Your First Cycle
So, you got interested in steroids and are now trying to figure out where to start. Beginners have one rule: KISS.
That stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. The more chemicals you toss in at once, the bigger your chances of going down in a flaming fireball. A big, bloated, gyno-y fireball. BUT most potential side effects can be avoided entirely if the cycle is followed correctly and the proper precautions are taken.
Contrary to what a lot of people say, /r/steroids does not believe that you have to have reach your full natural potential before running a cycle. What is recommend is that you have a good amount of experience and knowledge when it comes to training and nutrition and that you start off fairly lean – It is recommend that you are under 15% body fat and ideally closer to 10%.
This wiki page will include how to administer the steroids, recommended doses and durations, how to prevent and counteract side effects, and what you can expect to gain from your first cycle.
BEGINNER FAQ
-Contributions by u/DLTBB2
Can I Just Do An Oral Only Cycle?
You can. Should you? Absolutely not. Oral steroids are going to suppress your natural Testosterone production hard.
ALL steroid cycles need to be taken together with a base of Testosterone to replace your natural production, which will be shut down.
Without a Testosterone base, you will feel weak, tired, depressed, low libido, erectile dysfunction, muscle loss and weakness—all the symptoms of low testosterone.
As you won't have any Testosterone to support the muscles you're building, you'll lose all your newfound, hard-earned gains just after you've gotten them.
If you choose to do a orals-only cycle against all sound advice, you should look into getting a SERM (like Nolvadex/Clomid or the sorts) for a proper PCT, as well. You should consider reading through this Wiki and doing a real cycle, complete with Testosterone, as you'll find better results, as well as feeling better too.
What About A Prohormone Or Designer Steroid Cycle?
Again. You can. Should you? Probably not. Prohormones & Designer Steroids are going to suppress your natural Test pretty hard.
You need to take ANY CYCLE* together with a base of Testosterone to replace your natural production, which will be shut down. Without a testosterone base you may find you don't feel the best or you feel symptoms of low testosterone.
Prohormones & Designer Steroids are no better (or even worse in some cases) than using a traditional oral steroid. The supplemental PCT crap they sell with these Prohormones is predominantly bogus stuff and if you choose to do a Prohormone / Designer Steroid cycle, you should at least look into getting a SERM (like Nolvadex/Clomid or the sorts) for a real PCT. You should consider reading through this Wiki and doing a real cycle, complete with Testosterone, as you'll find better results, as well as feeling better overall too.
Is my gear bunk?
It's a question we see almost daily on the forum. The author's cycle isn't living up to their expectations and more often than not, the first thing they'll do is blame the gear for their underwhelming results. But are they doing everything that is required from them to make gains? Are they using the correct metrics to evaluate whether their gear is legit? And have they started the cycle with realistic expectations? In most cases, absolutely not.
I don’t feel anything from it.
You won’t necessarily feel different on gear. I don’t, regardless of what compound/dose I’ve used, I always feel the same, laid back and easy-going. When you read about people feeling superhuman when they start injecting a bit of Testosterone, the chances are they’ve suffered from low Test without necessarily realising for their whole lives and are finally experiencing normality, which they think feels fantastic.
But I’m not getting any side effects!
Good. That’s what you want. You don’t have to suffer from side effects for your gear to be legitimate. Consider yourself lucky. Would you prefer to be covered in acne, bloated and balding to help confirm you’re actually injecting hormones? If you’re asking this question in the first place, the chances are you’re new to using PEDs and using moderate doses of 1-2 mild compounds. It’s more common not to suffer sides at all than it is to be riddled with them with this kind of cycle.
I’ve not gained any weight/have gained very little weight!
What’s your maintenance calorie intake? How did you reach this figure? Please don’t say you used a shitty generic online calculator. How active are you day to day? How many calories do you burn during training? Are you doing cardio? Combine all of this. That’s your maintenance calorie intake. If you want to gain weight, you need to be in a calorie surplus daily. Don’t think you’re a special snowflake who will do an insane recomp at maintenance calories during your first cycle. You’ll spend the whole cycle spinning your wheels and have nothing or very little to show for it at the end.
But I’m eating roughly 2300-3300 calories every day and still not gaining
Roughly won’t cut it. It needs to be consistent. If you’re spending half of your days at -500 calories and half at +500 calories, you’re at maintenance over the course of the week and that’s why you’re gaining next to nothing. Your surplus needs to be consistent over the week if you wish to gain consistently.
My bench press hasn’t suddenly shot up by 50KG..
It won’t. Sure, you’ll gain strength faster than you would naturally. But you’re not going to turn superhuman overnight or even during one full cycle. You need to tailor your routine so it’s focused on progression and work on adding small increments in weight, extra reps or additional time under tension to your lifts each week over the course of the cycle. The small and consistent increments will add up and it’s possible to boost your numbers considerably in 15 weeks, but you’re not going to turn in to Larry Wheels. Look at the volume and frequency of your training and make sure it’s right for you and you’re able to recover in between sessions. Focus on progression. Get rid of all of that junk volume where you’re lifting with little to no intensity and aimlessly trying to pump the muscle thinking it’s going to explode. That kind of training might work for a select few with superb genetics, but you’re better off focusing on the bread and butter and getting stronger over low to moderate volume.
Is (random UGL that has existed for one week) Pharma legit?
There’s countless threads on the forum already with reviews. You’ll see certain labs mentioned and praised daily. Outside of putting out a bad batch due to dodgy raws or somebody producing identical replicas, you’re more than likely going to be good to go with those labs. If they’ve put out a shit batch, you’ll have probably heard about it already. If you’re buying from some obscure lab that nobody has ever heard of despite having dozens of well reviewed labs at your disposal, that’s on you.
Should I add X, Y and Z to make up for the fact that this might be bunk?
No. You’re brand new to gear. It might not be bunk and could be a training/nutrition issue. Throwing in another compound is going to give you more potential side effects to worry about and require you to add additional ancillaries to counteract them. You’re only just learning how you respond to Test by itself and if you’re ticking all the boxes, you can make great gains on that alone with little to no sides.
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