First Cycle - DMZ Solo

[blongo804]

Hey everyone!

Wanted to log my experience of my first ever cycle, not only for everyone else's benefit, but also for my own record keeping. I started DMZ on 7/15/18.

I posted this thread initially that has some details, but i'll copy/paste some of that here.

Height: 6'1ish
Weight: 197 empty on 7/16/18
Body Fat % Guesstimate: 18-20% (top/middle abs visible when flexed)
Age: 25 going on 26
Cycle Goal: Kill fat, add lean mass!

Support Supps:
CEL Cycle Support pre cycle: 1/2 dose/day for a week to build up hawthorn berry. Seems not everyone does this, but I figured why not.
CEL Cycle Support on cycle: full dose daily
CEL Tudca: 500mg daily
Other daily's: Lots of water (1.5-2 gallons), CL OxiMega, 5g creatine mono, Evomuse Gut Health

Cycle:
Vicious Labs Cadaver Candy (DMZ): 30/45/45/45/45/45
- Note: I may do 30mg the second week pending how I feel after the first.
- Note 2: I may do two more weeks at 45mg pending how the first 6 weeks go.

Post Cycle:
Nolvadex: 20/20/10/10

My training will be a 4-day split, hypertrophy style plan with high rep/4-5+ set schemes. I'm going to aim for 30-40 minutes of HIIT a week to start and see where that gets me.

Starting nutrition:
300c
225p
100f

I'll see where those macros get me as well. Not afraid to add or delete carbs as needed to achieve proper fat loss while adding mass.

Pre cycle labs were taken on 7/11/18, seen here:

Post PCT labs will also be taken from the same facility under the same conditions (12 hour fast, roughly 16-32oz water prior to draw).

I may post my actual workouts, maybe just how I'm feeling, or maybe both. The goal of my workouts, currently, is not really weight lifted, but the quality/amount of reps performed, so some weights are low. I almost wish I was doing more of a powerlifting program to test how squat/bench/deadlift increase, but perhaps i'll save that for cycle 2, if a cycle 2 happens.

Sorry this was really long - just trying to be very thorough. No test base will be used and I go into those details in the thread linked above.

 

[blongo804]

With the first post done, here's my DMZ thoughts from 7/15 to now:

Not much to report, as expected. Yesterday was my first day training after the 30mg DMZ dose on 7/15, and the only other thing I changed in my preworkout "stack" is adding a banana and removing 1 serving of cereal (usually have 3 servings, down to 2 because of replacing it with other carb sources). I gotta say, it's either placebo, banana, or DMZ, but the pump was real yesterday. Saw myself in the mirror before showering and I looked huge. Now let's get that look without a pump!!

 

[rax]

Following along! Just bought some cadaver candy myself, so interested to see how this treats you. Kill it brotha

 

[Afi140]

Following. Some good stuff from zoo and definitely a good choice on adding the tudca

 

[blongo804]

Following along! Just bought some cadaver candy myself, so interested to see how this treats you. Kill it brotha

Following. Some good stuff from zoo and definitely a good choice on adding the tudca

Thanks for following along, guys! Definitely did my research prior to starting this. Of course there's always much more to know though, so I'm forever learning.

 

[Wobmarvel]

Watching this one, interested to see how it differs to SD.

 

[blongo804]

Watching this one, interested to see how it differs to SD.

I do have "before" pictures, taken very recently (July 1st or so). I'm thinking i'll take more pictures 1) half way through DMZ (whether that's 3 or 4 weeks), 2) post DMZ, 3) post PCT, and post them when done.

 

[blongo804]

New day, rest day but swimming later.

Not much to report I don't think. I did weigh myself this morning because I'm thinking about doing that more often while on cycle, and I'm 198.0lbs where I was 197.0lbs just 2 days ago. This could simply be the increased carb intake over 3 days (+50g compared to last week) along with the increased water intake (1.5 gallon compared to 1 gallon), but figured I'd note it here.

 

[BloodManor]

In on this - thinking of adding dmz to my fall stack with all the recommendations

 

[PoSiTiVeFLoW]

I am a DMZ fan and you sound a lot like me when I got into my first PH run with DMZ, about to get back on DMZ myself after away time. Nice log so far.

 

[blongo804]

In on this - thinking of adding dmz to my fall stack with all the recommendations

Glad to have ya!

I am a DMZ fan and you sound a lot like me when I got into my first PH run with DMZ, about to get back on DMZ myself after away time. Nice log so far.

Thank you, and, again, glad to have you here!

