# Sticky  “Is my gear bunk?”



## DLTBB

*“Is my gear bunk?”*

It's a question we see almost daily on the forum. The author's cycle isn't living up to their expectations and more often than not, the first thing they'll do is blame the gear for their underwhelming results. But are they doing everything that is required from them to make gains? Are they using the correct metrics to evaluate whether their gear is legit? And have they started the cycle with realistic expectations? In most cases, absolutely not.

*“I don’t feel anything from it.”*

You won’t necessarily feel different on gear. I don’t, regardless of what compound/dose I’ve used, I always feel the same, laid back and easy-going. When you read about people feeling superhuman when they start injecting a bit of Testosterone, the chances are they’ve suffered from low Test without necessarily realising for their whole lives and are finally experiencing normality, which they think feels fantastic.

*“But I’m not getting any side effects!”*

Good. That’s what you want. You don’t have to suffer from side effects for your gear to be legitimate. Consider yourself lucky. Would you prefer to be covered in acne, bloated and balding to help confirm you’re actually injecting hormones? If you’re asking this question in the first place, the chances are you’re new to using PEDs and using moderate doses of 1-2 mild compounds. It’s more common not to suffer sides at all than it is to be riddled with them with this kind of cycle.

*“I’ve not gained any weight/have gained very little weight!”*

What’s your maintenance calorie intake? How did you reach this figure? Please don’t say you used a shitty generic online calculator. How active are you day to day? How many calories do you burn during training? Are you doing cardio? Combine all of this. That’s your maintenance calorie intake. If you want to gain weight, you need to be in a calorie surplus daily. Don’t think you’re a special snowflake who will do an insane recomp at maintenance calories during your first cycle. You’ll spend the whole cycle spinning your wheels and have nothing or very little to show for it at the end.

*“But I’m eating roughly 2300-3300 calories every day and still not gaining”*

Roughly won’t cut it. It needs to be consistent. If you’re spending half of your days at -500 calories and half at +500 calories, you’re at maintenance over the course of the week and that’s why you’re gaining next to nothing. Your surplus needs to be consistent over the week if you wish to gain consistently.

*“My bench press hasn’t suddenly shot up by 50KG..”*

It won’t. Sure, you’ll gain strength faster than you would naturally. But you’re not going to turn superhuman overnight or even during one full cycle. You need to tailor your routine so it’s focused on progression and work on adding small increments in weight, extra reps or additional time under tension to your lifts each week over the course of the cycle. The small and consistent increments will add up and it’s possible to boost your numbers considerably in 15 weeks, but you’re not going to turn in to Larry Wheels. Look at the volume and frequency of your training and make sure it’s right for you and you’re able to recover in between sessions. Focus on progression. Get rid of all of that junk volume where you’re lifting with little to no intensity and aimlessly trying to pump the muscle thinking it’s going to explode. That kind of training might work for a select few with superb genetics, but you’re better off focusing on the bread and butter and getting stronger over low to moderate volume.

*“Is (random UGL that has existed for one week) Pharma legit?”*

There’s countless threads on the forum already with reviews. You’ll see certain labs mentioned and praised daily. Outside of putting out a bad batch due to dodgy raws or somebody producing identical replicas, you’re more than likely going to be good to go with those labs. If they’ve put out a shit batch, you’ll have probably heard about it already. If you’re buying from some obscure lab that nobody has ever heard of despite having dozens of well reviewed labs at your disposal, that’s on you.

*“Should I add X, Y and Z to make up for the fact that this might be bunk?”*

No. You’re brand new to gear. It might not be bunk and could be a training/nutrition issue. Throwing in another compound is going to give you more potential side effects to worry about and require you to add additional ancillaries to counteract them. You’re only just learning how you respond to Test by itself and if you’re ticking all the boxes, you can make great gains on that alone with little to no sides.

*“I’m using (extremely high)mg of AI and on (relatively low)mg of Test and feel like shit, this Test must be bunk!”*

You’ve been using a high dose of AI from the offset and have crushed your E2. That’s why you feel like shit. Use your AI when it’s required at the lowest dose you can get away with using and ideally, have bloods done to determine when it’s required or you’re going to be blindly throwing super strong medication to fix a problem which may not exist, risk crashing your E2 and ruining your whole cycle.

