Cycle length/dosages vs recovery

[Body_weight02]

So I have been trying to research how the AA's you choose, the dosage you administer and the length you are "on" affects your recovery. I'm finding some common info on the dosing and AA choice in regards to overall recovery but when it comes to cycle length the info is very conflicting. I know the possibility of becoming a TRT participant is possible after any AA cycle and the odds only increase with age and # of cycles. I'm only trying to balance risk vs reward...thanks

 

[Nicky_eye_lids]

the stickies at the top of each forum are loaded with great info. here is one https://www.steroidology.com/forum/...lic-steroids-factors-you-should-focusing.html

 

[LateStart]

Start trt now.......RISK ELIMINATED!
Just kidding Like you, I have also heard a few different things. I recovered GREAT from 13 weeks of test cyp at 500 per week. A strong pct seems to be key. As stated above.....the stickies tell all. As far as how many times a person can get away with it???? Now that's different for everyone. The only 100% method, if afraid of trt, is don't do it.
Good luck bro.

 

[Mycelium]

Labs! Pre cycle to know what your levels should return to. Most recommend mid-cycle labs to make sure your blood levels are not dangerous. How long a cycle is, how high the doses and what things are used all have an effect. Proper dosage and timing of PCT. Thing like using hCG during the cycle keep from shrinking testicles.

Read the stickies. They are always on top and everyone scrolls past them. This is real deal. We can lower the risks but there are still risks.

Proper diet and training are essential. If you dont ear right and train right you will be wasting your money and having the risks. If someone is over weight and can't lose it they probably are not ready to cycle. If you're skinny and can't eat enough to gain weight, even fat, you're not ready. The better your diet and training the better the results. Mostly steroids improve recovery. If you don't train hard and feed the system there will be no recovery and/or no supplies for gains.

 

[Manski]

Blood work is oly sure way to tell. But poor mans rule of thumb is if your on a cycle for 3 months, you wait to cycle again for 3 months after pct.

 

[scorob777]

The way I read your question you are asking three things about how these impact chances of recovery - dosage, time on, choice of drug.

I'll give you my take, in brief they all do have an impact and you can improve your chances by understanding them.

Dosage - this one is key in terms of time for blood levels to bleed back down after you stop injecting. Short esters are so fast they are completely gone in two weeks, long esters may take many many weeks, and it gets worse depending on dosage. Take boldenone undecylenate which is one of the longest at 15 days half life. If you inject 600 mg/wk you are looking at six weeks post last injection to bleed down to lower blood levels than your natural test production. So dosage is critical, particularly with long esters. Timing for PCT on these is also key.

Time on - I read a study recently where they state a cycle length of 12 weeks shows the vast majority recovery very well with a good PCT. Any time longer than that it gets more difficult and less certain. You'll see lots of guys go with 14 to 16 for longer esters. In a case like that I think it is critical to keep the boys working by using HCG in meaningful doses, 2 x 250 IU pw is bare minimum 2 x 500 IU pw is better.

Chemical - choice of the drug matters in terms of impacts to other hormones - like for example aromatizing drugs can drive your estrogen crazy which if not managed can cause all kinds of sides, and might impact eventual recovery. Another is 19-nors than can boost progesterones and in the presence of estrogen boost prolactin. Getting those other hormones way out of whack might impact recovery, or lead to nasty sides afterwards. And finally deca for example has metabolites that hang around a long time and also inhibit recovery - so doubly whammy with long ester so long time to bleed down, and metabolites that hang around even longer. If you use deca make sure you run the test several half lives longer, like say four weeks would be good, before you try to recover.

 

[Body_weight02]

The way I read your question you are asking three things about how these impact chances of recovery - dosage, time on, choice of drug.

I'll give you my take, in brief they all do have an impact and you can improve your chances by understanding them.

Dosage - this one is key in terms of time for blood levels to bleed back down after you stop injecting. Short esters are so fast they are completely gone in two weeks, long esters may take many many weeks, and it gets worse depending on dosage. Take boldenone undecylenate which is one of the longest at 15 days half life. If you inject 600 mg/wk you are looking at six weeks post last injection to bleed down to lower blood levels than your natural test production. So dosage is critical, particularly with long esters. Timing for PCT on these is also key.

Time on - I read a study recently where they state a cycle length of 12 weeks shows the vast majority recovery very well with a good PCT. Any time longer than that it gets more difficult and less certain. You'll see lots of guys go with 14 to 16 for longer esters. In a case like that I think it is critical to keep the boys working by using HCG in meaningful doses, 2 x 250 IU pw is bare minimum 2 x 500 IU pw is better.

Chemical - choice of the drug matters in terms of impacts to other hormones - like for example aromatizing drugs can drive your estrogen crazy which if not managed can cause all kinds of sides, and might impact eventual recovery. Another is 19-nors than can boost progesterones and in the presence of estrogen boost prolactin. Getting those other hormones way out of whack might impact recovery, or lead to nasty sides afterwards. And finally deca for example has metabolites that hang around a long time and also inhibit recovery - so doubly whammy with long ester so long time to bleed down, and metabolites that hang around even longer. If you use deca make sure you run the test several half lives longer, like say four weeks would be good, before you try to recover.

That's much closer to the answer I was searching for. I didn't get specific enough when I asked at 1st but I didn't want my opening post to be a mile long...So I'm looking at my 3rd cycle. With my previous 2 cycles I ran HCG throughout and used proper pct protocol (clomid/navladex) and ran AI start to finish on both. I didn't run labs on my 1st but did have pre and mid cycle labs on my last. (will be doing my pre/post labs soon) The idea was suggested to me to try a 16 week cycle with test and EQ because it fit more closely with my goals. My previous cycles were T only and T + deca. As far as recovery is concerned (avoiding TrT)how would a 12 wk T + deca or T + masterone compare to a 16wk T and EQ. That's the "risk vs reward" I was eluding too...basically if my labs are ok and I feel that I could run another cycle with better odds of bouncing back than not, which would be the safer option?

 

[Body_weight02]

Also...Ai during pct? I didn't find anything in the stickies but I may have overlooked it. I kept my E well in check with Adex while on and continued it (at a lower dose) between my last pin and start of pct. I then dropped it because, from what I've read, Adex and Tamoxifen don't mix. I've had acne breakouts during my pct with both my previous cycles that continued several weeks after. Just wondering if I should add something like aromasin next time?

 

[appleton111]

Also...Ai during pct? I didn't find anything in the stickies but I may have overlooked it. I kept my E well in check with Adex while on and continued it (at a lower dose) between my last pin and start of pct. I then dropped it because, from what I've read, Adex and Tamoxifen don't mix. I've had acne breakouts during my pct with both my previous cycles that continued several weeks after. Just wondering if I should add something like aromasin next time?

If you use aromasin during cycle there should be no need to run it during PCT, because test levels wouldn't be high enough to cause aromatization? and since you used an aromasin there is no E rebound?

 

[Mycelium]

There will be negatives and some things you have to deal with. Avoiding as many things as possible is best. PCT is an attempt to reset your systems that's been shutdown. In a way it is a reversal of a cycle. The cycle tells your body there is shit load of testoserone (anything suppressive) and PCT in a way sends a signal to fire up the furnaces and crank the heat because shits low. If you controlled estrogen on the bleeddown between last pin amd PCT I think you did about all you can. . . . . Waiting for the in-depth answers . . . .