Steroid Cycles

Basic Beginner Steroid Cycle:

Beginner steroid cycles can be some of the most difficult cycles to understand; not because they’re complicated but because the individual more than likely has very little understanding of the hormones. The internet can be a great source of first class information with countless different members’ forums and message where you can get the full A-Z on all things anabolic. At the same time however, with so many conflicting opinions, it can be difficult to know what information is worth taking on board and what information you should just ignore.

Important: Please also note that while we hope you find the information below interesting and informative, the contents are for general information purposes only and do not constitute advice.

The 3 most important factors to ensure you gain the maximum amount of benefit from a cycle are maintaining a healthy diet, following a rigorous training program and getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep per day. For a beginner, the best cycle is one which is Testosterone only. Often beginners make the mistake of stack 2 or 3 different steroids for their first cycle without any idea how their body will react or if perhaps the steroids cause mood swings or aggressiveness. If you’ve never supplemented with anabolic steroids you don’t know how you’re going to react and if you’re stacking multiple steroids and run into problems it’s going to be impossible to pinpoint which steroid is causing the problem.

For the Beginner Steroid Cycles, Testosterone Enanthate and Testosterone Cypionate will be our primary choices; simply pick one or the other. Most men will realize some pretty good gains from 250mg PW. However, the gains from using 500mg PW would be far more substantial. It is important to keep in mind that Testosterone Enanthate and Testosterone Cypionate are both large ester Testosterones and as such there will be no noticeable effects for a few weeks.

For the Beginner Steroid Cycles, PCT will consist of a 4 week course of Nolvadex a Estrogen Receptor Modulator (SERM).

Week 1-12 Testosterone Enanthate or Testosterone Cypionate: 250mg-500mg per week

Week 13-15 you will take nothing and let the Testosterone begin to clear out

Week 16-17 Nolvadex 40mg per day

Week 18-19 Nolvadex 20mg per day

For Beginners Cycle #2 you will need only 3 products, 2 anabolic steroids and 1 SERM. It is a 12 week course followed by a 3 week post cycle recovery with the total plan taking 17 weeks and is as follows:

Week’s 13 and 14 you don’t have to take anything; this allows enough time for your testosterone levels to drop. The above cycle is based and built around Testosterone Enanthate; as such you will need to wait a couple weeks to allow the hormone to clear your system before you begin Nolvadex therapy. You could even wait a total of 3 weeks to reach this point but you will want to start your Nolvadex therapy no later than 3 weeks after your last Testosterone Enanthate injection.

During this cycle you will notice the gains start rapidly, largely due to the Dianabol and begin to slow down as you progress, especially the last few weeks. This does not mean we stop the cycle early as you need to continue in-order to allow your body to become accustomed to the gains made, if you are going to keep any of them once the cycle has been discontinued. Let’s discuss each compound briefly:

Testosterone Enanthate: If Testosterone Enanthate is not available you can substitute Testosterone Cypionate in its place as the two are virtually identical. For this cycle you will administer the hormone on one of two scheduled plans; one 500mg injection once per week or two 250mg injections twice per week, say Monday and Thursday. In either case the job will be done with the second option be optimal but only slightly. This will be the basis of your cycle and will give you the greatest benefits of all.

Danabol DS: As you will be taking this every day the first 6 weeks you can take the full daily dosage all at once, or you can split it into two doses per day for optimal results. Taking 15mg in the morning and 10mg at late evening/night would be best. Through the use of D-bol you will add mass and strength very quickly as the Testosterone builds in your system.

Nolvadex: When supplementing with anabolic steroids our natural testosterone production is suppressed. Even though we are supplementing with exogenous testosterone our body will not be making the testosterone it needs. Once the cycle is over it’s time to stimulate our natural production and Nolvadex can do just that. By stimulating the release of LH and FSH our testicles will begin producing again. No, the PCT period in-which we supplement with Nolvadex will not bring our levels all the way back to normal; there is no PCT plan that can do this but it will lead us to that end much faster than without.

