LOG: Test E 400mg/wk 12 weeks, First cycle in long time (w/hcg)

[MODO]

So here's something I found interesting. I'm feeling more "adrenaline"-y lately, if that makes sense. I know I said earlier how I have been feeling more confident and noticed my physical reflexes were getting quicker, but this is something different.

Like you know when you get pinched, or slapped, or rip of a band-aid and you get that sudden, small rush of a warm tingly feeling in your chest. Like as if your body just dumped a bit of adrenaline in to your system? Hard to describe if you haven't felt it. Anyway, those "adrenaline dumps" feel strong out of proportion lately. Ripping off a band-aid today, that small pain stimulus gave me a fairly reasonable "adrenaline dump". Once and awhile I even feel that rush a bit at rest, for no reason, with no stimuli around to blame.

Weird? I remember feeling this way back during my first cycle, and I didn't have a heart attack back then so hopefully it's nothing!

[Lee_1978]

How's the cycle going?

[MODO]

How's the cycle going?

It's going great. Have to try and remember to weigh myself in the morning, haven't in awhile (I only weigh in pre-breakfast for consistency).

I got an extra rep on my 3 plate bench today. So pre cycle I was doing 225x7 max effort. Today I did 315x2, then did a few sets of 275, and as a last set dropped it to 225 and still squeezed out 225x7 at the end! So my final set after being fatigued is equal to my precycle max effort!

I like to use bench as my strength gauging exercise because it's the only big exercise that I do identically each time. I tend to vary my other exercises a lot which makes it hard to use them as strength measures.

Looking fairly bulky. I don't want to post a pic since I only have 2-3 weeks left and I'll be doing post cycle pics soon. Damn can't believe it's almost over... don't want it to be.

My forearms are blowing up but they are very fatigued and overtrained. I don't train them directly, but they are used in almost everything after all. If it weren't for me being so close to done I'd take a week off to recharge. Next time I will take 5-7 days off at the 6-8 week area to let my forearms recharge and catch up.

Am noticing more shoulder acne. This still remains my only negative side effect (that has symptoms anyway).

Update on that Lipid Stabil stuff. I was taking it to control cholesterol on cycle... I stopped it awhile ago. It was giving me terrible gas all of the time, and it was getting really embarrassing, so I ditched it!

[Lee_1978]

It's going great. Have to try and remember to weigh myself in the morning, haven't in awhile (I only weigh in pre-breakfast for consistency).

I got an extra rep on my 3 plate bench today. So pre cycle I was doing 225x7 max effort. Today I did 315x2, then did a few sets of 275, and as a last set dropped it to 225 and still squeezed out 225x7 at the end! So my final set after being fatigued is equal to my precycle max effort

I like to use bench as my strength gauging exercise because it's the only big exercise that I do identically each time. I tend to vary my other exercises a lot which makes it hard to use them as strength measures.

Looking fairly bulky. I don't want to post a pic since I only have 2-3 weeks left and I'll be doing post cycle pics soon. Damn can't believe it's almost over... don't want it to be.

My forearms are blowing up but they are very fatigued and overtrained. I don't train them directly, but they are used in almost everything after all. If it weren't for me being so close to done I'd take a week off to recharge. Next time I will take 5-7 days off at the 6-8 week area to let my forearms recharge and catch up.

Am noticing more shoulder acne. This still remains my only negative side effect (that has symptoms anyway).

Update on that Lipid Stabil stuff. I was taking it to control cholesterol on cycle... I stopped it awhile ago. It was giving me terrible gas all of the time, and it was getting really embarrassing, so I ditched it!

Excellent stuff! Can you tell me how you're responding to lagging muscle parts on cycle? Have you noticed any improvement in areas which were resistant to growth pre-cycle?

[MODO]

Excellent stuff! Can you tell me how you're responding to lagging muscle parts on cycle? Have you noticed any improvement in areas which were resistant to growth pre-cycle?

I would say the two areas I have the hardest time with are quads and lats. I can get them to grow strong and thick... but I can't get them really big and wide to capture that bodybuilder look.

