First test cycle

[mindarchitect]

28 years old, 5'10, 175lbs, ~9% bf, lifting 13 years. I have one cycle experience under my belt, anavar only. I unfortunately didn't keep much if any of those gains, despite keeping a clean high protein diet and rigorous workout regimen. I interpret that to mean I was at my genetic limit before I entered the cycle. My goal this time around is to get some experience with test, add strength and mass, and keep gains longer.

This cycle will consist of each of the following twice/day for 10 weeks:
250mg test depot
15ml (1 tablespoon) fish oil
375mg liv52
300mg silymarin extract
multivitamin
10g creatine


Also before bed:
200mg ZMA
2g cissus
40g casein


PCT will begin 10 days after last injection and consist of 4 shots of 5000IU HCG over 2 weeks, 20mg nolva/day for 4 weeks.

Also taking .5mg Dutasteride and have some letro and arimidex on hand for any flare ups.


Diet:


Carb Protein Fat
Meal 1
6 egg whites 1.2 21.6 0.6
80 g oatmeal (half cup) 53.3 11.6 5.8
Meal 2
150g top round 0 52.65 12.9
8 oz sweet potato 47.2 4.6 0.4
1 tbsp fish oil 0 0 13.6
Meal 3
200g chicken 0 41 1.8
65g rice 50.18 5.135 1.885
1 tbsp fish oil 0 0 13.6
1/2 cup broccoli
Meal 4
150g top round 0 52.65 12.9
65g rice 50.18 5.135 1.885
Meal 5
80g oatmeal 53.3 11.6 5.8
200g chicken 0 41 1.8
1 tbsp fish oil 0 0 13.6
Meal 6
1 tbsp fish oil 0 0 13.6
4 oz sweet potato 23.6 2.3 0.2
200g chicken 0 41 1.8
spinach&apple cider vinegar salad 0 0 0


Will be using bill starr/madcow intermediate 5x5 as a cycle workout. Could've been the drug and not the workout, but it worked wonders last cycle, so in my opinion, if it aint broke don't fix it, therefore I'll be using the same this time.

Week
Day Exercise Reps 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 0 11 12
Monday Squat 5 135 140 145 145 150 155 160 160 165 170 175 180
5 170 170 180 180 190 190 195 200 205 210 215 220
5 205 205 215 220 225 230 235 240 250 250 260 265
5 235 240 250 255 265 265 275 280 290 295 300 310
5 270 275 285 290 300 305 315 320 330 335 345 355

Bench 5 95 100 100 105 105 110 110 115 115 120 125 125
5 120 120 125 130 130 135 140 140 145 145 155 155
5 145 145 150 155 160 160 165 170 175 175 185 190
5 165 170 175 180 185 190 195 195 200 205 215 220
5 190 195 200 205 210 215 220 225 230 235 245 250

Row 5 95 95 100 100 105 105 110 110 115 115 120 125
5 115 120 120 125 130 130 135 140 140 145 145 155
5 140 145 145 150 155 160 160 165 170 175 175 185
5 160 165 170 175 180 185 190 195 195 200 205 215
5 185 190 195 200 205 210 215 220 225 230 235 245

Wednesday Squat 5 135 140 145 145 150 155 160 160 165 170 175 180
5 170 170 180 180 190 190 195 200 205 210 215 220
5 205 205 215 220 225 230 235 240 250 250 260 265
5 205 205 215 220 225 230 235 240 250 250 260 265

Press 5 80 80 80 85 90 90 90 95 95 95 100 105
5 95 100 100 100 105 105 110 115 115 115 120 125
5 110 115 115 120 125 125 125 130 130 135 140 145
5 125 130 130 135 140 140 145 150 150 155 160 165

Deadlift 5 205 210 215 220 225 230 235 240 245 255 260 265
5 245 250 255 265 270 280 280 290 295 305 310 320
5 285 295 300 305 315 325 330 335 345 355 365 370
5 325 335 340 350 360 370 375 385 395 405 415 425

Friday Squat 5 135 140 145 145 150 155 160 160 165 170 175 180
5 170 170 180 180 190 190 195 200 205 210 215 220
5 205 205 215 220 225 230 235 240 250 250 260 265
5 235 240 250 255 265 265 275 280 290 295 300 310
3 275 285 290 300 305 315 320 330 335 345 355 365
8 205 205 215 220 225 230 235 240 250 250 260 265

