U
Unable-Bonus-9992
Iron
- Joined
- Aug 28, 2025
- Posts
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23M looking for some advice on my next muscle-building cycle.
I’ve taken testosterone before. I ran 250mg/week for 12 weeks and bumped it up to 325mg/week from weeks 8–12. My bloodwork was great and I didn’t need an AI, but I did get some pretty annoying side effects. The main ones were bad facial acne and a lot of facial bloat, especially once I went up to 325mg.
For my next cycle, I’m trying to figure out what would give me really good muscle gains without making my face look bloated or causing a ton of acne. I’m looking more for dry, lean gains rather than just gaining a bunch of weight from water and fat.
For anyone who has had similar problems with test, what worked best for you? I’d like to hear what compounds or approaches gave you good muscle gains while keeping acne and water retention as low as possible. I’ll still be getting bloodwork and keeping an eye on everything throughout the cycle.
P.S. I’ll also be using Semax and Selank peptides alongside it, so let me know if there’s anything I should know about combining those.
TL;DR: 23M, previously ran 250mg test/week for 12 weeks and bumped it to 325mg for weeks 8–12. Bloodwork was great and I didn’t need an AI, but I got bad facial acne and a lot of facial bloat at the higher dose. Looking for a cycle that can give me strong, dry muscle gains while keeping acne, facial bloat, water retention, and fat gain as low as possible.
I’ve taken testosterone before. I ran 250mg/week for 12 weeks and bumped it up to 325mg/week from weeks 8–12. My bloodwork was great and I didn’t need an AI, but I did get some pretty annoying side effects. The main ones were bad facial acne and a lot of facial bloat, especially once I went up to 325mg.
For my next cycle, I’m trying to figure out what would give me really good muscle gains without making my face look bloated or causing a ton of acne. I’m looking more for dry, lean gains rather than just gaining a bunch of weight from water and fat.
For anyone who has had similar problems with test, what worked best for you? I’d like to hear what compounds or approaches gave you good muscle gains while keeping acne and water retention as low as possible. I’ll still be getting bloodwork and keeping an eye on everything throughout the cycle.
P.S. I’ll also be using Semax and Selank peptides alongside it, so let me know if there’s anything I should know about combining those.
TL;DR: 23M, previously ran 250mg test/week for 12 weeks and bumped it to 325mg for weeks 8–12. Bloodwork was great and I didn’t need an AI, but I got bad facial acne and a lot of facial bloat at the higher dose. Looking for a cycle that can give me strong, dry muscle gains while keeping acne, facial bloat, water retention, and fat gain as low as possible.