Now on cycle, the trick I use is to hit them with is high volume, and do some really high rep sets that go way past my pain barrier. I just keep pumping and repping longer and harder than I ever could and it hurts like hell but I keep going. And yes! I would say I am seeing growth in those parts I never could naturally. But it would take me another cycle to really get a nice lat or leg spread.

Also, the one thing that I never can seem to grow naturally is my calves... But they have definitely put on noticeable size this cycle. And I didn't change the way I train them one bit.

So yes cycling does allow me to catch up lagging muscles, but ONLY if I take advantage of the cycle and train those parts like a beast. "If you do what you always did then you will get what you always got." (except calves, my calves are weird that way)

[MODO]

Damn it! I think I miscalculated my HCG dilution. I might have one shot left in the bottom of the vial. I don't really want to drop $140 on 5000 IU to use it for a week and then throw it out... maybe I'll just skip the next hcg shot or two and take everything that's left in the vial in one shot at the end of my cycle.

[MODO]

Wicked bad forearm pumps lately. And sore forearms the day after my workouts. I think that they aren't keeping pace with the other muscles. They are definitely holding me back.

[Lee_1978]

I hope when I go on cycle I get that problem; my forearms have always been so tough to train.

[MODO]

I hope when I go on cycle I get that problem; my forearms have always been so tough to train.

I never train them directly. I just use enough volume on my upper body lifts that they get a hell of a workout, and they get big in the process. If I did actual forearm exercises I'd look like Popeye.

Things I NEVER train with direct exercises:
-lower back, traps, forearms.

If you have a well rounded workout, these muscles groups will get lots of work as secondary muscles. (ie. pull ups, deadlifts, etc.)

[MODO]

Feeling like a genius. Going on a trip soon and trying to figure out how to bring my adex. Well, with the pills I have 0.25 mg of adex powder is not much at all. So I'm gonna pack a few "empty" shaker cups (those crappy little ones that look more like tupperware) beside my protein bottle in my suit case and put 0.25 mg of adex powder in each. By the time you roll the cups around a few times the powder disperses evenly and you can't even really see it any more! Then shake with pure water before use at my destination and BOOM! single dose of liquidex in each cup.

Of course, I would never use this trick to get past customs... because breaking the law is bad, and any attempt you make to do so is at your own risk.

Is adex even illegal? Either way, I am worried about my coworkers seeing it.

[MODO]

Well, last pin tomorrow morning. This is bitter sweet for sure. On one hand I'm tired of pinning and my body is starting to wear out (joints hurt, forearms overtrained, etc.) On the other hand I've made the gains I was looking for.

I'm gonna take the next 7 days off of the gym. I need to recover my joints and small muscles while my test levels are still high. This way I can workout 100% and fight to keep my gains in pct.

Pictures soon.

[derekkpapa1]

Good log nice info-read
Good luck thru pct keep eating good and training hard right thru

[MODO]

Well here is the damage:

Started at 190 lbs body weight, now about 208 lbs.

Started benching 225x7, now can do 315x3.

Started doing 13 pull-ups, now can do 17.

Pictures coming hopefully tomorrow. Would have had them tonight, but computer keeps crashing on me.

[MODO]

Shameless gym selfies, cuz why not. Real photos tonight.

[MODO]

Here are the final photos. Apologies that the quality and editing sucks. Makes it hard to see the gains. Should have used a real camera instead of my phone. Lesson learned.



Over all I'd say I'm happy with it given the lose doses I was on. Now I can continue to slowly progress upward. I feel I'm trucking forth at a good enough pace that is way faster than genetically possible, but still believable so that I don't get in shit at work!

[thephoenix25]

Thats some really nice work, well done! Have enjoyed reading your log. Good luck with your PCT.

Keep us updated during your PCT.

[MODO]

Thats some really nice work, well done! Have enjoyed reading your log. Good luck with your PCT. Keep us updated during your PCT.

Thanks!

And thanks to everyone else who was watching. It definitely made me work harder.

I will keep you guys updated on pct, which starts today. No changes so far, except feeling more energetic. (Long AAS use seems to fatigue me.)