*"I don't feel extremely horny 24/7 and don't want to shag every woman in sight, this must be bunk, right?"*

Not necessarily, no. It's all a fine balancing act. Your Test could be sky high but your E2 or a range of other different hormones could be slightly out of whack, creating a ratio that your body doesn't like and having a negative impact on your libido. Over time, you'll learn what levels/ratios work for you and help you feel on point and you'll be able to achieve them through a proper dosing schedule/can use blood work to dial them in. Not only that, but your Test levels aren't the only thing that will impact your sex drive. Are you stressed at work? Hate your job? Anxious? Depressed? Worried about the cost of living increasing? Having trouble sleeping? Think your Mrs is having an affair with your mate? You're hardly going to want to shag every woman within a 2 mile radius while you've got dozens of issues and stress bubbling away under the surface. There's more to a healthy libido than Testosterone levels.

*"I haven't been able to replicate (fitness influencer)'s physique even though I've used the same cycle as them, my gear must be bunk!"*

There is a million things separating your physique from theirs other than your cycle. Your height, weight, frame, insertions, muscle bellies, muscularity, body fat percentage, body fat distribution, calorie/macro/fluid/mineral intake, training volume/frequency/intensity/style and countless other factors will differ from theirs. And what's to say they are being honest about their cycle and dose to begin with? It's common for somebody in the public eye to downplay their cycle/doses to pay homage to their work rate, genetics and consistency. You are naïve if you think you will mimic somebody's exact physique by simply copying their gear protocol.

*“I don’t feel anything, I have zero side effects, my training and nutrition is perfect and I’ve still not gained a single pound”*

Get a blood test from MediChecks while on cycle and post your results. If the gear is bunk or severely under dosed, your blood work will show this quite clearly and then we can all agree that the gear is indeed bunk. I’ve been blasting and cruising for upwards of 8 years and I can’t ever recall using any gear that was blatantly bunk and I’ve used every lab under the sun, so I don’t think it’s as common as the constant bunk gear threads are suggesting. If you’re using a compound which won’t show on a blood panel, send a sample to Janoshik or a similar lab for testing. That will identify the exact contents of your gear and you'll know if it's accurately dosed, under dosed or bunk. Most of the time, it’s a training/diet issue and people are blaming it on the gear before accepting they might not be ticking all the boxes. If in doubt and you’re doing everything right, get a blood test or a lab test and you’ll know for sure.

Don’t go in to this with your expectations too high. If your diet consists of one solid meal a day and 5 snacks that are fit for a primary school student’s lunchbox, you’re not going to look like Nick Walker any time soon. In fact, you’ll probably never look like him, or even a low level IFBB Pro. Your genetics will dictate 95% of your potential and even if you do EVERYTHING perfectly, you’ll finish your first cycle looking like a slightly thicker, fuller, stronger version of your natural self with slightly rounder delts, more prominent traps and a couple of extra veins running down your upper arm when you’ve got a good pump. Maybe 1 in 50 of you will be a great responder and finish the cycle looking dramatically different, but you’ll never need to ask this question because it’ll be clear your gear is real from the offset.


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## 134637

I vote for this to be a sticky 👍🏻


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## IronJohnDoe

Pegasus said:


> I vote for this to be a sticky 👍🏻


I second this.


