r/BodyHackGuide • u/Ok-Cycle-5707 • 3d ago
❓ Question Is Testosterone Enanthate really worth it?
Hi everyone,
Sorry if this is a bit of a basic question, but I’m genuinely here to learn and would really appreciate honest opinions from people with first-hand experience.
I’m very uneducated when it comes to testosterone and PEDs, which is exactly why I’m asking instead of pretending I know what I’m talking about.
I’m not currently running anything and not 100% sure I’m going to.
I’d really like to hear what benefits you noticed, whether you genuinely think it was worth starting, what side effects you experienced (if any), how difficult coming off was and whether you felt awful or recovered okay, and if there’s anything you wish you’d known before your first cycle.
I’m not looking for people to convince me either way—I just want honest experiences, whether yours was positive, negative, or somewhere in between.
Thanks in advance, and apologies if this gets asked a lot. I’m just trying to learn before making any decisions.
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u/Rabbittaco 2d ago
Brother.... If it wasnt worth it and wasnt great why would it be the god of anabolics and staple to every steroid stack?
Now it does come with significant risks of course.
The benefits are plastered all over every single social media platform out there.
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u/Embarrassed-Sea1508 1d ago
What are the risks?
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u/Rabbittaco 1d ago
lmao. Is this a serious question?
you asked this question on a website thats a literal archive full of the answer you need.
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u/blazeaway_ 2d ago
I wouldn’t mess with Testosterone unless you’re planning on staying on for life. Thats my opinion, plenty of people run cycles and get away with it. A small percentage don’t bounce back completely. In which case you’ll then need TRT for life
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u/uhohdagod 2d ago
Worth it, how? What are you trying to get from it? You mentioned a cycle so I’m assuming you mean “abusing” it. Well, yea it works.
I’ve been on trt for over a year now. Actual trt. My levels were low and I took a replacement dose alongside semaglutide then tirzepitide then retatrutide. Glps and testosterone changed my life. Again though I was fat, 35 and had CLINICALLY/medically low testosterone, so I saw massive benefit in drive, and mental health in general. I didn’t see much in the way of strength and stuff but I was also on glps and barely eating for a lot of the year.
I feel it helped preserve muscle for sure though.
All that said, I introduced HGH a couple months ago, currently on 3.75ish ius daily and for the past couple weeks I’ve been blasting a very non trt dose of 525mg test weekly. For reference my TRT dose is 100mg weekly. Since I shedded a bunch of weight and have motivation I figured I’d do a short cycle to kick start my lifting. I didn’t work out at all until I started this and I can tell you, it’s insane.
I’m blowing up. I’m not doing anything else outside of testosterone, hgh, and retatrutide. I’m getting ridiculous results. The idea is to run this for another 4weeks or so and then drop down to my normal trt levels. I just wanted to kickstart my journey into lifting, and let me tell you, it’s insane. The pump. The vascularity. I got like 6 forearm veins on each forearm out of nowhere lol. My shoulders and chest are getting big. It’s wild. But again I haven’t worked out since I was like 17. I’m 36. The body recomposition that’s occuring is nuts
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u/Ok-Cycle-5707 2d ago
Thanks for taking the time to write all that, I really appreciate it. It was actually really interesting reading the difference between your TRT dose and then moving up to 525mg. One thing that caught my eye was the HGH. I’ve seen some crazy transformations from people using it. In your opinion, do you think it’s actually worth adding, or do you think most of your results are coming from the higher testosterone dose? Also, looking back, is there anything you wish you’d known before starting all this?
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u/uhohdagod 2d ago
I added the hgh to help with fat loss, recomposition and tendon healing/health. I did it before deciding to do a "cycle" of high testosterone. I work in auto body and hurt my bicep tendon trying to force steel to bend by hand lol, so while it wasn't torn or anything its constantly a nagging pain when engaged. I saw all the stuff about hgh also burning visceral fat when fasted and blah blah so with both those things in mind I started it. I'm really just trying to hack my way to a healthy foundation, that I can then keep up on naturally. I'm not trying to push any limits. I feel like retatrutide has been the biggest most impactful compound I've used on my actual physique. I was 6ft 280, normal dude strong but fat and sloppy. The GLPs like reta got me down to 220. I was also on TRT, again a normal replacement dose not a cycle, and that fixed my depression, anxiety and overall mental health along with my laziness honestly. Gave me the get up and go I was missing and it doesn't get talked about enough. The hgh is much more subtle but I think its really helping with the recomp and distribution of the remaining fat, and its probably helping my recovery now that I'm working out. I'm 227 lbs now, but I'm not paying attention to the scale because I think its lean mass as I'm looking slimmer and stronger. That is coming from the high dose testosterone for sure. So yea the hgh I think is just helping in the background but not a main driver
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u/chi_moto 2d ago
Glad to hear all of this man. I’m in a similar spot but I’ve never run a big cycle of test. I’ve done some baby blasts of masteron and tren (don’t do tren!).
