An anabolic steroid cycle simply refers to the period of actual steroid use; when steroids are being administered, this is the time frame often referred to as “On-Cycle” and when they are not as “Off-Cycle.” In any case, when it comes to the on-cycle phase there are truly countless options or steroid stacks. Steroid stacks refer to the combination of anabolic steroids being used during a steroid cycle as well as non-steroidal items that may be included during this phase. With hundreds of anabolic steroids, varying peptide hormones SERM’s, AI’s, thyroid hormones and so much more there truly are innumerable steroid stacks; in-fact, if you choose, no cycle will be the same. Of course, in time most performance enhancers will become rather comfortable with certain steroid stacks; they’ll discover specific combinations that yield the best results and stick with those types of plans. Even so, there are some general rules when it comes to steroid stacks, or rather advisement’s that will keep you safe; for example, the most common of all supplementing with some form of exogenous testosterone anytime suppressive anabolic steroids are used. The form itself is of no consequence; all that matters is your body has enough of this essential hormone in-order to function properly.

There are many recommendations such as the testosterone one discussed above; generalized rules of thumb most steroid stacks and cycles will be advised to follow. As this is the case, we’ll go over those here today, including the testosterone one in a little more depth, and in-doing so ensure your success. By following these rules, and understanding all that is to follow you will enjoy safe and successful supplementation, and this is important; after all, if it’s not safe, then it can no way be deemed successful.

First Steroid Cycle

When you’ve never supplemented with anabolic steroids before, it’s normally recommended you keep things as simple as you can. In this case, you have no idea of knowing how your body is going to react to supraphysiological doses of particular hormones; further, you want to only apply hormones your body is already familiar with in the first place such as testosterone. Of course, many will forgo this and immediately start with a massive stack and cycle, and often it’s a crying shame. It honestly won’t take much to see a massive difference, and if you become familiar with varying anabolic steroids over time you’ll have a better understanding as to what works best for you. If you start with numerous steroids in your cycle, if you have any problems it is going to be extremely difficult to pinpoint what’s causing the problem; further, you may not be able to tell which steroids are bringing you the greatest results. Start small, and work your way up.

Advanced Steroid Cycle

Once you have a few steroid cycles under your belt, assuming you have enjoyed a positive experience this is where you can start moving to more advanced cycles. Of course, for many men, there may be no need or desire to increase the number of hormones being used or the doses; for many men they will be satisfied with standard basic cycles. If this is the case, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that; if you are satisfied with a simple testosterone only cycle at a moderate dose, the same cycle will work for you each and every time; your body is not going to magically adapt to where such a plan will not work any more. In any case, many men will inevitably want more, and if they have enjoyed success with smaller steroid cycles this can be fine, but it comes with a word of caution that we need to discuss next.

Risk vs Reward

All steroid cycles and stacks carry with them a strong risk to reward ratio, and regardless of your experience this will hold true each and every time. While a bit simplistic, the best way to look at it is the more you take the greater the reward; however, the more you take the greater the risk. As risks increase, this also increases the need for taking protective measures; however, we can increase the total amounts and still stay within the realm of safety if we take the proper protective measures. Of course, as with all things in life, there will be a cutoff point; there will be a point when the risk to reward ratio becomes severely skewed towards risk, and when this occurs you have without question left the realm of safety.

As for where this line exists, that’s a hard question to answer; it will depend on the anabolic steroids being used as well as your own genetic response to particular hormones, but there are general guidelines. For example, in-order to receive a performance benefit from the testosterone hormone, most men will need a minimum of 300mg per week of a single ester testosterone compound with 400-500mg being far more efficient. As the dosing increases, so do the rewards, but so do the potential for side-effects.

For most men, 500mg per week is normally very well-tolerated, and most men can increase all the way to 1g a week without serious ill-effects if they follow the proper steps; however, past this 1g mark will see the scale severely unbalanced. When we surpass 1g per week, estrogenic issues will become extremely problematic in most men, and while they can be controlled most men will find it extremely difficult. As this is the case, you are encouraged to seek out dosing ranges for all anabolic steroids you are considering for your steroid cycles before implementing them into your stack, and further, weighing the cost to benefit ratios accordingly.

Duration of Use

As steroid cycles refer to the time in-which we are actually supplementing with anabolic steroids, the obvious question is what is the acceptable time frame; what is the minimum for positive gains and what is the maximum amount of time in-regards to safety? Once again, this can be a difficult question to answer, but once again there are guidelines that will help you stay safe. Regardless of the steroid cycles you implement, no matter how basic or advanced, your plan is going to need to extend for a decent amount of time. The human body does not like change; even if such a change is in its best interest it will fight it and do all it can to stay at its accustomed normal. As this is the case, we must allow enough time for this “normal” to change; we must create a new set normal if we are to hang onto any of the gains made. Of course, even when this is done, if you are off-cycle for an extended period of time you are going to lose some of the gains made; without the high influx of hormones present to support the gains you made they will not last forever.

With timing in mind and creating a new set normal, most men will find 8 weeks to be the minimum with 12 weeks being far more efficient; of course, longer will yield better results. At the same time, longer will also increase the risk for potential side-effects, and once again we’re at a scale we must measure. For those who are looking for solid gains while remaining as safe as possible, normally 12-16 weeks of actual supplementation followed by an equal amount of time off-cycle is the best bet; this is a safe and effective way to plan all your steroid cycles. Of course, for many men, based on their goals such a plan will not work; not if they are going to progress in the manner they desire. For the hardcore elite, the truly advanced, you will find they are on-cycle far more than they are off; after all, this is the only way their body’s can support the massive strength and size they have obtained. It’s not uncommon to see such men blast with 16-20 week cycles and only discontinuing use for 4-8 weeks; in some cases, they won’t fully discontinue use at all. In some cases, in hardcore circles it is often found they will supplement heavily for 16-20 weeks and drop to a low dose of testosterone for 4-8 weeks before blasting for another 16-20 weeks. At some point and time they will probably come off of everything, and they should, but either way while this can be very effective it comes with a lot of risk.

Sample Steroid Cycles

Below you will find sample steroid cycles for all levels of use that will be solid guides for all purposes of use. It should go without saying, the novice plans are meant for beginners; however, as eluded to above such plans will work for as long as you’d like them to. If you complete a few novice level steroid cycles, you can implement them afterwards as many times as you’d like, but for many men, there will come a time when more is desired; after all, wanting more is our very nature. This raises an important question; how do we know when we’re ready to advance? In-order to answer this question, please see the checklist to follow:

• Novice to Intermediate: if you’ve completed a few novice cycles and desire more, if you enjoyed success with a novice plan, meaning you did not suffer from horrific side-effects and you want a little more, you may be ready for a more advanced plan. In the end, this will be something you have to gauge for yourself.
• See Beginner Cycle
• See Novice Cycle
• Intermediate to Advanced: Intermediate cycles are about as far as most will ever desire to go, and in-truth most all will ever need. If you cannot make fantastic gains with such steroid cycles, you need to reexamine your diet and training, and perhaps the supplier from who you’re receiving your hormones. Of course, once again more is sometimes desired, and if it is to be reached you must follow the same rules listed above.
• See Intermediate Cycle I
• See Intermediate Cycle II
• See Intermediate Cycle III
• Beyond Advanced: the advanced steroid cycles listed below are truly powerful and they obviously carry with them the greatest risk; even so, some will even surpass these. This is not something we can recommend, we cannot even outright recommend the advanced plans; however, we can tell you if you go beyond such plans you will be opening the door to possible problems greatly and caution is advised.
• See Advanced Cycle I
• See Advanced Cycle II