My First Cycle - In Progress

[monster70k]

Posting Parts 1&2 of 6. Will post 2 more each day. This is my 8-week-mark posting.

[monster70k]

I wanted to share my experience through my first 12-week cycle with other first-timers or those thinking of adding AAS to their existing training regimen. These are my experiences, maybe some old-timers or vets have some different opinions or experiences - and I’m sure they are just as valid as mine - but these are mine and I promised I’d give back because I lurked here on SM for a long time prior and during so I wanted to throw this out there for the other lurkers.

Some brief stats because they will answer the ‘why did you do/eat/train/ingest/pin/etc. _that_’ questions that will follow if I don’t:

Past:
20 - 25 yrs old: 5’10” / 215lb / 15%BF
25 - 35 yrs old: 5’10” / 240+lb / 25+%BF
35 - 39 yrs old: 5’10” / 260+lb / 30+%BF

Feb 2012 39 yrs 5’10” / 290 lb / 35-40% BF
Current 40 yrs 5’10” / 225lb / 12% BF

I lost 75 pounds from Feb 2013 - Feb 2014. I adopted the same diet I have now - the exact same shit in larger quantities that Bouncer stands on his soapbox preaching every other post. Chicken, oats, spinach, fish, jasmine rice - you get the idea - CLEAN, low fat food, heavy on the lean meats.

BUT I hit a fucking wall. A brick wall. My arms/legs were getting shredded - my arms were saying 6% while my chest/abdomen was saying 30%. This is not an exaggeration - no bullshit. The fat would not leave my torso. I already hear it ‘diet. cut your calories.’ Yea, well, luckily I have access to a high-end InBody analysis machine and I was able to see what the fuck my body was doing. And guess what? If I cut, even only doing low-intensity cardio - I would lose muscle. FAST. Yes, my body fat would drop, but so would my lean muscle. And then I learned how fucking ridiculously hard it is to put it back on - it’s an age thing - and so I sought professional help.

This person worked with me for a few weeks and said it wasn’t my diet, it wasn’t my work ethic - it was my estrogen levels which were magnified from carrying all that lard around for decades. I began taking some anti-estrogen supplements and saw skin tightening and some other effects within a couple of weeks. That is when I decided to go get bloodwork and really see how bad it was.

My Test was 439. I got hooked up with a clinic in Florida that put me on an, um, ‘aggressive TRT protocol’. :) It was as follows:

Weeks 1 - 12
Test Prop - 100mg/week (Pharma grade)
Test Cyp - 200mg/week (Pharma grade)

Weeks 1-10
Deca Durabolin - 200mg/week (Pharma grade)

Weeks 6-12
Anavar - 37.5mg/day (Pharma grade)

Now, in typical newbie over-excited fashion, I got some DBol from a friend, and threw that in at the beginning - which actually turned out to be a really good thing, because I learned how dirty, nasty, and raw that shit makes you feel and got to experience an Estrogen blow-up because of it - so it was a great learning experience. It went as follows:

Weeks 2-5
DBol 40mg/day (Street-dosed)

So off I went - and what I learned/experienced I will detail as follows in sections:

1. Starting
2. Effects on my physical body
3. Effects on my mental state
4. Training regimen
5. Diet/Nutrition
6. Documented Stats
7. My thoughts on AAS thus far

[monster70k]

STARTING

There was lots of anxiety leading up to my first IM. I became a fucking YouTube Certified Expert on giving the injections and felt by the time my gear arrived that I could probably give a seminar on the subject. Knowing and doing are two different things, however, and when the time came it took me about 45 minutes from start to finish to do my first one. My 2 cents:

1. Do it yourself. I always did because you don’t want to be dependent on others if today is the day and it needs to happen. I read all these posts online about guys having their girlfriends pinning them - look - if YOU want it, be a fucking man and do it. Because…

2. After about the 5th week, I began feeling noticeably different all the time and then you begin to equate the pin to the fucking awesomeness that you feel and suddenly YOU LOOK FORWARD to it. Like it has some effect on how you are going to feel that day (it’s not) but damn it sure feels good. That little stick-push-pop you feel becomes a fucking ‘oh yeah’ moment so know it is going to get better just…

3. Don’t overthink it. Chill out, man. No, you aren’t going to sever a nerve and end up paralyzed in a wheelchair or accidentally inject into a vein and have your heart explode out of your chest. Look. This is not a big deal. You are squirting a little juice into your muscle. You don’t have a problem putting ointment on your skin - well, same shit - you are just using a needle to get it into the tissue. You’d have to do some serious rubbing and it would make a bloody mess if you tried rubbing it in from the outside. Relax. You aren’t going to kill yourself accidentally and end up dead on the floor with a syringe sticking out of your butt. Worst case you will hit a nerve (once) and it will hurt like hell and you will take your time and be more careful not to do it again. And as far as the vein thing…

