First Cycle & Beginner TRT
I’m 35 yrs old. I have been lifting weights consistently for around 10 years now. I’d make progress and regress wasn’t really dialed in on nutrition but have been consistent with training. I started running a few years ago. When I combined running and lifting, I ended up with an injury. That injury led me to peptides and optimization in general. This year was the first time I did bloodwork to check my testosterone levels. I had been out of shape since the holidays and had beefed up to 174lbs & 18% BF at 5’8” . April I started a cut. Got down to 14% BF and did bloodwork. I didn’t want to start testosterone because me and my girl are trying to start a family. That’s where things get interesting. My time on testosterone may be limited and I need to make the most of it
The bloodwork was disappointing even though I was looking and feeling great. Was on HCG 2x a week @ 500IU, 25mg of Enclomiphene twice a week, tirzepatide & CJC/Ipamorelin . My IGF-1 levels were lower (Enclomiphene) and my testosterone had only increased 10-15 points. Up to 585. I am working with a wellness clinic.
After a couple weeks of increased HCG& Enclomiphene, i decided to call them up and say I’m ready for TRT. My plan is to use HCG and in a few months add HMG to hopefully stay fertile during this journey. They started me at a dose of 100mg of test cyp injected once weekly. I changed that up to 120mg per week(split into 60/60) to see how my body responds to testosterone.
I do want to ramp this up into testosterone cycle territory after the bloodwork check in at week 6. I ordered some test E online (and hopefully it’s dosed properly)
How will I manage testosterone being at decent levels between bloodwork at the clinic?
Should my first jump from 120mg be to 250mg? Squeeze all the juice I can from that doseage before considering 300/350?
HCG will be run 1500IU per week(M W F)
HGH 4IU nightly
I am doing a semen analysis in 90 days to confirm I still have viable fertility. If it isn’t viable, I will add the HMG at 150 IU weekly
My plan was as follows:
Week 1: 180mg test cyp(front load to reach levels early) dosed Thursday, Friday, Monday - 1500 IU HCG - 4IU HGH - 3mg Reta
Week 2 thru 6: 120mg test cyp (60/60) + HCG + HGH / Reta may be dropped week 3
This is what I’d all consider pre-cycle. Bloodwork will be done at this point
Will need to procure arimidex just in case. I have Enclomiphene on hand for PCT. But I will probably cruise on TRT until next July unless I can’t maintain fertility
Cycle:
Week 1 thru 4: 250mg test E (minimum of 125/125 - but may pin EOD) - HCG (MWF) 1500IU total - HGH 4IU
~Will check bloods if seeing estrogen sides~
Week 4 thru 12: 300mg test E (100/100/100 or EOD) - HCG (MWF) 1500IU total - HGH 4IU
Bloodwork & Semen analysis at this point. Either cruise or PCT and have a baby. For someone completely new to testosterone, would I stall out on 300mg of testosterone? Should I increase to 300 sooner in that cycle and possibly end up at 350? I do want to keep this first cycle bio-identical only but I do want to make the risk of possibly not being fertile worth it. I’m shutting down from 585 which isn’t exactly clinically low testosterone
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you're describing two goals that pull against each other: pushing testosterone into cycle-level territory (250-350mg+) while also trying to preserve fertility to have a baby. HCG alone often isn't enough to maintain spermatogenesis at higher exogenous testosterone doses, that's exactly why HMG exists as an option, and even with both, sperm parameters can still drop, sometimes for months after stopping, sometimes longer. A single semen analysis at 90 days won't tell you much if the trend is still moving. If having a biological child on a specific timeline actually matters to you and your partner, the "how much can I push this before checking" framing is the part I'd slow down on, not the milligram number itself.
The bloodwork consistency question you're not asking directly but is baked in here: injectable test cyp or test E dosed weekly (even split) creates peaks and troughs, and if your clinic is drawing labs at a fixed day/time relative to your last pin, you can shift where in that curve you get tested. That's worth being upfront about with them rather than solving for on your own, especially since they're the ones managing your fertility protocol alongside the testosterone.