First Cycle - Grow, Get Lean or Both?

[Viduus]

After watching Rob’s first cycle, I’ve realized I have some basic noob questions that I’m curious about. (Sorry for using you as an example but you’re the closest to where I’ll be in a few years)

He’s running a Test only first cycle which seems to be what everyone recommends for obvious reasons. With this as a base, I think it’s a fairly safe assumption to say you want to eat at a caloric surplus with plenty of protein in order to give the AAS what it needs to do it’s job. Rob is also doing two long am/pm cardio seasons to “get shredded” during his cycle. This is where my question comes in.

is it possible? Is it recommended? I’m assuming this is a case of trying to serve two masters. Would the cardio potentially put you in a caloric deficit and prevent maximum growth? If not, is it really doing anything more then a diet adjustment would do?

I’m assuming some people run Test during a cut to preserve LBM? This would obviously be a different goal then maximizing growth on a first cycle.

On a side note, I haven’t asked Rob what his goal are and as usual I’m over analyzing things....

 

[Megatron28]

If your goal is to gain as much mass as possible, do not do cardio.

 

[Jin]

Train like an animal. Eat like an animal. Cardio like an animal.

You'll be an animal.

 

[Bro Bundy]

Get lean before u cycle so then u can concentrate on getting big..

 

[BRICKS]

In my opinion the ultimate goal of bodybuilding is reducing/minimizing bodyfat while gaining muscle mass. Gaining 30 pounds on a 12 or 16 week cycle only to spend another 12 to 16 weeks to lose 20 pounds of fat makes absolutely no sense to me when you could have arrived at the same place with more judicious discipline without the adding the fat then doing all the work to take it off. Sure you want to get bigger, but you also want to maximize your health and look better while doing this.

With that last sentence in mind, it's my opinion that if you're going to be supplementing with exogenous hormones you need to be doing some cardio. Remember, cardio serves a purpose other than burning calories, which is heart/lung health. Thus the name cardio.

Wether or not losing fat and gaining muscle are at cross purposes is really more of an issue of perspective. Maintaining adequate protein intake for growth while incrementally decreasing calories from carbs/fats and you can "serve two masters", which is really the same master, bodybuilding. AAS certainly help to achieve this. Hopefully this didn't cause more questions than it annswered.

 

[Viduus]

In my opinion the ultimate goal of bodybuilding is reducing/minimizing bodyfat while gaining muscle mass. Gaining 30 pounds on a 12 or 16 week cycle only to spend another 12 to 16 weeks to lose 20 pounds of fat makes absolutely no sense to me when you could have arrived at the same place with more judicious discipline without the adding the fat then doing all the work to take it off. Sure you want to get bigger, but you also want to maximize your health and look better while doing this.

With that last sentence in mind, it's my opinion that if you're going to be supplementing with exogenous hormones you need to be doing some cardio. Remember, cardio serves a purpose other than burning calories, which is heart/lung health. Thus the name cardio.

Wether or not losing fat and gaining muscle are at cross purposes is really more of an issue of perspective. Maintaining adequate protein intake for growth while incrementally decreasing calories from carbs/fats and you can "serve two masters", which is really the same master, bodybuilding. AAS certainly help to achieve this. Hopefully this didn't cause more questions than it annswered.

Thanks Bricks for the detailed response, this helps put it in perspective. The idea of balancing the two for higher quality controlled gains makes the most sense. It’s kind of obvious when reading it the way you stated but I’m sure others will overthink it just like I did.

 

[BigGameHunter]

I’m sure others will overthink it just like I did.

First of all...props to you for waiting and studying another log. Dont worry about it this is an exciting time for you and we all understand not wanting to miss your mark. One of the best cycles I ever had was when I decided to quit obsessing over the scales in the bathroom and the kitchen and just did my thing.

One of the fun things about AAS cycles is you can make adjustments (including most importantly your diet) to suit your needs.

 

[stonetag]

In my opinion the ultimate goal of bodybuilding is reducing/minimizing bodyfat while gaining muscle mass. Gaining 30 pounds on a 12 or 16 week cycle only to spend another 12 to 16 weeks to lose 20 pounds of fat makes absolutely no sense to me when you could have arrived at the same place with more judicious discipline without the adding the fat then doing all the work to take it off. Sure you want to get bigger, but you also want to maximize your health and look better while doing this.

With that last sentence in mind, it's my opinion that if you're going to be supplementing with exogenous hormones you need to be doing some cardio. Remember, cardio serves a purpose other than burning calories, which is heart/lung health. Thus the name cardio.

Wether or not losing fat and gaining muscle are at cross purposes is really more of an issue of perspective. Maintaining adequate protein intake for growth while incrementally decreasing calories from carbs/fats and you can "serve two masters", which is really the same master, bodybuilding. AAS certainly help to achieve this. Hopefully this didn't cause more questions than it annswered.

I don't believe that could have been said any better Bricks.

 

[BigGameHunter]

I don't believe that could have been said any better Bricks.

Yes that is a tough act to follow. I am in the process of updating BRICKS' Wiki page after that.