First Cycle Advice Please

[C87]

Hi Everyone,

I have spent countless hours researching to prepare for my first cycle, I tend to over think everything and want to get this right. I have decided to do Test E, but have a few questions. Most of what I have read says I should do 500 instead of 250, but I was looking for personalized advice since I am smaller at 5'11'' and 155 lbs with 10% bf. I am 27 and have been lifting for 10 years.

Is 250 enough since I am smaller or should I still do 500? Or maybe somewhere in between like 375?

I was thinking 10 weeks would suffice, would 12 be better?

I play basketball 3-5 times per week. I am unsure how to handle cardio, should I cut my cardio while I cycle?

My goal is to be 165 lbs with 8% bf after I level out and lose some of the gains made and get back into a regular routine.

Thank you for your time, I appreciate any advice.

 

[halfwit]

My sincere advice to you is to work on diet and training first. AAS will not magically put 10lbs on you, and given your stats it sounds like you haven't been spending a lot of the time in the gym consistently. I'm not trying to be harsh here, but if you suddenly jump into a cycle and decide to eat everything in sight; you're likely to hurt yourself eventually as your connective tissues haven't had the time to become accustomed to moving so much weight.

You want to take the slow and permanent road here. Being lean will certainly help you, but if you don't eat enough to put on quality mass now, adding AAS to the mix will likely give you sub-standard results and you'll just end up disappointed and have a bit less money in your wallet.

For what it's worth, 250mg is what I take just to replace my natural levels of testosterone, so you may want to consider a higher dose when you're ready.

My .02c

 

[C87]

I appreciate your response and that is definitely great advice. To be honest I have gone back and forth whether I wanted to add AAS or not, but I have mentally committed to doing it. You are right that I have had problems with consistently working out, I had 2 bad knee injuries from basketball and got in a horrible car accident which made me take 18 months off. When healthy I am in the gym 5-6 days per week. I am strong for my size, bench 255 lbs, choose not to squat or deadlift heavily due to aforementioned back/neck/knee injuries. Overall, I absolutely value your advice but I feel as though I have plateaued and need a change. Thanks for the note, I will do more than 250mg when the time comes. My diet is very clean, almost entirely home cooked meals and no alcohol, what should be my target daily caloric intake?

 

[tbonexl]

You could gain ten lean lbs by eating more. At your height and weight u definitely need to eat more. 6 meals a day minimum. I'm no diet expert and I kinda have the opposite thing going but u need food to grow.

What happens when u don't water grass? It dies. What happens when u put fertilizer on it with no water? It dies. U learning anything?

 

[jack3d4life]

Hi Everyone,

I have spent countless hours researching to prepare for my first cycle, I tend to over think everything and want to get this right. I have decided to do Test E, but have a few questions. Most of what I have read says I should do 500 instead of 250, but I was looking for personalized advice since I am smaller at 5'11'' and 155 lbs with 10% bf. I am 27 and have been lifting for 10 years.

Is 250 enough since I am smaller or should I still do 500? Or maybe somewhere in between like 375?

I was thinking 10 weeks would suffice, would 12 be better?

I play basketball 3-5 times per week. I am unsure how to handle cardio, should I cut my cardio while I cycle?

My goal is to be 165 lbs with 8% bf after I level out and lose some of the gains made and get back into a regular routine.

Thank you for your time, I appreciate any advice.

Doesn't look like you did very much research at all bro.

 

[skillhill]

As stated above your diet needs to clean, yet full of loads of protein and quality carbs imo. You should focus on eating quality calories and lots of them to see results. When on cycle you need to have that full feeling throughout to get the most out of your cycle. I started out on Test 500 and Prop 400 and gained over 25 lbs. 500 is a good starting point to answer your question. Cardio will be somewhat of a detriment when trying to add mass.

 

[riprockwell]

I appreciate your response and that is definitely great advice. To be honest I have gone back and forth whether I wanted to add AAS or not, but I have mentally committed to doing it. You are right that I have had problems with consistently working out, I had 2 bad knee injuries from basketball and got in a horrible car accident which made me take 18 months off. When healthy I am in the gym 5-6 days per week. I am strong for my size, bench 255 lbs, choose not to squat or deadlift heavily due to aforementioned back/neck/knee injuries. Overall, I absolutely value your advice but I feel as though I have plateaued and need a change. Thanks for the note, I will do more than 250mg when the time comes. My diet is very clean, almost entirely home cooked meals and no alcohol, what should be my target daily caloric intake?

Listen to Halfwit. You haven't plateaued at all. You just need to get a solid diet and training regime in place. I would hold off on this cycle and rethink your plan of attack. The thing you need to do is get with 3J in the diet forum and work with him. You are not too young to cycle but you don't have the nutritional experience and that honestly shows by your stats. Put on 10-20lbs naturally and then cycle if you want. Remember steroids are the icing on the cake. Without no cake, you don't have a need for icing.

 

[C87]

Thanks for the advice. I'll focus on the diet and revisit this next year.

 

[halfwit]

Listen to Halfwit. You haven't plateaued at all. You just need to get a solid diet and training regime in place. I would hold off on this cycle and rethink your plan of attack. The thing you need to do is get with 3J in the diet forum and work with him. You are not too young to cycle but you don't have the nutritional experience and that honestly shows by your stats. Put on 10-20lbs naturally and then cycle if you want. Remember steroids are the icing on the cake. Without no cake, you don't have a need for icing.

+1 for 3J. Hiring him will be like an AAS cycle given your situation. (Cheaper too)

 

[jSalud]

I appreciate your response and that is definitely great advice. To be honest I have gone back and forth whether I wanted to add AAS or not, but I have mentally committed to doing it. You are right that I have had problems with consistently working out, I had 2 bad knee injuries from basketball and got in a horrible car accident which made me take 18 months off. When healthy I am in the gym 5-6 days per week. I am strong for my size, bench 255 lbs, choose not to squat or deadlift heavily due to aforementioned back/neck/knee injuries. Overall, I absolutely value your advice but I feel as though I have plateaued and need a change. Thanks for the note, I will do more than 250mg when the time comes. My diet is very clean, almost entirely home cooked meals and no alcohol, what should be my target daily caloric intake?

No deadlifts or squats?!?! You do work your back and legs still right?

I know what it is like to be in an accident and have horrible knees. Wrecked my motorcycle and was bed bound for awhile and bad knees from football and I still make it a point to squat and deadlift. If done properly it is feasible still even with some injuries.