 

[Brienn8989]

Following along as well. Getting those pumps yet? I went up a few cup sizes today on chest day

 

[Alpha1a]

Very nice man I'm in here

 

[Cgkone]

In it

 

[blongo804]

Following along as well. Getting those pumps yet? I went up a few cup sizes today on chest day

Honestly the first two training days (day 2 & 3 on cycle), the upper body pump was pretty surprising. May have been in my head, but I felt more inflated those days, post workout.

Today was a lower body and not only did I feel strong and have pretty good endurance, but my legs feel really tight right now, post workout, because of how good the session went - mind/muscle connection seemed really good. For example, I haven't done front squats in months, and today I easily came within 20lbs of my sleeved/belted 1RM...without sleeves or a belt.. I only subbed squats for front squats today to take some pressure off my left wrist that's been bothering me lately.

Very nice man I'm in here

In it

Glad to have you guys here!

More updates to come!

 

[Whisky]

Liking the log, I’m in

 

[WolfJFlywheel]

following

 

[Karlrobert]

Following

 

[blongo804]

Liking the log, I’m in

following

Following

Glad to have you guys!

Update for today:

Weighed in today at 200.3lbs. I'm up just over 3lbs since Monday. mfg:

For 2-3 weeks prior to the cycle, I was bouncing around 197-198lbs at 2800 calories. So, again, at the start of the cycle, I only added 50g carbs for 200 calories, 3000 total, and I gained 3lbs in 5 days. Wow.. lol

The pump was real today, and my body is still trembling about 2 hours post workout. It may or may not be placebo, but muscle hardness and fullness feels and looks increased already.

No negative side effects to report yet.

 

[Brienn8989]

Seeing an increase in vascularity?

 

[blongo804]

Seeing an increase in vascularity?

Yes absolutely. I thought I was starting to notice it while training, but last night I noticed it as well just looking in the mirror. Very cool stuff so far.

Now the decision.. Bump up dosage to 45mg or leave it at 30mg for one more week? If I weigh in even heavier on Sunday morning, without training all weekend but keeping diet on point, I may keep dosage the same. We'll see!

 

[Brienn8989]

Yes absolutely. I thought I was starting to notice it while training, but last night I noticed it as well just looking in the mirror. Very cool stuff so far.

Now the decision.. Bump up dosage to 45mg or leave it at 30mg for one more week? If I weigh in even heavier on Sunday morning, without training all weekend but keeping diet on point, I may keep dosage the same. We'll see!

Notice any sides?

 

[blongo804]

Notice any sides?

No negative sides yet, which is another reason I'm leaning toward keeping dosage the same if the scale keeps moving up.

 

[Brienn8989]

You’re a stronger man than I am. If 2 is good, 3 would be even better right? Haha You’re making a good choice!

 

[blongo804]

Here sipping some pre, about to train shortly, but just couldn't resist posting this. Diet was mostly on point all weekend - never went more than 30 carbs over plan. Weighed in at 202.4, up 5.4lbs in exactly a week at only a 200 calorie surplus. No waist change yet as I also measured that this morning. Very happy with the progress so far at 30mg DMZ.

 

[Old Witch]

Great work so far man. And definitely smart keeping the dose the same. Why mess with a good thing right?

 

[blongo804]

Great work so far man. And definitely smart keeping the dose the same. Why mess with a good thing right?

Exactly my thoughts! I'm trying to keep things conservative and have some patience here, being its my first cycle, and so far I'm certainly liking the effects.

 

[blongo804]

Some things I'd like to note:

One, I definitely hurt my wrist about a week prior to the cycle. I thought it was just a small thing, but it's been about 2 weeks now and it's not doing too hot. It's a pain on the back side, basically smack dead in the middle of it. Feels kinda like a bone..ugh. Going to fight through it because I'm not stopping this now. I'm just going to start icing it like it's my job and wrist support as much as I need to. Nothing will stop me!

Two, I've been noticing myself getting REALLY hungry toward the end of my training sessions to the point my stomach is growling, which is a new thing. I'm guessing my body is straight killing the carbs I have pre-workout.

Three, I also forgot to mention that last week's training also included three 10-minute HIIT elliptical sessions. When I was maintaining the 197-198lb range at 2800 calories, that was doing no cardio besides lifting. So even when I added the 50g carbs/200 calories last week plus the HIIT sessions, I still managed to gain 5.4lbs.

 

[KingAnt]

You’re a stronger man than I am. If 2 is good, 3 would be even better right? Haha You’re making a good choice!

Haha yeah man I tend to think like that also and that's why I got a light case of gyno this last cycle.

 

[KingAnt]

Glad to see your cycle is going good. I'd like to give dmz a try. Keep us updated

 

[blongo804]

Glad to see your cycle is going good. I'd like to give dmz a try. Keep us updated

Definitely will do! I like doing logs, including pictures, etc. Conversing about this stuff definitely helps some time pass at work.

