Dacky's picture
Dacky
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Thoughts and advice on next cycle

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Dear members

Thought it would be a good idea to seek some thoughts and advice on my next cycle i plan on starting in a few week weeks.

First of all my stats:
Age 40
Weight 86kg
Height 181cm
Body Fat 11% according to callipers
No of cycles 8

Goal: To lean bulk and add about 7kg of lean muscle keeping fat to a minimum. Strength gains are a secondary goal for me so I will take what I get here.

Diet/nutrition:
I have been dieting for the better part of 8 months now taking my body fat down nice and slowly to retain as much muscle mass as possible. I started at about 96kg and 20% BF. I have been carb cycling eating a very clean diet of whole foods with the following macros:
Low carb day - Protein 200g, Carbs 130g and Fat 85g
Moderat carb day - Protein 200g, Carbs 200g and Fat 60g
Refeed (every two weeks or so) - Protein 160g, Carbs 350g and Fat 40g

I am ending my diet in a week and will reverse this out over a period of a month and end in a surplus with approximately the following macros:

Protein 250g, Carbs 300g and Fat 90g. I may run some low carb days with slightly lower calories on non training days depending on how my body responds.

Training:
I plan on starting with two a days for the first 4 weeks then moving to a 5 days a week split with one total body day focusing on the big lifts, then volume based two push/pull days, one leg day and one arm day. I won't do much cardio when running the two a days but for the rest will do LISS cardio for 45mins a day 4 times a week. I am toying with the idea of adding another 4 weeks of two a days for the last 4 weeks of the cycle

Cycle history:
I have done 8 cycles
My first 4 cycles were test only cycles I responded very well and had good gains and no sides to speak of.
My next 2 cycles were test, NPP with a superdrol kicker for 3 weeks. No sides, apart from back pumps when on the superdrol and some mild acne that cleared up post pct
My next cycle was test, tren a, mast p and HCG. Loved this cycle had great results especially given my diet was not great. Loved the strength gains. Had typical tren sides like nite sweats and insomnia especially when carbs where high.
My last cycle (for part of this cut) was test, tren e, mast e, HCG and ended with 5 weeks of epistane (I know not the best choice but I had been given some and so decided to use it). Great results though. Really saw my BF come down very substantially in the 8 weeks I was on for. I've managed to cut further and retained muscle since I finished 16 weeks ago.

I always run low dose anastrazole and have Nolva on hand for any gyno (not that I have ever had a problem). I've run caber always on the 19 Nors. TUDCA when on orals and standard on cycle support sups. Keep very well hydrated. I've never has issue with BP and post cycle bloods have shown no issue with liver values or lipids. I've always recovered well with Test, E2, Prolactin etc. returning to my base line. I don't get on cycle bloods as I am in the UK and bloods are expensive a s difficult to get. PCT for me is always Clomid and Nolva for either 4 or 6 weeks depending on length of cycle and whether I have run 19 Nors.

Proposed cycle:
Week 1 to 3 Superdrol 30mg ED
Week 1 to 6 Test E at 500mg per week, NPP 600mg per week and HCG 500iu per week
I was thinking about adding some test p for the first 4 weeks given the superdrol can shut one down very quickly and the test e will take a few weeks to kick in properly so would be interested in thoughts here

Weeks 7 to 14 Test E at 250mg per week, Tren A at 500mg per week, Mast E at 600mg per week and HCG 500iu per week
Weeks 14 to 16 Test P at 250mg per week, Tren A at 500mg per week and HCG 500iu per week
Weeks 8 to 16 Var at 75mg ED

I will run caber throughout at 0.5mg per week, anastrazole at 0.25mg every three days and cycle support sups. Have Nolva on hand in case of gyno although I do not expect it. Will run TUDCA while on the orals.

PCT as follows:
Week 1 Clomid 100mg ed and Nolva 60mg ed
Week 2 to 4 Clomid 50mg ed and Nolva 20mg ed
Week 5 to 6 Nolva 20mg ed

I hope this is information is enough for the more experienced on this board to let me know their thoughts. I am very open to suggestions or any constructive criticism of the past or current approach. Thanking you all in advance.

Cheers

Dacky's picture

So another update. At 91kg as of this am and starting to see the BF coming up quite quickly now - callipers are showing 14%. I have a wedding this weekend and it's a long weekend here in the UK so the missus and I are taking the weeked away. Will start my mini-cut from Tuesday. Thinking about 2 weeks or when BF is back to at least 11%. Will run 250g protein, 80g carbs and 70g fats for this period unless anyone has a different thoughts? Will keep training the same but add 3 session of HIIT fasted cardio and keep my 2 to 3 sessions of LISS fasted cardio per week. Will then put the calories and macros back up and do it all again. Thanks fellas this is working well at the moment. Have a great weekend.

Dacky's picture

Hi brothers. So a quick update here. I've been doing as Makwa suggested and have taken my diet to about 1000 calories over TDEE for about a week now. Have kept protein high at about 280 to 300g, carbs about 350 to 400g and fats as my balancer. Weight has gone from 86kg to 88.8kg. BF seems stable per callipers. So pretty impressive natty but it does seem to be coming on pretty fast. Not complaining - just want to check this is within normal expectations when one does this after an 8 month diet?

