Looking for advice on T dosing (first timer)

[Stanfoo]

I will be cruising at 250mg/week for life (low T) and then doing 500mg blasts every now and then for the gains.

Today was my first T injection (did 125mg since I'll be pinning 2x/week) but I'm looking to start the 500mg cycle sooner rather than later.

My plan is to start the first 4 weeks at 250mg (since that's how long it takes for the T to kick in) and then start the 500mg cycle (probably 12 weeks) right after that.

My thought process is that there's no point in starting with 500mg since it won't be doing anything for the first 4 weeks. Does it make sense to do it like that? Or would it be better to just start with 500mg?

 

[BloodManor]

Start with 500mg and go higher if you wish. That whole 4 weeks thing is just broscience that goes around. Many people feel it within a week or 2. Gains are slow but steady on test so going longer is usually better than ramping doses imo

 

[Codybenz]

Not exactly bro science...

Test levels will begin to rise shortly after giving a shot, due to the long half life of enanthate and cypionate you reach the maximum saturation of test levels for the dose you are administering after 4-6 weeks.

It isn't that it kicks in per say at 4 weeks but that is when maximum blood levels will start to be reached for a given dose.

This is because how half life's work. It's about 7 days for cyp so here is some numbers just for exampl.

You inject 100mg of test, in 7 days you have 50mg left, you inject another 100mg, so you are at roughly 150mg total in your body, now in 7 more days you inject another 100.
So now you have 12.5mg of the first shot, 50mg of the second shot, and 100mg of the third shot. After 4 - 6 weeks you reach the upper end of the saturation point.

So short answer, lol, is if you start with 250mg a week, in 4 to 6 weeks you will have pretty much reached the maximum ng/dl of test in your blood, if you then switch to 500mg a week it would take another 4-6 weeks to reach the maximum ng/dl for 500mgs.

Now this is roughly for test cyp and enanthate, other esters have different half life's so the so called "kick in time" is different. But the effects of test on some one with low t can usually be felt in a couple of days.

But I agree with blood manor if you are gonna do 500mg just run that from the start then drop back to your trt dose when you are done with your cycle.

 

[AntM1564]

Not exactly bro science...

Test levels will begin to rise shortly after giving a shot, due to the long half life of enanthate and cypionate you reach the maximum saturation of test levels for the dose you are administering after 4-6 weeks.

It isn't that it kicks in per say at 4 weeks but that is when maximum blood levels will start to be reached for a given dose.

This is because how half life's work. It's about 7 days for cyp so here is some numbers just for exampl.

You inject 100mg of test, in 7 days you have 50mg left, you inject another 100mg, so you are at roughly 150mg total in your body, now in 7 more days you inject another 100.
So now you have 12.5mg of the first shot, 50mg of the second shot, and 100mg of the third shot. After 4 - 6 weeks you reach the upper end of the saturation point.

So short answer, lol, is if you start with 250mg a week, in 4 to 6 weeks you will have pretty much reached the maximum ng/dl of test in your blood, if you then switch to 500mg a week it would take another 4-6 weeks to reach the maximum ng/dl for 500mgs.

Now this is roughly for test cyp and enanthate, other esters have different half life's so the so called "kick in time" is different. But the effects of test on some one with low t can usually be felt in a couple of days.

But I agree with blood manor if you are gonna do 500mg just run that from the start then drop back to your trt dose when you are done with your cycle.

This is a great answer. One thing I will also add is I am assuming with 500mg, there will be more nitrogen retention and would begin sooner than 250mg. I know beginning around the second week, my muscle are fuller and my strength jumps more than it normally would. Again, not because my test is a lot higher, but when your muscle are holding more glycogen and nitrogen, you can use heavier weights, get better pumps, etc.

 

[RickyBlobby]

Your thought process is backwards imo. The reason it takes so long to kick in is because it has to build up in your system. That’s why people frontliad with high doses the first couple weeks. Your blood levels get there quicker.

 

[kisaj]

Not to derail, but 250mg weekly for TRT?? That is a **** ton of test to cruise on and you are already talking about a blast.

Unsolicited advice- it can take months to get adjusted and everything dialed in on TRT and that dose is going to give you fits. I'd suggest you get everything baselined so you know what you are working with before doubling it.

For awareness, 250mg was my first blast after a year on TRT and it kept my test levels >1500 the entire time and I ended up gaining 11lbs, of which I kept 5 after lowering to my TRT dose.

 

[Lionheart1776]

I tapered up on my first blast which ends next week, I did it to test for sides as I went. At 300 then upped it by 60mg a week every 2 weeks until I hit 500. It can make AI dosing more complicated and is not optimal to taper, that being said I would have been to much of a wuss to start with more than that it was nice to see how I felt on different doses. I get no sides at 300mg, but no mood boost or anything crazy compared to TRT. But god damn do you feel 500 after a week or two as you taper. That week almost every acquaintance I ran into was like "damn bro putting on a little muscle I see" alpha mentality kicks in for me around here too which is very nice. Did bring out a little acne at 500 but less than I had on TRT, lol go figure. If you can stomach just going for 500 you'll probably not regret it, since it's many peoples first cycle there is a lot of support threads for it and it'll be somewhat easy to know what to expect with such a standardized dose.

250mg is high for TRT, if your going that route definitely keep an eye on estrogen levels and routine blood work will be your friend. Lipids will be an extra charge if you're doing your blood-work off the inter-webs, but will be worth it for sure. On my cruise I will also being run my androgens a little high, it'll be a fun game to see what diet/supplement ****ery I can do to keep lipids healthy. Good luck man.