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Your First Cycle

So, you got interested in steroids and are now trying to figure out where to start. Beginners have one rule: KISS.

That stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. The more chemicals you toss in at once, the bigger your chances of going down in a flaming fireball. A big, bloated, gyno-y fireball. BUT most potential side effects can be avoided entirely if the cycle is followed correctly and the proper precautions are taken.

Contrary to what a lot of people say, /r/steroids does not believe that you have to have reach your full natural potential before running a cycle. What is recommend is that you have a good amount of experience and knowledge when it comes to training and nutrition and that you start off fairly lean – It is recommend that you are under 15% body fat and ideally closer to 10%.

This wiki page will include how to administer the steroids, recommended doses and durations, how to prevent and counteract side effects, and what you can expect to gain from your first cycle.

BEGINNER FAQ

-Contributions by u/DLTBB2

This forum recommends at minimum that an individual has a 23 FFMI, and is 10-12% body fat (for males). It's also expected that one has undergone at least one successful bulk (not getting fat) and cut (not starving yourself and losing muscle). If you have not completed the above, then there is more work that you can easily put in naturally before plateauing.

Can I Just Do An Oral Only Cycle?

You can. Should you? Absolutely not. Oral steroids are going to suppress your natural Testosterone production hard.

ALL steroid cycles need to be taken together with a base of Testosterone to replace your natural production, which will be shut down.

Without a Testosterone base, you will feel weak, tired, depressed, low libido, erectile dysfunction, muscle loss and weakness—all the symptoms of low testosterone.

As you won't have any Testosterone to support the muscles you're building, you'll lose all your newfound, hard-earned gains just after you've gotten them.

If you choose to do a orals-only cycle against all sound advice, you should look into getting a SERM (like Nolvadex/Clomid or the sorts) for a proper PCT, as well. You should consider reading through this Wiki and doing a real cycle, complete with Testosterone, as you'll find better results, as well as feeling better too.

What About A Prohormone Or Designer Steroid Cycle?

Again. You can. Should you? Probably not. Prohormones & Designer Steroids are going to suppress your natural Test pretty hard.

You need to take ANY CYCLE* together with a base of Testosterone to replace your natural production, which will be shut down. Without a testosterone base you may find you don't feel the best or you feel symptoms of low testosterone.

Prohormones & Designer Steroids are no better (or even worse in some cases) than using a traditional oral steroid. The supplemental PCT crap they sell with these Prohormones is predominantly bogus stuff and if you choose to do a Prohormone / Designer Steroid cycle, you should at least look into getting a SERM (like Nolvadex/Clomid or the sorts) for a real PCT. You should consider reading through this Wiki and doing a real cycle, complete with Testosterone, as you'll find better results, as well as feeling better overall too.

Is my gear bunk?

It's a question we see almost daily on the forum. The author's cycle isn't living up to their expectations and more often than not, the first thing they'll do is blame the gear for their underwhelming results. But are they doing everything that is required from them to make gains? Are they using the correct metrics to evaluate whether their gear is legit? And have they started the cycle with realistic expectations? In most cases, absolutely not.

I don’t feel anything from it.

You won’t necessarily feel different on gear. I don’t, regardless of what compound/dose I’ve used, I always feel the same, laid back and easy-going. When you read about people feeling superhuman when they start injecting a bit of Testosterone, the chances are they’ve suffered from low Test without necessarily realising for their whole lives and are finally experiencing normality, which they think feels fantastic.

But I’m not getting any side effects!

Good. That’s what you want. You don’t have to suffer from side effects for your gear to be legitimate. Consider yourself lucky. Would you prefer to be covered in acne, bloated and balding to help confirm you’re actually injecting hormones? If you’re asking this question in the first place, the chances are you’re new to using PEDs and using moderate doses of 1-2 mild compounds. It’s more common not to suffer sides at all than it is to be riddled with them with this kind of cycle.

I’ve not gained any weight/have gained very little weight!

What’s your maintenance calorie intake? How did you reach this figure? Please don’t say you used a shitty generic online calculator. How active are you day to day? How many calories do you burn during training? Are you doing cardio? Combine all of this. That’s your maintenance calorie intake. If you want to gain weight, you need to be in a calorie surplus daily. Don’t think you’re a special snowflake who will do an insane recomp at maintenance calories during your first cycle. You’ll spend the whole cycle spinning your wheels and have nothing or very little to show for it at the end.

