First Cycle Review with pics, critique?

[jkowal99]

Hey folks,
Starting my first cycle of test e 600mg /week tomorrow. I plan on the following:
Weeks 1-14 - Test e 600mg (Injections tues/saturday)
Weeks 2-14 - Arimadex .25 mg EOD
PCT Week 17-20(approx 14-18 days after last injection) - Nolvadex
I'll be running toco-8 throughout cycle and PCT

Goal: Put on muscle while staying relatively lean, keeping BF low.


Any critiques on the above? Should I add anything here?

Here are start pics taken yesterday:
Height: 6'2
Weight: 183 lbs
BF: 13%
Age: 24
View attachment 546853View attachment 546854

Training
I will be doing micro-cycles for my training. Ex. First month, week 1 will be 12-15 reps, 2nd week 8-12 reps, 3rd week 6-8 reps, 4th week 4-6 reps. Second month, increase weight and repeat rep ranges above for the following 4 weeks. Repeat while increasing weight every week.
I will also be doing a mix of HIIT and steady state cardio 4-5 times a week, sometimes post-workout. Anyone do this? And is this a good idea?
Monday: Chest/Tris/Calves/15 Minutes HIIT Cardio
Tuesday: Back/Bis/Abs
Wednesday: Cardio - Swimming HIIT 20 minutes
Thursday: Shoulders-traps/Calves/Post-Workout Cardio Running 20 minutes HIIT
Friday: Legs/Abs
Saturday: 30 Minutes Steady State Cardio
Sunday - OFF

Any suggestions/critique on above?

Diet:
Below is the diet plan I came up with. Weight training 4x a week with HIIT cardio 4-5 times a week.
Weight: 183
Height: 6'2
BF%: 13%
Age: 24

BMR= 1982.69
TDEE: 3420 calories
View attachment 546890
Also, what do you guys think of whole wheat tortillas? How do they compare to brown rice or whole grain rotini pasta from a clean food persepctive? I know each tortilla has around 300mg of sodium so my other question is, how much sodium is too much while on this cycle? Does anyone think I have to much fiber in this plan?

On non workout day, i plan on removing 200 calories from this diet.

All your comments and suggestions are much appreciated. Thanks

 

[VengeanceX7]

Add Clomid to your pct.

 

[biggie908]

week 15... 20mg nolva/ 100mg clomid /20mg Aromsin
week 16 ...20 nolva /100mg clomid /20mg Aromsin
week 17... 10 nolva/100mg clomid /20mg Aromsin
week 18.. 10 nolva/ 50mg clomid /20mg Aromsin

that was my first post cycle therapy (pct) for 500mg of test

 

[3DRanger87]

Be careful using HIIT. While great for shedding some extra pounds on most it can be detrimental for someone who's trying to add weight. Ultimately your BMI will be determined by your diet. And you're already a light guy so make sure to eat a good amount, no offense ! What is your target weight though ? "A few pounds" is hard to give advice on.

 

[jkowal99]

Be careful using HIIT. While great for shedding some extra pounds on most it can be detrimental for someone who's trying to add weight. Ultimately your BMI will be determined by your diet. And you're already a light guy so make sure to eat a good amount, no offense ! What is your target weight though ? "A few pounds" is hard to give advice on.

Goal is to hit 205

 

[3DRanger87]

Ok, if you're planning on being 20lbs heavier by the end of this cycle then I'd consider dropping your cardio a good amount to nearly none at all and upping your calorie intake. Look into lower reps with higher weight to help bulk and add weight. With a clean diet and an Aromatase inhibitor (AI) on hand you will be able to keep your water weight and bloat down to a minimum. In the end there's two kinds of cycles, bulking and cutting. And packing on 20+ lbs in 12 weeks is going to be considered a bulking cycle bub. Like I said earlier though, you can have a well defined leaner look come out of this cycle but you won't be 205lbs after post cycle therapy (pct). Maybe more in the 195+/- range. Also keep in mind that following a bulk cycle that you can always "cut up" afterwards. This is the method that I'm going through right now myself, currently on a bulking phase throughout the winter & am then going to lean some of it up in the spring. Either way this is just my .02. GL either way.

 

[jkowal99]

Be careful using HIIT. While great for shedding some extra pounds on most it can be detrimental for someone who's trying to add weight. Ultimately your BMI will be determined by your diet. And you're already a light guy so make sure to eat a good amount, no offense ! What is your target weight though ? "A few pounds" is hard to give advice on.

So do you think eliminating HIIT and just doing 10 minutes of steady state cardio post workout would be better?

 

[crackfox]

Just drop the cardio and eat clean ! Get those extra pounds on you then cut up after this cycle

 

[jkowal99]

Just drop the cardio and eat clean ! Get those extra pounds on you then cut up after this cycle

I dont think I want to drop cardio completely. Maybe I'll just do it twice a week, 20 minutes steady state.

I have an injection time question: If I inject Tuesday night, do I have to inject saturday night? I guess the main question is do you have to be consistent with injection timing? Same timing every time? Or can I inject Tuesday night and then inject saturday morning? does it matter? thanks

 

[tesseract]

^^ it doesn't matter.

You have done your research, I would have waited to get even bigger before cycling. But whatever. You want to gain mass well your diet is more or less suited for it. You want to look like a viking you need to eat like a viking. All those meals are really light and you are using lean protein from chicken tuna... That will shred you but you will not gain any substantial weight.

 

[jkowal99]

^^ it doesn't matter.

You have done your research, I would have waited to get even bigger before cycling. But whatever. You want to gain mass well your diet is more or less suited for it. You want to look like a viking you need to eat like a viking. All those meals are really light and you are using lean protein from chicken tuna... That will shred you but you will not gain any substantial weight.

I see what your saying. I'm trying out how to add more calories here and there. Thinking about upping chicken to 12 oz. but wasn't sure if that was too much protein in one sitting, I'm generally eating every 2 hours.

 

[hushbaby2]

How are you tapering the Nova? Would add clomid as previously suggested.

 

[Slayer8633]

Deff drop that cardio if you want to see significant weight gains!

 

[jkowal99]

Deff drop that cardio if you want to see significant weight gains!

So your saying 1 day of 20 minute cardio a week with how much im eating is going effect my gains? how so?

 

[couch]

So your saying 1 day of 20 minute cardio a week with how much im eating is going effect my gains? how so?

You're not going to listen, I'm sure. But let me put this another way:

How exactly will this cardio help you hit your gains? Cardio doesn't help you bulk. It doesn't build muscle, it builds endurance. If you want to build muscle, LIFT HEAVY WEIGHTS AND EAT LIKE A HORSE. It's a pretty simple formula.

 

[jkowal99]

You're not going to listen, I'm sure. But let me put this another way:

How exactly will this cardio help you hit your gains? Cardio doesn't help you bulk. It doesn't build muscle, it builds endurance. If you want to build muscle, LIFT HEAVY WEIGHTS AND EAT LIKE A HORSE. It's a pretty simple formula.

I will listen.

I did my first injection last night into my quad. Does it look like i'm hitting the right area? See pics:
View attachment 546880View attachment 546881

 

[Duke30]

I would go a little lower in the 2nd picture.I would find the Band that separates Quad and Hamstring in the middle of the leg on the side and hit that spot.

 

[chris.]

What is the benefit of adding clomid to this cycle- insight would be greatly appreciated

 

[jkowal99]

I updated my diet with new food and times. At the beginning of my post in the attached thumbnails section. What do you think?

 

[crackfox]

I found pinning my delts a whole lot easier when first starting out then my quads !