Cycle Critque please

[RalphMalph]

I have cleaned up and amended what I had in the beginners forum, though not a beginner (just 4-5 months back after multi-year lay off)

I am not delusional about competing anytime soon, but ultimately want more more muscle mass and to not be above 10% whenever possible given my joints are screwed due to foolishness in my younger years

I am happy to err on the side of less is more with substances and make sure diet and training are 100% perfect. If I have to do a bigger cycle next time, then so be it.

everything below is adaptable except my weight loss goal which I WILL ACHIEVE OR EXCEED, I am going to react to my body and do what’s best for it

cutting cycle - first cycle in about 10-12 years. a lot of time out following dislocations/knee injuries..been making solid progress with solid diet and training ...even if not very-big@7% like when i was in my early20s (yeah...i REALLY let myself go for 8ish years)

i am now 210 pounds 17-18%

Aim to lose min 20 pounds of fat. At least hold muscle mass...I respond very well to training and in the past (~10 years back) to steroids, so maybe I can even gainmuscle - but we will see.

diet will be tight and 99.9% clean, no more than 1 semi-cheat meal a week
200-220gm protein - wide variety of sources, 60 good fats, good carbs ~120 on non-lifting days, 180 on lifting days

cardio will be about 3 hours a week, walk/jog/swim/cycle (will lift it if goal is not coming as it should)
lift 3/4 times a week - each muscle group hit once a week
water : more than a gallon a day
supps = usual protein, glutamine, bcaa, multi, milk thistle (should i get more for liver support?)

I know I am gyno prone, thus running Arimidex throughout, hopefully at 25mgED rather than 50mgED, but will have stock on hand in case. And sust rather than any other test, because it should be available to me legally.

I welcome your constructive criticism and thoughts
(especially on the yes/no of hcg...i know my doc used to always prescribe after cycles and i always had success coming back - but then again I also had a great deca only cycle with no negative sides back in the day, so I know we are all different. I am leaning towards not using it at all, even during cycle). Also, being first cycle in ~10 years, is the deca necessary (or shall i just change my sust from every 4th day to twice a week);


ok, rushing out the door but:
wk 0,6,16 : Bloodwork done.

wk 1-9: Deca (200) - E5thD (optional)
wk 2-9: Sust 250 - E4thD
wk 2-11: arimidex .250mgED (but will do .500if need be)
wk 3-4, 7-8, 12-13: Clen tapering up and down (20--taper up--80 or 100---back down)

wk 11-16: nolva @20mg ED
wk 11-14: aromasin @20mg ED

optional (help me decide and tweak):
HCG occasionally during? hcg for 3 weeks w/PCT (or am I being old school)?

 

[MightyJohn]

Arimidex 250mg/day...do You mean .25mg/day or 1/4mg...?

 

[Dave_19]

this cycle makes no sense to me, I cannot give much advice its just 180* opposite from my style.

 

[pesty4077]

I wouldn't even think of AAS at that BF. 4 months back? You need to work a little harder and start learning how to eat right. Do you think that AAS is going to drop your BF? 200 grams of protien? Good Luck trying to hold on to muscle while dieting. I can see Dave's point completely.

 

[Chipper Jones78]

YIKES....

here is what you cycle should like like

1. Cut out all AAS

2. Incorporate sound nutrition

3. Incorporate cardio (Lots of it @ that body fat level)

4. Incorporate a ECA stack perhaps to help you along 3x week

5. Incorporate a sound training shcedule.

6. Come back in a year & discuss

There you are

 

[Ness]

No logic to anything here. What a mess.

 

[RalphMalph]

Thanks for the advice

Appreciate the responses and will take them on board.

To qualify, .25mg adex...my bad.

I figure it would take me a couple of months to gather a plan, and then gear.

After 8ish years out of BB (and ~2 years prior enduring through dislocations and knee injuries), and a few years of poor diet, I was hanging out around 30%BF, lifting less that half I am now.

I have lost more than 30 pounds of fat, while gaining strength. I believe my diet has been correct for a guy off gear, training as I have been. Protein will need to be higher. Noted.

Rather than a year, then thinking of gear, what would a weight and BF% be appropriate in your view before I start a cycle?

And as for dates and durations, I changed how they were represented and I think some of the accuracy is lost. PCT begins 18 days post-last-Sust shot, 14 days post-last-deca shot. Is my research incorrect, there?

I appreciate all the constructive advice offered

 

[RalphMalph]

dropped winny

OK: Also dropped winny, I had initially had 26 days of winny at the start but that is gone, making it a little more traditional looking.

Please offer more constructive advice, I assure you diet, training, cardio will all continue at my full effort until I do this cycle, and the cycle will be held off until the wisest date, and I welcome constructive advice on when that should be. Everything I do is measured and planned in life, I would like to hear all of your opinions on when/why.

Thanks again

 

[ssdark1]

i say get down to 12/13% bf and go with just sust at around 500mgs a week. with regards to the dosing, eod, e4th day, or once a week is debatable. do a search for ouchthathurts write up on sust to help decide. also, look into tapering off, works best for me.

this board always takes a responsible approach to cycle advice especially when someone seems as if they arent quite ready or self educated enough, one of the reasons that make it the best board out there. in this case, you arent new to gear or training so get ur bf% down, read everything you can on this board and go for it. jmo.

oh, and gradually up ur protein to 300 to 500 grams. this is also debatable, so research.

 

[Ness]

The best advice that I can offer you is to hire someone who will guide your from a-z. Phil Hernon is one of the best for what you want (grow lean mass while dropping adipose tissue). He will give you all the diet, training, and supp advice you need to reach your goals.

Good luck and keep up the hard work.

 

[RalphMalph]

I think two question to answer still: No, I don't believe AAS will help me reduce fat, I was hoping to increase muscle mass to the best extent possible whilst maintaining the diet that had been working well. I would imagine more protein will be needed, but was hoping for not changing much else in the diet. I know (from past bulking/cutting when I was at my peak) steroids are not anywhere near as effective when dieting down, compared to when my sole objective was to add muscle. What I was hoping it would help me get target my BF% solely through sparing as much muscle as possible as I approach single digits.

Thanks for the further advice y'all. I will keep working as hard as possible. I have so far been doing it on my own, but intend working with a well-respected BB winner over the next 2 months. I will keep you all up to date with my progress both natural for the next couple of months and come back and see how things look at that decision point....and then let you know ongoing.

 

[RalphMalph]

An update for yall. 5-6 weeks further down the road

I have been continuing to lose a solid amount of fat on diet/cardio alone (no cheating - apart from much more fruit than I normally take), however this time my training has been fk'ed up by flu-like symptoms and a respiratory infection that has lasted way too long (probably due to trying to get back into the gym early everytime).

So, aside from the BF going way down I may have lost some muscle with these illnesses. Anyway, without a recent caliper test and just using the scale and looking in the mirror, I would suggest I have lost about 10-14 of the 20-30 pounds of fat I wanted to lose. Just pissed I couldnt keep lifting the whole time.

No gear still. I do still intend a cycle once I get around 10% (I would GUESS I am now down to about 14%+-2%). Will be taking to ECA or clen when healthy again, upping protein a little too this time.