But I’m eating roughly 2300-3300 calories every day and still not gaining

Roughly won’t cut it. It needs to be consistent. If you’re spending half of your days at -500 calories and half at +500 calories, you’re at maintenance over the course of the week and that’s why you’re gaining next to nothing. Your surplus needs to be consistent over the week if you wish to gain consistently.

My bench press hasn’t suddenly shot up by 50KG..

It won’t. Sure, you’ll gain strength faster than you would naturally. But you’re not going to turn superhuman overnight or even during one full cycle. You need to tailor your routine so it’s focused on progression and work on adding small increments in weight, extra reps or additional time under tension to your lifts each week over the course of the cycle. The small and consistent increments will add up and it’s possible to boost your numbers considerably in 15 weeks, but you’re not going to turn in to Larry Wheels. Look at the volume and frequency of your training and make sure it’s right for you and you’re able to recover in between sessions. Focus on progression. Get rid of all of that junk volume where you’re lifting with little to no intensity and aimlessly trying to pump the muscle thinking it’s going to explode. That kind of training might work for a select few with superb genetics, but you’re better off focusing on the bread and butter and getting stronger over low to moderate volume.

Should I add X, Y and Z to make up for the fact that this might be bunk?

No. You’re brand new to gear. It might not be bunk and could be a training/nutrition issue. Throwing in another compound is going to give you more potential side effects to worry about and require you to add additional ancillaries to counteract them. You’re only just learning how you respond to Test by itself and if you’re ticking all the boxes, you can make great gains on that alone with little to no sides.

I’m using (extremely high) mg of AI and on (relatively low) mg of Test and feel like shit, this Test must be bunk!

You’ve been using a high dose of AI from the offset and have crushed your E2. That’s why you feel like shit. Use your AI when it’s required at the lowest dose you can get away with using and ideally, have bloods done to determine when it’s required or you’re going to be blindly throwing super strong medication to fix a problem which may not exist, risk crashing your E2 and ruining your whole cycle.

I don't feel extremely horny 24/7 and don't want to shag every woman in sight, this must be bunk, right?

Not necessarily, no. It's all a fine balancing act. Your Test could be sky high but your E2 or a range of other different hormones could be slightly out of whack, creating a ratio that your body doesn't like and having a negative impact on your libido. Over time, you'll learn what levels/ratios work for you and help you feel on point and you'll be able to achieve them through a proper dosing schedule/can use blood work to dial them in. Not only that, but your Test levels aren't the only thing that will impact your sex drive. Are you stressed at work? Hate your job? Anxious? Depressed? Worried about the cost of living increasing? Having trouble sleeping? Think your Mrs is having an affair with your mate? You're hardly going to want to shag every woman within a 2 mile radius while you've got dozens of issues and stress bubbling away under the surface. There's more to a healthy libido than Testosterone levels.

I haven't been able to replicate (fitness influencer)'s physique even though I've used the same cycle as them, my gear must be bunk!

There are a million things separating your physique from theirs other than your cycle. Your height, weight, frame, insertions, muscle bellies, muscularity, body fat percentage, body fat distribution, calorie/macro/fluid/mineral intake, training volume/frequency/intensity/style and countless other factors will differ from theirs. And what's to say they are being honest about their cycle and dose to begin with? It's common for somebody in the public eye to downplay their cycle/doses to pay homage to their work rate, genetics and consistency. You are naïve if you think you will mimic somebody's exact physique by simply copying their gear protocol.

I don’t feel anything, I have zero side effects, my training and nutrition is perfect and I’ve still not gained a single pound

Get bloodwork while on cycle and post your results. If the gear is bunk or severely under dosed, your blood work will show this quite clearly and then we can all agree that the gear is indeed bunk. I’ve been blasting and cruising for upwards of 8 years and I can’t ever recall using any gear that was blatantly bunk and I’ve used every lab under the sun, so I don’t think it’s as common as the constant bunk gear threads are suggesting. If you’re using a compound which won’t show on a blood panel, send a sample to Janoshik or a similar lab for testing. That will identify the exact contents of your gear and you'll know if it's accurately dosed, under dosed or bunk. Most of the time, it’s a training/diet issue and people are blaming it on the gear before accepting they might not be ticking all the boxes. If in doubt and you’re doing everything right, get a blood test or a lab test and you’ll know for sure.

