akn
Musclechemistry Member
Q: “I built up pretty good strength, for me anyway, in 7 years of training, but lost it all during a bad relationship. I’m back on track again now. I know how to train without anabolic steroids because my first 5 years was natural, but I just don’t want things to be slower than they need to be. So even though all I need now is very basic progressive training that’s similar every week, I want to accelerate results with steroid use. What sort of cycles go best with this sort of training?”
A: Any good cycle goes along well with basic progressive training. I’d choose either 8 week cycles or two-week cycles, or employ both methods at different times.
An obvious advantage of 8-week cycles is that there will be a lot of gratification acquired quickly. If we compared with 2-week on, 4-week off cycles, it would typically take 14 weeks to get results similar to what could be achieved in 8 weeks straight.
But on the other hand, with the two-week cycles, progress would continue straight on from there, whereas with the eight-week cycles, there will be a 16 week gap before being able to continue again! This is if making an equal comparison where steroids are being used 1/3 of the time, where there are two “off” weeks to each week of use. It also works the same way in any equal comparison.
So which is “better” is not so obvious as at first glance. Your choice will depend on personal preference.
However, in general the two week cycles are very suited to basic progressive training, where there is no real pattern to training weeks. This is because such a program is really helped by the shorter “off” periods, and there’s very good carryover from the gains of the “on” weeks to the “off” weeks.
If taking the advice on 2-week cycles, I would however suggest putting at least a little bit of pattern onto the training weeks though. The “on” weeks should preferably be with relatively heavier weight, such as allowingonly 5-8 reps, and training volume should be say 30% greater than in most of the “off” weeks.
If choosing the 8-week cycle route, the increased volume consideration would still apply. Your training during “off” weeks could still remain similar, but the optimal training volume will be less than while assisted.
A: Any good cycle goes along well with basic progressive training. I’d choose either 8 week cycles or two-week cycles, or employ both methods at different times.
An obvious advantage of 8-week cycles is that there will be a lot of gratification acquired quickly. If we compared with 2-week on, 4-week off cycles, it would typically take 14 weeks to get results similar to what could be achieved in 8 weeks straight.
But on the other hand, with the two-week cycles, progress would continue straight on from there, whereas with the eight-week cycles, there will be a 16 week gap before being able to continue again! This is if making an equal comparison where steroids are being used 1/3 of the time, where there are two “off” weeks to each week of use. It also works the same way in any equal comparison.
So which is “better” is not so obvious as at first glance. Your choice will depend on personal preference.
However, in general the two week cycles are very suited to basic progressive training, where there is no real pattern to training weeks. This is because such a program is really helped by the shorter “off” periods, and there’s very good carryover from the gains of the “on” weeks to the “off” weeks.
If taking the advice on 2-week cycles, I would however suggest putting at least a little bit of pattern onto the training weeks though. The “on” weeks should preferably be with relatively heavier weight, such as allowingonly 5-8 reps, and training volume should be say 30% greater than in most of the “off” weeks.
If choosing the 8-week cycle route, the increased volume consideration would still apply. Your training during “off” weeks could still remain similar, but the optimal training volume will be less than while assisted.
