+ 1 New - Background and Cycle Info - Looking for Tips to Maximise the rest of my cycle
Good morning!
This is my first post and includes my stats, training, diet, cycle log and questions. I hope that I’ve covered what is needed to as to avoid wasting your time with asking me questions I should have answered for you!
I really super appreciate all the reading on this forum - It’s an amazing place 
I have been trawling the forums for a while now and really am in awe of how much you guys share and how much you look after one another. It's great!
I’m a 45yo F, 164cm about 66kg (up a few lately yay!) and 20-21% BF according to Mr Caliper (the bathroom scale however is another story!) Mesomorphic body type. I’m a sprint sport based athlete who is more looking at personal aesthetic goals during off season and probably realistically into the playing season as well (which starts again in April). I’m not that competitive in my sport -playing against 21yos - so growing my focus on myself as my own competition ! (and gaining strength so I can enter pre-training season with more strength and power for sport too)
DIET
I’m on 50% P, 35%C and rest fat. I track daily. My challenge is working at TDEE - 20% - which I understand allows muscle mass maintenance whilst losing fat when doing mostly lifting (Mike Matthews stuff). However - it makes a simple overnight oats breakfast nearly my whole carb intake for the day at this calorie level (about 1300). Most protein is lean mean derived, with a pre/post workout whey and sometimes a casein at night - carbs are veggies mainly. I don’t feel I struggle a lot with ‘temptation’ - if I have a craving for something more carby ( like a sweet or a bready thing - which I don’t usually like - I will eat it shortly before a lifting session). But - I’m wondering if my calorie goal is ideal.
TRAINING
Currently
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1 weekend sport training per weekend - 3 hrs - skill, agility and sprint based drills - games
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Limiting other cardio at the moment to two short interval sessions in the gym on the bike
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3 -4 lifting sessions a week - Upper/core and Lower/core and another upper/lower each depending if I can fit in 4, otherwise an upper/core or lower/core depending on where the recovery is at the time. Sessions are primarily compound lifts a few isolation bits thrown in (I have wimpy triceps). Lifts are aiming at 4-6 rep sets with long rests.
Starting in Jan -if I want to be competitive as I can be on the pitch - I will have to start doing a lot more cardio. Yay boo.
Not sure if I'm being impatient but didn't want to do more cardio than I'm doing as I want to preserve muscle and not sure how much I can realistically get away with.
HEALTH
No issues. Had full physical and bloodwork through work about 1 mo prior to starting a Var cycle. Liver and kidneys and hormones normal - had Higher than normal HDL (1.9) and good LDL (2.7) Always been healthy and a good diet; like cooking; dislike sweets/fast food etc. No supplements except whey/casein and BCAA tastiness in my water sometimes.
CYCLE: currently in the middle of my first cycle - Anavar. Plan initially 10-12 weeks, bloodwork every 3 weeks but happy to modify.
EndOfW1 (EOW1): Var 10mg split 5/5 : slight headache on Day 3 but might have been incidental. No other issues.
EOW2: Var 10mg split 5/5: some acne on face, oilier hair. Feel stronger! As I’m coming up on perimenopause I thought I’d start having these six wild hairs on my chin turn into 36 but not yet
EOW3: Var 10mg split 5/5: continuing acne but not bad, oilier hair - just have to wash a bit more. Feel strong and energetic.
Checkup bloodwork sent.
EOW4: Var 15mg split 5/10. Acne is settling, no other sides. Feeling stronger, recovery is much quicker than before the Var. Recovery time was the killer for me before.
Bloods back from EOW3: All normal except my HDL is now low, LDL is how high. HDL down to .8 and LDL 3.15 All other values pertaining to liver are normal. (I'm not sure how much I was expecting this to change - was mainly alert to kidney and liver function issues - normal).
EOW5: Var 15mg split 5/10: Acne stable - not bad - feeling strong - no other sides.
EOW6: Var 15mg split 5/10: Feeling amazing. No added sides. Starting to really see results BF dropped to 20% but gaining weight. (Which is why I think it’s odd because I”m on a TDEE - 20%)
Ordered bloodwork kit - results next week. (No plan to increase var, just using results to decide on continuing or stopping).
I planned to continue at 15mg till week 8 and drop to 10 for 2 weeks (for 10 week total); or to continue to week 10 and drop for 2 weeks (for 12 week total). I see some people don’t count the ‘PCT’ weeks but thought since I”m on my first cycle that I would. As I saw it took about 2 weeks for the acne to start to settle, I figured 2 weeks slow taper would work ideally for me.
So aside from basic feedback or tips on how to maximise the rest of my cycle, I’m basically open to feedback I’m just starting to see real results in my body and think I might be a bit impatient but enjoying it so far. I'd like to further work on leaning up but I'm not sure how to progress except to increase food and increase cardio (I can't see decreasing food...and am worried that without increasing food I will start cardio-ing away these lovely muscles )
I see the suggestion is generally equal time off as on for a cycle. The timing of this would mean my next cycle would coincide with a trip I’m doing - which I can’t bring anything like this with me or risk a major problem. But if I shortened my break between cycles I could finish before the trip. I’m currently operating on the assumption that once my bloodwork is back to normal it’s safe to proceed. Yes-Es and slaps welcome.
Thank you so much for reading this novel.
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So I went off cycle as my liver started misbehaving.
During investigation for something else, my TSH has suddenly gone up while my Free T4 remains normal. This is looked at as ‘early hypothyroidism’ if it is consistent (I’ll be checking again trust me!)