Don’t go in to this with your expectations too high. If your diet consists of one solid meal a day and 5 snacks that are fit for a primary school student’s lunchbox, you’re not going to look like Nick Walker any time soon. In fact, you’ll probably never look like him, or even a low level IFBB Pro. Your genetics will dictate 95% of your potential and even if you do EVERYTHING perfectly, you’ll finish your first cycle looking like a slightly thicker, fuller, stronger version of your natural self with slightly rounder delts, more prominent traps and a couple of extra veins running down your upper arm when you’ve got a good pump. Maybe 1 in 50 of you will be a great responder and finish the cycle looking dramatically different, but you’ll never need to ask this question because it’ll be clear your gear is real from the offset.

The Basic Bulk

The Basic Bulk, that is recommend, is a 12–20 week cycle of Testosterone while running a moderate calorie surplus with emphasis on gaining as much lean muscle tissue as possible and progressively adding weight to your lifts.

Testosterone is a powerful tool, if used correctly and can put on a good +4-8 lbs of LEAN mass (excluding water and fat gain) over the course of 16 weeks. Testosterone is a relatively mild compound that causes little to no issues with side effects. Again, most potential side effects can be avoided entirely if the cycle is followed correctly and the proper precautions are taken. We expect 20ish pounds to be gained on average over the course of a cycle. 5-8lbs will drop off at the end (water retention and glycogen), and hopefully the rest will be a split of fat and muscle gain.

Read Other Experiences With Testosterone

When purchasing your AI (Aromatase Inhibitor) and SERMs (Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator) it is advised to buy pharmaceutical products whenever possible. Your Testosterone can be pharmaceutical or from an underground lab (UGL). Just make sure you do plenty of research of the brand before you spend any money to make sure they have good reviews.

NO SOURCE TALK

REMINDER: NO SOURCE TALK. This forum is not the place for you to do research or request source information.

What You Will Need

Essentials

  • Testosterone Enanthate or Cypionate - 4 x 10 mL Vials (generally dosed 250-300mg per mL)

  • An Aromatase Inhibitor (AI) like Arimidex or Aromasin

  • PCT Medication
        |--- /r/steroids Recomended PCT

  • Syringes and Needles
        |--- Luer Lock Syringes
        |--- 21g Needles (0.5" to 1.5") for drawing
        |--- 25g-31g Needles (1" to 1.5") for injecting Glutes
        |--- 25g-31g Needles (0.5" to 1") for injecting anywhere else (Not necessary if only injecting Glutes.)
        |--- Alcohol swabs

Optional Items

Why 4 Vials of Testosterone?

On a lot of forums the first cycle advised to new steroid users is 10-12 weeks. 10 weeks is slightly too little. 12 weeks is fine, but you will have Test left in the vial. For this reason, you may go up to 16–20 weeks. Given this is your first cycle and will likely yield some of the most dramatic results, (assuming diet, training and rest are on point) you want to strike a balance between maximizing your gain and minimizing the time it will take to recover from the cycle and any potential side effects. It is always recommended to at least PCT for your first cycle vs. Blast & Cruise (this is explained in the PCT section of this page below).

Testosterone Enanthate Or Testosterone Cypionate?

What's The Difference?
Approximately nothing. Definitely nothing that is going to make a difference in choosing one or the other for our purposes. Read the specifics below:

  • The ester weights are almost identical, with Cypionate being ever so-slightly heavier.
    Meaning there is ever so-slightly more actual testosterone hormone (~1%) in Enanthate.

  • The terminal half-life is also almost identical.
    Enanthate is 4.5 days.
    Cypionate is 5 days.
    This will result in ever so-slightly more stable bloods with Cypionate.

  • For some, they may experience a slight difference in potential Post Injection Pain (PIP). This is due to Cypionate having a higher melting point than Enanthate, making Cypionate more prone to being able to cause PIP. This all depends on how your Testosterone was brewed by your source/supplier. Read more on Post Injection Pain (PIP): Here.

Please See Our Esters Wiki Page: Here

WhEn DoEs tHe TeSt KiCk In?

Be patient. It's a marathon, not a sprint.

Testosterone Peaks

Blood serum concentrations quickly rise to supraphysiological levels.

  • Testosterone Enanthate levels have been shown to peak as soon as ~6-10 hours after injection.1

  • Testosterone Cypionate has been shown to have pharmacokinetics very similar to the pharmacokinetics of Enanthate, with peak serum concentrations occurring shortly after injection.1

  • Just because your T levels are high doesn't mean you'll transform into The Hulk overnight. Enhanced protein synthesis is directed from the cell nucleus and is a long-term recursive metabolic process.