[Chicagotarsier]

This is my fourth time reading your log. Thank you for the effort to share your results and progress. I would like to comment your chest definitely increased like a beast and a general overall bulk gain and fat loss to go with it. Well done on a 12 week cycle. I have a couple of questions:

Now off for almost 2 weeks where is your weight at? Are you seeing much weight loss due to fluid loss?

What would you have changed (done differently) with your workout routine if you knew then what you know now?

When do you feel the gains to your non chest started to slow? I assume the exceptional gain on chest is because it was your core exercise and was "focused" on in form and reps more than the others. Could you give a guess at the week?

Thank you again for the log. it is great to see what 400 mg of test and hard work with diet can do.

[MODO]

Now off for almost 2 weeks where is your weight at? Are you seeing much weight loss due to fluid loss? What would you have changed (done differently) with your workout routine if you knew then what you know now? When do you feel the gains to your non chest started to slow? I assume the exceptional gain on chest is because it was your core exercise and was "focused" on in form and reps more than the others. Could you give a guess at the week? Thank you again for the log. it is great to see what 400 mg of test and hard work with diet can do.

Thanks man. Off for two weeks hasn't really changed anything. My strength is roughly the same, maybe slightly lower but could just be in my head. I feel less bloated now and maybe look a bit more cut, but the changes aren't huge yet. No significant body weight change yet. But since I used such a low dose and plus arimidex, I won't be losing the fabled 10-20 lbs of water that people in bigger cycles do in pct because I simply never retained that much water to begin with.

My chest always does seem to grow faster. My body just seems to be put together in a way that favours bench. Maybe that's what caused me to like bench so much? I train all muscles equally hard, but bench seems to pull ahead of the rest for me. Mind you, bench is the only exercise that I try 1 rep maxes for, maybe I need to find a way to do that for my lats and legs too! It's just that I'm over protective of my lower back, which makes me cautious of 1 rep max squats, deads, etc.

All of my gains seemed to slow after 8 weeks. The first six weeks I rocketed up, but the third month made relatively little progress. I guess that leads me to what I would do differently... I stayed on the same diet all the way through, but maybe upping my calories in the third month would have helped encourage a bit for growth in the last half of the cycle. Remember though that a cycles gains is going to plateau eventually, I've found this usually occurs at two months.

You've given me a lot to think about regarding my chest growth. I think I will start instituting a 1 rep max chin up (weighted), or leg press, etc. for all my muscle groups and see if that has been what has held be back all these years. Worth a shot.

[MODO]

To add to above, regarding the drugs I wouldn't change anything. Everything I did was bang on the money based on what I know. Maybe I would have tapered the adex up slower since I didn't tolerate it very well, but that's it.

[MODO]

On second thought, I don't think I would change my diet at 2 months. I mean, if I wanted to maximize my gains, then of course that would be the best thing to do for sure. But I don't care about getting huge-mongous right now. I want to keep my diet at a sustainable level that balances the gains of dieting against the stress of it. After all, I'm not competing in any near future.

So would I have changed how much I ate? No.
Should someone looking to maximize gains up the calories in the third month? Probably.

[MODO]

So far things are good.

Weight is down to 200 lbs, but strength hasn't really changed. Maybe a small loss in strength but still benching 3 plates for two reps.

Weight change is mostly water loss I'm assuming.

[Sammy28]

Nice read bro keep it up

[Lee_1978]

Great read - you're in awesome shape.

[MODO]

Thx guys

[xjbone]

Awesome post Modo. Our starting physiques are very similar so this is a great inspiration to me. I plan on doing my first Test-only cycle in September...can't wait!!

[MODO]

Glad I could be of help, best of luck in September! Don't be afraid to make a log or ask questions.

[MODO]

Sorry it's been awhile but here's an update on pct!

So I had some social and work related factors that came in to play, and I made the decision to extend my cycle for awhile at a cruise dose. The lower dose helped reduce the strain of the added time on the cycle, while still meeting my needs professionally and socially.

Last test pin was 3 weeks ago. Last HCG was 10 days ago. Last week, I started Nolva/Clomid at 40/100 per day. 3 more weeks to go.

