PCT: How To Recover & Maintain Gains After A Steroid Cycle

So, you’ve completed your steroid cycle. You have used the best steroid stacks or standalone steroids, you’ve made huge gains with your physique and you are impressed with the results! But now the worry kicks in. How do I do PCT? How do I recover my natural testosterone? How do I keep the gains that I have made?

Fear not! In this article we are going to run you through exactly how you can not only maintain your hard earned gains and recover, but continue to progress while off steroids or in between cycles.

A PCT IS A MUST.

A PCT is crucial for everyone. It will solidify your gains and most importantly protect both your short- and long-term health.

This article will address and detail the best and most efficient ways for a steroid user to maintain gains after his or her cycle. Breaking down key pointers regarding Post cycle therapy (PCT) and supplement usage to help maintain gains without crashing after your cycle. It is important to note that this article is geared towards the moderate steroid user ( generically recognised and defined as 400mg-1200mg) a week as a maximum compilation dosage of all compounds being used.

When coming to the end of your cycle, your first priority taking precedence over anything else should be completing an effective and thorough PCT. Once a user has ceased use of anabolic steroids they are left in a situation where their natural testosterone production has been suppressed, sometimes severely. Furthermore, the levels of steroids are forever diminishing in their system, leaving the user in a very catabolic state post cycle, which may reflect in their ability to maintain muscle mass gained whilst on cycle. With this in mind, it is easy to conclude that we would like to find a way to restore ones natural testosterone production to bring about and  help promote a healthy balance and equilibrium between your hormone levels thereby creating a better environment for overall health and the ability to  maintain muscle tissue.

Essentially by not doing a PCT you are deliberately acting against everything you have been working towards, as well as putting your health at risk. Two things are almost guaranteed when coming off any steroid cycle, alleviated levels of estrogen and testosterone suppression. High levels of estrogen can cause gynecomastia, (man boobs) becoming overly emotional/fluctuations in mood, fat gain, ,muscle loss and water retention. Lower testosterone levels can bring a sense of lethargy/fatigue muscle loss decreased confidence, decreased sex drive, impotence and more.

We hope with everything detailed above any idea of skimping out on post cycle therapy is now put to bed. Here at Prestige Pharma we advise all of our cliental to plan their cycle out before hand with their PCT in mind. Poor planning should never be the reason for not having a PCT. You never know when someone might run out of stock or a product might be hard to find, so it is always best to have your PCT ready to go at the start of your cycle. In addition it also preps you for the event of  some form of emergency reason that means you can no longer continue your cycle; you don’t have to stress about the PCT because you already have it.

When to start my PCT?

Knowing when to start your pct is going to be essential in helping you maintain your hard earned muscle gained through cycle. With this in mind it is incumbent upon the user to first understand  and know the length of the ester or esters they were using on cycle. An example of this would be Testosterone enanthate presenting a longer half-life in the range of 7-9 days (a steroid half life is the time the steroid remains active in your system). So in the case of testosterone if you took a shot of 300mg for example, 7 to 9 days later you would have reached the half life, meaning you only have 150 mg of the compound still active in your system, meaning you will need to wait another 7 to 9 days before the testosterone enanthate is completely out of your system before starting pct. Another example would be with Testosterone Propinate, same hormone, different ester/half life. Testosterone propionate’s half life is about 1 to 2 days, which means if you took shot of 100 mg on Monday, 1 to 2 days later only 50mg will remain active in your system, meaning you will need to give the hormone another day or 2 to completely dissipate before starting pct. You can find more about steroid half life’s and esters detailed in our steroid profiles.

What are the different types of prescription pct you will find on our website?

CLOMID

Clomid is the brand name for clomiphene which is SERM aka Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator. It has been approved for use in the United States since 1967 and was intially prescribed to help treat infertility in women who do not ovulate. So why do people take clomid after a cycle? One of by products of Clomid is that it blocks estrogen from interacting with the pituitary gland. When estrogen interacts with the pituitary gland, less luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) are produced. Leading to a decrease in testosterone.

Dosage

Clomid is usually taken during PCT at 50mg to 100mg per day split morning and night for the first 2 weeks and 50mg to 25mg per day for weeks 3 and 4. You may see some people for very heavy cycles, venture even higher with their dosing.

NOLVADEX

Nolvadex is a brand name for Tamoxifen which is also a SERM. It has been approved for use in the United States since 1962 and was prescribed to treat breast cancer, infertility and also a treatment to prevent gynocomastia in men. Similar to Clomid, Tamoxifen blocks estrogen from interacting with the pituitary gland. When estrogen interacts with the pituitary gland, less luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) are produced. Leading to a decrease in testosterone.

Dosage

Tamoxifen is usually taken during PCT at 40mg per day for the first 2 weeks and 20mg per day for weeks 3 and 4. Although its good to note that users may venture higher with their dosing with heavier cycles.

HCG

HCG is short for Human Chorionic Gondatropin hormone which produced by cells that surround a growing embryo. HCG helps reverse the negative-feedback loops that the body uses to shut down its own testosterone production whilst cycling anabolics. HCG has been proven to restore testicular size as well as normal testosterone production by mimicking LH and triggering the production and release of testosterone. HCG isn’t normally used on its own and commonly used alongside tamoxifen and Clomid.

Dosage

750 -1000iu every other day is the usual dosage for 2-6 weeks.

The perfect synergy of these 3 compounds used in conjunction with each other are the building blocks of a strong and thorough pct. The proper use of these compounds will help put you well on your way to maintaining much of the muscle gained on your cycle while providing your body a resting period and time to recuperate in preparation for your next cycle.

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