thinking ahead, while I have the funds....

[cev79]

I'm only able to buy gear, supps, etc at certain times cuz of cash flow, so I've got some excess and I'm planning on getting some supps, a few other things, but mainly I'm planning for when my bulking cycle is over. Normally I do 3-4 months on then 3 months off, but that was before I got really serious. Should I bridge for a few months? We'll be focusing on further fat loss during my "off" period, but I want to make sure I maintain my gains, which we know is all up to diet, training but if there's something that could help with the fat loss, primo does that for me, helps a lot with fat loss for me, don't gain much mass on it. Then I'll do a second bulking cycle after those couple/few months off.
After that second bulk, I will get serious about ripping things up, so by this time next year we'll see, I may be able to compete. Anyhoo, opinions from the pro's are welcome, if you're a newbie, please don't respond with old wives tales or "things you've heard around". Thanks!
Oh, current cycle, I'm about 5 weeks in, running for 16 weeks cuz of the EQ, test prop and tren e.
Test at 400 mgs (I like to keep test low always, this is usually enough for me as a base, my sides are little to none on this, and I want the ability to increase test should the time come and profit from it the best I can)
EQ at 400 but will likely increase as time goes by and no sides show and gains are steady, likely ending up around 600 mgs
Tren E- first time running it so I'm keeping it at 200 mgs and will most likely keep it there. We'll see.
We really rely on diet and training very heavily. So I'll never have stratospheric doses.
Thanks

 

[cev79]

bumping for any pro's or older guys with lots of experience I gotta order soon.

 

[cev79]

Um not sure why my post is here I'm not a beginner I've been using a coach and diet and aas for 4 years....just new to bridging....?

 

[pesty4077]

Um not sure why my post is here I'm not a beginner I've been using a coach and diet and aas for 4 years....just new to bridging....?

If you have a great coach, you wouldn't even need for us to answer that. Ask him what his opinions are and stick with one trainer. Just my .02

 

[railslave]

If you have a great coach, you wouldn't even need for us to answer that. Ask him what his opinions are and stick with one trainer. Just my .02

i agree w/pesty, your trainer can guide you.

 

[cev79]

i agree w/pesty, your trainer can guide you.

well normally I do on all training/diet/supplements but he's completely natty and although he has a decent idea of gear, he's obviously not going to know as much as someone who uses. He knows I know this and knows I go to boards to learn about different compounds that he's not as familiar with. 95% of his clients are natty as well.

 

[maldorf]

Don't start bridging cycles. Your body needs time to recupe and get back to normal. Bridging is staying on all year long with no break. Its a really bad idea and can lead to severe health problems. I know from experience, and some others on here have suffered the same fate. If you value your health and life dont start bridging.

 

[cev79]

Don't start bridging cycles. Your body needs time to recupe and get back to normal. Bridging is staying on all year long with no break. Its a really bad idea and can lead to severe health problems. I know from experience, and some others on here have suffered the same fate. If you value your health and life dont start bridging.

Thanks! So I'll stick to the rule of thumb I learned ages ago- take time off between cycles. I just see so many guys bridging these days I'm new to the concept. What bad sides did you experience?

 

[maldorf]

Thanks! So I'll stick to the rule of thumb I learned ages ago- take time off between cycles. I just see so many guys bridging these days I'm new to the concept. What bad sides did you experience?

The main thing I had to worry about, and its quite common, is getting your hematocrit/hemoglobin too high. thats just cruising on test. Using as low as just 200 mg/wk can do it to some. Some HRT guys have trouble using just 150 mg/wk or less! Hematocrit is the % of your blood volume that is occupied by your red blood cells. When this gets too high you can get blood clots (stroke or heart attack or pulmonary embolism or death). High hematocrit(HCT) will also make your blood thick like going from a light weight oil to a heavier oil in your car. The thicker blood makes your heart work hard and can lead to heart failure if it goes on long enough!

So if youre going to bridge or cruise inbetween cycles, youll have to use a TRUE HRT DOSE of no more than about 150 mg/wk. The thing is, if youre young, your body makes that much on its own so youre just better off getting off and doing a PCT to be natural for awhile. Natural is going to be more healthy for you at a young age. IF youre older, say middle aged in your 40s, you might acutally benefit from doing the HRT cruise.

 

[cev79]

The main thing I had to worry about, and its quite common, is getting your hematocrit/hemoglobin too high. thats just cruising on test. Using as low as just 200 mg/wk can do it to some. Some HRT guys have trouble using just 150 mg/wk or less! Hematocrit is the % of your blood volume that is occupied by your red blood cells. When this gets too high you can get blood clots (stroke or heart attack or pulmonary embolism or death). High hematocrit(HCT) will also make your blood thick like going from a light weight oil to a heavier oil in your car. The thicker blood makes your heart work hard and can lead to heart failure if it goes on long enough!