So far, I feel physically better than I did at the height of my cycle and happy to be done pinning for now. In the gym I haven't changed, except I lost one rep off my heaviest bench but that's it. In the mirror I visibly take up less space by looking less bloated, but when I flex it's clear the muscles are the same size.

Some minor fat gain since I stopped pinning, gonna have to diet up my diet in pct.

No sexual side effects; I can still stand at attention and all is well down there. So far, so good.

[MODO]

Oh man I am as hard as a rock in pct. You really don't realize how much water you have until it starts to run off.

[thephoenix25]

Great to hear you are doing well in your pct, I'm just about to start mine. How is your mood, motivation, concentration etc? I guess I'm more concerned at this point about turning into an emotional wreak than loosing gains lol. Will be glad to be done with the pins for now though. Good luck, and congrats on your success.

[MODO]

Great to hear you are doing well in your pct, I'm just about to start mine. How is your mood, motivation, concentration etc? I guess I'm more concerned at this point about turning into an emotional wreak than loosing gains lol. Will be glad to be done with the pins for now though. Good luck, and congrats on your success.

Thanks man.

I am noticing that I have a much harder time getting my but to the gym, feeling a bit lethargic. But I just remind myself what's at stake, and eventually I go, and so far I have been training very hard. And once I get to the gym it's game on, but getting there is harder. I've noticed my strength come down a bit, but that's expected with a testosterone decline.

Size and shape, I look pretty much the same but drier.

No mood "swings". I'd say my mood has improved though. I feel happier more often and I have been laughing more. Small difference but it's there. I think it's cuz I'm sleeping better.

[MODO]

Remarkably, no loss of sexual function yet.

Big difference from last time a few years ago...

[Fairdinkydi]

Hey mate solid log mate i following your advice and doin my own log as it is hard to find a simple test e cycle. I am confused on HCG though as its soo bloody confusing with all different ways to cycle it and expensive so i only have 5000iu what do you recommend? Also how your weight going are you still keeping most of your gains?

[MODO]

Hey mate solid log mate i following your advice and doin my own log as it is hard to find a simple test e cycle. I am confused on HCG though as its soo bloody confusing with all different ways to cycle it and expensive so i only have 5000iu what do you recommend? Also how your weight going are you still keeping most of your gains?

Thanks man.

So basically what I would do with the 5000 is use it 250 IU twice weekly (500 per week) starting later in the cycle so that you have just enough to get you up to the week before pct. So 9 or 10 weeks prior to pct start it. Stop hcg 7 days before pct.

This worked incredibly well for me. I can't enough say how much smoother my pct is this time and I have lost no size in muscle. I have lost a bit of water, so I look less puffed out, and of course a bit of strength because just having a lower test will make you a bit less strong regardless of muscle. But over all I have kept a lot of gains so far and I'm almost done pct.

Still no loss of sexual function. In a week or two I'm gonna get my test levels checked but I feel fine.

[MODO]

...ps, good luck with your log. Post me a link.

[MODO]

...I kinda glossed over the weight question. I'm still over 200 lbs.

[MODO]

PCT over and I still bench 3 plates! Wooho!

Did lose one rep of it, but can still get it up bout 1 time almost 2

[MODO]

This will be the last time I bump this log unless I get questions, which are always welcome.

I am over a month past my last nolva pill and am feeling like a champ. Definitely have retained most of my gains. I seem to be static at 1 and a halfish reps of 3 plates at the bench, which is awesome! I expected to lose more strength a lot faster.

Pct felt sluggish, but I'm totally back to normal. And my sex drive is peaked again. Overall, an excellent cycle and pct which I would strongly recommend to any beginner.

Thanks everyone for the input, see you next cycle.

[Flatus78]

Great thread! Thank you so much for this log, and you made nice and very noticeable gains!

[ironbeck]

good job!

Well here is the damage:

Started at 190 lbs body weight, now about 208 lbs.

Started benching 225x7, now can do 315x3.

Started doing 13 pull-ups, now can do 17.

Pictures coming hopefully tomorrow. Would have had them tonight, but computer keeps crashing on me.