Waterweight I did not read anything past your first post so sorry if this has been covered, but ofcourse you know and have already been told diet is number one, and all I mean by that is if you are trying to blow up, you increase cals thru the entire cycle. So you may start at 3500 and end at 5k. Obviously more to it than that but you get what I'm saying.
As far as feeling anything, I never really feel much either. My first cycle or two I remember feeling great and growing like crazy but I think the majority of that is just mental, basically excited about being on a cycle and waiting to see what will happen.
IMO if you get just slow steady gains, you are doing things right. You shouldn't gain 25-30 lbs every cycle and most people who do were far from their genetic potential. Ive had a 20-30lb cycle, but these days 10-15 on a decent test/deca cycle is really good for me.
If you really have been eating right for your body and your goals, and training heavy, then you should already hold a good amount of muscle and size. Genetics can play a major role, I can take dbol and stay lean, my buddy will blow the f up. Also we all metabolize drugs at different rates and food.
If you are just wondering why you don't get a freaky look while on or aren't getting huge, it could be genetics, but most likely is diet. I'm not talking eating clean or dirty, I'm talking about eating what makes your body grow/cut up/recomp/maintain. We all have different needs and not just in cals, but some guys gain well with high carbs, others with higher fats.
Also I run 20 week cycles. I found for me that I didn't see anything in terms of gains until 5-6 weeks in with almost all compounds, then a couple weeks later I would be coming off. When I went to longer cycles, I noticed I made the best gains up to week 15-17. Basically it was a slow steady progression but that's when I really noticed the size when going for size.
The other thing is most of us see ourselves as a little smaller than we are
So I would say maybe try going a little longer with your cycles, change your diet up and see how things work, if you eat clean the majority of the time add some cheats to get cals if needed. I know several guys eating 8k cals on cycle and off, I can't keep up with that. Maybe try another training regimen. Try 531 or 5x5 with just compound movements, heavy, low reps.
But as far as feeling cycles, most of us don't really feel any different, sometimes a little more aggression, obviously high libido, strength. On deca I feel really good overall for a few weeks. I do get really vascularbut sometimes I'll gain size without much strength or gain strength without much size. Also many guys who blow up on things like dbol, are usually guys who gain fat easily, the rapid estro conversion will put a lot of water weight on them but besides a bloated face it can look decent on some guys.
If you feel like you are doing things right, theirs no shame in trying something new, but I think tour expectations may be a little high. Dive seen some guys make drastic changes off a cycle but it is probably a lot of genetics and the right diet/training for them. I have a buddy who can look at a bottle of test and he starts to grow and get vascular, I also know some guys who make good gains in the first couple weeks of long ester gear.
