Strength Gains on Cycle - When & How Much

SquatAddict17

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Trusted Member
Just thought I would throw out a topic to see what other peoples experiences have been on cycle. Probably more specifically their first cycle, or first decent cycle I should say.

Questions I wonder about:

- At what point in your cycle did you notice that your strength/endurance was increasing beyond your previous capabilities?
- If you're talking the 4 major movement being Bench, Squate, Deadlift, and SP, how much did your 1RM or volume increase from previously?
- And to play the devils advocate, how much of that gained strength did you lose post-cycle?


I'm still in my first cycle, but I saw/felt strength gains immediately, now I know that is likely just placebo, but once I started the cycle, I took training much more seriously to squeeze as much as I could out of this short stretch. Hence why I ask what some more experienced users noticed for when the strength actually started increasing.

I hit an all time PR squat of 500lb the day after my first injection, which was a 40lb PR for me. My bench has gone up ~30lb, hitting a 315lb bench just last week in my 4th week on cycle.

I have not gone for any heavy deadlift work because I'm always fighting a bit of a nagging low back strain (believe it's just overly tight hips & psoas), but before I started, deadlift was 455lb.

Should have been feeling amazing, always lacked in the mind muscle connection with them, but I've been feeling hyper focused and in tune with my muscles on the daily, and my press strength has definitely gone up.

Anyways, thought it might be an interesting topic, any add-ons to the points above or other things you noticed early on, during, or post-cycle please share!
 
When I first stepped in to my old gym we had this guy who used to go there his name was big Ron . And big Ron used to squat 800 lbs every Sunday .
I was just a kid . I was skinny as fuck I doubt I weighed more than 170 lb back than. 70lb less than I am now.
All the guys at this gym were hardcore and I knew nothing, but I never saw anyone squat less than three plates a side so I figured that’s where I would start.
My first time squatting I got under the bar I did ten rep at one plate 8 at two and than I put three plates on and I honestly can’t tell you how many reps I got because it’s been years and I was thinking I got five or six in but it may have been only two or three.
I was fucking hurting after.
A few years later I was up to 200 lb and squatting down pretty awesome weight , I had good teachers and was being dumb anymore . I was in the 450-475 range when I went on my first cycle.
By the end of my first cycle I was no longer doing 450 for two reps I was doing 450 for sets of ten.
I think I managed to hit 500 that year for 1 as well.
This cycle however that I just finished and it’s been ten years since those days now and I am experienced lol,
I did break a PR last week. I hit 540 for 8, than ten than ten than 6 .
And than than I did drop sets down doing five reps on each plate.
And three days ago I went back and tried to break it again and I hit 590 for two and 610 for one.
So that’s my all time best . But I can’t lift like that anymore at least I’m not supposed to I have osteoarthritis in my hips and back and my physiotherapist would shit a break if he read this post.
I have a deadly squat deadly deadlift but my bench is weak, I never did a lot of heavy benching because every time I hear from guys who got a torn pec it was on the beach so I never got higher than 400 for 1 rep in my life in the bench. Even know when I bench I never go higher than three plates


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When I first stepped in to my old gym we had this guy who used to go there his name was big Ron . And big Ron used to squat 800 lbs every Sunday .
I was just a kid . I was skinny as fuck I doubt I weighed more than 170 lb back than. 70lb less than I am now.
All the guys at this gym were hardcore and I knew nothing, but I never saw anyone squat less than three plates a side so I figured that’s where I would start.
My first time squatting I got under the bar I did ten rep at one plate 8 at two and than I put three plates on and I honestly can’t tell you how many reps I got because it’s been years and I was thinking I got five or six in but it may have been only two or three.
I was fucking hurting after.
A few years later I was up to 200 lb and squatting down pretty awesome weight , I had good teachers and was being dumb anymore . I was in the 450-475 range when I went on my first cycle.
By the end of my first cycle I was no longer doing 450 for two reps I was doing 450 for sets of ten.
I think I managed to hit 500 that year for 1 as well.
This cycle however that I just finished and it’s been ten years since those days now and I am experienced lol,
I did break a PR last week. I hit 540 for 8, than ten than ten than 6 .
And than than I did drop sets down doing five reps on each plate.
And three days ago I went back and tried to break it again and I hit 590 for two and 610 for one.
So that’s my all time best . But I can’t lift like that anymore at least I’m not supposed to I have osteoarthritis in my hips and back and my physiotherapist would shit a break if he read this post.
I have a deadly squat deadly deadlift but my bench is weak, I never did a lot of heavy benching because every time I hear from guys who got a torn pec it was on the beach so I never got higher than 400 for 1 rep in my life in the bench. Even know when I bench I never go higher than three plates


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Crazy squat gains!

I hope to be in the mid 500’s within the year! But don’t want to get stupid with it either! I’ve noticed that before this, I used to hit 405 for 1 or 2 on a top set, now it’s 6-8 reps on leg days. Phenomenal what some extra hormones can do.
 
Crazy squat gains!

