Stats:
Age: 26
Weight: 219 lbs
Body Fat: 17%

Been bodybuilding since I was 18. I had no understanding of nutrition back then. I would eat whatever, drink a lot of protein shakes and mass gainers, and train hard. It wasn't till I turned 23 (2020) that I finally started working on understanding nutrition and diet and the important role it plays in bodybuilding.

First Bulk with a coach was 08/2022 - 03/2023. Started at 173 lbs / 10% BF and finished at 231 lbs / 18% BF.

First Cut with a coach was 03/2023 - 09/2023. Started at 231 lbs / 18% BF and finished at 214 lbs / 16.4% BF

Maintenance started 10/2023 (Stats above).

Half way through my bulk I went to the doctor due to varicose veins. After the doctor asked some questions I opened up and told him I'd been having a low sex drive. Getting hard wasn't a problem but just overall desire wasn't there along with no motivation to really do anything. My confidence was in the toilet and I was kind of depressed some days and couldn't explain why. I asked the doc to check my Test levels and he did which revealed my T was at 420 (was taking a testosterone support supplement at the time). He then proceeded to tell me that the range for my age is between 400-900 and that my levels were fine because I'm still in the range.....idk about you but that just sounds like bs. He then prescribes me anti-anxiety medication which did absolutely nothing for me. Jump to a week or two later I'm telling my buddy about it and he starts telling me how my levels are way too low and I need to look into TRT. So I start taking 200 mg Test Cyp per Week (.5CC every Tues and Saturday) and .5mg Anastrozole day after injection. My coach informed me this was a low therapeutic dose to start with. Results were great in terms of my mood, emotion and sleep. Felt confident when socializing again, Motivated to reach my goals, and generally happy most days. This is before seeing any progress in terms of physique. Continued taking 200mg per week til 07/2023. I had just dropped my coach to see if I could maintain this lifestyle on my own with plans to return if I needed help. This is when a buddy of mine started TRT as well so naturally we ordered our Test together to save on shipping and handling and get a better deal for ordering more. The bottles that we received were 250mg instead of 200 mg so I decided to continue my regimen and increase my dose to 250mg per week and have been doing so since then.

I'm overall happy with the muscle gains I've achieved but feel I could have done more to cut fat. I lift 2-3 hours a day 5-6 days a week and did cardio during the cut. Ill be honest I wasn't very consistent with cardio and I had 2 cheat meals a week during the bulk so I'm sure that didn't help and I've learned from my mistakes. Part of me wants to do it all over again and start a bulk next month but then the other side of me wants to start a serious cut for 2 months first so I can get as close to 10% BF as possible before going hard on another bulk. T\he Buddy I train with lifts heavy af and is bigger than me so Ive adopted his diet so I can keep up during work outs. Basically high carbs and High protein with moderate fat (3,250 cal / 50% Carbs / 35% Protein / 15% Fat).

My other buddy who told me about TRT just started a Mast P/ Tren Ace/ Test Prop Cycvle and swears by Tren for cutting but then I have my old coach and others telling me to stay away from tren and just use anavar or clen. If you've gotten this far through my post and still dont understand what I'm trying to ask well then in summary:

Should I cut again or should I rinse and repeat and start a bulk?
Should I continue my Test Cyp and add in Anavar or Clen or should I explore shorter esters and other compounds?

And while we are at it what is the deal with peptides? Ive been looking into them and they sound too good to be true. I've mainly researched BPC 157, GHRP6, and Ipamorelin.

Thanks in advance for any insight, advice, or shared experiences! Goal is to do my first Classic Physique show Summer of 2025.