Testosterone in Every Cycle
It is well established that testosterone is an inherently important hormone and should be included as a primary anabolic compound in every cycle, or at least as a primary base compound to support the role of TRT.
A 'primary anabolic compound' is defined as a compound that acts as one of the primary drivers of muscle building within a cycle, which typically requires running it at supraphysiologic bodybuilding doses.
A perfect example would be a cycle consisting of testosterone and Dianabol (methandrostenolone), where testosterone is taken at 500mg per week and Dianabol at 30mg per day.
In this case, both compounds are used in bodybuilding doses (physiologically excessive doses) and therefore act as the primary anabolic compounds.
A cycle consisting of testosterone, dianabol, and proviron (mesterolone) at doses of 500mg per week (testosterone), 30mg per day (dianabol), and 25mg per day (proviron) would indicate that proviron is not the primary anabolic, while the other two compounds are.
The role of proviron in this case is that of an ancillary compound, as it is run at a dose too low to be considered a 'bodybuilding' dose, and proviron itself is not a very strong anabolic compound by any measure.
For example, using testosterone in a cycle of 100mg/week, trenbolone 400mg/week, and Masteron (drostanolone) 400mg/week is a perfect example of a cycle where testosterone is not the primary anabolic compound.
In this case, testosterone plays a secondary role to TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) to maintain normal physiological levels of testosterone during periods when the body's own endogenous testosterone production is suppressed and/or stopped (as a result of an anabolic steroid cycle).
This is a perfect description of using a testosterone dose as a TRT dose during a cycle, and we'll discuss this concept and the reasons behind it in a bit more detail in this article shortly.
Whatever the individual's decision, the concept that testosterone should be administered every cycle is a fundamental rule of proper and responsible anabolic steroid use.
It is a basic rule that every cycle must include testosterone, and there are no exceptions to this rule.
Why include testosterone in every cycle?
Testosterone is, quite obviously, the first anabolic steroid and is the body's primary androgen, necessary for a myriad of proper physiological functions.
Testosterone is a hormone that is naturally produced in the bodies of all humans and most animal species, which is why it is considered the safest anabolic steroid, as we've mentioned several times throughout this article.
It cannot be emphasized enough that this is because testosterone is a hormone that is already secreted, already utilized, and already familiar.
Therefore, the use of testosterone for the purpose of enhancing athletic performance and physique can easily be described as the act of giving the body a higher dose of a hormone that it already secretes and utilizes in order to maximize hormone levels for a temporary period of time (cycle).
Through this logic, it has been determined as a firm basic principle of anabolic steroid use that every first cycle should always be a testosterone-only cycle (a selected variant of testosterone) as the first cycle.
A testosterone-only cycle introduces the user to a safer anabolic steroid (testosterone) that the body has been naturally accustomed to for many years, as everyone has previously manufactured and utilized testosterone endogenously.
This has allowed individual anabolic steroid users to measure their response to testosterone, the most basic anabolic steroid.
This measurement procedure allows the user to evaluate their potential responses and reactions to other anabolic steroid analogs and derivatives.
The rationale behind this process is that if an individual reacts badly to a basic testosterone cycle in a number of undesirable ways, they are likely to react even worse to most other anabolic steroids, which are, of course, essentially modified analogs of testosterone.
Why should I only use testosterone for my first cycle?
The same concept applies in the sense that it is not advisable for an individual to stack multiple anabolic steroids in their first cycle.
The problem with stacking compounds in a beginner's cycle lies in the fact that it is likely a very risky practice when it comes to unknown reactions.
Beginners who have never used anabolic steroids or participated in a cycle before are unsure of what to expect in terms of effects, side effects, and experience when using them for the first time.
Considering the amount of misinformation and hype that the general public is bombarded with regarding anabolic steroids, this can be quite concerning for novice anabolic steroid users who are just starting to step into unfamiliar waters.
It stands to reason that when a beginner taking multiple anabolic steroids for the first time begins to have very negative reactions or experience very undesirable side effects, there is no way for this person to narrow down which of the multiple compounds is causing the bad reaction.
There may be multiple compounds causing these undesirable effects, or there may be two or more anabolic steroids that would not produce such effects without interconnected synergistic effects with other compounds in the stack.
It's easy to see how this can be life-threatening, especially if the particular reaction is a very serious one, such as an allergic reaction, for example.
What are the risks of excluding testosterone from every cycle?
If you use testosterone as the primary essential compound in every cycle, running a cycle that does not include testosterone (or a cycle that only uses oral anabolic steroids) is, quite simply, a very bad idea.
Without the presence of some form of testosterone (endogenous or exogenous), the body will not be able to maintain its normal physiological functions, which are controlled and governed by testosterone itself.
For example, many other analogs and derivative anabolic steroids, such as trenbolone, can be many times more anabolic than testosterone (in the case of trenbolone, it is an impressive five times as strong as testosterone).
However, this characteristic and greater anabolic strength is a trade-off for most of these compounds.
For example, as mentioned earlier, trenbolone is the most powerful anabolic steroid in existence, and it is a very powerful anabolic with absolutely no estrogenic effects.
However, it does not act as an adequate androgen for normal physiological functions within the body, and by 'normal physiological functions' I mean more than just libido or one or two other outwardly obvious functions, which is something that many people over-analyze and over-emphasize without essentially seeing the 'big picture'.
The physiology and endocrine system of the human body is not as summarized or simplified as many uneducated anabolic steroid users would have you believe, especially when they trivialize the inclusion of testosterone in every cycle.
Testosterone is an essential hormone for proper libido function, is a regulator of cognition and physical energy, plays a role in regulating the number of thromboxane A2 receptors on megakaryocytes and platelets (and thus platelet aggregation in humans), is critical to the proper functioning of mental and psychological processes, as well as numerous other important physiological functions, so many in fact that it would require an entirely separate article to cover them all.
However, most of these functions have already been discussed throughout this article, and the absolute importance of testosterone in every cycle to maintain these proper physiological functions should come as no surprise to the reader at this point.
Just because a particular anabolic steroid is "better" or "stronger" than testosterone in one or two specific areas (i.e., the anabolic tissue gain that everyone overemphasizes), and just because it may be more convenient to administer, such as in an oral-only cycle, does not absolutely mean that it is better than testosterone in all aspects and functions.
Most anabolic steroid analogs either have no effect at all on many of the physiological functions that testosterone regulates and governs, or fall woefully short of providing adequate regulation. In fact, there are many other anabolic steroid variants that can actually act to mitigate (interfere with or neutralize) these functions.