4. Aspirate. Look it takes an extra few seconds. Pull the plunger back before you push it in and when you see a little air bubble or two come into the barrel, you are clear for take off - go! If you don’t, and you happen to be in a vein, from what I’ve researched (believe me I have), you will only not aspirate once. You won’t die, but you aren’t going to feel very good for the next 10 - 15 minutes. But you aren’t going to fucking die. Just make sure…

5. Push it all the way in. I always say in my head ‘stick-push-pop’. Stick - you feel it go into the skin. Push - sliding through the layer of fat. Pop - you feel a little resistance as it reaches the muscle then sort of ‘pops’ into it. That’s it. So what if you don’t? Well, if I was more unashamed, I’d post a picture of one of my ass cheeks I took and emailed my doctor week 3 when I dumped an entire injection into the fat under my skin because I didn’t go in far enough. About the size of my hand, it was a bright red rash looking thing that swelled and itched and hurt a little for about a week and a half. Stick it all the way in and the muscle will hold it all. If you do get a rash, watch it carefully to make sure it doesn’t get worse and remember….

6. Sterilize. Sterilize. Sterilize. Yea - three times. I sterilize the vial, with a separate swab I sterilize the area getting the injection, and with a 3rd swab I sterilize after the injection applying pressure on the site, not moving, for about 30 seconds and then I know there won’t be any blood when I release. Think all that sterilizing is a pain in the ass, go fucking Google what your ass is going to look like if you don’t - THAT is a pain in the ass. And speaking of….

7. The ass. I read all the time guys on their first run injecting in all these different places - but there is no better place IMO to start with, no easier, no lower-hazard place to start then your glute. There just aren’t major veins or nerves in that outside upper quadrant - the margin for error is huge - it’s like landing a single engine plane in the desert. Yes, it is an awkward stretch, but you get used to it. And you can pin a LOT of shit at one time there - it is like a juice reservoir… It just made the most sense to ME, and has been the least painful for me - again - just my 2 cents…

8. And you need more than 2 cents. Don’t you dare start your cycle without the cash/geaar/ equipment you need for the ENTIRE run. Make sure you have enough syringes, alcohol, GEAR, supplemental meds in case shit starts to get weird on you. It is bad enough when side effects materialize out of no where and make you feel like shit - but not being able to take what you need to stop them - that is just poor planning. And you know that….

9. Planning is essential. To get the most out of your run, you need to plan plan plan. Plan your diet. Plan your training. Plan your entire cycle. Know what you are fucking doing. If you are the ‘bro’ smacking on that slice of pizza slurping a beer while reading this - I know you - fuck off. You lazy fuck - you aren’t a planner. You are slacker who is looking for a quick way to get big. Well, you don’t plan plan plan, and you WILL get big. Big and watery-plump and fat and you will look like a big fucking Thanksgiving Turkey all ‘swole’ and bad… and on the other side of the cycle, you will lose it all - except the fat. PLAN PLAN PLAN. Diet harder than before. Exercise smarter than before. Pay attention to the calendar and know where you are and what should be happening when. If given the proper attention, you will get the most benefits - exponentially proportionate to your planning. Reread that. Exponentially proportionate to your planning. And finally….

10. Read. Learn. Read some more. Stay the FUCK out of these forums. Yes - get the fuck out of here - this is NOT where you research. Go to the FAQs or the literature on what AAS are, doses, learn what the A&A in AAS are and what the hell it even matters which is which, etc. The forums are for troubleshooting, seeking advice, or talking about this Sunday’s game. Right now your best friend should be static website pages crammed with real data and info, not some random guy’s opinion about how to plan your stack. There are LOTS of valuable veterans in these forums that are great for giving experienced, seasoned advice - but unfortunately there is no ‘certification badge’ they wear to let you know who they are. Your best bet is to learn as much as you can, and find an individual - professional or a close friend - that has experience you trust that can help make your first run as hassle-free as possible and as productive as possible.

[monster70k]

EFFECTS ON MY PHYSICAL BODY

Well, as I stated, I came into this a little differently than I think most did. I was n’t looking for gain as much as I needed help in PRESERVING muscle while I DROPPED fat. I was also seeing some positive effects using the anti-estrogens - the skin tightening and the way my body finally started responding to me trying to burn fat off my torso. Additionally I was fucking mortified by my 439 Test level my bloodwork reported. The effects were pretty subtle at first…

I started week 1 feeling nothing. Week 2 zilch. I started taking the DBol orals in week 2 and within days started feeling that. I thought that was the shit. My chest pumped up. My arms swelled up. The scale in my bathroom… jumped way the fuck up. Hello water retention. I drink 2-3 gallons of water a day, every day. That fucking Dbol made me big… and soft. While I was taking it, I posted on these forums that I was taking it, and Bouncer said ‘don’t take that shit, it will make you soft’. I ignored it. Because I felt so fucking big. I didn’t know what the fuck he was talking about - I felt big and I felt strong as a fucking ox. But it gave me a shitty feeling in my brain. It was like an edgy, tingling feeling. Not aggressive or anything, just a ‘something is not quite right here’ feeling but I lived with it because I felt and was looking so fucking big.

