Expert Answered Second Cycle: Test E & EQ - Building Towards My First Competition

[Vincee]

Hi everyone,

I recently completed my first cycle, which consisted of 350 mg of Test E per week for 14 weeks, along with 60 mg of Anavar per day during the first 6 weeks.

My blood work came back excellent, and I didn’t experience any noticeable negative side effects.

I’m now planning my second cycle and would appreciate some advice from you guys.

Would increasing to 500 mg of Test E per week and adding 200 mg of Boldenone per week be a reasonable step up? I’m planning to skip oral compounds this time and stick to injectables only.

Thanks in advance for your advice and input!

 

[Sam Bjorn]

Hi everyone,

I recently completed my first cycle, which consisted of 350 mg of Test E per week for 14 weeks, along with 60 mg of Anavar per day during the first 6 weeks.

My blood work came back excellent, and I didn’t experience any noticeable negative side effects.

I’m now planning my second cycle and would appreciate some advice from you guys.

Would increasing to 500 mg of Test E per week and adding 200 mg of Boldenone per week be a reasonable step up? I’m planning to skip oral compounds this time and stick to injectables only.

Thanks in advance for your advice and input!

Hi mate,

I have 3 question before starting consulattion.
1. How long ago did you finish your first cycle?
2. Did you do PCT?
3. Which blood tests you had done? Beginners often make the mistake of getting only a complete blood count, which doesn't include sex hormone levels, and then assume everything is fine.

As for your planned cycle, purely in theory, it looks quite reasonable. Skipping oral compounds is a good idea, and I support it. Boldenone can be included, and it may lower estradiol, but the dosage would need to be adjusted based on your estradiol blood test results.

BUT this is just general information. To give you a more objective answer, I need more details. Let's start with my first three questions.

 

[Vincee]

To answer your questions, I finished my first cycle 4 weeks ago. I didn’t do a PCT because I went straight onto TRT.

I also had a pretty detailed blood test done, which included the following:

• Free testosterone (calculated)
• Estradiol (E2)
• TSH and free T4
• Prolactin
• FSH
• HbA1c
• PSA
• Albumin
• GGT
• Alkaline phosphatase
• Bilirubin
• ESR
• hs-CRP
• White blood cell count and differential
• Urine: microalbumin and creatinine

I’ll have to wait and see if the Boldenone helps keep my E2 in balance, but for now, I just wanted to know if this would be a good step up for my second cycle.

 

[Sam Bjorn]

To answer your questions, I finished my first cycle 4 weeks ago. I didn’t do a PCT because I went straight onto TRT.

I also had a pretty detailed blood test done, which included the following:

• Free testosterone (calculated)
• Estradiol (E2)
• TSH and free T4
• Prolactin
• FSH
• HbA1c
• PSA
• Albumin
• GGT
• Alkaline phosphatase
• Bilirubin
• ESR
• hs-CRP
• White blood cell count and differential
• Urine: microalbumin and creatinine

I’ll have to wait and see if the Boldenone helps keep my E2 in balance, but for now, I just wanted to know if this would be a good step up for my second cycle.

You're going on TRT — you didn't mention that. Okay, purely theoretically, your cycle is perfectly fine for building muscle mass or strength, for example. Depending on your diet, you'll either gain leaner muscle mass or also have significant water retention and fat gain.

Boldenone will lower estradiol, but the dosage will depend on your individual response. That's why you need to check your levels at several points. Personally, I've always used testosterone and boldenone at a 2:1 ratio to keep my estradiol right in the middle of the reference range.

I don't see a lipid panel or a complete blood count in your blood tests. These are two of the most important things to monitor.

I can't comment on anything else because I don't have enough information. So whether this is a good second cycle depends on what it's for and who's using it.

If you send me more information, I can comment in more detail. I need to know:

• Your height, weight, and age
• Your long-term goal with steroid use
• How long you've been training
• What results you got from your first cycle
• Chronic conditions
• Current photos of your physique — this will give me the most objective idea of where you are in your progress.

 

[Sam Bjorn]

And it's unclear to me why FSH is on the list — it'll be practically zero unless you're using HMG.