I hope to be in the mid 500’s within the year! But don’t want to get stupid with it either! I’ve noticed that before this, I used to hit 405 for 1 or 2 on a top set, now it’s 6-8 reps on leg days. Phenomenal what some extra hormones can do.

Yeah man just be smart. I was not smart I just wanted to lift the most I could and break records every week and now I have a fucked up back and some days I can’t even tie my shoes . Been in physiology for six months now.
Do it the smart way and save your body don’t be in your mid 30s like me and walking around like you’re in your fifties lol


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Crazy squat gains!

I hope to be in the mid 500’s within the year! But don’t want to get stupid with it either! I’ve noticed that before this, I used to hit 405 for 1 or 2 on a top set, now it’s 6-8 reps on leg days. Phenomenal what some extra hormones can do.

And I will say this as well some guys won’t agree and I don’t care it’s my opinion and I believe it to be 1000% true.
Strength is 90% in your mind.
You hear about little woman who flip a car off their kid when they are in a panic. The human body can do crazy shit. Push the mind the body will follow


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Could you break down your cycle of me? Are you just running Test? Or test plus other stuff?
 
Could you break down your cycle of me? Are you just running Test? Or test plus other stuff?

I’m not sure if you are asking me or the other guy but I rams test c at 250 every 3.5 days and deca d every 3.5 days at 200 for 8 weeks and I ran amavar at 20 mg a day for four weeks than 40 mg a day for four weeks and my week 8-12 I ran test sustain on 250 every other day. I hit my PR on week twelve and I have been 8 days since my final injection now


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I'm just on 400mg Test E per week.

Anavar potentially going into it in the coming weeks while I try to diet a bit harder.
Thanks for the info. I’m most likely gonna start my first cycle soon. Just trying to absorb all the info I can to make sure I do it right and don’t F myself up. I think I’m just gonna run test e for the first cycle and see how it goes.
.
 
Thanks for the info. I’m most likely gonna start my first cycle soon. Just trying to absorb all the info I can to make sure I do it right and don’t F myself up. I think I’m just gonna run test e for the first cycle and see how it goes.
.

Good plan. Don’t just take different gear just to take gear either . When you find stuff that works for you stay with it. My favourite is deca I figured that out when I was younger. The added bonus to the joints was what really put me over the top .
Read read read and read some more. Even the guys who have been doing this for twenty years are still learning shit everyday


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Good plan. Don’t just take different gear just to take gear either . When you find stuff that works for you stay with it. My favourite is deca I figured that out when I was younger. The added bonus to the joints was what really put me over the top .
Read read read and read some more. Even the guys who have been doing this for twenty years are still learning shit everyday


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Thanks man that’s good to know. My pops did deca back in his younger days and he said he loved it and had zero sides. Didn’t know deca helped with your joints. Learned something new again from this forum glad I joined. If you don’t mind me asking what do your cycles look like?
 
Thanks man that’s good to know. My pops did deca back in his younger days and he said he loved it and had zero sides. Didn’t know deca helped with your joints. Learned something new again from this forum glad I joined. If you don’t mind me asking what do your cycles look like?

Scroll up[emoji115]


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Lol my bad should have been more specific…. Do you take AI’s? What’s your PCT that you use if any?

I took aromasin at week 3-5 I was getting some possible water retention I think I took 4 mg my entire cycle .
I’m pretty lucky I never get any side effects .
My dick always works I don’t get angry I don’t lose hair or get acne or anything.
But I’m kind of special that way I think it’s pretty rare from what I’ve read.
And I’ll be starting pct in a few days here .
I have hcg but unfortunately I have to go out to camp for work and won’t be able to keep a refrigerated syringe anywhere , so I will be running clomid post cycle. I do. It recommend cloned though it can mess with your head . Nolva hcg are both better in my opinion. That may not be true for you however I recommend reading the pct threads on the forum


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When I first stepped in to my old gym we had this guy who used to go there his name was big Ron . And big Ron used to squat 800 lbs every Sunday .
I was just a kid . I was skinny as fuck I doubt I weighed more than 170 lb back than. 70lb less than I am now.
All the guys at this gym were hardcore and I knew nothing, but I never saw anyone squat less than three plates a side so I figured that’s where I would start.
My first time squatting I got under the bar I did ten rep at one plate 8 at two and than I put three plates on and I honestly can’t tell you how many reps I got because it’s been years and I was thinking I got five or six in but it may have been only two or three.
I was fucking hurting after.
A few years later I was up to 200 lb and squatting down pretty awesome weight , I had good teachers and was being dumb anymore . I was in the 450-475 range when I went on my first cycle.
By the end of my first cycle I was no longer doing 450 for two reps I was doing 450 for sets of ten.
I think I managed to hit 500 that year for 1 as well.
This cycle however that I just finished and it’s been ten years since those days now and I am experienced lol,
I did break a PR last week. I hit 540 for 8, than ten than ten than 6 .
And than than I did drop sets down doing five reps on each plate.
And three days ago I went back and tried to break it again and I hit 590 for two and 610 for one.
So that’s my all time best . But I can’t lift like that anymore at least I’m not supposed to I have osteoarthritis in my hips and back and my physiotherapist would shit a break if he read this post.
I have a deadly squat deadly deadlift but my bench is weak, I never did a lot of heavy benching because every time I hear from guys who got a torn pec it was on the beach so I never got higher than 400 for 1 rep in my life in the bench. Even know when I bench I never go higher than three plates


