Steroid Cycles for Beginners

By Anthony Roberts

If I were just entering the world of anabolic steroids, I wouldn´t know what to do with all of the information available today. I remember a decade ago when I first read the Underground Steroid Handbook by Dan Duchaine. The thing that stuck with me from that book was that he always said there was no magic in steroids. I read his handbook, and just as was promised, I learned that the rabbit was always in the hat, and the cards were up a sleeve all along. Steroids look like magic to beginners, because it´s hard to believe you can take a few pills and become more muscular seemingly overnight.

Well, it´s not magic, but if you´re a beginner and have seen their effects first hand (perhaps in a friend or teammate), they probably seem that way to you. But there´s no magic here. I´m going to also say that if you´re a beginner (i.e. have never used steroids), and you´re reading this article, you´re considering using them. A beginner is someone who has done two cycles or less, in my opinion.

Instead of just throwing some drugs and dosages at you, I´m going to do something a bit different. First I´m going to ask you some questions. If you answer no to any of them, then you´re probably not ready to use anabolic steroids.

• Are you a male over eighteen years old?
• Have you been training for at least two or three years seriously?
• Can you devote at least half a year to working out consistently?
• Can you be sure you can get real steroids?
  

If youe;re under eighteen years old, you probably haven´t stopped growing yet. So answering no to my first question means you run a very real risk of stunting your growth if you should choose to use steroids. In addition, I suppose there´s some kind of moral/ethical/legal issue in telling a minor that it´s alright to use steroids. So lets assume that if you´re still reading this, you´re of legal age to vote (but perhaps not to buy a beer which is another issue altogether ). If you answered no to my second question, you still need some natural training in the gym. This isn´t because you need to reach some mythical natural limit first, but rather because without a couple of years of serious training, you simply won´t know how your body reacts to different exercises.

As for my third question, I´m not going to tell you to do a 6 month cycle, but if you can´t devote at least as much time after the cycle to recovering as you did to the cycle (a three month one), then you´ll lose too much of your hard earned gains to make it worth it to even do a cycle. Finally, do I even need to elaborate on why answering no to the last question means you shouldn´t be considering a cycle? Good.

I´m going to limit my suggestions for beginner´s cycles to basically two compounds at most. And I´m going to also limit my suggestions to the most cost effective cycles and I´m not going to include any bizarre or hard to find drugs. Chances are if you´re a beginner, you can´t get all the exotic drugs people talk about. And, as a beginner, you´re better off without them. Here´s the cycle we´re going to discuss:

So you´ll notice a few things here, and I´ll explain them one by one. The first thing that I suggest is a twelve week cycle. This is because as a beginner, I feel like you want to have some time to deal with your cycle and make gains from it. You´re going to gain a lot of weight at first, and you need to get used to it. Gains will begin to taper off towards the end of this cycle. Most people find minor side effects to begin immediately upon starting a cycle (acne, etc... ) and subside within the first month also. This is as a result of your body trying to normalize itself´ or maintain/restore homeostasis in geek-speak.

The first compound we´re looking at for this cycle is testosterone. Testosterone is a great compound for use as the base of every cycle, and especially a beginner´s cycle This is because it is the primary male sexual hormone and it will have a variety of beneficial effects in your body including the synthesis of new protein and increase in IGF (both of which will build muscle), increasing red blood cell count (thus increasing endurance), and will provide an increase in both strength and aggressiveness in the gym.

Additionally, it will convert to a much stronger androgen called Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and also the female sex hormone Estrogen. This will give you the full spectrum of effects provided by your own natural testosterone. At this dose, not too many side effects should manifest. If your nipples get sore, then 10mgs/day of Nolvadex would be a welcome addition to this cycle. If hair loss is a concern, Nizoral shampoo (Ketoconazole) or Propecia (Finasteride) can be added into the cycle as per the manufacturer´s instructions.

You´ll need to inject either Testosterone Enanthate or Testosterone Cypionate at a dose of 400mgs once a week, and have the suggested medications to treat side effects on hand, just in case you need them.

The second, and optional, compound in this cycle is Dianabol (Methandrostenolone). This is an oral version of testosterone that has been tweaked by scientists to have less conversion to estrogen. In this case, they added what´s known as a c1-2 double bond, and this slows conversion to estrogen, and appears to do the same with conversion to DHT. They also made an adjustment called c17 alpha alkylation, making it orally active (unlike the testosterone you are using in this cycle). Adding this steroid into a beginner´s cycle will allow the user to achieve more gains in strength and muscle mass more quickly. It´s known to experienced steroid users as kick starting a cycle. Remember, the testosterone is the bread and butter of this cycle, and the Dianabol is a nice addition, but not to be used alone.

A cycle like this should provide a beginning steroid user with a good twenty (or more) pounds or more if a proper diet and training regimen is followed. Some of this weight is going to be water retention, since the two steroids being used can both convert to estrogen. If a clean, high calorie diet is followed, then that bloated watery look that´s common with first time steroid users can be avoided. Also, it´s important to note that it´s a very good idea to do at least 20 minutes of cardio work three or four times a week while on a cycle, to keep your cardiovascular system running optimally, and able to support all of the new weight (and stress) you are placing on it.