So if youre going to bridge or cruise inbetween cycles, youll have to use a TRUE HRT DOSE of no more than about 150 mg/wk. The thing is, if youre young, your body makes that much on its own so youre just better off getting off and doing a PCT to be natural for awhile. Natural is going to be more healthy for you at a young age. IF youre older, say middle aged in your 40s, you might acutally benefit from doing the HRT cruise.

Thank you, that makes sense I didn't take into account HCT levels, dumb of me. This is a very real problem I could see arising in guys who bridge far too often or are always "on". I'm going to clear out for 2-3 months with just good old supplements, diet and training and proper pct, then do a second bulk. Seems like the common sense thing to do.

 

[maldorf]

Thank you, that makes sense I didn't take into account HCT levels, dumb of me. This is a very real problem I could see arising in guys who bridge far too often or are always "on". I'm going to clear out for 2-3 months with just good old supplements, diet and training and proper pct, then do a second bulk. Seems like the common sense thing to do.

If you do that and keep your total doses below 1000 mg/wk you stand a much better chance of not having any health problems for a long time. Cannot ever be 100% safe, but its a matter on minimizing your risks. Also get a CBC at least 2x per year but id do it more often if youre running more than 2 cycles per year.

 

[cev79]

If you do that and keep your total doses below 1000 mg/wk you stand a much better chance of not having any health problems for a long time. Cannot ever be 100% safe, but its a matter on minimizing your risks. Also get a CBC at least 2x per year but id do it more often if youre running more than 2 cycles per year.

Oh as far as test I only run it as high as 400 ever, usually lower. I get my bloods done once a month. All has been well for as long as I've ever used gear. This however will be the first time I'm using a bulking cycle one after another.

 

[maldorf]

Oh as far as test I only run it as high as 400 ever, usually lower. I get my bloods done once a month. All has been well for as long as I've ever used gear. This however will be the first time I'm using a bulking cycle one after another.

IMO its best to keep your total intake of AAS below 1000 mg/wk. Of course the lower the better as far as health goes. Many guys go much higher than that and dont have issues but you can never tell when fate is going to turn its ugly head on you and things go bad. WHen things go bad, they sure as hell happen fast. In the past before my heart attack I would go as high as about 2500 mg/wk for 10 week cycles.

 

[cev79]

IMO its best to keep your total intake of AAS below 1000 mg/wk. Of course the lower the better as far as health goes. Many guys go much higher than that and dont have issues but you can never tell when fate is going to turn its ugly head on you and things go bad. WHen things go bad, they sure as hell happen fast. In the past before my heart attack I would go as high as about 2500 mg/wk for 10 week cycles.

oh my lord oh no I would NEVER go that high on ANYTHING! I believe in being conservative and relying on diet and training to do most of the work. You plateau, you work with a coach or whatever, start training a different way, tweak your diet, do all those things first before thinking ummm maybe I should up my dose! That's just fucktarded. When did you have the ever so wonderful myocardial infarction? As I've said, I have 2 cardiologists in my family, one quite famous, the other a transplant surgeon. You must have had some kind of warning before the attack, did you have bloods done regularly? Were you on aspirin therapy? What were your lipids like?

 

[maldorf]

oh my lord oh no I would NEVER go that high on ANYTHING! I believe in being conservative and relying on diet and training to do most of the work. You plateau, you work with a coach or whatever, start training a different way, tweak your diet, do all those things first before thinking ummm maybe I should up my dose! That's just fucktarded. When did you have the ever so wonderful myocardial infarction? As I've said, I have 2 cardiologists in my family, one quite famous, the other a transplant surgeon. You must have had some kind of warning before the attack, did you have bloods done regularly? Were you on aspirin therapy? What were your lipids like?

Well you talk that way now about never going over 1k mg/wk, but wait until youve been using it for over 5 years and youll find yourself teasing with doses like that or more. Youll find that doing lower doses wont produce much growth at all, but thats when you just have to realize that you need to be happy with what you were born with and stop at that.

Here is a link to what happend to me. http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/professional-muscle-forum/37736-just-survived-heart-attack-age-38-follow-up-phils-post.html

At the time I had my heart attack I was doing lower dose cycles, running just 500-750 mg/wk total but I was also crusing at 250mg/wk so I didnt get off for over 1 year. I had no symtoms around the time of the attack and felt otherwise healthy. I did have a high hematocrit that I got down by giving blood. The heart attack was a blood clot and there wanst really any other blockage from plaque in the artery so they just sucked it out. I have no stent or anything. I was fine one minute, and then the next I was having the attack. Happend when I was squating. You can read about it in the link.

 

[cev79]

Oh I'm not a newbie I've been using gear for about 4 years. My trainer can do magical things with just diet and training. But I hit a plateau, we work with natural things before I decide to up a dose on anything, and always it's a small increase.
Your heart attack experience is pretty rare. I don't hear much about a guy with fine bloods, etc just suddenly having an attack, did your dr say if it was common? My brother in law knows about my lifestyle and he's very pleased with my bloods every month. I know too much to be a fucktard and go over 1000 mgs per week. I'm very very glad you didn't need a stent and it was as simple as sucking the clot out. Plaque build up in arteries can get scary thick very fast in many Americans, my uncle invented the machine that measures plaque in the heart.

