First cycle, so far...

[ontherun]

I’m part way through my first cycle and want to share my experiences so far. I was going to wait until the end of the cycle to post this but thought I’d give an account up to this point.

Background
I’m in my mid 30’s and have used the gym on and off for the past 10 years. I returned to the gym 18 months ago after a couple of years away and, after years of not knowing what I was doing, began a training journal and started using a Mike Mentzer / Dorian Yates style “one working set” routine. I made some good gains, but since earlier this year I’ve been fine tuning a version of Mike Matthews’ “Bigger Leaner Stronger” program.

My routine now looks something like this (reps / sets). I appreciate this might not suit you, but it suits me. I try to hit the gym three times a week but it’s usually more like three times every eight days.

Chest / Triceps
Flat dumbell press 8 x 3
Incline dumbell press 8 x 3
Chest dips 8 x 3
Cable tricep pushdown 8 x 3
Standing dumbell tricep extension 8 x 3
Close grip bench press 10 x 3

Back / Biceps
Deadlift 6 x 3
Cable row 6 x 3
Lat pulldown 6 x 3
Bicep curl 6 x 3
Concentration curl 6 x 3
Machine curl 10 x 3

Shoulders / Legs
Barbell squat 8 x 3
Machine leg press 8 x 3
Military press 8 x 3
Dumbell lateral raise 8 x 3
Rear dumbell raise 8 x 3
Dumbell front raise 8 x 3

I train to failure and each time I hit the the target rep range I increase weight. I’m not obsessed enough to count macros but manage 150 – 180g of protein and lay off of “unhealthy” foods. My starting weight before I started hitting the gym was 68kg at 5’7”. Weedy huh? After 18 months I’d lost body fat (I reckon about 5%) and put on around 5kg of muscle. Not huge gains but enough for people to comment on and enough for me to have to buy new shirts. My goal isn’t to be huge, in my head I’d like 80kg at 10%.

My cycle
Steroids wasn’t something I’d seriously considered. I tried cutting but just couldn’t get it right and I had no desire to go to the lengths of planning macros that it was asking for. A few months ago I stumbled across an interview with Arnold discussing steriods (up until then, I thought bodybuilders were natural) and the more I read the more I realised that very few shredded atheletes were themselves natural. More reading about safety etc and I decided to go for it.

I chose a testosterone enanthate only cycle, obtaining 275mg/1ml product from Renvex and injecting each Saturday and Wednesday. I had planned a dianabol addition for the first couple of months but couldn’t get hold of any so stayed with test only. No bad thing for a first cycle. Before injecting each morning I record bodyweight (before eating) and body fat using a single point caliper technique. I also moniter blood pressure throughout to make sure I’m not getting unhealthy side effects.

Results
The results of the first five weeks are below. (Week / Weight / Bodyfat)

1 / 73.1kg / 13.1%
2 / 75.8kg / 13.7%
3 / 76.4kg / 13.7%
4 / 77.1kg / 13.7%
5 / 77.6kg / 13.7%

I noticed changes probably after week four. Lifts became easier, and where I had managed three lots of six reps the week before I was managing three lots of eight. Previously it would have taken a couple of months to go from 6 x 3 to 8 x 3. The first change physical change was probably around four weeks in - a definite increase in my trapezius muscles which really add to that whole “athletic” physique. Biceps also feel more pumped and shoulders are certainly stronger.

Side effects
After a couple of weeks I noticed an increase in aggression, mainly losing my temper easier and having less patience. Being aware that this may happen helps in a way because you can stop yourself and think “hang on, this is the steriods” and pull yourself back before doing anything stupid. Definitely feeling more frisky, but to date I haven’t noticed any real negative side effects – no acne, no oily skin, no hair loss.

Conclusion
So far I’m impressed. I admit I love the sneakiness of injecting and have definitely noticed an improvement in size, pump and strength in only a short space of time. I’ve made gains that I have no doubt would have taken me twice as long and I’m still at week five – which is where test e is supposed to start “kicking in”. I’ll post again at 10 and 15 weeks to let you know how it’s going.

[Baxter35]

I didn't see any mention of estrogen control(AI), hcg, or PCT plans. I understand you may have just omitted that, but just want to make sure you've got it all in line.

[ontherun]

Thanks Baxter35.

Test E weeks 1 - 12
Nolvadex weeks 15 - 17 (40/40/20)

[jesse4466]

Thanks Baxter35. Test E weeks 1 - 12 Nolvadex weeks 15 - 17 (40/40/20)

No AI, HCG or clomid?

[ontherun]

No AI, HCG or clomid?

AI on standby if required. Closely monitoring side effects and BP.

[Khazima]

AI on standby if required. Closely monitoring side effects and BP.

You need an AI from the start, you need hCG from the start and you need clomid with PCT. Read austinites first cycle thread.

[ontherun]

Thanks Khazima. I'm 7 weeks in and have followed the Novice Cycle from the front page of this site which I (presumed) was solid advice. No mention of Clomid or HCG just AI if required. Suggestions?

[ontherun]

As promised, here's a 10 week update.

I've been following the a cycle suggested on the front page of this site. Test E 250mg twice weekly together with nolvadex for PCT. As you can see from above, this cycle didn't mention AI from the start so I've just been taking the Test. No sides noted but a learning curve should I do a future cycle. I made a deliberate decision not to read the forum before starting, my thinking being that the information on the front page would be a distilled version of all the good information here. Maybe not.

Training has been good, although a pulled gluteaus medial had a huge negative impact on my ability to squat and deadlift. As a consequence I had to take both out of my workout for a couple of weeks before slowly building them back up. Very frustrating as I'm a fan of having big compound lifts central to a routine and not being able to do these or progress them has been negative.

Otherwise progress has been good (week / weight / bodyfat)

6 / 78.1 / 13.7%
7 / 78.0 / 13.1%
8 / 77.7 / 12.6%
9 / 78.9 / 12.6%
10 / 78.4 / 11.5%

Change from week one has been 73.1kg / 13.1% to 78.4kg / 11.5% at week 10. However, I'm aware that using a single point caliper technique most likely doesn't give an accurate representation of body fat - I don't feel 11.5% but, as this was the method I choose - it's the method I have to measure myself against for the duration of the cycle.

Apart from this, I've noticed a huge increase in people saying to me, "have you been working out?" to the point where it's little embarassing. A colleague even said to me, "you just keep getting bigger and bigger". Personally, I'm not happy with how I look but the numbers within 10 weeks are, I think, incredible. This probably says more about my psychology than it does about anything else.

I'll post again at 15 weeks but which time I'll be startin PCT.

[vinzz89]

Hi ontherun, impressive results mate! Good work. What was your diet like through your cycle?