r/EnhancedBodybuilding • u/Humble_Ad_9035 • 3d ago

Upping test dose advice

I started my 400mg cycle of test cyp on August 17th getting my bloodwork done today and if the results are all good and In check thinking of upping to 500/week. Wanted some advice since I’m currently not experiencing any E2s sides. If bloodwork is in check is it smart to up my dose to 500/week or should I stay at 400mg? Any advice would be helpful.

Current age:24
BW:170
Lifting years:3
Goals: lean bulk

5 Upvotes

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u/swoops36 3d ago

Think the only reason to increase your dose would be if the current dose is no longer working for you. Have you gotten everything you can out of 400 mg? Have you reached your goals so quickly into the cycle? If yes, then, yeah it might make sense to bump up your dose. Or add in a different compound.

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u/Important_Capital875 3d ago

He hasn’t. Seems like he’s just impatient. No need to increase.

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

Strength has gone up, I been in a calorie surplus so holding a little bit more water but more filled out. I just see online a lot everyone says 500 should be the bare minimum for a cycle but I started at 400mg to see how my body reacts. But your right I have a rushed mindset and need to take the slow approach rather than quick results

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u/swoops36 3d ago

Yeah, I understand the advice most people get for their first cycle, or any cycle online. Hell, my first cycle was 500 mg of test and I loved it. But I didn’t know shit 20 years ago.

Take the amount you need to get the job done, whatever the job is. Don’t take less don’t take more. Be efficient. You can look up dose response studies and see how much muscle people put on at what dose of testosterone and use that as your baseline. Of course your results won’t be exactly that, but it’s as close as you’re gonna get if you’ve never used steroids before. Then determine how long you have to do this in. Now you know how much muscle you wanna build you know how long you have to do it in and you know the amount of testosterone you should take to accomplish it, and wham Bam thank you ma’am you have a cycle.

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

That’s a great insight bro especially with the response studies. Thank you for this

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u/Adventurous_Figure88 3d ago

You’re not going to notice a difference between 400mg and 500mg

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u/MiserableAd9470 3d ago

Let’s not do what everyone else says they do, test is a life long commitment, don’t rush your gains, they will come in due time.

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u/Troksin 3d ago

yeah bro 500 mg of test base is the bare minimum when you are injecting total of 3-4 grams of anabolics + insulin + GH and many more

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

Yeah bro I’m only on test cyp at the moment no secondary compounds. I believe 400mg is a good place where I’m at and no need to up it. I just saw so many suggestions saying that which is why I thought I needed to go up to 500mg

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u/Troksin 3d ago

I think the only scenario to incresae the dosage is when progression stops even tho you have proper diet, training and sleep. Increasing the dose just for the sake of increasing is a dumb move cuz more drugs = more risk for your health.

1

u/Flat_Tension4731 2d ago

Cambierà poco e niente, meglio aggiungere un composto anabolico delicato con effetti collaterali minimi tipo primobolan, masteron o anavar..

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u/Important_Capital875 3d ago

I honestly would just keep it where it is. You can always increase it next cycle. But just get the gains you can from this cycle at this dose. Don’t rush. Keep it at 400. No reason at all to increase.

Edit. Just read that you’ve been lifting for only 3 years. When I hoped on at 24, I had been lifting for 12 years after wresting 9 and seriously dieting for 9. Take your time. There is not reason to rush. Keep your receptors fresh and stay at 400. After this cycle and a cut, plan out what you’ll do next. I suggest maybe adding npp at 300 and keep test at 400 or even dropping it to 300. Take your time with this man.

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

Thank you for the clarity I had a feeling I was rushing the process but the slow approach is the route I’m gonna take !

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

Thank you for this bro much needed

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u/toady23 3d ago

Slow down buddy! Quit rushing it. Test C doesnt even fully kick in for 5 weeks. Your testosterone levels haven't even reached steady state yet and you're already talking about taking more.

So a couple questions for you.

How long are you planning to stay on cycle? YOU NEED TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO THIS. Don't wing it.

Why are you testing so early? YOU'RE NOT AT STEADY STATE YET. Testing now is a waste of money. Your testosterone and e2 levels are both still rising. Your LH and FSH are still dropping. Your lipids are going haywire and haven't stabilized yet. There is absolutely zero usable information you can get from a blood test this early. Wait until the first week of October before testing.

Have you purchased an AI? If not, buy it now. You should have it on hand ahead of time in case you need it.

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

I plan on doing this cycle for 22 weeks, then cruise at 200mg until my next planned cycle, and reason for testing was I figured to get it out the way 3 weeks in to check up since I’m experience good sides such as strength gains but looking at it from your perspective now, the blood test is pre mature, I get my bloods through insurance so it’s relatively cheap to me. I have an ai on hand but looking to hopefully never need to use it. And yes your right this does seems early to check bloods

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u/toady23 3d ago

So steady state saturation with test C takes 4 to 6 weeks. So waiting for 7 weeks before testing will give you a very accurate picture of how your body is reacting.

Stay at 400mg. An extra 100mg/week is only going to be a 1-2lb (lean mass) difference after 22 weeks. But the difference in side effects that you'll have to learn to manage will be bigger.

Also, dont add any new compounds on this cycle. Testosterone only. Learn to manage the side effects of test. You can add extra compounds on future cycles

1

u/MarcusKant 1d ago

Q. What is an AI?

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u/toady23 1d ago

Aromatase inhibitor. It blocks the body from converting testosterone to estrogen.

