how do you know when you're "ready?"

[Buddy_Christ]

sorry, i'm sure this has been asked before, but i'm curious. i've seen different things here and there....train for a year to learn your body; wait until you reach your full natural potential; NOW.

i know that it's not as simple as just juice up and everything falls into line. diet, routine, and rest will make you or break you on cycle. i used to think that it was just the "easy" way to build yourself up until i started posting on EF and realized just how much work goes into a cycle.

i'd like to hear opinions on this to see where others have made the decision to add AAS. $$$ will hold me back for quite some time. that and i'd need to do some serious research on everything. i also don't know quite where to start to find out what does what when you take it. if someone could point me in the right direction, i'd appreciate it.

thanks.

 

[silver_shadow]

so what's ur lifting history like and ur stats?

 

[frotobaggins]

Study the profile section.

 

[gonelifting]

I simply never NEEDED gear. I was happy/content with my body. I`m certainly not huge, but I was happy. Now my gains have stopped at 35 years old and NOTHING gets them going. I may get a kick start and see what happens.

It`s now time for me.

 

[Buddy_Christ]

5'6" nearing 175lbs but trying to drop some bodyfat right now. i'll see how i feel/look at 170. i'm 26.

been training 8 months. started out @ 161lbs. bodyweight didn't really change the first 4 months. managed to add over 10lbs in the past 4 months though.

arms just broke 15" (yeah, i'm still small, so what)
chest/lats 42"
legs 22 1/2"

been running 5x5 since mid-january.

i couldn't afford a cycle right now if i wanted to anyway. hanging around here i know i can gather information for the future if i ever decided to run a cycle and would like to know more and hear input from others on it.

 

[johndeere]

How's it going bro? First I'm happy to see you aren't some 17 year old looking for quick gains for girls, don;t even get me started on that. You said you have only been training 8 months. Honestly I still see a lot of pontential naturaly. Before even considering AAS see how much you can grow over the next year or so you are still young. Work on getting your training and diet in perfect shape so when you do finally go on you can make the most of it. You really will be surprised at how much more you can throw on naturaly with good old food at this early in the game. Best of luck.

Mike

 

[DJ_UFO]

The time to start juicing is whenever you want. We always give advices to people but when they have the idea in their heads nobody can take it out. They look for every kind of excuse to justify using of roids. The intelligent guys listen the advices and plan for the future. So do your own mathematics.

 

[silver_shadow]

i started my AAS journey rather early in my lifting career. and in hindsight i know i could have waited. the reason i say that is bcoz even though i knew alot abt diet and training, the fact is that after 8mths i was still a newbie. what i mean is that an advanced lifter recruits more muscle fibres while lifting while a newbie does not. i believe that the more muscle fibres recruited implies a better ability to get good gains out of AAS. so i'd say wait some more time till u feel confident that when u lift (with good form i might add) u are using more muscle fibres. just my .02

 

[wnt2bBeast]

5'6" nearing 175lbs but trying to drop some bodyfat right now. i'll see how i feel/look at 170. i'm 26.

been training 8 months. started out @ 161lbs. bodyweight didn't really change the first 4 months. managed to add over 10lbs in the past 4 months though.

arms just broke 15" (yeah, i'm still small, so what)
chest/lats 42"
legs 22 1/2"

been running 5x5 since mid-january.

i couldn't afford a cycle right now if i wanted to anyway. hanging around here i know i can gather information for the future if i ever decided to run a cycle and would like to know more and hear input from others on it.

Congrats on adding 10lbs in 4 months while cutting!! wish i could do that lol..anyway you look pretty lean in your avatar..Since you want to drop more bf i would get down to where you feel comfortable then start to phase in your bulking diet. My advice would be to bulk naturally for another year to give your tendons/ligaments a chance to to grow and handle the stress of heavier lifting..I would definitely do your research and dont skimp on products either..you dont want to put cheap gear into your system to save a few $$..save up and treat yourself when you finally decide your ready

 

[Buddy_Christ]

well, we'll see if i've added 10lbs of muscle once i cut down a bit. i've been gorging myself for months trying to bulk. i took a picture the other day and noticed i'm starting to round slightly around the middle...well, more than before. i'm thinking that's where the last 5lbs of this bulking has gone, so time to eliminate it to be sure. once that's over, i'll try to do a cleaner bulking diet than i was doing this last time.

yes, you're correct, i look pretty lean in the avatar, and still look pretty much the same. it all goes to my belly. even with it going there, you could still see the outline of 2 ribs on each side of me at almost all times over the past few months.

i've got years ahead of me, and continuing to bulk naturally for a year or more is definetly the plan. just trying to do research now to see if i'd even ever want to add AAS to the mix. i know it can be done safely if done right, but who knows, i might decide that the risks aren't worth the benifit after researching.

frotobaggins - what profiles section?