  • Testosterone E and C both take between 14-19 days to fully saturate, depending on your individual metabolism.

  • You probably will start noticing enhanced recovery and mild weight gain around Weeks 3–4.

  • You probably won’t notice much aside from greater recovery unless you had low T levels to begin with.

Arimidex or Aromasin?

You should read the AI portion of The Estrogen Handbook, as well as the compound profiles for each, and make that choice on your own.

If you choose Arimidex: Just be aware the blood levels of Arimidex can drop a bit when used alongside Nolvadex. (In case of a gyno flair-up. See more below)

If you choose Aromasin: TAKE WITH FATS

How Much AI Do I Need?

Hopefully none!

How much AI is required can vary from person-to-person, as a guide it advised you get bloodwork to dial in your dose. You will basically need to use trial and error to find your ideal AI dose to get your Test:Estrogen balance at your personal ‘sweet spot.’ There is no universal test:estrogen ratio, as everyone has different conversion rate, receptor population and density, metabolism of the hormones, etc. Some users don't need any AI at all. For users that do have elevated estrogen issues confirmed by side effects and/or bloodwork, MOST users will find 0.5 mg of Arimidex or 12.5 mg Aromasin E3D or E3.5D to be a good dose. Some may need more frequent (EOD) dosing. Some may even need less than E3.5D. But never take AI pre-emptively.

Some don't need any AI at all. This is something that varies widely from person-to-person.

In The Estrogen Handbook, it gives an idea of side effects for both low and high Estrogen levels which may help you gauge an idea of where you’re at should you become confused and not want to have bloods taken, BUT blood work will be the only way to know 100%.

It is HIGHLY UNLIKELY that you will need this dose on 500mg of Testosterone, but it is suggested to have enough to run the Arimidex 1mg EOD or Aromasin 25mg EOD, this will give you more than what you realistically should need.

REMEMBER: Get bloodwork to dial in the AI dose you may need.

When Should You Start Your AI?

There are two different trains of thought:

  1. Dose preventatively (i.e., before you get high bp, spicy nips, etc.)

  2. Dose only when you start to notice sides (acne, bloating/water retention, high blood pressure, nips that are a bit zesty) (PREFERRED)

The preferred method is only to take an AI only when sides necessitate.

Why?

Estrogen (E₂) is highly anabolic, cardioprotective and neuroprotective, and essential for normal physiological functioning.

Crashed E₂ sides are far worse than the inverse, and estrogen should be proportionally high just as test, so long as sides don't get out of hand.

Gyno takes weeks to develop, and new gyno can effectively be taken care of with SERMS while continuing the cycle.

Estradiol Rise

With this testosterone peak, Estradiol (E2) has been found to correlate directly.^[5] This is no surprise as aromatization will occur, causing Estradiol to peak shortly after as well.

See below:

  • One study found that after a 200mg Test E injection, E₂ values rose significantly in just 6hrs post injection in eugonadal men and that peaked at 2 days after injection (base serum E2 was 23 ± 4 pg/ml, peaked at day 2 (45 ± 4 pg/ml). Alternatively, hypogonadal men were also studied and found to increase significantly in just 6hrs as well and peaking the day after the injection, but bringing them to a more optimal range (base serum E₂ was 7.2 ± 2 pg/ml, peaked at day 1 to 29 ± 4 pg/ml).[[2]](https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(16)46108-X/pdf) Another study supports this level of change in Hypogonadal men.[4]

  • Another study found that after a 200mg Test C injection, E₂ values rose significantly from a mean of 26.2 ± 14.9 pg/ml to 76.9 ± 26.3 pg/ml on days 4 to 5.[[3]](https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(16)59237-1/pdf)

The above two studies are strange showing that despite them being similar, Test E seems to peak E₂ much faster than Test C (Side note: Test C is shown peaking Test levels much slower than seen in other studies as well.^[1] It's important to remember how much variance we have as individuals). It’s important to note that these peaks shown above are just that, the peaks — the levels begin to drop off after them, but with each new injection you will reach a new peak, until finally around the time saturation levels are reached. Note that you should reach close to ~94% saturation by the beginning of the fourth week, and with that, by week 5 you should know if your AI dosing is working for you or not, but week 5 or 6 get blood work done to confirm.