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## Ironpump86

DLTBB said:


> *“Is my gear bunk?”
> 
> “I don’t feel anything from it.”*
> 
> You won’t necessarily feel different on gear. I don’t, regardless of what compound/dose I’ve used, I always feel the same, laid back and easygoing. When you read about people feeling superhuman when they start injecting a bit of Testosterone, the chances are they’ve suffered from low Test without necessarily realising for their whole lives and are finally experiencing normality, which they think feels fantastic.
> 
> *“But I’m not getting any side effects!”*
> 
> Good. That’s what you want. You don’t have to suffer from side effects for your gear to be legitimate. Consider yourself lucky. Would you prefer to be covered in acne, bloated and balding to help confirm you’re actually injecting hormones? If you’re asking this question in the first place, the chances are you’re new to using PEDs and using moderate doses of 1-2 mild compounds. It’s more common not to suffer sides at all than it is to be riddled with them with this kind of cycle.
> 
> *“I’ve not gained any weight/have gained very little weight!”*
> 
> What’s your maintenance calorie intake? How did you reach this figure? Please don’t say you used a shitty generic online calculator. How active are you day to day? How many calories do you burn during training? Are you doing cardio? Combine all of this together. That’s your maintenance. If you want to gain weight, you need to be in a surplus daily. Don’t think you’re a special snowflake who will do an insane recomp at maintenance calories during your first cycle. You’ll spend the whole cycle spinning your wheels and have nothing or very little to show for it at the end.
> 
> *“But I’m eating roughly 2300-3300 calories every day and still not gaining”*
> 
> Roughly won’t cut it. It needs to be consistent.If you’re spending half of your days at -500 calories and half at +500, you’re at maintenance over the course of the week and that’s why you’re gaining next to nothing. Your surplus needs to be consistent over the week if you wish to gain consistently.
> 
> *“My bench press hasn’t suddenly shot up by 50KG..”*
> 
> It won’t. Sure, you’ll gain strength faster than you would naturally. But you’re not going to turn superhuman overnight or even during one full cycle. You need to tailor your routine so it’s focused on progression and work on adding small increments in weight, extra reps or additional time under tension to your lifts each week over the course of the cycle. The small and consistent increments will add up and it’s possible to boost your numbers considerably in 15 weeks, but you’re not going to turn in to Larry Wheels. Look at the volume and frequency of your training and make sure it’s right for you and you’re able to recover in between sessions. Focus on progression. Get rid of all of that junk volume where you’re lifting with little to no intensity and aimlessly trying to pump the muscle thinking it’s going to explode. That kind of training might work for a select few with superb genetics, but you’re better off focusing on the bread and butter and getting stronger over low to moderate volume.
> 
> *“Is _ Pharma legit?”*
> 
> There’s countless threads on the forum already with reviews. You’ll see certain labs mentioned and praised daily. Outside of putting out a bad batch due to dodgy raws or somebody producing identical replicas, you’re more than likely going to be good to go with those labs. If they’ve put out a shit batch, you’ll have probably heard about it already. If you’re buying from some obscure lab that nobody has ever heard of despite having dozens of well reviewed labs at your disposal, that’s on you.
> 
> *“Should I add X, Y and Z to make up for the fact that this might be bunk?”*
> 
> No. You’re brand new to gear. It might not be bunk and could be a training/nutrition issue. Throwing in another compound is going to give you more potential side effects to worry about and require you to add additional ancillaries to counteract them. You’re only just learning how you respond to Test by itself and if you’re ticking all the boxes, you can make great gains on that alone with little to no sides.
> 
> *“I don’t feel anything, I have zero side effects, my training and nutrition is perfect and I’ve still not gained a single pound”*
> 
> Get a blood test from MediChecks while on cycle and post your results. If the gear is bunk or severely under dosed, your blood work will show this quite clearly and then we can all agree that the gear is indeed bunk. I’ve been blasting and cruising for upwards of 8 years and I can’t ever recall using any gear that was blatantly bunk and I’ve used every lab under the sun, so I don’t think it’s as common as the constant bunk gear threads are suggesting. If you’re using a compound which won’t show on a blood panel, send a sample to Janoshik for testing. Most of the time, it’s a training/diet issue and people are blaming it on the gear before accepting they might not be ticking all the boxes. If in doubt and you’re doing everything right, get a blood test and you’ll know for sure.
> 
> Don’t go in to this with your expectations too high. If your diet consists of one solid meal a day and 5 snacks that are fit for a primary school student’s lunchbox, you’re not going to look like Nick Walker any time soon. In fact, you’ll probably never look like him, or even a low level IFBB Pro. Your genetics will dictate 95% of your potential and even if you do EVERYTHING perfectly, you’ll finish your first cycle looking like a slightly thicker, fuller, stronger version of your natural self with slightly rounder delts, more prominent traps and a couple of extra veins running down your upper arm when you’ve got a good pump. Maybe 1 in 50 of you will be a great responder and finish the cycle looking dramatically different, but you’ll never need to ask this question because it’ll be clear your gear is real from the offset.


