ABMonkey: Go time

Leg day...

Now speed squatting what I was grinding out a few weeks ago. 8 sets of 3 and feeling good. Looking forward to a strength check in a week or so as I feel theres going to be a few PR's.

Have been doubling up on fish oils and vits as people are sick at work and I've been a tad achey. Lots of cardio recently.
 
Back day...

Real tough workout today and lacking motivation but powered through. Haven't been enjoying back days for a while now, going to switch it up. Having been on JM's programs for a while he generally keeps the same back exercises in the mix... I'll change it up next week. Also the fact I work nightshift generally adds to fatigue especially at the end of the week.
 
Just a quick update, have been super busy as an currently off work and out snowboarding lots. Things have been going great, PCT has been a piece of cake. In week 5 now and have one more week remaining of nolvadex.

Training intensity is back high, morning wood is back strong and mentally/physically have felt great throughout. Going to wait a month after PCT then pull some bloods to see where we are at. Have put on some fat over PCT but that's fine with me, will go into a cut next week before hitting up next cycle in a few months (pending appropriate BW).

Fully intend on cleaning this log up and making a final post summarizing my cycle.
 
Last few days of PCT...as noted before I will give a detailed report in the coming weeks but things have still been going great.

The past week or so I've been a bit sloppy with diet & training due to being on vacation and out snowboarding a lot. When in the gym intensity has been good and have been strong throughout.

On cycle weight was 226lbs, now in week 6 of PCT I'm weighing in at 224.5 albeit carrying a bit more fat.
 
Finished with nolvadex as of today. Let's see how the next few weeks go. The past few have been great (other than not having the added boost of increased T).

I am only down ~2lbs from on cycle weight and visually as big, just with a bit of winter fat. The next few weeks are going to be slowly lowering cals to trim down a bit before next cycle. Given that bloods will be taken on a cut I'm expecting T to be a little below pre cycles levels, but hopefully all else is good.
 
Down 3lbs since last week now... tightened up diet and added 20min cardio per session. Made it to the gym 5 days last week and will continue with 5 training days per week.

I am feeling good, have been off nolvadex a few days now. Morning wood is strong (could be argued that even stronger than pre cycle) and libido is around pre cycle levels. Energy in the gym is all good and I broke a bench PR last week.

Physically carrying a bit more fat, which is fine, but hopefully this should start dropping off so the new muscle can be revealed and can start next cycle even leaner than last time. Maybe even get to see some abs, who knows. I have some cheap body calipers for BF% so will include measurements next cycle.

I intend to keep this log brief from now on but will keep it running till I pull next bloods and wrap things up with a cycle review.
 
Was just wondering something for your pct. how come you discontinued asin or am I reading it wrong? Asin has been shown to be essential in a good pct protocol. I’ve always incorporated it and have had great results whereas I kept it out a couple times to see for myself and noticed a huge difference. But yeah You’d continue it as you would for the first 2 weeks say EOD following your last injection and then cut that dose in half again for another 2 weeks. Asin has the ability to increase free Testosterone and IGF levels in the body. Because of this, it is also very useful during PCT regimes when one is trying to restore natural Testosterone production levels in order to avoid a post cycle "crash". Since one of the main goals of PCT is getting estro under control, the very last thing you want is a big estro spike right at the end obviously. Asin prevents this from occurring, keeping estrogen under control, preventing rebound and getting oneself on the right track to a full and efficient recovery etc.
 
Was just wondering something for your pct. how come you discontinued asin or am I reading it wrong? Asin has been shown to be essential in a good pct protocol. I’ve always incorporated it and have had great results whereas I kept it out a couple times to see for myself and noticed a huge difference. But yeah You’d continue it as you would for the first 2 weeks say EOD following your last injection and then cut that dose in half again for another 2 weeks. Asin has the ability to increase free Testosterone and IGF levels in the body. Because of this, it is also very useful during PCT regimes when one is trying to restore natural Testosterone production levels in order to avoid a post cycle "crash". Since one of the main goals of PCT is getting estro under control, the very last thing you want is a big estro spike right at the end obviously. Asin prevents this from occurring, keeping estrogen under control, preventing rebound and getting oneself on the right track to a full and efficient recovery etc.
Great question.

