Beginner seeking first time advice

[cousinmuscles]

Thanks for the detailed reply. After more research I have basically thrown the idea of LD out the window.

I’ve read the young & steroid article as well as the Beginner cycle article and have a question.

If I were to run a test E cycle at a lower dosage than the recommended 250mg, at around 125-150mg, would I need to lower my Aromasin and HcG intake as well? I’ve read that too much AI could inhibit gains as the body does still need estrogen, so if my Test dosage is lower would that mean I would need to lower my dose of everything else?
Apologies if I sound like a complete noob

You probably won't need an AI at all at 250mg. The question is why only use 250mg, it will shut you down as much as 500mg will do. 125mg is pretty much TRT levels and is pointless for performance enhancement... If you are going to do a cycle then you might as well do 500mg a week.

HCG should stay the same thats basically a minimum dose. 250 iu HCG pretty much maintains intratesticular testosterone levels https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15713727

Good choice on the exemestane. Harder to go wrong with it as it has a limit to how low it can take your estrogen and you don't get an estrogen rebound once you come off it. A good read about it here: https://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-...aveled%2A.html
and https://forums.steroid.com/anabolic-...rdosed-ai.html

[Influential]

You probably won't need an AI at all at 250mg. The question is why only use 250mg, it will shut you down as much as 500mg will do. 125mg is pretty much TRT levels and is pointless for performance enhancement... If you are going to do a cycle then you might as well do 500mg a week.

HCG should stay the same thats basically a minimum dose. 250 iu HCG pretty much maintains intratesticular testosterone levels https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15713727

Good choice on the exemestane. Harder to go wrong with it as it has a limit to how low it can take your estrogen and you don't get an estrogen rebound once you come off it.

I was basing the 250mg off of the Beginner Cycle article. I also have a friend who is only running 100mg/week and is seeing good results. My dosage is still undecided for now.

The article states than an A.I. should still be used weeks 1-14 at 0.25mg EOD. I see your point though, maybe not entirely necessary but I will still be sure to have some on hand Incase of any gyno or other side effects.

Is 250iu every 3.5 days of HcG necessary with that low dose of test E (250mg)? Someone from my gym who has been on steroids for years has told me only to run it at the end of my cycle during my PCT as it could hinder results.
On top of that, Dylan Gemelli (unsure of how reliable he is) has said to only run HcG during the last 4 weeks of the cycle.
I just want to have a good idea of how much and when HcG I should be using.

[cousinmuscles]

I was basing the 250mg off of the Beginner Cycle article. I also have a friend who is only running 100mg/week and is seeing good results. My dosage is still undecided for now.

The article states than an A.I. should still be used weeks 1-14 at 0.25mg EOD. I see your point though, maybe not entirely necessary but I will still be sure to have some on hand Incase of any gyno or other side effects.

Is 250iu every 3.5 days of HcG necessary with that low dose of test E (250mg)? Someone from my gym who has been on steroids for years has told me only to run it at the end of my cycle during my PCT as it could hinder results.
On top of that, Dylan Gemelli (unsure of how reliable he is) has said to only run HcG during the last 4 weeks of the cycle.
I just want to have a good idea of how much and when HcG I should be using.

You must have misread the article, it says 250mg twice a week.

Yep the HCG dose doesn't change because of the test dose, they're unrelated. The rationale behind running low dose HCG throughout the cycle is to maintain testicular function. Read up on the HPTA to understand, the SERMs like clomid and nolva signal the brain (the Hypothalamus-Pituitary) to produce FSH and LH, which in turn signal the testes to produce testosterone. HCG acts like LH and signals the testicles to keep working. If you shut down your HPTA with exogenous testosterone, your testicles won't receive that signal to produce test and will shrink over time and not work. Why use HCG at a higher dose to fix what's broken, when you don't have to break it at all? Also with higher HCG doses you risk desensitization at the testicles receptors to LH - not sure about dosages - which would really suck later on as you risk not being able to produce testosterone.

[Influential]

You must have misread the article, it says 250mg twice a week.

Yep the HCG dose doesn't change because of the test dose, they're unrelated. The rationale behind running low dose HCG throughout the cycle is to maintain testicular function. Read up on the HPTA to understand, the SERMs like clomid and nolva signal the brain (the Hypothalamus-Pituitary) to produce FSH and LH, which in turn signal the testes to produce testosterone. HCG acts like LH and signals the testicles to keep working. If you shut down your HPTA with exogenous testosterone, your testicles won't receive that signal to produce test and will shrink over time and not work. Why use HCG at a higher dose to fix what's broken, when you don't have to break it at all? Also with higher HCG doses you risk desensitization at the testicles receptors to LH - not sure about dosages - which would really suck later on as you risk not being able to produce testosterone.

Double checked this. You’re right I was misreading, thanks for the clarification. See my above reply, I just think 500mg/week would be too high for someone with my levels but I would be interested to hear your opions.

[Dannyboy51577]

Cousin hit it on the head.
Lets say your normal test level is 900 for example- not unrealistic for someone your age.
Now you start test at 200 or 250mg a wk. Once you introduce it, your natural test shuts down and your 900 goes away. Your body is now relying on what u put into it instead of making its own. That 125-150per week you were referring to maybe gets you back to your 900, maybe not.
Lets say for example that 200mg/wk gets you back to your 900 or 1000. What have you gained? Nothing. You are still operating in basically the same neighborhood you were before you started.

So like cousin is saying- its counter productive to add in test just to get you to levels close to what you are already at. Now if you were to go with 500mg/wk, thats still a bottom level mild dosage overall, but would get your level to 2500 or 3000 or 3500, which puts you in the category of 3x or 4x natural. Then you can make some progress