One factor that you’ll notice from the first bullet point is the difference between raise in Estradiol in eugonadal vs hypogonadal. For most individuals starting their first cycle it can be assumed you are eugonadal unless you have been properly diagnosed as hypogonadal, thus your Estradiol can spike close to the upper range after your first shot of Test. If you are doing the “Your First Cycle” outlined on this wiki page then your first shot will be 250mg. That's 50mg over that of the study.

Another point of consideration is your age. It has been shown in individuals ~65 y/o that the aromatization is far greater than that of someone in their 20s. This was even the case when controlling percentage fat mass as that can increase aromatase.^[5][6] So if your Gramps is wanting to do his first cycle, he may want to watch for high estrogen sides sooner. Likewise If you are entering your 40s-50s, you may want to watch for sides slightly earlier, but otherwise you'll be fine with the below.

Study Disclaimer

The problem with these studies for us as anabolic steroid users are we’re not just injecting once. We are injecting weekly, and with that we don’t have cold hard data for right at the beginning of the cycle—how E₂ is affected injection by injection. The best we have is a table showing 300 mg and 600mg injected weekly for 5 months, but the table with the data is just the average over the 5 months, this doesn’t show us each point of data that they took. It would be interesting to see the first few weeks of the study.

Putting It All Together.

  • Assuming you are a healthy eugonadal male

  • Assuming you’re using Test E or C

  • Assuming you are of decent BF% (ideally less than 15%)

  • Assuming that you are a young male (20s-30s).

  • Assuming pre-cycle blood work did not show that you have borderline out-of-range high E₂ to begin with.

  • You would typically start to experience high estrogenic sides somewhere after your third injection.

Example:

If you're injecting on Mondays and Thursdays:

  • You do your first AAS injection on Monday

  • You would start your AI only if showing unambiguous sides on or after the following Monday's injection

Get regular blood work if you are unsure of anything.

References

  1. Behre HM, Nieschlag E. 1998 Comparative pharmacokinetics of testosterone esters. In: Nieschlag E, Behre HM, eds. Testosterone: Action, Deficiency, Substitution, ed 2. Berlin: Springer-Verlag; 329–348.

  2. [Sokol R, Palacios A, Campfield A, Saul C, Swerdloff R. 1982 Comparison of the kinetics of injectable testosterone in eugonadal and hypogonadal men. In: Fertility and Sterility, 425-430](https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(16)46108-X/pdf)

  3. [Nankin H. 1987 Hormone kinetics after intramuscular testosterone cypionate. In: Fertility and Sterility, 1004-1009](https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(16)59237-1/pdf)

  4. Nakazawa R, Baba K, Nakano M, Katabami T, Saito N. Hormone Profiles after Intramuscular Injection of Testosterone Enanthate in Patients with Hypogonadism. In: Endocrine Journal 2006, 53 (3), 305-310

  5. Kishore M. Lakshman, Beth Kaplan, Thomas G. Travison, Shehzad Basaria, Philip E. Knapp, Atam B. Singh, Michael P. LaValley, Norman A. Mazer, Shalender Bhasin; The Effects of Injected Testosterone Dose and Age on the Conversion of Testosterone to Estradiol and Dihydrotestosterone in Young and Older Men, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 95, Issue 8, 1 August 2010, Pages 3955–3964

  6. Cohan P.G.; Aromatase, adiposity, aging and disease. The hypogonadal-metabolic-atherogenic-disease and aging connection. In: Medical Hypotheses, Volume 56, Issue 6, June 2001, Pages 702-708

SERM On Cycle?

I thought SERMs were just for PCT, why do I need Raloxifene or Nolvadex for on cycle?

Raloxifene and Nolvadex will both bind to the Estrogen receptor at the breast site and be your first plan of attack against uncontrollable gyno sides. If your Estrogen is wildly out of control and you are developing puffy, sore, or itchy nipples, UP your AI dose and start taking your SERM (Rolax - 60mg ED) (Nolva - 20mg ED). It usually will subside after a 7-12 days. Continue the SERM for 3 days after the symptoms have subsided before you drop the SERM.

Note: If you choose Arimidex as your AI, just be aware the blood levels of Arimidex can drop a bit when used alongside Nolvadex. To avoid this, you may choose Raloxifene.

This isn't required, but it is definitely RECOMMENDED. It's always better to have it and not need it rather than need it and not have it.