Makwa's picture

Sounds about right. Nice to hear your gaining some weight now. Your bodyfat was at a good spot to start a bulk and your increased nutrient partitioning because of that should be putting a lot of those cals into lean body mass. Keep on the same path and once you notice the weight gain is shifting more towards fat gain, then reboot the whole system with a mini-cut cycle and then start bulking again.

tragac's picture

get your protein up to 300-350 g

Dickkhead's picture

The guys below have got you covered and I'm happy you are listening. You still got plenty of good gym years ahead of you to "crank it," but DO NOT start out with an overloaded cycle. You're getting the best advice you can get and you're getting it for free as well. Whatever you do, (I can't stop you) - don't yes the vets here that are trying to help you make all the right decisions and then go off and do what you want anyway. People sometimes do that and it always ends badly and then they come back with a boatload of problems and come back real humble and struggle to work with us to fix things up. No sense in that.

Dacky's picture

Thanks for this. Yes I can see that some might come and ask for advice, get it and then do what they want to anyway. That's not me. If it was I wouldn't be here asking these questions. I'm 40 years old and believe I'm mature enough to know when I should seek some advice. The cycle I outlined I know was pretty heavy and that's why I wanted to check in and I really do appreciate the feedback so far. I really do plan on following this. Thanks again for your comments.

Catalyst's picture

So indulge me a little here. You're a tall guy and only 86kgs, (albeit a lean 86kgs), after 8 cycles. Why still sub 190lbs at 6ft considering the amount of gear you've run? Injuries? Health etc? Something is going wrong done where. Diet? Training?

Whitetrash's picture

I was wondering the same thing myself. Good to see the OP fully engaged in the conversation. Both you and Makwa have given great advice so nothing to add from me.

Dacky's picture

Thanks for he reply. No problem. Yes I had a long (4 years break) where life and health got in the way big time. My weight had eventually spiralled to about 110kg at a pretty unhealthy 25% body fat. That was about 3 years ago when I got healthy and focused again. Started to train properly and got my nutrition sorted. I have run 3 cycles since then - 2 of which in hindesight I shouldn't have run given my BF was still too high (approximately 18%) and had one injury during this time which took me out of training for about 3 months. The last 10 month I have been very focused on getting my BF down to a reasonable place - through a very tight and strict and long diet and focused training plan lifting 5 days a week plus lots of cardio. My weight has come down quite a lot and so has my BF and I have clearly lost muscle along the way. I feel I am in a good place to think about a bulk now to gain some decent muscle and size while focusing on keeping my BF at a reasonable place. The last 10 months have been a big and good nutritional learning curve for me. Hope that answers the question. Cheers

Makwa's picture

Based upon what you have said here that cycle is way over the top. You're doing the right thing with your diet and training so I would focus more on that than putting together some advanced complicated stack. It is completely unwarranted given your current situation. You have lost some muscle dieting down so I would try and replace that back naturally and then there should be no reason you can't have a successful cycle using just good ole test. You have done it before so there is no reason it won't work now if your diet and training are properly in place.

Dacky's picture

Ok thanks. So what you're suggesting is reverse out the diet and then spend a few months focusing on bulking naturally and see how I go. Assuming all good and I manage to put some lean mass back on one keep the BF in check then run a test only cycle and see how I go? That does seem sensible. I was considering a cycle now as my last one really seemed to help me cut and maintain some muscle so I felt another similar cycle would be a reasonable idea for a lean bulk. I have no problem taking a more cautious approach as you are suggesting.

Catalyst's picture

I'd back Makwa's train of thought here, unnecessarily complex and a lot of gear. Recovery is tougher at our age, if you can get away with a basic cycle, (which I firmly believe you can in your situation), then I'd take the path of least resistance. If your diet and training are where they should be, you'll grow fine,

Dacky's picture

And thanks to you too. Solid advice. Going to put Makwa's suggestions into play for a couple of months then revisit with a simple test e only cycle. Thanks to you both for taking the time to comment. Appreciate it.

Catalyst's picture

No problem mate. Drop me a line if you need any help.

Makwa's picture

I am not big fan of the lean bulk approach and here is why:

https://www.eroids.com/forum/general/general-talk/spinning-your-wheels

There are ways to effectively bulk though with minimizing fat gains. Here are a couple of methods for you to consider. If bulking off cycle, I would personally go with the cyclic bulking method to keep "rebooting" and priming your system since you won't be artificially doing that with AAS. See where it takes you and then get your cycle going after you have put on a few solid Kg.

https://www.eroids.com/forum/general/general-talk/i-know-my-tdee%E2%80%A...

https://www.eroids.com/forum/general/general-talk/the-key-to-quality-mas...

Dacky's picture

Bro if you don't mind I've got a diet related question for you based on the info you've provided above. I'll shoot you a friend requests and hopefully we can exchange some PM's on it? Thanks in advance.

Dacky's picture

Ah cheers bro. Thanks for this. Very useful info and great advice. Will do as you suggest and then look to a simpler cycle.