Bloody brilliant mate


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## UK2USA

Just wanted to say that although I haven't used the variety or quatity of PEDs some on here have used, I have used my share over the years and the only compound I have ever felt anything from was Proviron - yup one of the mildest out there - everything else, no diffence at all, and all my Test is Doctor prescribed and Pharmacy filled.


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## andew10102

nice


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## GMDJ

Spot on especially the genetics part, unfortunately for us with crap genetics it is a slow hard graft no matter what we take.


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## Brian Multigym

Good read and valuable.


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## Damtra

But guys I'm eating roughly 800-1000 calories a day of fruit and veg with nothing else but I do use a couple of protein shakes a day, why am I not gaining weight ? I worked out my maintenance it's 100% 600 calories ! Please don't tell me anything different as I know this for a fact. 
Also I'm gaining nothing even though I'm going to the gym once a week surely my spinning class should be adding massive bulk? I think it's cause my gear is bunk I don't have a single spot and haven't hit a single person in the face from roid rage it's my first cycle so guess I'll add some tren to compensate. 


Also great post lol


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## lukeyybrown1

Great post mate! People think gear turns you into a superhuman overnight. I blasted gear for a few years and didnt really no what I was doing with training and nutrition. I was out all the time in a tight shirt thinking I looked good (really didnt, had no shape to me, just big) Fast forward 5 years later and I looked better than I ever did on juice due to consistently good training training splits with proper understanding of how to build muscle, never missing a meal and also setting my expectations that I am not going to be a complete freak of nature strength wise


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## CandleLitDesert

DLTBB droppin them truth bombs. Good post 👍


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## MrGRoberts

I always find it funny people that think their gear is bunk because they aren’t getting any sides.

They literally want sides!!

Great post mate


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## R5Gtt75

Brilliant post.


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## TURBS

Thread cleaned up, 17 posts deleted.
Can members please stop quoting and replying to spammers.


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## Diesel86

DLTBB said:


> *“Is my gear bunk?”*
> 
> It's a question we see almost daily on the forum. The author's cycle isn't living up to their expectations and more often than not, the first thing they'll do is blame the gear for their underwhelming results. But are they doing everything that is required from them to make gains? Are they using the correct metrics to evaluate whether their gear is legit? And have they started the cycle with realistic expectations? In most cases, absolutely not.
> 
> *“I don’t feel anything from it.”*
> 
> You won’t necessarily feel different on gear. I don’t, regardless of what compound/dose I’ve used, I always feel the same, laid back and easy-going. When you read about people feeling superhuman when they start injecting a bit of Testosterone, the chances are they’ve suffered from low Test without necessarily realising for their whole lives and are finally experiencing normality, which they think feels fantastic.
> 
> *“But I’m not getting any side effects!”*
> 
> Good. That’s what you want. You don’t have to suffer from side effects for your gear to be legitimate. Consider yourself lucky. Would you prefer to be covered in acne, bloated and balding to help confirm you’re actually injecting hormones? If you’re asking this question in the first place, the chances are you’re new to using PEDs and using moderate doses of 1-2 mild compounds. It’s more common not to suffer sides at all than it is to be riddled with them with this kind of cycle.
> 
> *“I’ve not gained any weight/have gained very little weight!”*
> 
> What’s your maintenance calorie intake? How did you reach this figure? Please don’t say you used a shitty generic online calculator. How active are you day to day? How many calories do you burn during training? Are you doing cardio? Combine all of this. That’s your maintenance calorie intake. If you want to gain weight, you need to be in a calorie surplus daily. Don’t think you’re a special snowflake who will do an insane recomp at maintenance calories during your first cycle. You’ll spend the whole cycle spinning your wheels and have nothing or very little to show for it at the end.
> 
> *“But I’m eating roughly 2300-3300 calories every day and still not gaining”*
> 
> Roughly won’t cut it. It needs to be consistent. If you’re spending half of your days at -500 calories and half at +500 calories, you’re at maintenance over the course of the week and that’s why you’re gaining next to nothing. Your surplus needs to be consistent over the week if you wish to gain consistently.
> 
> *“My bench press hasn’t suddenly shot up by 50KG..”*
> 
> It won’t. Sure, you’ll gain strength faster than you would naturally. But you’re not going to turn superhuman overnight or even during one full cycle. You need to tailor your routine so it’s focused on progression and work on adding small increments in weight, extra reps or additional time under tension to your lifts each week over the course of the cycle. The small and consistent increments will add up and it’s possible to boost your numbers considerably in 15 weeks, but you’re not going to turn in to Larry Wheels. Look at the volume and frequency of your training and make sure it’s right for you and you’re able to recover in between sessions. Focus on progression. Get rid of all of that junk volume where you’re lifting with little to no intensity and aimlessly trying to pump the muscle thinking it’s going to explode. That kind of training might work for a select few with superb genetics, but you’re better off focusing on the bread and butter and getting stronger over low to moderate volume.
> 
> *“Is (random UGL that has existed for one week) Pharma legit?”*
> 
> There’s countless threads on the forum already with reviews. You’ll see certain labs mentioned and praised daily. Outside of putting out a bad batch due to dodgy raws or somebody producing identical replicas, you’re more than likely going to be good to go with those labs. If they’ve put out a shit batch, you’ll have probably heard about it already. If you’re buying from some obscure lab that nobody has ever heard of despite having dozens of well reviewed labs at your disposal, that’s on you.
> 
> *“Should I add X, Y and Z to make up for the fact that this might be bunk?”*
> 
> No. You’re brand new to gear. It might not be bunk and could be a training/nutrition issue. Throwing in another compound is going to give you more potential side effects to worry about and require you to add additional ancillaries to counteract them. You’re only just learning how you respond to Test by itself and if you’re ticking all the boxes, you can make great gains on that alone with little to no sides.
> 
> *“I’m using (extremely high)mg of AI and on (relatively low)mg of Test and feel like shit, this Test must be bunk!”*
> 
> You’ve been using a high dose of AI from the offset and have crushed your E2. That’s why you feel like shit. Use your AI when it’s required at the lowest dose you can get away with using and ideally, have bloods done to determine when it’s required or you’re going to be blindly throwing super strong medication to fix a problem which may not exist, risk crashing your E2 and ruining your whole cycle.
> 
> *"I don't feel extremely horny 24/7 and don't want to shag every woman in sight, this must be bunk, right?"*
> 
> Not necessarily, no. It's all a fine balancing act. Your Test could be sky high but your E2 or a range of other different hormones could be slightly out of whack, creating a ratio that your body doesn't like and having a negative impact on your libido. Over time, you'll learn what levels/ratios work for you and help you feel on point and you'll be able to achieve them through a proper dosing schedule/can use blood work to dial them in. Not only that, but your Test levels aren't the only thing that will impact your sex drive. Are you stressed at work? Hate your job? Anxious? Depressed? Worried about the cost of living increasing? Having trouble sleeping? Think your Mrs is having an affair with your mate? You're hardly going to want to shag every woman within a 2 mile radius while you've got dozens of issues and stress bubbling away under the surface. There's more to a healthy libido than Testosterone levels.
> 
> *"I haven't been able to replicate (fitness influencer)'s physique even though I've used the same cycle as them, my gear must be bunk!"*
> 
> There is a million things separating your physique from theirs other than your cycle. Your height, weight, frame, insertions, muscle bellies, muscularity, body fat percentage, body fat distribution, calorie/macro/fluid/mineral intake, training volume/frequency/intensity/style and countless other factors will differ from theirs. And what's to say they are being honest about their cycle and dose to begin with? It's common for somebody in the public eye to downplay their cycle/doses to pay homage to their work rate, genetics and consistency. You are naïve if you think you will mimic somebody's exact physique by simply copying their gear protocol.
> 
> *“I don’t feel anything, I have zero side effects, my training and nutrition is perfect and I’ve still not gained a single pound”*
> 
> Get a blood test from MediChecks while on cycle and post your results. If the gear is bunk or severely under dosed, your blood work will show this quite clearly and then we can all agree that the gear is indeed bunk. I’ve been blasting and cruising for upwards of 8 years and I can’t ever recall using any gear that was blatantly bunk and I’ve used every lab under the sun, so I don’t think it’s as common as the constant bunk gear threads are suggesting. If you’re using a compound which won’t show on a blood panel, send a sample to Janoshik or a similar lab for testing. That will identify the exact contents of your gear and you'll know if it's accurately dosed, under dosed or bunk. Most of the time, it’s a training/diet issue and people are blaming it on the gear before accepting they might not be ticking all the boxes. If in doubt and you’re doing everything right, get a blood test or a lab test and you’ll know for sure.
> 
> Don’t go in to this with your expectations too high. If your diet consists of one solid meal a day and 5 snacks that are fit for a primary school student’s lunchbox, you’re not going to look like Nick Walker any time soon. In fact, you’ll probably never look like him, or even a low level IFBB Pro. Your genetics will dictate 95% of your potential and even if you do EVERYTHING perfectly, you’ll finish your first cycle looking like a slightly thicker, fuller, stronger version of your natural self with slightly rounder delts, more prominent traps and a couple of extra veins running down your upper arm when you’ve got a good pump. Maybe 1 in 50 of you will be a great responder and finish the cycle looking dramatically different, but you’ll never need to ask this question because it’ll be clear your gear is real from the offset.


