Does the same apply to natty test boosters, like M-test? I ask because I've seen several posts on AM where M-test is part of someone's "daily regimen", and I wasn't sure if that meant they were never taking a break from it?
Yes, a lot of people, including myself use M-Test as a daily use supplement. Some people use the terminology daily use staple or staple product, but when I think of staples I just think of things like Fish Oil, Vitamin D, etc.
I'll explain below the thought process behind daily use and my own reason for using it daily.
For natty test boosters I would recommend taking a break after 8-12 weeks of use. For the test boosters it's good to give your body a rest in between to normalize. For a specific natural anabolic same protocol but you can stack different natural anabolics back to back with no break just not the same one for longer than 8-12 weeks without a break.
I have to respectfully disagree on this, although I do see where you're coming from.
The theories of taking breaks on HRT and on natural testosterone boosters is more of the old school logic way of thinking on things like this. Five years ago, I'm sure if you looked at my posts then, I would have been suggesting to take breaks as well; but this is just an example of how our understanding of things has evolved and changed.
Think about it like this - where HRT used to be done for 12 weeks at a time and then people would come off and take a break (in theory to allow the body to normalize), that isn't the norm anymore. Because really, what is the taking a break to allow the body to normalize to then just go back on? It's basically the person coming off of it long enough to feel like crap if they needed it to then just turn around and start it back again.
The same logic can be applied to natural testosterone boosters like M-Test or Optimize-T. If your testosterone levels are low or lower than you'd like them to be and you use them and they help you and you find that you feel better on them, why take a break? In that if you're using them to get your testosterone levels up and to help you feel better, if you're feeling better and its working, then taking a break is basically just allowing them to fall again and feel worse.
If its generally accepted now that HRT can be ran continuously, there's absolutely no reason to say that natural testosterone boosters cannot be ran the same.
You take in my case, with my condition, I know for a fact via bloodwork that M-Test helps my free testosterone levels. They were low and I was experiencing symptoms accordingly - mood, fatigue, loss of libido, etc. After 2 months on M-Test, I had my bloodwork done and everything about them hormonally was better, especially my free testosterone. After another month, I cycled off and after 2 to 3 weeks off had bloodwork done and my free test levels were back down to where they were before and I felt like crap again - mood, fatigue, loss of libido, etc. was all back. I went back on M-Test and after 2 months again had my levels checked and they were better, just as they were on the previous bloodwork. That's when M-Test became part of my daily use supplement regimen and it was actually at my doctors advice based on my bloodwork. And he used the exact analogy that I used above in that as schools of thought had changed on HRT, the same would apply to natural test boosters bc the focus now is more on achieving constant levels where a person feels better rather than doing an on and off approach.
It's also an interesting example of where this is one of the cases where the general health side of the market was ahead of the bodybuilding side. I think that's because on the bodybuilding side of things, we've always lived in a world of cycles; people for the longest time have just cycled things bc that's the way things were always done (but that doesn't make it correct). But if you look at the general health companies, many of the large reputable brands that make natural testosterone boosters stopped suggesting them to be cycled years before the ones on the bodybuilding side did.
^^^ A good example of this is Nature's Plus - legit bigger brand reputable company - and their T-Male and Ultra T-Male products are extremely good sellers. They haven't recommended cycling off of them in probably 10 years or so.
On the natural anabolic part of it, I don't think its fair to give a general guideline to an entire category of supplements when I think the answer is really product dependent. Anabolic Effect for example is very commonly run for 12 to 16 week cycles. In the beginning, we did suggest 8 week cycles but many people started extending their cycles bc the results were still getting better as they went and they didn't want to stop at 8 weeks bc of that. So many started going 12 weeks and were seeing the same thing, the results still getting better so they extended to 16 and now 12 to 16 is the norm. And from a scientific perspective, there is no reason at all that this isn't okay or even optimal.
I hope all of that makes sense.
