posted Wed, 10/11/2023 - 12:07
1043
Increasing TRT dose as a cycle
ad
Hello,
I am a 26 year old man who has been weightlifting for 10 years, plateaued 5 years ago, and I've decided I want to push past my natural limit of strength and muscle size. I naturally have fairly low total T around 350 ng/dL and so was able to get prescribed Testosterone Enanthate at 120 mg/week which keeps my total T around 800 ng/dL. I get bloodwork for my physician done every 4 months so I want to squeeze in my first cycle between then. While I'm on this cycle I'll get bloodwork once a month. After week 12 I return to my TRT dose of 120 mg/week.
Current weight: 185lb ~15% bodyfat
Nutrition for this cycle: ~3000kCal + ~185g protein + vitamins every day
Here's my plan:
Cycle:
| Weeks | Compounds | Dose | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-12 (bloodwork once a month) | Testosterone Enanthate | 300 mg/week split into injections 7x a week | ||
| 1-14 | Finasteride | 5 mg/day | ||
| 4-12 | Anastrozole | Will use if first bloodwork shows high estradiol (start at 0.25mg/day) | ||
- Bookmark
- 0
- 0
Question concerning bloodwork and your doctor. Is your blodwork through your doctor? If so are you concerned about them questiong why your Test Levels are going to be 1400+ vs 800ng/dl.
Im in a similar boat except my bloodwork will be about every 6 months. So I can squeeze 12-16 weeks in and still give myself time for my "numbers" to come down a bit to normal TRT numbers before my doctor views them.
The once a month bloodwork I’m proposing I would order online outside of my physician. However for my TRT my physician requires blood work every 4 months. I was hoping my total t would go back down to 800 ng/dL in one month but I should probably find a calculator for that.
I made this on SteroidPlotter, modeling my TRT as the steady-state level at day 41 (12.88 mg/day), then day 42 start injecting 300 mg/week. The plot shows that 4 weeks after stopping supraphysiological injections I am back to "13.12 mg/day" of test. I doubt this 2% increase would raise concerns from my physician. However I wonder if estradiol or other chemicals could be at alarming levels.
There is a slew of other factors that can be of concern from estradiol, BP, cholesterol, RBC, etc... best not to do a cycle just before needing a physical.
I would definitely concur.
True, there are a slew of other things that could be off baseline even after a month. I'm going to ask if I can get my blood panel every 6 months as this is pretty typical for monitoring TRT.
I can't speak on finasteride or anastrozole but I like the fact that you're starting at that dosage. Be careful as you might not need anastrozole or finasteride at that dosage. Good luck and you should feel a difference. Diet, rest and workout plan will definitely be important too..Just glad to not see triple that amount out the gate!
Thanks for the comment. After thinking about it, I'll hold off on the anastrozole until I get my first bloodwork done and dose accordingly. The finasteride I don't want to hold off on because I hear once you notice your hair is thinning you have already lost ALOT of hair.
Good deal. Yeah I've never understood why guys attack estrogen out the gate even before they start to show signs of rising estrogen. Some estrogen is needed. When you see an issue with it only then would you troubleshoot. Yes bloodwork is crucial. But ok cool.
You plateaud at 21 if im reading right?
Yeah certainly in terms of lean muscle mass. I've gotten slightly stronger since 21. A year ago I did a bulking phase to 200lbs and then cut down to my current 185 but if I gained any lean mass from that it's not noticeable.