So for me personally even using an AI and proper PCT protocol or in recent years 300mg/week Test in between cycles, I always noticeably lose mass. I have used 750-900mg Test a week when on an actual cycle. I have kept on calories.
What are your thoughts on keeping test at 600mg/week and running a higher doss of EQ at 900/mg week? More keepable gains and/or less obvious loss? Anyone use a similar strategy?
Assuming your diet, training, etc., remains basically the same during your downtime, you shouldn't be losing much, if any, muscle tissue when using 300 mg of test/week.
Sure, you will lose overall size, fullness and strength, but there is a difference between that and actual muscle fiber. For example, let's say someone is using 1 gram and 800 mg primo per week during their blast and a few months in they add in Anadrol. The Anadrol might cause them to put on 10 pounds in just 10 days, making them significantly bigger, fuller and stronger, but what happens as soon as they drop the anadrol, even if they keep using the test and primo? They rapidly lose that initial 10 pound weight gain, along with the strength that went with it. Does this mean they lost 10 pounds of muscle fiber? No. In reality, they didn't lose ANY muscle fiber. They just lost all the intramuscular fluid and blood volume Anadrol is known to promote.
This is what happens who you go "off" cycle, but continue using test. You will lose size, fullness, strength and even vascularity because you are no longer supplying the drugs necessary for causing those transient effects. However, this doesn't mean you lost actual muscle fiber, which is what REALLY matters from a long-term progress standpoint.
For most people on this board, 300 mg of test per week IS INDEED enough to maintain all of their actual muscle fiber during an "off" cycle, so long as their diet, training and rest remains on point, but it's silly to think the body is going to remain the same from a size, strength and vascularity standpoint.
The only way to remain as big, strong and vascular as you were on blast is to continue using those same drugs. Once you drop the drugs responsible for all that volumization and enhanced neural firing, those benefits go away,but again, this is very different than losing actual muscle fiber.
This is why it only takes about 2 weeks to regain 100% of your lost size and stength after resuming your previous blast stack...because all that intramuscular water, blood volume, and enhanced neural firing comes right back. Gaining actual muscle fiber is another thing altogether and much more difficult. Anyone who uses drugs which promote enhanced voumization and neural firing is going to receive those benefits everytime they use them, but it does NOT mean they are gaurantee to gain new muscle fiber. This is why we see so many guys who basically look the same after every cycle. They have a certain bodyweight and strength range they tend to stay in year after year, with the higher-end being their on-cycle blast and the lower-end their off-cycle cruise.
In order to approach bodybuilding from healthy perspective, you need to understand (and be OK with) the fact that you can NOT maintain maximum size and strength year-round. The guys who can't cope with this are the ones who end up getting hurt. Every time they see their appearance and/or performance begin to suffer even a little bit, they freak out and go right back on the drugs. These individuals are emotionally and psychologically unstable. Their insecurities blind them to reality of their situation, making them unable to see things as they truly are. As a result, many end up going (or staying) right back on the drugs...and eventually pay the price of their choices.
For those of you who care more about your progress than your health, it is critical to point out that this type of haphazard approach not only fails to yield superior long-term progress, but actually prevents the bodybuilder from achieving his full potentia...for a variety of reasons.
To the OP, I am not directing this message specifically to you, as you did not provide anywhere near enough information for me to know where you stand. Rather, some of what you relayed is reminiscent of those who have struggled with the loss of size and strength that occurs during a cruise. So, I thought I would elaborate on what is actually occurring during this transitionary period and why it is a bad idea to attempt to look one's best year-round. Steroids are an up and down thing. A steroid using bodybuilder's appearance is never going to be consistent year round (at least it shouldn't be, which is the point). It's just part of the game; a part we have to accept if we hope to make wise decisions regarding our drug use.