If you're not familiar with Paul Borresen he believed high dose short duration cycles were much less harmful than longer moderate or even low dose cycles. He's dead now soooooo...
Here is an excerpt from an article he wrote...
I propose 15 - 30 day cycles with doses 1,000 mg a day.
Understand this, a course of this magnitude will produce rapid tissue gain and contradict much of what you currently believe. The possibility of it will attacked by skinny old men an ex champions alike. I say this, unless you have tried it do not knock it.
You are not going to hurt yourself in 25 days. If you keep a watch for the danger signs such as rising blood pressure you can make appropriate adjustments as you go along. After such a stack I would have 15 days clear. The stack should be designed in such as way that the gear eliminates as the off period begins.
I would then do a consolidation programme low dose. Under 1 mg per kg bodyweight per day for 6 weeks. The cycle logic I proposed in my first book The Anabolic Edge. Then I would have a 30 day break.
I believe that breaks longer than 30 days are unproductive. However, not having the breaks at all is downright stupid.
In our new book The Stack Book (the alpha session) Bill and I have a 10 point countdown before starting any programme let alone a big one.
Preparation is everything. I imagine an airplane ready to take off. It starts up it engine, taxis out onto the run way and builds up speed. All the while the pilot initiates pre-flight checks. If anything is wrong the plane aborts.
Too often we rush into programmes without adequate preparation and the plan comes crashing down.
Health matters. Sick people cannot possibly grow. So, if you are going to seriously have a crack at one of my short duration high dose programmes do the preflight checks first.
PREFLIGHT CHECKS COUNTDOWN TO THE STACKS……………..
10.
Diet is good: lots of protein, balanced nutrition, not an entirely liquid diet. Any protein supplements, not whey alone, but blends of different isolates.
9.
Getting plenty of quality rest. A good 8 hours every night. If not, then this could be the first pharmaceutical step you should consider. Something to help you sleep. Once you go on a stack this will get even harder. Unless you sleep well, in which case leave well alone, augment your sleep with a safe option.
Absolutely never use GHB…This is no bodybuilding drug and has screwed up more people that Cannabis and Nubain put together. I despise all of these drugs. I was once addicted to nubain and it crept up on me and swallowed me whole for a while.
GHB does stimulate serotonin and this makes for a little GH production, but it stimulates considerably more cortisol and this makes for the big muscle shrink.
I prefer a simple benzodiazapene taken intermittently to avoid the possibility of dependence. Twice or three times a week when you really need it. Products of choice are -
Lorazepam 50mg aka Seresta, aka oxazepan.
Diazepam 10-15 mg.
Nitrazepam 50mg.
Tamazipam lingers the next day too much.
Another possibility is a good hypnotic which puts you to sleep but wears off once you are in deep sleep. These are non-addictive.
Zopiclone
Benzo's are the world's ultimate GH stimulators as well. You must be careful to not take them then go out. Be strict on yourself and have deliberate nights when you do and do not use them. I use them after back and legs.
Stay away from the latest Hypnoval craze, you lose time on this drug and do not use Nubain under any circumstances, it is insidious and horrible and has ruined more bodybuilders than I can remember.
8.
There is no point starting the stack if you cannot get to the gym over the next few weeks. Select a stack that is appropriate to your imminent lifestyle. Likewise, if you are injured or your wife is about to have a baby. Think before you launch before you press the fire button on the stack rocket. Are all systems go ?
7.
Health. Are you ill ? If so, is it something that will clear up with a good course of antibiotics ? Remember, a gear course will first drop your immune system, so if you are sick now you will be worse shortly after and this will crash the rocket.
Most infections can easily be killed off using a course of antibiotics. Indeed there is the high possibility that you are low grade. What do I mean by this ?
Low grade means that you carry a virus in your body at a level, which your immune system can control but it cannot put out the fire.
A good friend of mine called Mick had not gained for two years. He was unmotivated, having problems sleeping and feeling very low. I studied his blood test and I suspected that he was low grade, his thyroid was low to mid-normal and his globulin was elevated, a clear sign of someone fighting an infection.