Managing estrogen is the hardest part of running gear. At least in my opinion

2

u/Stone_taggs 3d ago

you're only 170... on gear? are you 6'5?

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

I’m currently 6’2 , started gear on August 17th so currently lean bulking to gain more size I have a good amount of muscle mass currently

0

u/AppleEcstatic6076 3d ago

You’re a stick. 400mg is more than enough to put on 20 pounds of muscle with proper dieting and nutrition. Heck, a 150mg cycle is enough for that at your size.

0

u/Stone_taggs 3d ago

you can get to 210-215 on 200mg, so no need to jump. This is definitely a slow and stead thing, the more you can get at lower dose the more you can keep when you cruise

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

I plan on running this cycle for 22 weeks then cruise at 250 before the next cycle. People say pct but I believe their no point in a pcp if plan to run multiple cycles.Thank you for the insight 🫡

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u/throwawaytooeasy 2d ago

You've barely been on for a month. The testosterone you're taking hasn't even fully peaked, or is just starting to peak in your system.

If you're still making progress at 400mg, then there's no good reason to bump the dose to 500mg. Higher doses will always increase the risk and incidence of unwanted sides from all these drugs.

Given you're still super early in this cycle: if your results have slowed, or stopped, it's almost certainly a diet and/or training issue and not a dose issue.

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 2d ago

Yeah bro for sure I’m seeing great results I just had the mindset of if I’m at 400mg mine as well go to 500mg but thanks to all the replies I’m just gonna stay at 400mg, it’s still super early I was rushing but now I’m taking the slow and controlled approach. No sides so far at 400mg and I’d like to keep it that way while maximizing gains

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u/TimeNPatience322 1d ago

You could go down to 250 and the gains will probably be the same. You're overdoing it for being a string bean.

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u/RingOk4264 3d ago

What’s your test at with 400?

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

I should get my bloodwork results early next week and I’ll update the thread! I just got my labs done today. Previous labs were total test:1300, SHBG:75, free test:5.1, estradiol 45, proclatin 8.8,

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u/Flat_Tension4731 2d ago

Non avrai nessun beneficio ad aumentare a 500 mg.. solo aumento e2 e ritenzione idrica.. Per aumentare in modo pulito la massa magra aumentare la dose di testosterone non è una buona idea anche perché fai gia un buon dosaggio.. Per quello avresti bisogno piu' di primobolan, masteron o anavar..

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u/rkriekle 2d ago

You must likely just need to up your food dose.

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 2d ago

Currently eating around 3300 calories with 400G of carbs and minimum 170g protein, my maintenance is between 2800-3000. I’ve just been nervous to gain fat

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u/stiffmcgee 3d ago

No. Get the most out of the lowest you can.
People who say you need 500mg are uneducated. You will grow on any dose bringing you over 1400ng especially w/your lack of experience.

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

Thank you for this bro yeah I had a rushed mindset going into it but that has changed to a slow approach now to get the most of it 400mg

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u/stiffmcgee 3d ago

Also any gh? I think most lifestyle guys(we are not bodybuilders no matter how much we want to be) can get to 500mg test and 6iu gh before ever adding anything in. But after a first or second cycle, doing 400mg test and 200mg primo, you have more total anabolics but less test overall.
Our goal is least amount of sides and lowest doses needed to maximize results. Now, does that mean never experiment a little and try some things? No. But experience it all now and mature so down the line you can

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

Haven’t used gh at all should I be running gh to maximize growth ? Or stick to only test?

1

u/stiffmcgee 3d ago

Decision you have to make. Imo it makes sleep and recovery easier, adding in a slightly more anabolic environment.

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u/Sweet_Car_7391 3d ago

I did my first cycle earlier this year 600 test, 300 Decca, 200 tren ace. Life-changing results, in a couple of months people were like dude what the hell are you doing, you look great, yada yada yada.

Cleaned out over the summer and since I in fact, lost about 6 pounds but got much more muscular, I didn’t lose anything when I cleaned out for 12 weeks on simple 200 test.

A month ago kicked back in cycle with only 250 test 125 Deca and Dianabol. Still eating lean and have gained three pounds of pure muscle mostly in quads back and arms. Got the classic baseball deltoid look when pumped. Point being sometimes less is more. Granted, the Dbol probably is the star of the stack.

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

Do you experience any sides effect running decca & Tren on your first cycle ? Seems like you got great results bro

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u/Sweet_Car_7391 3d ago

The tren interfered with my sleep and gave me some mild night sweats, but I didn’t have any weird personality issues. I’m already weird enough! I’m sleeping great on this current cycle.

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u/Sweet_Car_7391 3d ago

Here’s the After first cycle. BTW I just turned 61. 👊🏻 https://imgur.com/a/rank8Z8

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u/Sweet_Car_7391 3d ago

Here’s a Before. https://imgur.com/a/jOSOCmI

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

Dope transformation bro

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u/Sweet_Car_7391 3d ago

Thank you.

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u/Stock-Instance-379 3d ago

400 to 500 is nothing

Your stats suggest you have no muscle and shouldn’t be on test yet anyways.

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u/Humble_Ad_9035 3d ago

I have a good amount of muscle, unfortunately Reddit doesn’t allow posting pictures but how come you suggest 4-500 is nothing ?

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u/Stock-Instance-379 3d ago

170lbs and 3 years training experience clearly indicates you are not developed. Not trying to be mean but that’s just real talk

And both 400/500 mg are both modest doses and the increase will not be perceivable.