I agree with Greg Doucette’s answer on this: the best time is once you reach your natural genetic limit
The mistake so many noobs make, including multiple friends of mine, is to use PED’s thinking they can come off them and keep the gains. PED’s basically speed you along to an elite lifter’s body. But do you have an elite lifter’s lifestyle? No, they all think they do, but they don’t. Because if they did, then they would have the body. So if you cheat to speed yourself along to a body you don’t have the lifestyle to achieve, you are destined to lose it once you come off the drugs
Yes it is true, that a person with iron willpower and a wide open schedule could do a radical life-transforming adjustment going from never training, eating wrong, etc, to taking PED’s, putting on 20lbs of muscle, and then switching to doing everything perfect after coming off the gear and keep most of it. But while that’s possible, it’s just not realistic
People thinking “I can make a radical lifestyle adjustment and keep the gains once I come off the gear” also aren’t accounting for the fact their hormones will be a SLUMP, once they come off. What goes up, must come down, as the old adage goes. So good luck transitioning into an elite lifter’s lifestyle with test levels which are now (temporarily) sub-optimal for your age. There goes some of your energy level and ability to build muscle
The other big important thing Greg doesn’t mention when he answers this question is “do you have an addictive personality?”. Because gear changes not just your body but your brain, and in a good way. It becomes intoxicating. This is why people use the term “abusing” gear. There is a difference between using and abusing. Most people start with use, those who have addictive personalities soon cannot stop and move into abuse
So, if you are going to abuse it to the point where your hormones could be fucked for an extended period of time, then the best time to use would be as late as possible, assuming you can afford to transition to TRT. Because with TRT, all the negatives of the hormone slump go away. But you have to stay on it for life, and that’s expensive
So the TL
[You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]R (imo) is either once you have reached genetic limit + are at least 35-40 years old + have the means to do TRT if needed + ideally don’t have an addictive personality
Or, never
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