1. If you have clothes that fit, prepare to watch them shrink before your very eyes. Budget for food first, PED's second, and lose fitting Tommy Bahama shirts third.

2. Quad injections hurt but are worth it. The adage "no pain, no gain" was undoubtedly coined by the first guys who injected quads. Just remember that when you're praying for salvation in the fetal position trying to go to sleep, its worth it. After the 5th one, you barely feel it.

3. Prepare to experience narcolepsy on a Bill Cosby Quaalude level.

4. Prepare to find any (I mean any) woman of any age, wearing yoga pants, extremely fucking attractive. I'm a faithful man, but holy shit, I've mentally stimulated every clitoris in my gym 50 times over since I've been on cycle. It was... amazing.

5. Become the automatic authority on all things fitness around strangers.

6. Getting nods from other heterosexual men after finishing your sets. Its pretty creepy and it can get invasive when they start asking 90 questions about your workout. No dude, I don't superset everything and keto blah blah blah, just stfu and let me lift. It's never the guys you want to chill with too. Those dudes are focused on what they do, just like I am.

7. You're gf going from being concerned about her man stroking out to being like, "Ah, is it really over? When are cycling again?" She loves going to the gym with me and hanging off my shoulders when we fuck, its great.

So I took measurements every week, tailored my diet every week and I learned a shit ton about what hormones and PED's can do. Its not a game and it isn't for people that aren't prepared. I'm glad I waited till I was 34 and I'm glad I prepared the way I did, although in retrospect, I think I could have trained another year and started at 195 10% but there are pro's and cons.

The extra weight I initially bulked (205) too wasn't good on my cardiovascular health and there has to be a balance. I was told constantly before I cycled, get heavy, eat eat eat. But if you aren't already on PED's or doing doubles, you gain weight too quickly.

Its ironic to think that we, being bodybuilders, fitness buffs, w/e, are trying to project the perfect image of health, while taking an unhealthy balance in our diets to achieve that goal. I tried a high protein, lean fat diet with GOMAD and it sucked.

I added back in my vegetables, substituted turkey for red meat, and cut back on shakes. I got my abs/obliques back in 2 weeks and watched my body get fuller and bigger. Strength kept going up and I felt better. Don't do GOMAD unless you like a tire around your waist.

I honestly don't think the healthiest route to gaining and maintaining mass is to get as heavy as possible then cut down. I've been building better muscle by eating cleaning and consistently rather than pounding in as many calories as possible, gaining too much fat and hoping to see what happens next.

That may work for pro's and extremely advanced lifters, but if you aren't already 225 and 10% walking around, you probably have a way to go like I do. I'm at 195 and 10% and I think I'm small as fuck. Compared to other guys my height, they envy my size. Compared to where I want to be, I'm just a little guy.

But if you asked me before cycle if I was happy with that size, strength and weight, I would have said yes. Thats the crazy part about this whole thing.

The potential to increase strength is so dramatic on a good cycle, that I think waiting till you are the right size (according to your own genetics, height and HEALTH) is the best idea yet. You can't put on so much weight too quickly because its not your body that suffers, its the pressure around your organs. The heart, lungs etc, have less room to work with when you increase your size too drastically and it ends up working against you in the long run. I felt it when I bumped up in weight too quickly.

That being said, I was already strong for my weight and the PED's just made me a fuck ton stronger. So if you're strong and your tendons are strong, the extra weight will be no problem. I experienced no joint pain, no tendon pain and no injuries on cycle so in that respect, I was more than ready.

Again, to each their own, this is only my experience.

Brothers, thank you all for such great advice. I'm starting PCT in the next week and I'm planning my cycle for next year after my kid is born so I'll have plenty of time to recover and keep training. Its enjoyable to be doing something for 12 years and find a completely new approach.