6 cycles under my belt, out for a year, need advice on BF%/AAS

[Neevor]

Austinite,

Thanks for the props. I feel very proud of myself to be where I am given where I was half a year ago.

I feel I should clarify a little now. I am not as concerned with things like "being able to see my abs" as I am with getting this bf% down asap. I figure I dropped 7% the first time on this cycle and Ive got about 15 more lbs of muscle than where I was when I started last time.. I should be able to drop 10% in 8 weeks this time around. It's very tempting to start at 23% knowing I'll be down to 13% in 8 weeks. My body seems to add muscle most effectively between 12% and 17% so this would put me in good shape for bulking up over the winter/ early spring. What I am most concerned about is not where I will need to start to get down to 7% again but at what BF% do the estrogenic sides become less risky than the benefits of dropping fat and adding muscle at light speed the way only AAS can do?

I know my first bulk cycle with Deca finished w me at 17 or 18% and I did have a little of the beginnings of gyno but I wasnt nearly as diet concious or knowledgable then, nor did I have magical masterone in the stack to mitigate the estrogen issue. This bit of rationalizing leads me to believe that I would probably be safe estrogen sideswise starting at 18%bf and probably higher but "how much higher?" is the question.

[austinite]

Austinite,

Thanks for the props. I feel very proud of myself to be where I am given where I was half a year ago.

I feel I should clarify a little now. I am not as concerned with things like "being able to see my abs" as I am with getting this bf% down asap. I figure I dropped 7% the first time on this cycle and Ive got about 15 more lbs of muscle than where I was when I started last time.. I should be able to drop 10% in 8 weeks this time around. It's very tempting to start at 23% knowing I'll be down to 13% in 8 weeks. My body seems to add muscle most effectively between 12% and 17% so this would put me in good shape for bulking up over the winter/ early spring. What I am most concerned about is not where I will need to start to get down to 7% again but at what BF% do the estrogenic sides become less risky than the benefits of dropping fat and adding muscle at light speed the way only AAS can do?

I know my first bulk cycle with Deca finished w me at 17 or 18% and I did have a little of the beginnings of gyno but I wasnt nearly as diet concious or knowledgable then, nor did I have magical masterone in the stack to mitigate the estrogen issue. This bit of rationalizing leads me to believe that I would probably be safe estrogen sideswise starting at 18%bf and probably higher but "how much higher?" is the question.

I understand that you want to hear something specific. But let's look at another option that for a minute....

I wasn't referring to seeing abs I honestly don't think that you will see much if anything when you're close to 20%.

Let's go back to your stats for a minute. You currently carry 73 lbs of fat with 218 lean lbs.(that's a good amount of lean mass) Ideally, we want to get that fat down to 38 lbs total. that's a difference of 35 lbs, the amount of fat you want to lose.

How long is an average cycle? 8 to 10 weeks? Right? That's a little over 2 months. Well, I've got great news for you. You can lose that 35 lbs in less than 2 months, naturally. I've done it myself. It's going to be a rough ride for a couple months, but its just a couple of months! Simply going into ketosis mode will yield about 15 lbs, and that doesn't even take a month!

If we're being realistic, you'll lose some muscle, too. But again you have good amount already. So your goal should be 250-255 lbs. Lean lbs will drop a bit but that should put you at the 15% BF.

Imagine if you had 100 lbs to lose. Things could be worse.

[Neevor]

Well, I've got great news for you. You can lose that 35 lbs in less than 2 months, naturally. I've done it myself. It's going to be a rough ride for a couple months, but its just a couple of months! Simply going into ketosis mode will yield about 15 lbs, and that doesn't even take a month!

If we're being realistic, you'll lose some muscle, too. But again you have good amount already. So your goal should be 250-255 lbs. Lean lbs will drop a bit but that should put you at the 15% BF.

Yes, I know I could do it in a couple months without gear. I have done ketosis before. But I am VERY averse to dropping muscle weight. It takes so much effort to put it on. Every lb I lose is an lb I have to work my A$$ off to get back. Right now I have been dropping fat while still adding the smallest amount of muscle weight. And at my current speed I'll be to 15% at the beginning of Feb and will probably have an lb or two more of muscle. If I go the hard diet rout I'll drop to 15% by December but I'll lose 4 or 5lbs of muscle. I mean basically the difference is getting to the same BF% but w 5 to 7lbs more muscle if I can just wait more months. I'd rather take my time given those two options.

The third option I am wondering about, and the option that my post is driving at is, what if I continue losing at the rate I have been going without dropping muscle, then when I get to 20% and 275lbs around the first of December I do a lean bulk, add 10lbs of muscle and drop 15lbs of fat in 7-8 weeks (the last cycle I dropped 18lbs of fat and added 5lbs of muscle, so this would not be too far off with a good diet that cycles daily). This puts me at 15%BF but plus 10lbs of muscle around the 15th of January. I spend the next 12-14 weeks on PCT and off-cycle and this leaves me at the beginning of May at around 16 or 17%bf (I'll gain some fat trying to keep my gains, I always do but I keep 80% of them) and ready to cut for the summer. This wouldn't be my first rodeo.

The thing I don't really know about is the sides from a heavier stack (basically 1000mg+ a week running 3 compounds at 50mgED) at that 20%bf..

I used to do financial analysis so I'm pretty good at calculating things out in excel, its one of the main reasons I have done so well w bodybuilding in the past (I track my diet, workouts, bf/weight, and cycles all in a spreadsheet daily). I figure that if I wait till I get to 15% bodyfat around February to run a lean bulk I'll end up at 280lbs 16%bf and ready for a cutter in June. I wait till I hit 20% at the beginning of December and I can run two lean bulks, one this winter and again in April, leaving me around 270lbs and 12%bf in june. The latter rout gets me more muscle and less fat in the next 4 months AND I'll end up at 12% by summer which is as low as I really care to ever go again unless I compete.

Anyway, that's my thinking. Either way, going the ketosis rout is out for me. I just cant sacrifice muscle like that.