Further, if you keep your diet clean you will largely protect from water retention; some will occur if you are really trying to bulk but limit your excess calories only to what you absolutely need and avoid overeating carbohydrates. Further, keeping your diet clean is also good for your blood pressure and cholesterol; moreover, consuming plenty of Omega-3 Fatty Acids can greatly serve you here.

Intermediate Cycle #1

The following three cycles are considered Novice cycles. As our cycle listed under the “Novice Cycles I” link is for a true beginner some beginners may choose to start here with a little more but should only do so if their personal education is well beyond average. Most who will supplement with the following cycles will have at least one cycle similar to the one under the “Novice Cycles I” link under their belt but are still relatively new to PED use. Each cycle is listed by PED and the dosing to correspond with each week. At the bottom of the page you will find a PCT plan that is to follow each cycle.

Notes

• Very well-suited for mass but can be used when dieting as well. In either case the end result will largely be dictated by your diet.
• Due to the aromatizing nature of these steroids SERM’s or AI’s may be needed and should be kept on hand. Nolvadex is the SERM of choice but if stronger AI’s are needed Arimidex and Letrozole will both work well.

Intermediate Cycle #2

Notes

• Very well-suited for mass but can be used when dieting as well. In either case the end result will largely be dictated by your diet.
• Due to the aromatizing nature of these steroids SERM’s or AI’s may be needed and should be kept on hand. Nolvadex is the SERM of choice but if stronger AI’s are needed Arimidex and Letrozole will both work well.
• The switch from Testosterone Enanthate to Testosterone Propionate at the end will allow the PCT process to begin approximately 3 days after your last injection.

Intermediate Cycle #3 (EOD = Every Other Day)

Notes

Well suited for cutting while adding good quality, lean gains. Regardless of desired total results the end result will largely be dictated by your diet.

Due to the aromatizing nature of these steroids SERM’s or AI’s may be needed and should be kept on hand. Nolvadex is the SERM of choice but if stronger AI’s are needed Arimidex and Letrozole will both work well.

The switch from Testosterone Cypionate to Testosterone Propionate at the end will allow the PCT process to begin approximately 3 days after your last injection. Further, this will ensure you’re holding a little less water to give you a nice finishing touch.

Intermediate Cycle #4 (EOD = Every Other Day)

Notes

• Well suited for cutting while adding good quality, lean gains. Regardless of desired total results the end result will largely be dictated by your diet.
• Due to the aromatizing nature of these steroids SERM’s or AI’s may be needed and should be kept on hand. Nolvadex is the SERM of choice but if stronger AI’s are needed Arimidex and Letrozole will both work well.

Post Cycle Therapy Plan for all cycles listed:

(EOD = Every Other Day)

Notes on Post Cycle Therapy:

hcg is only used for 10 days, 10 straight days

PCT therapy begins 3 days after your last injection if you complete Novice Cycle 2, 3 or 4

PCT therapy begins 10 days after your last injection if you complete Novice Cycle 1

Post Cycle Therapy (PCT)

Post cycle therapy is a method of employing drugs which work via various mechanisms to go about trying to stabilize and restore a user’s hormones back to normal once a suppressive anabolic androgenic steroid cycle has been ceased.

After a user has finished a cycle or a course of steroids they are left in a situation where their natural testosterone production has been suppressed, sometimes severely. Furthermore, the levels of steroids are forever diminishing in their system, leaving the user in a very catabolic state post cycle, which may reflect in their ability to maintain muscle mass gained whilst on cycle. With this in mind, it is easy to conclude that we would like to find a way to restore ones natural testosterone production to bring about a better environment for overall health and to maintain muscle tissue.

Clomiphene citrate (Clomid) and Tamoxifen (Nolvadex) can be employed post cycle to help restore the users’ natural testosterone production. Because both are able to block estrogen at the hypothalamus and pituitary, thus ceasing negative feedback inhibition, we have drugs that can successfully increase FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and LH (luteinizing hormone) in the male body. Increased LH can help to stimulate the Leydig’s cells in the testes to produce more testosterone.