In week 3 on that shit, my nipples started itching in the middle of the night. By morning I was ready to rip them off my chest. I called my Doc and he said ‘I didn’t prescribe you that!’ and then proceeded to tell me how to *hopefully* stop what was going on. I felt like shit. Total garbage. I decreased my dosage, increased my Anastrozole by 4x, and it took a week to right myself. A week after that I stopped the DBol altogether. Within a few days of stopping the DBol I shed like 8 pounds of water and by then I was in week 5 and started feeling the effects of the *good* stuff: the Test and the Deca had built up enough in my body.

And it was starting to feel good. For me. Not so much for my fiancé, who ran and hid whenever she heard me walking her way. I would definitely not suggest you do your first run if you are single and don’t have at least a **couple** of ‘companions’ you can call. Because let me tell you, I do not EVER remember feeling like this. It is a nightly occurrence that I wake up with a fucking ‘morning’ woody at 3a-4a and there is only one way I am going back to sleep… And you will fuck like a pornstar running through 12 different positions until you mercifully stop after seeing the confused/happy-40-minutes-ago-tired-now look on your partner’s face. And I don’t know, like 3-5 times a day, I guess - including the early morning wakeup. It is ridiculous and sometimes even annoying - but I will tell you that if you have a good relationship going into this, it will get better because they will see/enjoy the changes your body is going through and unless you were a pornstar before, they will enjoy the ride as much as you - at least at first :)

The soft/hard thing I spoke of earlier - well it started becoming clear to me about week 6. I know that the Anavar dries you out and makes you hard, but it had started slightly before that and the Anavar magnified that effect and now I understood what B meant when he said ‘soft’ because my shit is so hard and tight that it feels like I have rocks strapped to my arms/chest/legs - whatever. So much so that several times in weeks 7/8 it felt like my skin was literally going to split open - but it hurt sooooooo fucking good. When someone comes up and grabs your arm - then regrabs it to see if that shit is real, or your partner sits absentmindedly feeling your arms/chest - that is the power of AAS done right. I honestly feel so good - muscles so hard and so goddamn strong - it ridiculous.

Not to say that it is all roses - it can be (at least I’ve tackled my issues and resolved them to where I am happy) if you do it right, but there are some nagging sides for me. I have to drink my water. If I don’t, my pee is really really yellow and doesn’t flow all that great. I mean, it doesn’t dribble, but it just doesn’t feel so good. I am taking liver supplements, and a prostate supplement as well to help with these things - but I have to drink my water or I feel it. I also am oily like I was 15 years old again - the only solution there has been to wash my face midday, and I usually shower 1-2x a day depending on how many times I train that day. I have had to switch up some of my skincare products, I use Keihl’s stuff, and have had to move from normal to the stuff for oily skin to help combat it. I had some acne on my back start around week 4, and I have kept that under control by sleeping in fresh clean tshirts and walking around shirtless a lot at home.

I had a noticeable increase in my moodiness and sort of a short-temper - but let me add a caveat here. I NOTICED it but I didn’t ACT on it. I was hyper-sensitive to this being a side-effect, so as I start to get annoyed, I take extra-special efforts to make sure it stays in check. Last week my Doc increased my Anastrozole when I was complaining of some sleep and moodiness issues, and that seemed to eliminate everything about 3-4 days later. Fucking amazing how these hormones make us tick.

My strength has gone up in the gym, and my endurance has especially gone up - but remember my goals are different than most - I am cutting and using this as a way to preserve muscle because I could not do it naturally. I am not trying to bulk up or add tons of muscle - that’s next time :) At the 8-week mark, I had lost about 24 pounds of fat and gained 4.3 pounds of muscle. I weigh a pound less than when I started, and the weekly machine analysis tells me that in the last 8 weeks I have gained 8 pounds of water ICW and 4.5 pounds ECW. I am not sure how much of that I will give back - as I have been training to do exactly what I have done with lots of cardio in sweats and dry sauna every day. My body fat has gone from 22.5% to 13.2% in 8 weeks and I have my sights set on 8-9% by the end.

I am very, very pleased with what it has done physically. On an almost daily basis now I am getting comments - unsolicited - from men/women in the gym about what they see happening. My muscles are solid, hard, vascularity popping everywhere from biceps to calves, and my midsection is finally going down. My ribcage is visible and my abs are at least ‘somewhere’ you can start to see some shape - but I still have that flab down below and I am starting to have some elasticity issues in my chest that is depressing but will be fixed with time, I guess - although I’m not fucking getting younger so it better hurry the fuck up!

The physical effects are very noticeable thus far and I am beyond pleased in that department with what I am watching take place.