Mick took Inosine Pranobex for 20 days, 4 tablets a day. He has gained over 40 LB in the year since and his life changed within a week for the better. He had been low grade.
Inosine Pranobex fortifies the immune system against viral infection and I use a course twice a year or if I am run down cannot shake off a virus.
For general bacterial infections antibiotics are a must.
My preferences are: Doxycyline, 100mg per day.
Otherwise amoxicillin 3 times, 500mg per day combined with tetracycline which kills one particular anaerobe that amoxicillin cannot get.
For abscesses, you cannot beat Augmentin, which is far superior to fluhroxicillin; the cheaper alternative.
6.
Finances: be sure that you can afford the stack you are about to undertake. There is no point over-stretching yourself and not having enough money to eat. I believe that the runway ahead should be clear from the start. I like to have everything I am going to need ready in my special cupboard at the start. This way you can always build little pyramids with the gearboxes and castles with the protein tubs.
5.
Remove All demotivators. There are things that will bring our rocket down onto the ground . For the most part these are optional wrong choices that we are making in our daily lives and these must be eliminated immediately if we are truly hardcore and really going for the finish line. Cannabis is one of the worst drugs for bodybuilding that I can think of. It is the single most potent demotivator. Do not tell me that it stimulates androgen production or that it chills you out. I have seen a cannabis addict tear up his floorboards looking for something he had hidden.
Cannabis produces oestrogen, fact of life. Cannabis negatively affects the part of the mind that motivates us into taking action. It makes you do nothing when you should do something. Its users are prone to mood swings, irrational behavior, temper tantrums and worst of all a higher chance of bacterial infections.
Nubain. Second worst on the list. This is an opiate and single handedly destroyed an enormous section of British bodybuilding. It creeps up slowly on the users until they get needle frenzy and all the other aspects of an addiction .
I personally needed a week in detox to get rid of this stuff. Which is the only time I have been in detox, but it shows the extent of the Nubain problem. I entered with innocence thinking all those years ago that it suppressed my cortisol levels. It took me in, chewed me up and spat me out and I was still kicking and screaming.
GHB. Of late many people are getting GHB addiction and they are harder to deal with than straight heroin addicts. The users cannot feel good, no matter what they do, because they cannot produce enough seretonin. It appears that the damage is permanent and the only possible way back once you are really hooked is methadone.
People started having little sips throughout the day, which makes them, feel positive and more confident. This is similar to a cocaine addiction in perception and considerably worse because there is a genuine physical dependence with GHB.
ALCOHOL….The most obvious demotivator. I am not against the odd drink, but if you are going on a course and taking the risks involved there is no place for drinking.
4.
Even the best-laid plans of men can go wrong. Commit yourself now to your plan and be prepared to make adjustments. Have definite goals for what you are about to do. You should know where you should be at any given time or date. If you fall behind you must know how the stack works and why it works and make the appropriate adjustment.
Chart your course, navigate the way ahead and you will be on course, stay on course and arrive at your destination.
3.
POSITIVE ATTITUDE…..Be wary of people that will try to throw your rocket off course. Often these will be those closest to you. I find it better to keep quiet about what I am doing until I have done it. Negative people and negative thoughts must be thrown overboard right now.
2.
SUPPORT SYSTEMS. I rely heavily on my family and they enable me to realize all that I achieve and succeed in. Even the writing of this book, right now my wife is keeping the children happy in the other room. This is a part of my support system. My friend Kevin is collecting me for training in an hour, My staff help take phone calls so that I can write the book. These support systems are vital and you need to know and plan to make sure they are all "on-line".
1.
If everything goes wrong be prepared to make a conscious decision to abort early. If you fall ill or your dog gets sick and you cannot leave his side, then stop immediately regroup and start again later. The decision to abort should be made earlier rather than later. Do not press on regardless if the plane is going to come down, land now, not later.
Of course with all being well this will not be the case.