Expectations of a cycle

[jjsevens]

.5 lbs a week. That's a pipe dream.

Yes starting from scratch beginer gains happen qwik, once they level off . 15 lbs a year is really not really reality

0.5lbs a week is no pipe dream, in fact that's on the low range for most lifters. Yes you can only go so far with how much you can gain naturally after some years, at that point I can see where aas would benefit those who want to get bigger/than what genetics will allow.

You do not need aas to build meaningful strength and size if you train and diet correctly.

[Marsoc]

0.5lbs a week is no pipe dream, in fact that's on the low range for most lifters. Yes you can only go so far with how much you can gain naturally after some years, at that point I can see where aas would benefit those who want to get bigger/than what genetics will allow.

You do not need aas to build meaningful strength and size if you train and diet correctly.

Pretty sure one Def can't gain .5lbs of pure muscle a week. One is lucky to gain probably 5-10 lbs in a year of solid work. I mean I'm not fat by any means. I have a six pack but I went from 165-215lbs in 4 months. Sure it's not pure muscle , I say Im around 13.5% bf ..but at 165 I was deathly underweight from drugs

[jjsevens]

Pretty sure one Def can't gain .5lbs of pure muscle a week. One is lucky to gain probably 5-10 lbs in a year of solid work. I mean I'm not fat by any means. I have a six pack but I went from 165-215lbs in 4 months. Sure it's not pure muscle , I say Im around 13.5% bf ..but at 165 I was deathly underweight from drugs

Yes you can, I did as well as many other lifters I've met, it's all diet, I continue to add weight to the scale and visible size in the mirror while maintaining a steady BF‰ because I'm not visibly getting fatter. I've narrowed my diet down to a science through trial and error over these 2 years and let me tell you if you're dedicated and count your calories and your macros it can be done.

The only time where you will struggle to maintain size and strength is on a cut, if it's too fast, too soon, it can impact your gains because you're not eating as much. This spring will be my first cut without AA'S, and let me say I did look fucking great! So we'll see just now much I'll lose, but I doubt it will be much because it's going to be a slow controlled cut, I may not reach the lower bf% I'm trying to achieve but at least I'll know how far I can go without losing what I put on during my bulk.

Don't know if there's any stickies on the subject that I raised but maybe there should be one for noobs thinking about starting a cycle, that after proper dieting and training for a few years if you're stalling and feel that AAS is the last resort and feel that this is what they want to get that much bigger than go for it. Otherwise don't, you can build naturally before you have to turn to AAS. I myself was mislead, told it's the greatest thing when I should have educated myself first by coming here and talking to experienced guys like yourselves, you guys shared a lot and made some great points.

Thankyou all for the valuable information.