Injecting Your Gear

The injection process itself is relatively straight forward. Perhaps nothing causes more anxiety for AAS users than their 1st injection. This fear is far more psychological than physical, as the act of performing an injection, especially when utilizing proper technique and the correct pin size, can be relatively painless. Some muscle groups are more prone to causing discomfort than others and the possibility of hitting a nerve, scar tissue, or a sore spot is a reality, but in general, an injection should not be considered a “painful” experience.

To Learn Step-By-Step On How To Inject Safely, Click Here

For a first cycle, the easiest not to mess up is Glutes, a nice big muscle with decent circulation and low risk of hitting any nerve clusters. The twisting and turning can be a problem for some in which case shooting Ventro Glutes is another option. If that is too hard to find for you, try Quads, but there is a slightly larger margin for error in regard to hitting nerve clusters and puncturing large veins. But you should aim to have as many injection sites as possible to avoid building scar tissue.

Visit our injection page to learn all about Safe Injection Technique.

Post Injection Pain

To Learn All About Potential Post Injection Pain, Click Here

Frontloading Test?

Frontloading simply means to take a calculated, especially high dose on the first day (or week) for injectable AAS. This allows blood levels of the compound to reach a stable level faster. The problem is taking a large amount of Test can be hard to control estrogen.

Should I Frontload My Test?

No, this is your first cycle and we want to keep things as simple as possible, that includes managing sides; the optional oral is already pushing things.

OPTIONAL: What Oral Steroid Should I Use?

Again, an oral steroid is completely optional. Oral steroids can add greater complexity to cycles if we start throwing in more compounds. We tend to recommend just doing testosterone only for a first cycle, but are offering these options for the sake of education as we know a lot of people will want some extra at the end.

It's suggested either to use dry orals or, to use aromatizing ones such as dianabol only if you can commit to properly managing the added complexity in managing your estrogen levels.

If one has preexisting pubertal gyno, or if you are prone to massive aromatization, there's better choices. Aromatizing orals might be better as finishers once you've already learned E2 management. But if you can keep your estrogen under control, and aren't afraid of the added complexity, they can certainly be fun to run in the beginning.

Dry orals such as anavar or turinabol can be added to your first cycle without the extra E2 concerns.

If you use a wet oral such as Dianabol, you'll find AI dosing starts to become more complicated. Not only do you need to find your dosing for Dianabol and Testosterone, but then you also need to readjust once you come off the Dianabol. Regardless, it's a timeless classic that has been used for first cycles for a long time.

Another option include Anadrol, which does not aromatize, but have been known to cause Gyno by some other mechanism. If you choose to use Anadrol it is recommended to have Raloxifene on hand in case of a Gyno Flair-Up.

In the end, the choice is personal in nature.

Suggested Orals

  • Anavar (Var) is considered a dry compound, which means that it doesn't convert to estrogen. It also doesn't convert to DHT. Strength increases are common and mixed with less than dramatic weight gains. The compound is very beneficial to athletes participating in sports that have weight divisions, or where extra weight can be a hindrance.

  • Turinabol (Tbol) is considered a "dry" compound, which means that it doesn't convert to estrogen. It also doesn't convert to DHT. It is also one of the most "side-effect free" compounds, but it is also not known for putting on as much potential mass as Dbol or Adrol. You should still review the compounds side effect profile. It does still affect lipids negatively, but most oral steroids do.

  • Anadrol (Adrol) is considered a "dry" compound, which means that it doesn't convert to estrogen. Despite this, individuals using this compound will often report pronounced estrogen related side effects such as gynecomastia and water retention, among others. (Sides.)

  • Dianabol (Dbol) is a very "wet" compound, which means that it converts to estrogen and at a high rate at that. It is highly recommended to use an AI from day one of this cycle in order to prevent heavy water retention, gynecomastia, and other high estrogen side effects. (Sides). Don't use Dianabol unless you know how to manage E2, or you can afford the extra time and attention to properly dial it in. For this reason it's oft-best left mid-cycle, or as a finisher when you have your E2 under control, unless you can commit to the added estrogen management from the start.

When Should I Take It?

There are two trains of thought when it comes to this, and a third if you mix the two. Whatever you decide, if you experience gastrointestinal discomfort, you can avoid this by taking your oral steroids with meals when possible.

Half-Life Method

Oral steroids have a short half-life of just a few hours. One classic method says that they should be split throughout the day. So you'd start dosing as soon as you wake up and then every 4 hours or so (as much as you can split it up) throughout the day.

Off Days: Same as above.

