First Post, First Cycle - Disaster Check

[EMD]

I know these "critique my cycle" posts probably get old, but I want to make sure I've got this right before I pull the trigger!

Here's the background - I'm 40, I've been lifting off and on all my life, with big gaps in there for things like having kids, working too much, and just getting tired lifting and moving on to other things for exercise. I trained a lot in my teens and twenties, but in my thirties I'd get into it for like 6 months and then lose interest or get pulled away again. Enough to stay "fit," but not enough to really progress. I'm at a point in my life now where I can get into the gym regularly, and have been very consistent for the past year+. The good news for me has been that nothing really feels any different than it did in my twenties, and I pretty quickly got back to my old PRs in everything. Bad news is that I also quickly ran into my old plateaus, and want to break through. I have some personal bucket-list goals I want to hit that I won't go into but they're very specific. I recently did a cycle of Dermacrine and liked what I got out of it, and want to move on to something a little more anabolic.

So the plan is an epi cycle. Current weight is 195 at ~15%bf per my crappy Tanita scale. Goals are primarily sustainable gains in strength, and a little mass is never a bad thing. I'm really not sure what to expect, but I'd love to see 10-20% increase in core lifts and maybe 8 pounds or so of gain after PCT, if that's reasonable? Honestly I have to admit curiosity is a big part of this, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what it can do for me. Here's what I've got lined up in pantry (actually tucked away in the basement, but that's a whole other story!):

On Cycle

• Epi: Got it in 20mgs, so I'm going to start at twenty and move up to 40 when I feel comfortable with how my body reacts. Hopefully in the first week. Then 40 through a 6 week cycle. So if I get to 40 in the first week, call it a 40/40/40/40/40/40
• Dermacrine Four pumps
• AI Cycle Support: Starting two weeks before cycle and continuing through
• Taurine: 3g/day
• Supercissus if needed as needed
• Creatine 15g/day
• Fish Oil
• Toco-8

PCT

1. Nolva 20/20/10/10
2. TRS The whole gamut w/transdermal Sustain
3. AI Cycle Support Continue throughout
4. Erase Last two weeks and into a fifth

Food
I try to eat pretty clean as it is from years of biking, so I'm just planning on ramping it up to about 200g/day protein, with carbs coming from the usual suspects of vegetables, oatmeal, etc, with about +800 calories over baseline all in. A big staple for me are plain grilled chicken breasts and wild rice, and I'm probably a mercury timebomb with all the tuna I eat. So the protein is mostly lean meat, but I also use whey shakes about once a day. I also use BCAAs pre-workout.

So same question as everyone else I guess, what am I missing? Is the Erase even necessary? I'm planning it to ward off any rebound, but I'm open to suggestions, including dropping it or adding something more aggressive.

Thanks in advance!

 

[EMD]

Bump - anyone?

 

[Marsh1116]

I've never seen EPI in 20mg I don't like that. I got back bad pumps at 40 and had some prostate issues at 50. Maybe stay w 20 for a week or two. Or split the capsules In half. Up to you, but other than that you look like your ready to rock. Best of luck

 

[BlackGT99]

I know these "critique my cycle" posts probably get old, but I want to make sure I've got this right before I pull the trigger!

Here's the background - I'm 40, I've been lifting off and on all my life, with big gaps in there for things like having kids, working too much, and just getting tired lifting and moving on to other things for exercise. I trained a lot in my teens and twenties, but in my thirties I'd get into it for like 6 months and then lose interest or get pulled away again. Enough to stay "fit," but not enough to really progress. I'm at a point in my life now where I can get into the gym regularly, and have been very consistent for the past year+. The good news for me has been that nothing really feels any different than it did in my twenties, and I pretty quickly got back to my old PRs in everything. Bad news is that I also quickly ran into my old plateaus, and want to break through. I have some personal bucket-list goals I want to hit that I won't go into but they're very specific. I recently did a cycle of Dermacrine and liked what I got out of it, and want to move on to something a little more anabolic.

So the plan is an epi cycle. Current weight is 195 at ~15%bf per my crappy Tanita scale. Goals are primarily sustainable gains in strength, and a little mass is never a bad thing. I'm really not sure what to expect, but I'd love to see 10-20% increase in core lifts and maybe 8 pounds or so of gain after PCT, if that's reasonable? Honestly I have to admit curiosity is a big part of this, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what it can do for me. Here's what I've got lined up in pantry (actually tucked away in the basement, but that's a whole other story!):

On Cycle

[*]Epi: Got it in 20mgs, so I'm going to start at twenty and move up to 40 when I feel comfortable with how my body reacts. Hopefully in the first week. Then 40 through a 6 week cycle. So if I get to 40 in the first week, call it a 40/40/40/40/40/40
[*]Dermacrine Four pumps
[*]AI Cycle Support: Starting two weeks before cycle and continuing through
[*]Taurine: 3g/day
[*]Supercissus if needed as needed
[*]Creatine 15g/day
[*]Fish Oil
[*]Toco-8

PCT

[*]Nolva 20/20/10/10
[*]TRS The whole gamut w/transdermal Sustain
[*]AI Cycle Support Continue throughout
[*]Erase Last two weeks and into a fifth

Food
I try to eat pretty clean as it is from years of biking, so I'm just planning on ramping it up to about 200g/day protein, with carbs coming from the usual suspects of vegetables, oatmeal, etc, with about +800 calories over baseline all in. A big staple for me are plain grilled chicken breasts and wild rice, and I'm probably a mercury timebomb with all the tuna I eat. So the protein is mostly lean meat, but I also use whey shakes about once a day. I also use BCAAs pre-workout.

So same question as everyone else I guess, what am I missing? Is the Erase even necessary? I'm planning it to ward off any rebound, but I'm open to suggestions, including dropping it or adding something more aggressive.

Thanks in advance!

Looks pretty good! Although I gotta say the same I've never seen Epi in 20mg doses. My opinions would be to save the creative for PCT and 15gs seems like a lot? Also running Toco-8 through PCT would be a nice addition for lipid support. And I'd also say Erase is def a good idea for rebound prevention

 

[EMD]

Yeah, the 20mg dosing is kind of oddball, but there's a supplier that has it out there now, guess he thought he needed to .

My thoughts on the high volume creatine came from an review article on it. Can't seem to post a link, but Google "creatine+steroids wasting" and it should be the first hit.

Seemed a pretty good argument for it, worth trying anyway. Higher dosing during loading sometimes gives me headaches, though, so I'll have play it by ear.

Thanks for the input on the Erase...does the timing look about right? Any need to taper?