Has anyone had any long term thyroid dysfuction as a result of taking anabolics?
No studies .....
I’m curious about how long it can take bloods to return to normal. It is probably ‘how long is your bit of string’ kind of question.
My second set of bloods still shows tanking HDL ( it’s down to .69 ) and high LDL (higher than last time. A very slightly elevated ALT (40, high normal is 35). Dr reporting says he’s not concerned, to retest in 3mos. Well, if I stay on Var for the intended cycle (10-12 weeks) I’m certainly getting it checked again in 3 weeks!
I guess I’m wondering if it’s going to keep creeping up. I wonder if it was going to creep up even if I was on 10mg - ie a dose component of the increase or a time/duration on the var increase.
I feel like I’m just now starting to see all the advantages and would be sad to stop but don’t want to be silly.
Typically var doesn’t do that. However. That is a hallmark signature of winstrol. Have you tested the tabs to see what they are?
jayiskAnavar is highly faked. var isnt cheap so if you got some for say $30 USD its prob not var.
and if you are not experiencing the normal effects from taking var Girl mentioned it could be winstrol.
I would like to but I’m not sure where in the UK I can do that.
Just buy a test kit online - they’re normally ok for things like var. if you want a name of a UGL testing facility send me a FR and I’ll PM you the details. It’s probbaly not cost effective though as the lab test will cost about £70 if I remember correctly.
A couple of other points to note. Liver enzymes are often raised in people who lift weights regularly. Which is why your doc is probably not worried. If they go into the 100’s and/or you have raised GGT and bilirubin this is something to worry about. If you’re running an oral you really should consider some TUDCA for liver support at 250mg twice daily available from Amazon. As to lipids. Var almost always gets me here. I run the following for lipid support daily:
[- if you can handle it then up to 1500mg split of niacin flush. This is the only known way to medically raise HDL levels but be warned the flush effects can be very marked and quite “scary” to experience but they are truly harmless. I’ve had colleagues become very worried I was having a medical emergency due to how red I turned. I found I tended to get used to it over time and the effect seemed to diminish. I would only do this if I had extremely low HDL levels which has happened but on pretty big stacks.]
I hope this helps you.
Thank you very much for this. I will send you a FR - the tests I've seen online (obvs much cheaper) would not be definitive as far as I can tell - they test for presence of X (like var) but it doesn't tell you if it's 10% or 90% etc. It might not be cost effective true - but I do kind of like knowing what I'm taking, even if it's only for knowing what I might try at some future point. (And, I bought enough Var for a bunch of cycles...)
Do you notice a difference when running liver support and not when it comes to your HDL? I probably can't do the niacin thing - I have pretty bad rosacea as it is! How low was your HDL? I went from a 'higher than normal' value to 25% of normal in my last bloodwork.
Very helpful thank you
Happy to help just shoot me a FR and I’ll accept and send you the email address for the tester. Liver support won’t help with lipids/HDL but it will protect your liver. 25% is pretty low but not unusual when running orals. It happens and normally reverses once you stop the cycle. I can’t remember how low mine went but it was bad enough to warrant me running Niacin for 4 weeks.
So one of the things I’m wondering is if I’m eating enough total calories. I’m wanting to cut (hence TDEE -20%) but gaining weight. Not as much definition as I’d like but definitely gains are mass. I’m pretty strict on my macros and calories so wondered if I’m telling my body to ‘save fat’. Granted the calculator doesn’t have an ‘on anavar’ tickbox. I’m just hungry all the time. Will being on anavar with this goal increase the caloric requirements enough to mess with the numbers and put me into ‘tricking my body’ mode?
I'd say your calorie total is a little light. Not quite sure what you're trying to be competitive at though? (sprinting) Do you do fasted cardio?
You sound like you're "getting more dense" meaning the anavar is helping you retain muscle and more protein synthesis. Don't be so crazy with the scale...go by the mirror and how your strength is.
Also is your anavar legit? Acne is not a very common side to have with anavar. Have you tested it? If it's through a source from here then put up a photo of it.
Good morning and thanks for your reply.
Ha I meant competitive with myself / self improvement as well as - likely less successfully sprinting around on the pitch. Thanks for your thoughts on the calories. My cardio (which is not extensive right now) is done when I can get to do it in breaks during the working day - sometimes they would be considered fasted and sometimes not.
The Anavar is from a source that is reviewed in the reviews - the 50mg from them looked like pharma grade packaging but I couldn’t possibly have chopped those 50mg pills up into 5’s - the 10mg is in source branded packaging. I have not tested it. Maybe I’ll go have a look at lab reviews in the UK.
I think I put up the photo correctly (via Submit a photo)
Thanks again so much!
Achilles412Personally don’t see an issue with shortening break in between esp w how diligent you are about bloods if bloods come back funky during 2nd run alter cycle accordingly but a smaller break shouldn’t cause major issue
Thank you
I’m a 45yo female
Are you a girl ?
Yes
So you are just running Anavar with no test at all @ 66kg then? ..
Achilles412She a female brother
Well spotted man - ya got me lol
LOL that will teach me to follow directions - the post on ‘how to get advice on your cycle’ said to include all this stuff so I did. My gender kinda got lost!
I think its as you describe yourself as a 'Mesomorph' underneath your gender which females don't generally tend to put, so it was more an assumption you were male than anything else lol
Yeah, posting in the lady's lounge was too subtle... Coincidentally, Agile Flower is my stripper name.
I believe the OP is a female