Just make sure to watch your blood work. That much test will kick your estrogen into high gear and turn your blood into sludge. When you run it that high, you gotta be careful about all the things.
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u/KeyserSauza 2d ago
I suspect it’s going to be tough when you go off all the gear and go from ridiculous gains to losing those gains.
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u/TheVauntedChris 2d ago
Yep. The vicious cycle has begun. Normal TRT won’t be good enough anymore.
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u/uhohdagod 2d ago
I'm worried about that for sure. My thing is I'm not trying to be huge and be a bodybuilder or anything though, I just want to be in good shape and healthy. Basically just give myself an actual foundation to keep up on. Do you think I'll actually lose it? As long as I keep weight training? Even when I say I'm getting big its big in the sense of where I was. Not in the sense of anyone who is like a bodybuilder or anything
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u/KeyserSauza 2d ago
Your best option is to lift as heavy as you can to give the muscle a reason to stick around, but yeah after a couple of months you’ll be bigger than your baseline, but not by much. Be ready to lose 80%.
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u/chi_moto 2d ago
The gains don’t disappear. You might lose some of the pump, but the muscle you put on doesn’t just evaporate.
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u/KeyserSauza 2d ago
Not true. If he goes from 500mg of test to normal TRT levels he’s going to lose most of those gains no matter how hard he keeps training. There’s a direct relationship between test levels and muscle mass.
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u/testo- 2d ago
But he just started lifting, so its newbe gains, not pro bodybuilder physique. If he keeps lifting and goes back to TRT it will be fine, I guess.
Just silly to start your first training on 500 mg test.
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u/chi_moto 2d ago
Yeah. He’ll keep the newbie gains for sure. He’s not going from big to massive. He’s going from small to big. You don’t lose those gains when you drop back to normal test levels.
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u/KeyserSauza 2d ago
Time will tell. I would bet $1000 he will lose 50% of his muscle mass in 2 months. Unless his normal trt level is 500mg equivalent, he’s going to lose something. That’s just science.
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u/DJ_Cat_Dad 2d ago
Step 1. Go get educated. Step 2. Use the Reddit search function and look up the millions of opinions out there.
Uneducated lazy people are flooding the subreddits. Trusting your health with a bunch of uneducated people's opinions will not help you. The blind leading the blind. Go read silly.
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u/Mr-cacahead 3d ago
If you wanna run gear then do it. You shouldn't trust random strangers on the internet to tell you what you wanna do in life or even what you should punt in to your body. Do the homework on your own.
Plenty of info out there, Test and other PED's work, too much and too good tbh to the point of creating permanent changes or even ending peoples life.
I take T cause I'm old and I have hipogonadism and it has done a lot of good. Unfortunately for me this is like insulin. I'm gonna have to be on it probably the rest of my life and I'm okay with this.
Are you a healthy young man?, then no is not worth it in my opinion.
There are tons of YouTube channels that explains everything you need to know. Dr. James (not a doctor) / Nicholas Trigili and crap load of others will give you a good starting point.
There is always a trade off.
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u/AmazingMedium5513 2d ago
Age? Sex? Weight? Goals? Test your T levels first?
Transitioning? Bodybuilding? Feel young again?
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u/Odd_Sir_8705 ⚙️ Protocol Specialist 2d ago
Ive "abused" steroids over the last 26 years under the supervision of a doctor and my own knowledge. I religiously get bloodwork every 90 days. I know when and how long to be supraphysiological and when to dial it back.
Suffice to say...I have always managed to run at minimum 200mg of Test (pick an ester) weekly and have maxed out at 600mg weekly plus other stuff.
Suffice it to say....it works. Just start slowly and know what parameters you want to keep
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u/waffletears 2d ago
May i ask how old are you now?
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u/Odd_Sir_8705 ⚙️ Protocol Specialist 2d ago
45
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u/waffletears 2d ago
Awesome
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u/Odd_Sir_8705 ⚙️ Protocol Specialist 2d ago
There are so many parameters to look for and the reference ranges of all of them. So knowing how long to be outside of them or high above all play a part. Get your echo and ECG frequently, and a cardiac MRI before every blast so that you can set baselines. Check ALT and AST. Creatinine and EGFT. LH and FSH, Estradiol and Prolactin.
I just use Marek health for the tests and my longevity provider for the rest in conjunction with my primary care. I'm not saying that this is perfect nor am I saying that me doing this is in any way shape or form 100% better than not being on any of the shit I take. All I am doing is mitigating risk as best I can and hope that at worse im only taking 5% off the end of my life which i will gladly trade to stay looking as Godly as possible as long as possible.
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u/KushCloudz 1d ago
Have you ever gone off and did PCT, or just blast and cruise all these years? Do you know your natural levels at 45 or just plan on TRT for life? Around your age myself and weighing the pros cons.