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Don't quote me on it but I think Incline bench might be less risky for injuries. Sick lifts though man good job
 
I took aromasin at week 3-5 I was getting some possible water retention I think I took 4 mg my entire cycle .
I’m pretty lucky I never get any side effects .
My dick always works I don’t get angry I don’t lose hair or get acne or anything.
But I’m kind of special that way I think it’s pretty rare from what I’ve read.
And I’ll be starting pct in a few days here .
I have hcg but unfortunately I have to go out to camp for work and won’t be able to keep a refrigerated syringe anywhere , so I will be running clomid post cycle. I do. It recommend cloned though it can mess with your head . Nolva hcg are both better in my opinion. That may not be true for you however I recommend reading the pct threads on the forum


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Thanks for all the info much appreciated. I’m looking forward to my first cycle. Any labs your recommended to start out with?
 
For me, my first cycle was Tbol 50mg EOD, I felt it the next day lol, the hard pump was insane even without being at the gym I could feel a pump that wasn’t leaving my body... when I was flexing I could feel that hardener feeling too , something that I really enjoy till this day. For strength , a lot of it was due to the mental aspect of the gear , but yeah it did increase my 1reps max by 40-45 lbs easily.
Just make sure to keep your diet clean.
You should be seeing that your traps and delts have grownups pretty fast too with your first cycle, ask your gym buddy.
 
There's definitely a placebo effect for most I think when you start. That extra commitment of the cycle dials you in more.

For me I'd say I noticed slowly, around 4 weeks mark. And up from there. Personally the focus and the extra strength is awesome. Like we know ourselves natural pretty well. So when one week your natural weight and reps feel lighter. The next week I'd add 10 lbs. Form tight as ever and felt easier than the week before. The extra feeling of solidness, or of just having more power, every week is really something. At the same time muscles getting fuller and getting a little leaner, with tight diet. I love that. I saw real quick why some hardly ever come off. I find for me personally it also gives me a bit more cushioning from injuries.

I'd say strength wise I lose a good half after pct? I mean hard to say because I didn't feel I should or could push as hard without the help. I know many say then you have to push harder to keep it. But the chemicals helped me improve . Without them I'd think trying to keep that same level would be risking an injury or 2. Especially as we get older.

So noticed about 4 weeks in. Just more focus more drive. More strength with same form and more weight for same reps. Body changes. I agree with above though. You push too hard even on, too much too soon, I'd bet that's an invite to injury too. A tough balance at times with the newfound capabilities. Don't wanna waste it. Don't wanna overdo it.
 
And I will say this as well some guys won’t agree and I don’t care it’s my opinion and I believe it to be 1000% true.
Strength is 90% in your mind.
You hear about little woman who flip a car off their kid when they are in a panic. The human body can do crazy shit. Push the mind the body will follow


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Agree 100%. My best lifts have all come from just saying fuck it, and turning off the part of my brain that thinks it’s impossible. I look at it like a governor; there’s a little switch in your brain that tells you you can’t lift something, in order to protect you from injury. In life or death situations, or when a loved one is in danger (as referenced in your example above), the body is capable of far greater things than we realize. I’ll occasionally use Paul Anderson’s progressive range of motion technique when I’m plateaued. Just to help my brain learn it’s possible. Apologies for the unrelated part of this post.

My first cycle was done purely for Muay Thai (the Thais don’t really touch weights too much). And my endurance, and power skyrocketed. I went from having shins of steel, to having to toughen them up again. And my pad holders commented on my power increasing dramatically. I was also able to manhandle people far larger than me in the clinch(though I credit some of that to increased technique). Post cycle, I definitely wasn’t hitting as hard. But I retained a fair bit of power.
 
Agree 100%. My best lifts have all come from just saying fuck it, and turning off the part of my brain that thinks it’s impossible. I look at it like a governor; there’s a little switch in your brain that tells you you can’t lift something, in order to protect you from injury. In life or death situations, or when a loved one is in danger (as referenced in your example above), the body is capable of far greater things than we realize. I’ll occasionally use Paul Anderson’s progressive range of motion technique when I’m plateaued. Just to help my brain learn it’s possible. Apologies for the unrelated part of this post.

My first cycle was done purely for Muay Thai (the Thais don’t really touch weights too much). And my endurance, and power skyrocketed. I went from having shins of steel, to having to toughen them up again. And my pad holders commented on my power increasing dramatically. I was also able to manhandle people far larger than me in the clinch(though I credit some of that to increased technique). Post cycle, I definitely wasn’t hitting as hard. But I retained a fair bit of power.

I actually read something recently where it was said that, the human Brian governs how much muscle you can actually use in order to prevent you from killing yourself.
If all your muscles contracted fully at the same time it would literally turn your bones to dust and blow you to goop.
Your brain regulates how much strength you can use to actually prevent your from killing yourself. Pretty neat stuff actually


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