Well you talk that way now about never going over 1k mg/wk, but wait until youve been using it for over 5 years and youll find yourself teasing with doses like that or more. Youll find that doing lower doses wont produce much growth at all, but thats when you just have to realize that you need to be happy with what you were born with and stop at that.

Here is a link to what happend to me. http://www.professionalmuscle.com/forums/professional-muscle-forum/37736-just-survived-heart-attack-age-38-follow-up-phils-post.html

At the time I had my heart attack I was doing lower dose cycles, running just 500-750 mg/wk total but I was also crusing at 250mg/wk so I didnt get off for over 1 year. I had no symtoms around the time of the attack and felt otherwise healthy. I did have a high hematocrit that I got down by giving blood. The heart attack was a blood clot and there wanst really any other blockage from plaque in the artery so they just sucked it out. I have no stent or anything. I was fine one minute, and then the next I was having the attack. Happend when I was squating. You can read about it in the link.

 

[cev79]

Sometimes with heart failure or heart attacks it's a genetic crap shoot or just a freak thing. My best friend dropped dead of heart failure over 3 years ago from a freak reaction to Wellbutrin mixed with the patch to quit smoking. Totally unheard of in the medical community. It was such a shock. I hear about all kinds of conditions that bring about heart attacks/failure from my family and there's usually a pre-disposition somewhere in there. Otherwise, it can also just be a freak thing. At this point, all my doctors agree that the heavier I lift, the better for me physically, and more importantly, mentally. If I give it my all in the gym, they all agree it's an excellent form of therapy. I've been doing some form of lifting/training for 10 years. I myself was a personal trainer in NYC, but I did sports specific training/functional training for rehabbing athletes not body building. Regardless, if my clients didn't puke, then they didn't work hard enough. The heart is an amazing thing, the most important muscle in our bodies. So taking care of it is of the utmost importance. Thus, I am conservative and always will be because I am far too educated to be stupid about doses.

 

[maldorf]

Oh I'm not a newbie I've been using gear for about 4 years. My trainer can do magical things with just diet and training. But I hit a plateau, we work with natural things before I decide to up a dose on anything, and always it's a small increase.
Your heart attack experience is pretty rare. I don't hear much about a guy with fine bloods, etc just suddenly having an attack, did your dr say if it was common? My brother in law knows about my lifestyle and he's very pleased with my bloods every month. I know too much to be a fucktard and go over 1000 mgs per week. I'm very very glad you didn't need a stent and it was as simple as sucking the clot out. Plaque build up in arteries can get scary thick very fast in many Americans, my uncle invented the machine that measures plaque in the heart.

the only problem with my blood was the hematocrit level. After my heart attack though I had genetic test run and it turns out I had factor 2 blood disorder. Too much prothrombin being produced. This can increase clotting, but most people with it never have a single issue. We believe it was the combo of the steroids and the disorder that did me in. Blood clots are nothing new to bodybuilding though. We just lost one of our greatest moderators last year to one.

If you never go over what youre doing now hopefully youll be fine. Nobody though knows the long term effects on the body. Just keep everything sane and dont get overly consumed with getting huge.

 

[cev79]

the only problem with my blood was the hematocrit level. After my heart attack though I had genetic test run and it turns out I had factor 2 blood disorder. Too much prothrombin being produced. This can increase clotting, but most people with it never have a single issue. We believe it was the combo of the steroids and the disorder that did me in. Blood clots are nothing new to bodybuilding though. We just lost one of our greatest moderators last year to one.

If you never go over what youre doing now hopefully youll be fine. Nobody though knows the long term effects on the body. Just keep everything sane and dont get overly consumed with getting huge.

Oh huge is not my goal. Aesthetically pleasing for local shows is all I care about, as well as maybe getting into physique modeling. I'm not looking to be a massive monster. I miss the days of Arnold. That's what I'm going for.
yeah, I think you are probably right with your assessment. It was probably the combination of the 2 things. Strange though for someone so young.
As always, it's diet and training first and foremost. My coach is natty and looks like he gears, his clients are all freaks but totally natty, I'm like one of his three clients that uses. He fully believes I don't need to use whatsoever, I just need more time to build/achieve muscle maturity. It's basically my impatience more than anything that has me using conservative doses of AAS and peptides.

 

[cev79]

the only problem with my blood was the hematocrit level. After my heart attack though I had genetic test run and it turns out I had factor 2 blood disorder. Too much prothrombin being produced. This can increase clotting, but most people with it never have a single issue. We believe it was the combo of the steroids and the disorder that did me in. Blood clots are nothing new to bodybuilding though. We just lost one of our greatest moderators last year to one.

If you never go over what youre doing now hopefully youll be fine. Nobody though knows the long term effects on the body. Just keep everything sane and dont get overly consumed with getting huge.

btw did you at any point flat line? I dig hearing stories about near death. I had one once and it was awesome. I won't say any more for fear of being flamed lol.