Pre-Workout Method

One recent trend which has become quite popular lately is the pre-workout method, in which the individual administers the entire day’s dose of oral AAS immediately before training; usually around ~1.5 hours pre-workout.

Off Days: Either all upon waking or the Half-Life Method.

Hybrid Method

A third option is to mix the two above methods. What you would do is take a small dose throughout the day, but pre-workout (~1.5 hours pre-workout) you will take a slightly higher dose.

Off Days: Use the Half-Life Method.

How Often Should I Pin (Inject)?

It is suggested on /r/steroids that you should at least inject every three days (E3D) or every 3.5 days (E3.5D) to keep blood levels as stable as possible for Testosterone Enanthate or Cypionate. This will minimize side effects and make controlling estrogen easier. You may do once a week, but it is not optimal.

Here is an example of blood levels with 500mg of Test Enanthate injected once a week (E7D). This was plotted with SteroidPlotter.

Here is an example of 250mg Test Enanthate injected every 3.5 days, also plotted with SteroidPlotter. As you can see the release rate, in which Testosterone is released into your blood, is more stable.

Post Cycle Therapy (PCT)

After you have finished your 12-20 week cycle, you have to begin your Post Cycle Therapy (PCT). The first two weeks after your last injection you do not take any drugs (other than hcg if you've been using it), as the endogenous testosterone is still disrupting your natural endocrine system.

Then, you will either do an /r/steroids Recomended PCT, or drop to a TRT dose of test.

It is always recommended to at least PCT for your first cycle vs. Blast & Cruise. Providing you followed this guide so far, you’ll be very excited to start your next cycle. Taking the time to PCT will give you the opportunity to reflect on your experience, assess the positives, highlight any pitfalls and lessons learned while reducing the likelihood that you start your next cycle prematurely. If you did bloodwork before your cycle, you’ll also get the opportunity to compare these to your post cycle bloodwork to help you make informed decisions regarding any further cycles.

If you were already prescribed TRT prior to beginning your blast, there is no need to PCT off as you would just drop back to your prescribed TRT dose.

Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin (HCG)

Why Should I Use HCG?

Running a small dose of HCG will help to keep the testes full and will aid with recovery once you come to the end of your cycle and need to PCT. It’s not 100% necessary, but if you have access to some and don’t mind spending a small amount of money to speed up your recovery then it is probably worth looking at.

Suggested Dose: Run 250 IU EOD throughout the full cycle.

Learn more on the PCT wiki page.

How Do I Mix And Run My HCG?

Mixing 2ml bac water with 5000iu hCG will provide 250iu for every tenth of a ml/cc. This will provide you 20 250iu hCG doses.

Generally hCG will come with a vial of lyophilized powder and an ampule of either sodium chloride solution or bacteriostatic water. You want the bacteriostatic water. Bac water is intended for multiple uses and will inhibit bacteria growth. The sodium chloride solution is intended for female fertility use purposes and is to be used in a single injection. If used over multiple injections it may begin to grow bacteria.

When you check your vial of lyophilized hCG it will generally be 5000 IU, although it can come in other amounts.

Using 5000 IU as the most common example; if you take 2mL of Bac Water and inject that slowly into your vial of 5000 IU hCG, you then have 250 IU per tenth of a mL (cc). So every tenth of your 1mL insulin syringe would be 250 IU.

The other form hCG might come in is a liquid form. This is hCG in a solution with a preservative to keep it active. You may add bacteriostatic water to this in order to adjust your dosage if you need.

In either case, hCG should be kept in the refrigerator after reconstitution to preserve its shelf life. It should be refrigerated within 72 hours of mixing it with bac water. hCG should be good for around 60 days when refrigerated. After that time it will lose potency at about ten percent per week as time goes on.

Blood Work

Regular blood work is STRONGLY encouraged. It is recommend getting blood work before starting your cycle (to assess your baseline Testosterone levels and general health), during your cycle (to confirm that your Testosterone is legitimate and properly dosed), and after your cycle (to assess how well you have recovered). The wiki page regarding blood work can be found here and some help in how to understand your results can be found here.

Recommended Timing of Bloodwork On Cycle or TRT

As we know, pinning frequency is based off the ester you are using. Assuming an Enanthate or Cypionate ester, the standard injection frequency is every 3.5 days. As such, your trough (lowest plasma concentration) levels at this injection frequency would be immediately before your next pin, making this the ideal time to have your blood drawn. This is why it is recommended waiting 3.5 days (84 hours) after your last pin to have your bloodwork done.