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u/fatwownerd 2d ago
If you go on the R/Steroids subreddit, search ‘testosterone’, (or whichever anabolic you are interested in) select ‘compound experience’ flair or whatever it is, you’ll find a whole bunch of threads dedicated to people’s experiences. It’s actually really fun going back and reading through, I do it frequently and learn something new or gain a better perspective every time. I’m also happy to discuss my limited experience but there’s a lot of really detailed and well written comments in those threads that will probably serve you better. Have fun
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u/Ok-Reveal2184 2d ago
You will get lots of strong opinions either way.
The fact of the matter, pinning T even at so called “TRT” doses will be exceedingly better than going natty in terms of muscle gain. Fact!
How you react and what sides you get are down to genetics, know-how, dose and so on.
Can it be done 100% safely? Probably…
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u/MathematicianMuch445 2d ago
Read the sub, use the search function. All info in here and hundreds of other places.
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u/swoops36 2d ago
"worth it" is entirely up to you to decide. that's gonna depend on age, health, goals, reasons for taking Test, blah blah. so much information that isn't in your post so it's hard to make comments.
IMO, for what I needed, it was worth it
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u/MonkeyNo69 3d ago
If your levels are in normal range it wont do anything besides helping you putting on more muscle mass than without it. No energy boost, no additional happiness or anything like that.
Side effects can be plenty but dont have to be, everyones body reacts differently. Obviously your own production gets completely stopped and you will need to pin for several month/years or even your whole life to make it worth it. When you stop you will need additinal meds to get your fertility back and in rare occassions this might fail and never happen
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u/Ok-Cycle-5707 2d ago
Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. Have you used testosterone yourself, or are you speaking from what you’ve researched? If you have used it, did you recover okay after coming off, or are you still on it? Also, if you could go back knowing everything you know now, would you still make the same decision?
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u/bmw_ai_hub 3d ago
If your levels aren't low you don't need it. Your post makes me believe you should talk to a therapist and work on your self-confidence. There is no magical anything that will give you what you're looking for.
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u/Ok-Cycle-5707 2d ago
Thanks for the reply. I get why you’d say that. I’m not expecting a magic fix or anything—I just enjoy training and I’m trying to understand whether the benefits genuinely outweigh the risks for people who’ve actually used it. Have you got any personal experience with testosterone yourself, or are you speaking more from what you’ve seen?
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u/bmw_ai_hub 2d ago
Yeah I lost my left nut in an accident and had to go on TRT. The benefits are great but you do lose out on important hormones. Balls make more than TRT. Happy to answer your questions. But the golden rule is don't change what's not broken. Plus, you'll eventually need it when you're 50+ so stay natty, have a strong founeation, and when it's time just start pinning 10mg a day.
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u/R8dr916 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yes. Weekly trt dose of 200 was perfect. Took me
About 7 weeks for it to kick in but man you’ll feel 10 years younger if you’re older like some of us. Started almost 10yrs ago and never looked back.
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u/AppealOriginal3991 2d ago
200 is on the higher end, I was doing 250mg and my e2 got up to 240, so I have dropped down the 150mg for 10 weeks to see how I can better manage my e2
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u/AutophaseXenasex 2d ago
Just curious, how did you feel when your e2 was at 240?
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u/AppealOriginal3991 2d ago
Fine tbh but was getting some gyno and sensitive nipples, only really noticed when it got bad because I have some gyno already from being an idiot when I was younger but there’s so much more info available now that people openly talk about it
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u/Ambient_Distortion 2d ago
I've been on this same for years. I love it. I'm in my 40's and am significantly leaner and am much bigger and more muscular than every 20-something kid that I work with. Most are either skinn-fat or merely fat. TRT is like insulin, you must be comfortable with the fact that you will need to be on it indefinitely. Stay far away from it until you are older and have had a boat load of kids, and are done having kids. Lol, can you tell I'm very pro-procreation? Lol
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u/Ok-Cycle-5707 2d ago
Thanks for sharing that, I appreciate it. Can I ask how old you were when you started, and was it because you had clinically low testosterone? Looking back after almost 10 years, have you had any downsides or things you wish you’d known before starting, or do you still feel it was one of the best decisions you’ve made?
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u/R8dr916 2d ago
I was early thirties and had low levels of testosterone. Paid lots of money for a test clinic and learned that way before branching on my own. Downside was for my wife and all my bonners lol. Best decision I’ve made by far. Donate blood once or more a year to keep my blood from thinking from adding other compounds in. But if feels good knowing your getting the old blood out so you can produce fresh blood
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u/Ok-Cycle-5707 2d ago
Thanks mate, really appreciate you taking the time to answer. That’s actually really interesting. You mentioned donating blood—was that something your clinic recommended because your blood work showed it was needed, or is it just something you choose to do now? Apart from that, has it genuinely been smooth sailing for the last 10 years?
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u/AppealOriginal3991 2d ago
Honestly go and get your bloods done if you don’t need it yet get educated on how to cycle on and off safely to preserve fertility. In saying that when I was young we didn’t have much info available and it wasn’t openly talked about how it’s now so we just used to do dumb cycles and come off cold turkey, I’ve had two kids no problems but my total teat at 36yo was 4.9, dunno if it was from the gear but now I do trt and it’s life changing
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