DB press. Remember several weeks ago when I was stoked about getting that 1 set during the Dorian workout with the 85's on incline (at the very beginning of my workout)??? Well here's how incline went, note this was with fatique already acquired!

80's x 10 x 2
85's x 8 x 3 BOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finished up my workout with incline smith machine work...

205 x 6 x 3

And that's it folks... A great day to start the week off at the office! So this is day 24 since I started the cypionate and although I have been worried sick because I actually noted a DROP in libido over the past week for some reason, I am hoping and praying after Saturday's workout and today that this stuff is indeed the real deal and I can begin beasting like I've hoped and dreamed to for some time now... Only time will tell!


OH! Speaking of Saturday's workout... I did legs earlier last week and wasn't too sore 2 days later so decided I could definitely use some extra work in the leg department and decided to clock in for overtime on Saturday and hit the wheels again... I can't remember the specifics but I basically just did some squats and then some calf work (was very limited on time due to nephew's birthday party that afternoon). I felt much stronger & more confident with my squatting here, much more so than my leg workout earlier in the week. Below is a rundown of how it went...

135 x 12 x 1 (warmup)
225 x 10 x 1
275 x 8 x 1
295 x 6 x 1
315 x 4 x 3 (it might have been 5 reps per set, I can't really remember)

I felt so great after this as I made sure each rep was ATG (ass to the grass) and I even got a compliment from this powerlifter brah that was working out beside me. He told me I should come participate at one of their meets sometime... LOL

Ok I know this was short and sweet but I have to go get dinner for the Mrs. and myself! Hope everyone is doing well! Will try to update again tomorrow after I hit back!