I did a lot of research and look into lots of different PCT options (including Scally's). I wanted to keep it simple. There are a multitude of different ways to PCT and options out there, some including aromasin and others not.

This time around I decided to not include aromasin. I guess I didn't want to risk driving E too low. I believe my E was under control prior to PCT (as I controlled it effectively on cycle and didn't use any "mega doses" of HCG after/during PCT that would cause E to spike) and I think this may be one of the reasons why I've felt so good throughout PCT.

I tapered off aromasin in the in the end. I took 12.5asin with my last test pin, then one other dose of asin, then a dose of 6.25.

One of the reasons I switched to aromasin (amongst several other) was that it could tapered off and not face a harsh E rebound, that is commonly reported with the use or adex.

Maybe this is something for me to consider in the future.
 
Training going well, feeling normal and trying to shed some fat before next cycle. Cheap BF% calipers say that I'm 20% which I agree with.... people definitely grossly underestimate their BF. Plan is to get down to approx ~15% BF/215lb mark or till I look visibly lean and can see those abs prior to next cycle. Being lean first time round definitely let me get away with little AI use till week 8 and visibly looked better packing on muscle to a lean body as opposed to a bit fluffy... so I'll do the same as last time.

I'll try and keep second cycle talk off this thread as I'd like to keep it relevant for other noobs who are on/considering their first cycle but.....

Plan at the moment is:
  • Test C250 @ 500/week (wk1-16)
  • Anavar 60-75mg ED (probably 8 weeks)
  • Aromasin @ 12.5EOD (week 8-16)
  • HCG @ 250iu twice per week (wk1 - 17)
  • Nolvadex @ 20mg ED (wk18-24)
Supplementation will be taken throughout cycle to account for anavar use. At this moment in time I'm planning no bloodwork for this cycle as little is changing (though I am tempted to get an E test approx week 7 to see where E is at as this is where I have no data from last cycle and it's where i think E spiked.

If something works I see no reason in changing so test amount will remain the same along with PCT. Anavar will be introduced at the back end as it's a compound I'm very interested to try again this time the correct way with a test base. HCG will be started right from the get go (or a few days later) so I'm not playing catch up.
 
Initially had planned to draw bloods tomorrow morning as its approx 5 weeks since end of cycle but I've been called into work so that will have to wait till next Monday. No worries there.

4 weeks into cut now and down just under 7lbs, sitting at 215.2 fasted this morning. Retaining a lot of muscle and in much better shape than this time/(condition) last year. Initially was going to aim for 210 before hopping on next cycle but think, given how much I've lost far, can push it even further maybe down to 205 and be sitting sub 10% BF. 4 weeks more of cutting, it's been pretty fun thus far.
 
Bloodwork has just been mailed away, drawn this morning. Expect all to be well, test may be down a little bit as I'm nearing the end of my cut and have been sick all weekend but we'll see.

Down to 210.8lbs, down approx 12lbs fron start of cut. Was 223lbs post PCT.

Gym has been tough recently as have been working 12's but still been managing to grind it out. Looking forward to next cycle. Watch this space.
 
POST CYCLE BLOODWORK
Pre Cycle
Test:
568ng/dl
Oestradiol: 24pg/ml

Post Cycle (8 weeks from completion of PCT)
Test:
442ng/dl
Oestradiol: 21pg/ml

Overall as expected, I recovered pretty well (I would say test would be higher than bloodwork suggests as I noted above I was in a deep cut & sick when bloods were drawn). With the results above I see no reason not to run exactly the same PCT again, or to not recommend my exact PCT to others.

This log is finished now and the second cycle is underway. You can see it here: https://www.canadianbrawn.com/threads/abmonkey-2-0.2594/
 
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