Many find just using Nolvadex on its own efficient enough to recover from their cycles. Some, however, prefer to use both drugs to cover all angles. It is worth noting that Nolvadex is more profound in stimulating an increase of LH, on a milligram to milligram standpoint, compared to that of Clomid. Also, many users complain of side effects from Clomid such as visual implications and mood swings.

When analysing the methods in which both drugs work to bring about raises in natural testosterone production it is easy to conclude some old-school approaches are flawed. Many users would use a burst of Clomid mid cycle in the hope of it causing an increase in testosterone production to minimise shut down.

The only use of Clomid during a heavy androgenic cycle is as an anti-estrogen, not a mid-cycle aid against shut down, because the heighten levels of androgen will cause a feedback to the testes to cease production of testosterone regardless. Therefore, if androgen levels are high Clomid will do very little in aiding production of natural testosterone. It will a lot more effective starting a PCT protocol when the androgen levels of the steroids drop, and this will be dependent on the half-life of the compounds the user used during their cycle.

Due to the half-life of Clomid and Nolvadex there is little need in splitting the dosages of the drug, just take when it’s most continent.

PCT protocols

Dosages of Nolvadex for PCT protocol

Day 1: 100mg
Days 2 through 11: 60mg
Days 12 through 21: 40mg

The above is a sample protocol which could be employed. Obviously the cycle and other parameters may alter the dosages and duration of your post cycle protocol.

As said above, many users like to use both Nolvadex and Clomid post cycle to cover all angles.

Dosages of Nolvadex and Clomid combined for PCT protocol:

Day 1: Clomid 250mg + Nolvadex 60mg
Days 2 through 11: Clomid 100mg + Nolvadex 40mg
Days 12 through 21: Clomid 50mg + Nolvadex 20mg

This method should prove effective. That said, as with the Nolvadex only protocol, it is not set in stone. More suppressive cycles may require higher doses or longer duration of use to bring about the desired effects.

When you start the PCT protocol will depend on the compounds that were administrated in the cycle. Look up all steroids you used during your cycle in our table below, and take note of the drug which has the longest start date after last admission. This is so that we do not start a PCT protocol when there may still be potentially high levels of androgens in the system, which would make the PCT be a waste until the levels dropped.

See below for when to start your PCT protocol after ceasing your cycle:

HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin)

HCG, or Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin, is a peptide hormone which can be useful to body-builders who suffer from testicular atrophy whilst on cycle.

It was once commonly used during PCT in the belief it will aid testosterone restoration, however this is flawed due to its mechanism of action. The drug mimics the effects of LH in the body, stimulating the Leydig cells to produce Testosterone in the testes. This can be fruitful in rectify existing, or avoiding testicular atrophy on cycle. It will not aid the process of recovery in the post cycle phase however, as the drug will bring about heightened estrogen levels due to the greater aromatising of the testosterone being produced in the testes, thus bringing about greater inhibition of the HPTA.

It is therefore wise to use HCG for rectify existing, or avoiding testicular atrophy on cycle, and possibly prior to PCT to help bring the testes back up to condition so they are more effective at producing testosterone. HCG use should be ceased about a week prior to PCT.

It is wise to use HCG in small but frequent amounts over the course of two weeks to help minimise side effects and give more fruitful results. This is usually accompanied by Nolvadex at 20-40mg each day to avoid estrogen related side effects becoming pronounced due to the greater aromatisation occurring. 500-1000IU over a two week period should prove effective in terms of results and minimising estrogen related side effects.

HCG comes as a temperature sensitive powder which needs to be mixed with sterile water prior to injection. It is common for there to be three ampoules per kit, alongside the water which needs to be added. These have to be kept refrigerated and used within a couple of weeks. Care should always be taken to keep the environment sterile during the mixing, and after.