 

[blongo804]

Update:

Weighed in at 201lbs this morning. I don't normally check so often, but really want to keep an eye on weight changes on cycle. Next weigh in will probably be Thursday or Friday.

Interestingly, I accidentally miscalculated yesterday and ate 50g more carbs than I was supposed to, so not sure how I went nearly 1.5lbs backward, but not worried about it. Once in a while I also weigh myself post training, just for the heck of it, because it's a stand up mechanical scale (compared to my digital one), and it's also showing 201-202ish. My post training weight is actually interesting because that's after a quart of water, about 90g carbs, and ~10g protein. Usually I bloat right up from my pre-workout meal, showing at least a couple pounds heavier, post-workout, so this is all pretty interesting to say the least. I will also say that my hunger toward the end of my workout is ROUGH. I may have to include some intra carbs or maybe a hydrolyzed protein soon because my body is processing my pre-workout meal like crazy nowadays.

With that said, I'm going to roll with my miscalculated macros from yesterday, and bump my carbs up to ~350g total/day, putting me at 3200 calories with ~100g fat, ~230g protein. These macros left my hunger satisfied through the day, besides during my workout.

One last note - I'm looking pretty "broad" all the sudden. Like my upper body just looks wider overall. It could be my imagination, but that's what I'm seeing. I'll be getting current pictures in a week, making my initial pictures about a month old, and I will post them up.

 

[KingAnt]

Sounds like your body reacts well to the extra carbs. I just get fat and I don't really like that look on me.

What foods are you using for your carb intake?

 

[blongo804]

Sounds like your body reacts well to the extra carbs. I just get fat and I don't really like that look on me.

What foods are you using for your carb intake?

You're right, except while off cycle, I do become a bloated whale with too many carbs lol. I'm certainly the leanest 201lbs I've ever been, which is neat. My highest weight, recently, was 205lbs while using BLR Vector, and I was uncomfortably bloated daily eating ~350g carbs daily.

As for carb sources, i'll list straight carbs as well as food I get carbs from:

Pre-workout: cereal, banana, 2% milk
Post-workout/throughout the work day: pure dextrose, rice cakes, granola bar, oats, sweet potato (only about 70g), protein bar
Post work: peanut butter, greek yogurt, white rice

That's generally my carb sources, give or take a few carbs from whey powder pending which one I use for the day. I'm thinking I may be able to move some oats into my pre-workout meal for some slower digestion. I just have to be careful there because, in the past, oats have stuffed me too much before a workout.

 

[Brienn8989]

You're right, except while off cycle, I do become a bloated whale with too many carbs lol. I'm certainly the leanest 201lbs I've ever been, which is neat. My highest weight, recently, was 205lbs while using BLR Vector, and I was uncomfortably bloated daily eating ~350g carbs daily.

As for carb sources, i'll list straight carbs as well as food I get carbs from:

Pre-workout: cereal, banana, 2% milk
Post-workout/throughout the work day: pure dextrose, rice cakes, granola bar, oats, sweet potato (only about 70g), protein bar
Post work: peanut butter, greek yogurt, white rice

That's generally my carb sources, give or take a few carbs from whey powder pending which one I use for the day. I'm thinking I may be able to move some oats into my pre-workout meal for some slower digestion. I just have to be careful there because, in the past, oats have stuffed me too much before a workout.

They make powdered oats. Pretty cheap and doesn’t taste too bad in a shake!

 

[blongo804]

They make powdered oats. Pretty cheap and doesn’t taste too bad in a shake!

You know what.. I think I received a free 2lb bag of powdered oats in a MyProtein order a while back. I'll have to find that and give those a try if I feel the need, which I do think I already feel. Thanks for the reminder/suggestion.

 

[blongo804]

Small Update:

Weighed in at 201.4 this morning, so +.4lbs from Tuesday's weigh-in. Wednesday's, my off day besides the weekend, are also my "lower" carb days, where I ate about 290g compared to 340-350g carb. With that said, the weight gain clearly happened, then the rate of it clearly leveled out. I'll see what I wake up at Sunday morning, and I'll decide from there if I want to up carbs or up DMZ to 45mg ed.

Strength wise, I do think I'm starting to notice a bump upward in squat/bench (hand hurts too much for deadlifts at the moment..but not bench..because that makes sense). Weights I've previously needed gear for (wrist wraps, knee sleeves, belt), I now do not. Hopefully my hand heals up quicker so I can really do some more testing. I'm doing a hypertrophy based program, but still including good squat/bench/deadlift volume.

 

[KingAnt]

They make powdered oats. Pretty cheap and doesn’t taste too bad in a shake!

What you guys think about carbohydrate powder?

