Mistakes to Avoid on Your First Cycle

Many veteran users of anabolic steroids often reflect on their early experiences and wish they had access to certain knowledge before embarking on their first cycle. With the right tips and recommendations, not only could they have saved money, but they might also have achieved better gains with fewer side effects. Armed with this understanding, let’s dive into essential advice that can help you maximize the effectiveness and safety of your first anabolic steroid cycle. Let’s get down to business.

Educate Yourself Before Buying Anything

This is the first and most crucial step before you even consider starting your first steroid cycle. Far too many guys out there don’t even know what an ester is, yet they are injecting gear without a clue about what they are doing. Don’t be foolish and take the plunge before you fully understand the ins and outs of steroid use. Do I expect you to be an anabolic scholar? No, but you should have a decent understanding of what you are putting into your body and the consequences of your actions. Venturing into the realm of steroids is no joke, so ensuring you know what you’re getting into is a top priority.

Once you decide to pull back that plunger and push that potent nectar into your body, there’s no turning back. Knowing what you are doing is the most important first step before deciding to step up to the plate.

Do You Physically Qualify?

Do you even qualify to use anabolic steroids? First off, I would wait until you are at least 20 years old before considering starting a cycle. Do you have at least 3-5 years of hardcore training under your belt? If not, it’s time to wait. Is your body fat percentage in a decent range? You should be between 10-16%; if not, lean down first and get into range. There is no point in starting your first cycle if you are not truly ready for it. It’s better to give yourself more time to build a solid foundation, from which you can then build some awesome gains!

Find a Reliable and Trustworthy Steroid Source

First, you need to find a proper source. If you live in a country where steroids and PEDs are legal, getting your stuff from a pharmacy is ideal. The black market is riddled with tons of low-quality underground steroids, where the purity, potency, and accuracy of what you are using is questionable, often cooked up by some guy in his basement.

How can you expect serious gains when you are using poorly dosed, potentially hazardous substances that are most likely not even filtered for impurities? To make matters worse, all underground steroid labs in Canada use raw hormone powders from China, which are often of very low quality and contain numerous heavy metals and contaminants that can cause more side effects and health issues than the actual steroids. Choose your source carefully because your health and results depend on it!

Buy All Your Syringes in Advance

Ensure you have a reliable source for your syringes. The last thing you want is to run out and be forced to reuse a syringe. If you do this, you are just begging for an infection. Buy all your syringes in advance so there are no issues during your cycle. I have posted a resource where you can get all your syringes with no hassle. Just scroll down my feed, and you’ll find it.

If you don’t know what a steroid-induced abscess looks like, then YouTube it, and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about. For those trying to cut corners financially, this is not the time to try and save a few cents. Reusing syringes or needles will get you sick sooner or later, so give yourself some respect and just say no!

Plan Your Cycle and PCT Before Buying Anything

Plan out your steroid cycle and full Post Cycle Therapy (PCT) before you buy anything. Then, purchase everything in one go. The last thing you want is to buy different brands of steroids because the supplier ran out, and you had to shop elsewhere. There’s nothing worse than not being able to get your PCT when your hormonal balance is disrupted, leaving you a mess.

Don’t be foolish and try to acquire your stack bottle by bottle, hoping it will all work out in the end. Most likely, it will not, and you will run into issues. Make sure you have everything (complete cycle and PCT) on hand before you start your first injection.

Start with a Low Dose for Your First Run!

During your first cycle, don’t plan out some mega cycle you saw your favorite pro running. Not only is this reckless, but it’s also dangerous. Whether you are just running testosterone and an add-on compound, or a mix, the main thing is to keep the dosages on the low side. Since this is your first time, your body will absorb it efficiently even in small amounts.

In fact, many people say their first cycle was their best, and the majority used dosages that now seem minimal. Either way, keep it simple and low-dosed because you will still see significant benefits with minimal to no side effects if all your other areas are well-managed. One thing I do with all my clients is to start them on the minimal dose of each compound needed to produce a hypertrophic effect. Then, if adjustments are necessary,

we can consider the options afterward.

Stay Away from Harsh Compounds

During your first cycle, you should use compounds that produce the fewest side effects. Yes, you want to make gains, but the main goal is to get your body accustomed to using steroids. I see guys running Anadrol and Trenbolone during their first cycle, and I wonder what they think they are doing.

There is no need to run harsh compounds during your initial introduction to anabolics. The problem with most beginners is that they think they will run the “Mother of All Stacks” during their first steroid cycle, hoping they look almost as good as Ronnie Coleman after a few months of using. Sorry to break the news to you, but it’s not going to happen. Pro bodybuilders have been using gear for decades, so thinking that in one cycle you will step on stage and do damage is most likely not going to happen.