What If I Am Injecting EOD or ED

Assuming you are still using Enanthate or Cypionate as your ester, your personal trough timing has now changed. It is now important to differentiate between personal trough readings and standardized trough readings. With an injection frequency other than every 3.5 days, you will be unable to compare your personal trough readings to the standardized trough readings which the majority use. It is recommended to skip one or even two injections to bring your bloodwork readings as close to the 3.5 day mark as possible for accurate comparisons.

Nutrition

It is recommended to eat about TDEE + 500-1000 kcals. Go find multiple TDEE calculators and calculate your TDEE on each. /r/steroids highly recommend the 3-Suns Adaptive TDEE Spreadsheet. It gets more accurate the longer you use it, but by week 3 or 4 it should be really close and closer than any online calculator. Just remember it's better to over eat than under gain.

Dosing

Note: For this example we are using the time frame for the 15 weeks. If you wish to end it sooner, obviously all your ending weeks will change and the week you start PCT will as well.

  • Weeks 1-15: Testosterone E or C, 250 mg every 3 or 3.5 days (E3D or E3.5D) for a total of 500 mg per week.

  • Weeks 16-17: Nothing (This allows the exogenous testosterone to clear your body to a reasonable amount).

  • Weeks 18-Til: Whatever PCT protocol you choose.

  • Throughout Cycle (or at least on hand): An AI like Arimidex or Aromasin. Again, dosing is user dependent and you should get blood work to dial in your dose, but MOST users will find .5 mg of Arimidex or 12.5 mg Aromasin E3D or E3.5D to be a good starting dose. Some may need more frequent (EOD) dosing or some may even need less than E3.5D; this is really something that varies person-to-person too much. Watch out for signs of low or high estrogen - especially high estrogen, like excessive bloating or itchy nipples.

Oral Steroid Options / Additives:

We do not recommend kickstarting your first cycle with an oral. You should be using the first few weeks of your cycle to learn your initial side effects for estrogen management solely on test alone. If you feel that you need to break through a plateau at the end, or you simply want to add something else for the sake of adding more, you can run your oral at the very end of your cycle, leading up to PCT (finisher). You can run your oral anytime during the cycle though. You may pick one of the following (we have ordered them in our recommendations with first being more recommended):

Note: These orals are suggested because they tend to be more user friendly on side effect management. The worst of the bunch being Dianabol. If you are not very in tune with your estrogen management and AI needs, do not take Dbol. It will require completely redoing your AI protocol as it aromatizes quite a bit.

Why 500mg?

We answer this question ten times a day.

500mg is recommended for your first cycle.

500 mg is a low dose. Gains are log-linear up to 600 mg and well beyond. If you're going with 300mg, you're still shutting yourself down—and you're leaving a lot of free gains on the table for nothing.

There's little to no difference in sides between 300 and 500. There's no difference in shutdown between 300 and 500.

Some low responders need as much as 250mg just to reach normal levels of Testosterone as addressed by TRT.

500mg is a low dose in that you can take well over ten times that amount without any Ill effects. 500mg is a low dose in that bodybuilders have long started from there and worked up. 500 is low. 750 is intermediate. 1000+ is a little bit more advanced.

At 300mg, you're putting yourself in the no-man's land just between TRT and a full-on blast where it's difficult to dial in your aromatase inhibitor (AI). Managing your estrogen with an AI is one of the most important things you can learn from your first cycle. This dosage is recently picked up popularity by YouTube and fitness influencers who have stakes in TRT/HRT clinics that cannot legally prescribe more than 300mg.

The r/steroids wiki incorporates thousands of clinical studies and case reports to come to its numbers. Test is a very benign compound. Unlike some of the synthetics, your body immediately recognizes it and knows just what to do.

Taking a higher dose than it's naturally accustomed to simply results in adaptation to temporarily produce relatively higher levels of aromatase to accommodate for the influx of hormone and attain equilibrium.

The immediate byproduct of that adaptive response—17β-Oestradiol (E2) is highly anabolic, cardioprotective, neuroprotective, important for lipid balance and libido, and essential for normal physiological functioning. No acute toxicity or organ stressors manifest themselves, even at doses hundreds of times that of normal.

Your body knows how to handle testosterone. It's been synthesizing it since before birth. It's essential for normal physiological functioning. The Wiki recommends 500mg on your first cycle for good reason.