 

[wnt2bBeast]

levelheaded and a good attitude..sounds like you will make the right decision for yourself..

 

[glennds]

I simply never NEEDED gear. I was happy/content with my body. I`m certainly not huge, but I was happy. Now my gains have stopped at 35 years old and NOTHING gets them going. I may get a kick start and see what happens.

It`s now time for me.

i started when i was older, last year at age 41. i have always been lean and well built but just couldn't put on more mass once i hit 182, at 5.10. some mild gear use has helped me get bigger and put on some quality muscle.

i have put on 8 lbs so far on my sus cycle, after week 5. 8 lbs can make a big difference in your overall physique. i wouldn't mind another 5. it is fun seeing the changes, and feeling them when you put on your clothes.

one thing i have learned about gear use is that it is not as sudden and dramatic as i thought. results are more subtle. don't expect to do a cycle and put on outrageous amounts of muscle right away. (well unless you are doing a heavy duty stack, but if it comes that fast it may go just as fast).

we are conditioned by the media to think using AAS is somehow evil and will suddenly turn us into these freaky, aggressive assholes. it is much more subtle.

 

[Buddy_Christ]

thanks wnt2bbeast. it's a far off thing, of course. and while it's MY body and i can decide what I want to put into it, i still have the gf to deal with. if i was running a cycle of test and wanting to screw constantly, she'd know something was going on. plus if i started growing body hair as a side effect, she'd DEFINETLY know, as i've got as much body hair now as i did when i was 13. and anything that causes acne would "suck," IMO, because i'm still prone to the occasional acne here and there, even at the age of 26. it sucks.

glennds - i agree, adding 1lb/week or more can make a huge difference in how you look. the first 8lbs i put on while bulking this round was coming on at about 1lb a week for a while, then it slowed down. but do that for 2 months and it starts to become noticable, definetly. even some people that see me on a regular basis have said i've grown in across the shoulders in the past few months.

about AAS turning people into freaky aggressive assholes - i've had friends in the past that used AAS and they all had different reactions. most of them were just as mellow as they were before they ran a cycle. one friend, however, would be a complete asshole while on cycle. after he ended one cycle, me and 3 other friends had a little "heart to heart" talk with him. i told him flat out if he went on cycle again while i was around, i was going to beat it out of him. guy was impossible to deal with on cycle. he laughed and said "yeah, ok, and who's gonna help you? you're half my size..." told him to look around the room, and the other 3 guys looked him dead in the eyes. never saw him tuck tail and back down so fast in the prior 2 years i had known him. all we were trying to do was save him from getting himself in trouble. it was inevitable that he'd do something drastically stupid while on cycle, and being the friends we were, we felt obligated to look out for him.

after that, he stayed off cycle for over a year until i got out of the Marine Corps and wasn't in daily contact with him anymore. after i was gone, i heard he went right back on cycle and ripped a steel door off the hinges one night after a fight with his girlfriend. i was amazed at the amount of respect he had for my threat to beat it out of him if he went on cycle again though.

but he was just one person that i knew that went into complete asshole mode while on cycle, and i knew about 10 guys that ran cycles every now and then. 2 of the other guys - 1 was a dickhead to begin with, i just hated him more while he was on cycle. the other was pretty calm but could turn his aggression on and off like a light switch. i never knew if he was on cycle or not unless someone else told me.

 

[fistfullofsteel]

You will hear a voice say, "IT HAS BEGUN!!!!!!!!!!! MORTAL COMBAT......."

 

[wootoom]

i did tonnes of research about dieting,training and aas. after that i knew that i was ready to start.