Time Your Cycle and Compounds Properly

The length of your cycle should allow you ample time to make gains in the best possible way. You do not want to run too short of a cycle nor one that is too long. When I hear guys wanting to do an 8-week cycle while running a long-estered testosterone like Cypionate, they don’t realize it doesn’t really start working until week 4, thereby wasting the key time period for growth by cutting it too short. On the other hand, you don’t want to run a year-long cycle your first time out either. For long-acting esters, 16-20 weeks is perfect for most to achieve amazing results and yet minimize side effects as well.

Prepare for Side Effects

Preparing for side effects before they happen is the smart thing to do, and I suggest this in every possible way. Did you suffer from acne as a teenager? If so, you should know that your chances of breaking out will be much higher than someone who never had a pimple. Therefore, plan an acne protocol in advance just in case things go awry.

Is thinning hair a problem for you? If so, plan in advance because increased hair loss can be an issue if you are prone to high DHT levels. Do you have high estrogen levels? If so, have Arimidex on hand to ensure you don’t end up with a set of breasts that would make Dolly Parton jealous. You get my point: be one step ahead of any side effects you may be prone to due to your genetic predisposition.

Learn Proper Injection Protocol and Hygiene

You would be amazed at how many guys, even those who have done several cycles, still do not know how to properly inject themselves. Yes, as stupid as this sounds, it seems to be an epidemic among many new-generation steroid users. Learn how to properly inject yourself because your buddy might not be there to help you out every time you need to get a shot done. Understand what type and gauge of syringes you need for the body parts you plan to inject. Learn how to aspirate with your syringe. I have written two very in-depth articles about injection technique, so you will not find better info than what I put together. Once again, scroll down my feed, and you will find them.

Next, make sure your hygiene is on point. I see even veteran steroid users not taking this seriously enough. If you make any mistake in the process of giving yourself an injection, your chances of getting an abscess are very likely. Believe me, if you have ever seen a doctor cut one out and fill it with gauze, you will never want this to happen because of laziness and a lack of proper hygiene protocol.

Get Blood Work Done

This is one of the most important things you can do for your long-term health and well-being. I suggest getting a full blood panel before you start your cycle. This way, you know where you are starting out with all readings, including testosterone, estrogen, prolactin, dihydrotestosterone, full lipid panel, liver and kidney panel, thyroid panel, and much more.

Then, after your PCT has concluded, it would be wise to check it again to see how your recovery of your HPTA Axis is coming along, as well as monitoring other hormone levels properly. If you follow this protocol, believe me, after you have been using steroids for years and have had proper blood work done at least twice per year, you will understand your body and how it responds to different steroids that you use.

Many of you will think that it is unnecessary, but in reality, many of you are just too lazy to get off your ass and get the blood work done. I am telling you, this one action can protect your health more than you can imagine.

Make Sure Your Diet and Training are on Point

There is no point in doing steroids if your diet and training are not spot on. This means you should have a well-planned training program, and your diet and natural supplement regimen should be designed to elicit maximum gains from your steroid cycle. Many people don’t get good gains during their first run simply because they eat poorly.

Provide your body the right fuel to help grow and recover from your training cycle. Make sure you are taking in more protein than you did when you were natural. Your body can now utilize more and convert it into lean tissue, so if you consume the same 200 grams of protein every day just like you did when you were natural, you will not reap the gains you should. Next, train your heart out in the gym because now you have the tools that will help you recover faster than ever before.

Step up the intensity and volume because now is the time your body can utilize nutrients much more efficiently, allowing you to recover from training sessions much faster. You don’t need to stay in the gym for three hours, but now is the time your body can handle so much more. You need to take full advantage of that because when you come off, you will then realize how much better the drugs helped you in terms of recovery. Remember this mantra, and you won’t go wrong: Eat…Train..Inject…Sleep…Grow!

Find a Good Coach

Now, you may be thinking this is a way for me to make a shameless self-promoting plug here, but it isn’t. Whether you go with me or someone else, make sure you have someone who first is a reputable and knowledgeable coach who has spent time in the trenches, not some clown who competed once and then became a coach. Sorry, that’s not a coach!

A good coach will actually guide you every step of the way for each of the finer points that I mentioned in this article. This is something that I do for all my athletes plus much more. When you hire a real coach who is knowledgeable in many different areas, he will be able to take you through each step with ease as he has done this hundreds, if not thousands, of times in his career. This will save you money in the long run, and his guidance on your anabolic journey will make it an experience where you get the most benefit out of it. If your coach is also your “Source,” then he will take care of just about everything from top to bottom, making it as easy as pie to get the results you are looking for with no hassles.

Conclusion

So there here you have it, some of the most important factors you should be looking into when planning out your very first cycle. You might not understand it now, but when I look back to my first experiences in the game, I wish I had someone to guide me step by step who had the knowledge and expertise that I didn’t have back in my early years. This can take an experience that you did on your own with a shoddy source that could turn out to be a disaster, whereas if you did it properly, it would be one of the most exciting and memorable experiences in your life. So take it from the Anabolic Coach. Follow my tips above, and you will be glad you did when your journey to new growth becomes more fun each and every day!