 

[Vincee]

You're going on TRT — you didn't mention that. Okay, purely theoretically, your cycle is perfectly fine for building muscle mass or strength, for example. Depending on your diet, you'll either gain leaner muscle mass or also have significant water retention and fat gain.

Boldenone will lower estradiol, but the dosage will depend on your individual response. That's why you need to check your levels at several points. Personally, I've always used testosterone and boldenone at a 2:1 ratio to keep my estradiol right in the middle of the reference range.

I don't see a lipid panel or a complete blood count in your blood tests. These are two of the most important things to monitor.

I can't comment on anything else because I don't have enough information. So whether this is a good second cycle depends on what it's for and who's using it.

If you send me more information, I can comment in more detail. I need to know:

• Your height, weight, and age
• Your long-term goal with steroid use
• How long you've been training
• What results you got from your first cycle
• Chronic conditions
• Current photos of your physique — this will give me the most objective idea of where you are in your progress.

Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed response!

I’m 1.74 m tall, currently weigh 84.3 kg and I’m 20 years old.

I’ve been training for 3 years. I know I started quite young, but I have clear goals in this sport and know what I want to achieve.

I don’t have any plans to have children in the future, and right now my main goal is to build as much muscle as possible for my first competition.

I don’t have any chronic health conditions either.

As I mentioned before, I recently completed my first cycle: 350 mg of Test E per week for 14 weeks.

I gained 12.5 kg in 3 months, so I would say it was a successful first cycle in terms of weight gain.

I don’t have the best pictures, but these were taken towards the end of my cycle, so I wasn’t in my leanest condition anymore.

 

[Sam Bjorn]

Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed response!

I’m 1.74 m tall, currently weigh 84.3 kg and I’m 20 years old.

I’ve been training for 3 years. I know I started quite young, but I have clear goals in this sport and know what I want to achieve.

I don’t have any plans to have children in the future, and right now my main goal is to build as much muscle as possible for my first competition.

I don’t have any chronic health conditions either.

As I mentioned before, I recently completed my first cycle: 350 mg of Test E per week for 14 weeks.

I gained 12.5 kg in 3 months, so I would say it was a successful first cycle in terms of weight gain.

I don’t have the best pictures, but these were taken towards the end of my cycle, so I wasn’t in my leanest condition anymore.

In terms of your physique, you've definitely made good gains. Over 10 kg is an excellent result.

Since you're planning to use Blast and Cruise and you have competitive ambitions, I'd recommend a few things for the long term:
1. Monitor your blood pressure. Measure it over the course of one week to establish your baseline during Cruise, and do the same during Blast.

2. Monitor your hematocrit and lipid profile. Your lipid profile should be ideal because you're playing the long game, and it's important to keep your blood vessels healthy. If your diet and cardio are on point but your lipids still aren't ideal, take statins.

3. Blood test check up
Get a comprehensive blood panel every six months as a general health checkup.

4. Avoid oral steroids. You need a properly functioning liver. Your liver is responsible for metabolizing all the substances in your blood, as well as normal IGF-1 production. I don't know a single pro who uses oral steroids throughout a cycle. They're only used for a limited period before competitions, such as Halotestin, Stanozolol, and Oxandrolone. Nobody uses them during bulking because if you want long-term results, you need to keep your body as healthy as possible.

Feel free to ask any questions, and we can go into more detail on any of these topics.

 

[Sam Bjorn]

And yes, one important thing. You're only 20, and you might want to have kids someday. Everything you're doing with steroids will affect your fertility. How are you planning to deal with that?

I could suggest a few options. At least I can explain them to you, and then it'll be up to you to decide which risks you're willing to take.

 

[Vincee]

And yes, one important thing. You're only 20, and you might want to have kids someday. Everything you're doing with steroids will affect your fertility. How are you planning to deal with that?

I could suggest a few options. At least I can explain them to you, and then it'll be up to you to decide which risks you're willing to take.

Thanks for all the advice! I’ll definitely take it into consideration.

And regarding having children, you’re absolutely right. I can’t know for sure if I’ll want kids in the future, so it’s important to be careful and think about the long term consequences.

I really appreciate all your advice, so please feel free to share any more tips or suggestions. I’m happy to hear them!

 

[Vincee]

Could you perhaps make a list of the blood markers that are really important to keep an eye on?