 

[blongo804]

What you guys think about carbohydrate powder?

I think a carb powder easily has its place in a diet, whether for one to hit daily macros or for performance boost.

I use pure dextrose just to hit some extra carbs for the day, but there's better carb powders out there (oat powder, waxy maize, carb10, etc).

 

[Whisky]

I think a carb powder easily has its place in a diet, whether for one to hit daily macros or for performance boost.

I use pure dextrose just to hit some extra carbs for the day, but there's better carb powders out there (oat powder, waxy maize, carb10, etc).

Weren’t all the benefits of waxy maize discredited a few years back? I could be wrong btw, just thought I’d read that somewhere

 

[blongo804]

Weren’t all the benefits of waxy maize discredited a few years back? I could be wrong btw, just thought I’d read that somewhere

I think you're right, but I never looked too deep into it. I more so consider it "better" because it's a complex carb, so a bit more fulfilling for those looking for that.

 

[KingAnt]

Your 2 weeks into your cycle? How your tits and nads feeling? Prob too early. Does your cycle support have anything to control aromatase?

 

[blongo804]

Your 2 weeks into your cycle? How your tits and nads feeling? Prob too early. Does your cycle support have anything to control aromatase?

Just started week three yesterday. Tits and nads have been fine - nothing to note there! I'll be posting a full update below.

Support supps I don't think have any direct effect on aromatase.

 

[blongo804]

Update:

Still alive! Don't have a whole lot to report, but I do have some things to note.

Weight, as of this morning, is at 202.2. Last week consisted of about 2 lower carb days (about 250g compared to 350g). I've been doing "lower" carb to kind of carb cycle and not eat so much on non-training days, and to try and keep fat gain at a minimum. Seems to be working I think.

Another note: fiance actually noticed I look bigger "all the sudden" (in 'suspicious' voice LOL). Planned on telling her about the cycle when it was over, but I think she's already catching on, which is interesting since she sees me every day and still took notice.

Strength seems to be pretty good. It's kind of hard to tell because my left hand is in a ton of pain. I don't trust cortisone shots, but I think I need to find a doctor to give me one for some hopeful temporary relief, at least until the cycle is over. Ugh.

Otherwise, I did up the dose to 45mg ed as of yesterday. Pee is still fine colored, no other negative effects to note yet. Will keep you guys updated!

 

[Tbl16]

Nothing you've experienced is placebo. DMZ, like almost all the oral DS, act very quickly. Most people report seeing noticeable changes in body composition and strength within the first week. Your weight gain has stopped because you have gained weight so your current daily intake has become your maintenance level intake. Love that stuff though. I got awesome results and great aggression and focus in the gym.

 

[KingAnt]

Update:

Still alive! Don't have a whole lot to report, but I do have some things to note.

Weight, as of this morning, is at 202.2. Last week consisted of about 2 lower carb days (about 250g compared to 350g). I've been doing "lower" carb to kind of carb cycle and not eat so much on non-training days, and to try and keep fat gain at a minimum. Seems to be working I think.

Another note: fiance actually noticed I look bigger "all the sudden" (in 'suspicious' voice LOL). Planned on telling her about the cycle when it was over, but I think she's already catching on, which is interesting since she sees me every day and still took notice.

Strength seems to be pretty good. It's kind of hard to tell because my left hand is in a ton of pain. I don't trust cortisone shots, but I think I need to find a doctor to give me one for some hopeful temporary relief, at least until the cycle is over. Ugh.

Otherwise, I did up the dose to 45mg ed as of yesterday. Pee is still fine colored, no other negative effects to note yet. Will keep you guys updated!

Uh oh the fiancé doesn't know lol. I'm curious to see how that pans out. I generally wouldn't tell anyone except other close buddies that are into the same thing. But I been curious as to how people's spouses handle it lol. I guess it would be different from person to person.

 

[Wobmarvel]

My wife is fine with the PH SARM and oral steroid cycles I've ran over the years. She would freak out if I was pinning but she doesn't have any issues otherwise. All she asks is where I keep the bottles etc. So if I collapse one day she can take them to the hospital to show them the **** I've been taking lol.

 

[BloodManor]

My wife is fine with the PH SARM and oral steroid cycles I've ran over the years. She would freak out if I was pinning but she doesn't have any issues otherwise. All she asks is where I keep the bottles etc. So if I collapse one day she can take them to the hospital to show them the **** I've been taking lol.

Sounds like a awesome woman

 

[Wobmarvel]

Sounds like a awesome woman

She is that

 

[christ83189]

Your 2 weeks into your cycle? How your tits and nads feeling? Prob too early. Does your cycle support have anything to control aromatase?

Dmz doesnt aromatize so only in rare cases would you need an ai