Bench 5 95 100 100 105 105 110 110 115 115 120 125 125
5 120 120 125 130 130 135 140 140 145 145 155 155
5 145 145 150 155 160 160 165 170 175 175 185 190
5 165 170 175 180 185 190 195 195 200 205 215 220
3 195 200 205 210 215 220 225 230 235 245 250 255
8 145 145 150 155 160 160 165 170 175 175 185 190

Row 5 95 95 100 100 105 105 110 110 115 115 120 125
5 115 120 120 125 130 130 135 140 140 145 145 155
5 140 145 145 150 155 160 160 165 170 175 175 185
5 160 165 170 175 180 185 190 195 195 200 205 215
3 190 195 200 205 210 215 220 225 230 235 245 250
8 140 145 145 150 155 160 160 165 170 175 175 185

[Times Roman]

Welcome to the board mate!
I take it that your test dose rate comes out to 500mg/week?
if you take 250mg/twice a day,that would come out to 3.5gms/week, and i'm sure that is not right?
so 500mg/week depot is fine. not sure why depot and not c or e, but test is test. depot costs more for the "value add" of blending the coctail, but that part is up to you.
the creatine (mono?) is usually ran at a constant 5 grams a day, and not cycled. But you get stylistic points if your reasoning is due to water retention and not wanting that all the time. Peronally, I just 5gms/day forever...
good for you! you've done your homework and have your macros broke out. what i don't see, and you can help me out cuz i'm a lazy bastad, is your total macros/day. Additionally, if you research and calculate your TDEE, you will know your "Break even" calories per day, and to bulk, you should be a minimum 500cals/day over that at a minimum. go here to learn and calculate your tdee:
http://forums.steroid.com/showthread...gy-Expenditure
additionally, i see you have sweet potatoes instead of white potatoes, which means you understand the gly***ic index and the importance of eating complex carbs. But i do see you eating alot of rice. since you didn't specify white or brown, I'm going to assume it is brown rice to which you refer? the good kind with the husks intact, and the low gly***ic index? white rice converts to sugar too quickly, which is not what we want here.
Casein before bed...good
alot of hype about cissus, so no comment from me since that is one of the few things i have not tried
exercise routine seems overly focused on squats. you shouldn't be squatting 3x a week. growth only occurs when the muscle is at rest. if you squat 3x a week, you are overtraining, and will slow down gains. I'd recommend at a minimum a 4day split week, where each day is focused on a particular muscular group. and then only exercise that muscle group 1x a week to maximize rest and there fore growth. you should post both your diet and exercise routines in the appropriate sections (nutrition and exercise sections) and let some of the very talented members micro analyze it and come up with some good improvement opportunities.

I would recommend you running your PCT plan in the PCT section. I can't comment, since I TRT, and don't PCT. Outside my direct experience.

All in all, nice job on the research and preparation of this post!
I hope I'll be seeing you bump around the board in the future
---Roman

[mindarchitect]

Wow, awesome reply! Appreciate it.

Yes I meant to say 250mg twice /week, or 500mg total per week. Big oversight on my part. I chose the depot because it was top grade pharma. Other less expensive test was available from UGL, but the cost difference for guaranteed quality is worth it to me.

Macros/day comes to 3000-3500. As you mentioned my goal is 500 calories over maintenance. I've used various BMR calculators. Some I've tried usually overshoot for me and I end up adding fat too quickly. The best for has been katch-mcardle which subtracts out bodyfat so you're only taking into account the muscle mass which impacts BMR. I'll likely tweak the macros later based on how my abs look in the mirror.

You're right that I'm squatting 3x/week, which appears to be a lot. But at the same time, that's my ONLY leg exercise. 5 sets of squats, and only the last set balls to the wall effort. Also Wednesday is a light day, and Monday is a medium day. This regimen worked really well for me last cycle.

On sweet potatoes vs white potatoes, I wasn't aware of much difference, in fact my source has sweet potatoes much lower than normal potatoes. I'd post the but I'm a newb and not allowed. Aside from any small GI difference, its loaded with more vitamins, which was my main concern. I agree with you on the rice. I'll try to replace with carrots, spinach as much as possible, but the rice is mostly out of convenience. Wish I could find some nice steel cut oats locally.

[Times Roman]

you can buy bulk brown rice off the internet at low cost.

deads and rows also work The legs. You are overdoing it.

You should be able to post in any subforum right away. If you are having difficulty, let me know and I can bring admin into the loop to figure out what is going on.

But I highly recommend posting your diet and routines in the right areas where the guys that eat and breath that stuff will dismantle it and put it back to gether.

Cheers!
---Roman