I’ve also ordered a blood pressure monitor, so I’ll be able to keep track of that as well.

What would be considered a healthy blood pressure range?

One more thing: during the first 5 weeks of my first cycle, I noticed some mild yeast acne (small pimples). It seemed to improve a bit later on, and I suspect it may have been related to the hormonal changes during the first few weeks.

Do you have any advice on how best to deal with this?

 

[Sam Bjorn]

One more thing: during the first 5 weeks of my first cycle, I noticed some mild yeast acne (small pimples). It seemed to improve a bit later on, and I suspect it may have been related to the hormonal changes during the first few weeks.

Do you have any advice on how best to deal with this?

Let's start with the acne. Is this the first time you've experienced it? Have you never had similar breakouts on your body before?
If it's steroid-induced acne, it can be extremely difficult to manage without medication such as isotretinoin, either in tablet form or as a topical treatment. But first, we need to figure out exactly what it is.

 

[Sam Bjorn]

Thanks for all the advice! I’ll definitely take it into consideration.

And regarding having children, you’re absolutely right. I can’t know for sure if I’ll want kids in the future, so it’s important to be careful and think about the long term consequences.

I really appreciate all your advice, so please feel free to share any more tips or suggestions. I’m happy to hear them!

Regarding fertility, there are a few things to consider.

First, you don't know what your baseline fertility was like (I doubt you had a semen analysis before). Now you're planning another cycle without restoring your natural hormonal axis, which means your fertility will be suppressed even further. What you can do is get a semen analysis now and see where things stand.

If you haven't added boldenone yet and your semen parameters are still reasonably good, you could freeze enough sperm to have some insurance for the future.

If the results are really poor, then you basically have two options: either work on restoring your fertility and freeze your sperm afterward, or do nothing and accept all the possible consequences you might face later.

I just think you should be aware of these things in advance.

 

[Sam Bjorn]

I’ve also ordered a blood pressure monitor, so I’ll be able to keep track of that as well.

What would be considered a healthy blood pressure range?

Regarding blood pressure, it's great that you ordered a blood pressure monitor. That's the right thing to do. I'll explain the idea in more detail.

According to the FDA, normal blood pressure in adults is generally below 120/80. A more detailed classification is provided by the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC). Their guidelines were updated in 2025.

• Below 120/80 — normal blood pressure.
• 120–129 / below 80 — elevated blood pressure.
• 130–139 or 80–89 — stage 1 hypertension.
• 140 or higher, or 90 or higher — stage 2 hypertension.
• Above 180 — severely elevated blood pressure requiring urgent evaluation.

For most healthy adults, the goal is to stay below 120/80 mmHg, provided that you feel good at that level.

When using testosterone and other anabolic steroids, monitoring blood pressure is especially important because elevated blood pressure puts additional strain on the heart and blood vessels.

Essentially, anyone using steroids at supraphysiological doses automatically falls into a higher-risk group. That's why I'd say even a systolic pressure of 130 is already something worth bringing down.

In practical terms:

• 115-120/75-80 — a good result.
• 125/75 — slightly above optimal.
• 135/85 — already needs attention if these readings occur repeatedly.

 

[Sam Bjorn]

Could you perhaps make a list of the blood markers that are really important to keep an eye on?

I’ve also ordered a blood pressure monitor, so I’ll be able to keep track of that as well.

Regarding blood tests, it's important to distinguish between a general health checkup, which you should do periodically, and blood tests that need to be done more frequently and monitored for changes to reduce the main risks associated with steroid use.

When it comes to essential blood tests, here's the list I'd recommend. This is the minimal list:

• CBC / Complete Blood Count
• LDL-C
• HDL-C
• Triglycerides (TG)
• Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) — test once in your lifetime
• Lipoprotein(a) — Lp(a)
• Estradiol (E2)
• Prolactin
• CRP

This list doesn't include a detailed blood chemistry panel, which I'd recommend doing as part of your regular health checkups.
How often you need these tests will depend on your results, the compounds you're using, any symptoms or complaints you might have, and other factors. I'd recommend a comprehensive health checkup at least once a year. Every six months would be even better, but that depends on your budget. If any abnormalities show up during your checkup, you'll need to look into them separately and add those markers to the essential monitoring list I shared above.