Unanswered How many weeks total to cycle a year?

[JoePaul39]

So I am on trt so I don’t have to pct. i time my cycles to begin after my trt bloodwork. I have decided I am going to run a total of 3 methylated oral cycles a year (the rest of the year I will be on no other compounds other than my 200 mg a week trt). What I haven’t decided is how long these should be keeping in mind my health (especially lipids and cardiovascular), but also wanting an efficient amount of gains.I know the max for a mild methylated cycle with a compound such as DMZ is 6 weeks and the minimum such a compound should be run is 4 weeks. So I have narrowed it down to either three 4, 5, or 6 week cycles and am leaning toward three six week cycles a year. This essentially would mean I would “on cycle” on a methylated oral 18 of the 52 weeks of the year. Would this be too much a year? What would you recommend of the three choices (i.e. three 4 weeks, 5 weeks, or 6 week cycles)?

 

[Nac]

My advice: always play it by ear. I use to have a diary where Id write down all my upcoming proposed cycles. It was exciting to do this, anticipating the future gainz but what a complete waste of time. It really was. Id end up changing my mind...or getting sick...or having sucky sides...or a million other things.

I think its good to plan, and not be totally spontaneous. And whilst it can be good on paper planning this **** out, I think what your proposing is majoring in the minors and not really helpful at all. I mean think about it, how can we say, sitting here on our phones, that a 5wk oral cycle is optimal compared to 4, or 6, so that is what we will stick with? You already have a sufficient, competent idea what to do: run your oral cycles for 3-6 weeks. But however long they end up actually being, will be determined at the time, not 3, 4, 8, 21 months out.

Further to this, health marker numbers are not static and are highly variable over time. I just dont think you can be so black and white as to say "yip, 5 weeks is the golden cycle length, thats what Ill always plan to do". Just do...whatever. You can do a 3 week cycle that is "better" than a 6 week one.

 

[Nac]

Lol, I didnt realise what a long waffle that was.

My simple advice is this: follow your instinct. Youre obviously sufficiently knowledgable to do just this. A noob wouldnt be, as he still has to learn about health markers, sides, etc etc. Nothing youre proposing here is outlandishly risky. Just follow your instinct (which is steered in part by your bloods, your experience, etc).

 

[ItalOne]

So I am on trt so I don’t have to pct. i time my cycles to begin after my trt bloodwork. I have decided I am going to run a total of 3 methylated oral cycles a year (the rest of the year I will be on no other compounds other than my 200 mg a week trt). What I haven’t decided is how long these should be keeping in mind my health (especially lipids and cardiovascular), but also wanting an efficient amount of gains.I know the max for a mild methylated cycle with a compound such as DMZ is 6 weeks and the minimum such a compound should be run is 4 weeks. So I have narrowed it down to either three 4, 5, or 6 week cycles and am leaning toward three six week cycles a year. This essentially would mean I would “on cycle” on a methylated oral 18 of the 52 weeks of the year. Would this be too much a year? What would you recommend of the three choices (i.e. three 4 weeks, 5 weeks, or 6 week cycles)?

IMO if your on trt and your not a pro. “Getting paid!” there is no reason to run more then two moderate length cycles a year. To be more exact two 10-14 week cycles or 24 weeks max!! If you can’t maintain most of your gains on trt, then you are not doing it right.

 

[JoePaul39]

Lol, I didnt realise what a long waffle that was.

My simple advice is this: follow your instinct. Youre obviously sufficiently knowledgable to do just this. A noob wouldnt be, as he still has to learn about health markers, sides, etc etc. Nothing youre proposing here is outlandishly risky. Just follow your instinct (which is steered in part by your bloods, your experience, etc).

Thanks for the advice. I am mainly thinking from a health perspective long term if it would be terribly more harsh on the cardiovascular system being on methylated cycles 18 weeks a year as say only tanking lipids 12 weeks a year. I suppose there is no way to quantify the increased risk.

 

[Nac]

Thanks for the advice. I am mainly thinking from a health perspective long term if it would be terribly more harsh on the cardiovascular system being on methylated cycles 18 weeks a year as say only tanking lipids 12 weeks a year. I suppose there is no way to quantify the increased risk.

Sure, I know what you mean. Obviously, 12wks will be better than 18wks, but that assumption is based on all things being equal, ie youre not running harsher orals on the shorter duration....your diet is constantly optimised...etc. But when in the real world are all things equal, especially over lengthy periods?

Also, Id almost guarantee you wont run orals for X-amount of weeks for the next 5 or whatever years. You wont. Cos your opinion will change, your goals will change, a whole lot of things will change. You could end up hating orals cos 7 months from now they all start giving you bad reflux. So you decide to stick with short ester oils instead. So your initial 18weeks per year of orals is completely thrown out the window and abandoned.

You know what you want to do, what you need to do, and what you should do. Just dont confine yourself to one "thing"; be prepared for your plans changing.

 

[Jinsun]

Really great advice from @Nac. This is just exactly what always, Always happens.

The only thing that I would semi plan is when to do the short cycle, ie; at the end of a bulk, for the cut, ... etc. And adjust the duration based on results, feeling and bloods.

Tossing that aside, there are orals that you will be able to run for a longer period of time then others. BUT this also depends on the dosages. You can run a low to mild cycle of var for 8 weeks, this would be great for a cut, without much sides BUT you probably wont be able to do this with SD hehe even at a low dose of 10mg for instance.

So my advice is basically this; chose the right compounds for the right purpose and dose and time them accordingly. You want to preserve muscle, have great nutrient partitioning, have greater metabolic speed, etc. while on a cut? Do var for 8 weeks: 25/25/40/40/50/50/60/60... You want to push the last block of your messocycle? Great, do 4 weeks of SD: 10/10/15/20.

Otherwise, I would also point you to peptides. cjc1295dac + Mk677 can be a great "healthy" cycle for cutting (or for hypertrophy on a longer run).