Cycle after a break

[Admiral Remington]

Hey guys,

 

I've lurked on and off throughout the years and recently came back to NZ for work and settling into my training again. 

I've done a few cycles in the past, started off with 500 mg test and repeated it a few times because it always gave good gains.

I did get my best gains (97 kg, 6'1", 12%) however from stacking test with deca, about 2-3 years ago.

 

I kept most of my strength from the deca cycle and even improved some lifts over the years but I'm down in size a lot from travelling and irregular diets.

What are your thoughts on a cycle near the end of the year, could I go back to just a test cycle and still get good value?

I have a couple of vials of deca and some arimidex from my travels but I don't mind saving them although the joint protection properties of deca are tempting to include. 

 

Thanks in advance. 

[Pseudonym]

On 6/08/2018 at 8:01 PM, Admiral Remington said:

could I go back to just a test cycle and still get good value?

I would think so. It'd actually be interesting to do as an experiment anyway, just to see how much of your test+deca physique you can regain with test alone. I'm guessing probably quite a lot, since you've got muscle memory on your side now.

[Admiral Remington]

Thanks, yeah that's what I'm hoping; same gains with less gear. 

 

My first cycle was just 500 mg every week and nolvadex for PCT. At some point I came across the taper off technique on here which I felt (anecdotally) made my recovery much smoother and I barely felt like PCT was necessary.

 

However, now I'm seeing recommendations floating around for a taper on strategy too. I understand the intention is to avoid homeostasis for growth purposes but other information I've read suggested that you would want your hormone levels to be in homeostasis (even if they are artificially enhanced) to minimise side effects from fluctuations. 

 

With my cycles I did feel that the sides were worst in the first few weeks and pretty mild after that (once my blood levels stabilised?) What are peoples' experience with taper on, any difference to side effects from a conventional cycle starting at max dose and did you notice a longer period of consistent gains?

[Daz69]

5 hours ago, Admiral Remington said:

Thanks, yeah that's what I'm hoping; same gains with less gear. 

 

My first cycle was just 500 mg every week and nolvadex for PCT. At some point I came across the taper off technique on here which I felt (anecdotally) made my recovery much smoother and I barely felt like PCT was necessary.

 

However, now I'm seeing recommendations floating around for a taper on strategy too. I understand the intention is to avoid homeostasis for growth purposes but other information I've read suggested that you would want your hormone levels to be in homeostasis (even if they are artificially enhanced) to minimise side effects from fluctuations. 

 

With my cycles I did feel that the sides were worst in the first few weeks and pretty mild after that (once my blood levels stabilised?) What are peoples' experience with taper on, any difference to side effects from a conventional cycle starting at max dose and did you notice a longer period of consistent gains?

Please read my post on: "Why you should not frontload", it has all the info you need (its in the archive here somewhere)

[ratz99]

15 hours ago, Daz69 said:

Please read my post on: "Why you should not frontload", it has all the info you need (its in the archive here somewhere)

Here m8z
 

 

[Admiral Remington]

On 14/08/2018 at 10:45 AM, ratz99 said:

Here m8z
 

 

Thanks for linking!

 

When you say start at the lowest effective dose, is tapering up from 50mg/week (that was my final dose on my last taper off) a good starting point? How much would you increase by every week? 

 

I have about half a vial of test E left so hopefully that's enough without having to try find a new source after being away for a few years.

[ratz99]

55 minutes ago, Admiral Remington said:

When you say start at the lowest effective dose, is tapering up from 50mg/week (that was my final dose on my last taper off) a good starting point? How much would you increase by every week? 

Please dont take my advice as true, but I feel like 50mg a week is not a super effective dose.. Someone will likely correct me. You may need to go a bit higher. Remember you're not getting 50mg of actual hormone there.

[Daz69]

7 hours ago, ratz99 said:

Please dont take my advice as true, but I feel like 50mg a week is not a super effective dose.. Someone will likely correct me. You may need to go a bit higher. Remember you're not getting 50mg of actual hormone there.

Ever week might be a bit too soon maybe try every 2-3 weeks..