Very good post mate, was great to read.


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## SiVoy86

The other thing I find funny is that over the years I’ve used aas this is my 20th year I respond different at different times and some of these can be subconscious such as stress at home marriage work and you do lie to yourself it’s human nature there is times I’ve eaten really well and watched everything I eat logged everything and you see clear progression and when anything is guess work I’ve never responded as well. This is the main difference from normal people and fitness influences it’s their paid work so they tend to be a lot more on the ball. Someone training 6 months whacking gear in doesn’t devote their life to it. 

I’m guilty of this but the main thing i have learned in my years is I use less gear now and look leaner granted im not quite as strong but I’m healthier but I am older closing down on 40 so it’s also about balance health over everything else now


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## Felix11

@DLTBB Great post, Out of curiosity in terms of "Feeling superhuman" Is this something to do with SHBG, Higher SHBG = More test binding = Feeling better? Does this have any effect?


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## DLTBB

Felix11 said:


> @DLTBB Great post, Out of curiosity in terms of "Feeling superhuman" Is this something to do with SHBG, Higher SHBG = More test binding = Feeling better? Does this have any effect?


Could be. Could be they have their Test:E2 ratio dialled in at the perfect level for them. Could be they've spent their entire life at 200 ng/dl and finally feel like a man. Could be that they've suddenly gained an inch on their arms and 10KG on their bench and seeing the gains has given them a mental boost. I've never felt it regardless of what gear I've used. The only time I felt a noticeable difference mentally is when I first started and my E2 was sky high before I knew what an AI was.


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## Brian Multigym

Full marks for effort too mate!


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## ThatsLife

DLTBB said:


> Could be. Could be they have their Test:E2 ratio dialled in at the perfect level for them. Could be they've spent their entire life at 200 ng/dl and finally feel like a man. Could be that they've suddenly gained an inch on their arms and 10KG on their bench and seeing the gains has given them a mental boost. I've never felt it regardless of what gear I've used. The only time I felt a noticeable difference mentally is when I first started and my E2 was sky high before I knew what an AI was.


It's a weird one this "feeling." I tried a few different compounds years ago, and some definately gave me mental boost, but I think it may be more due to the fact I was gaining and seeing the numbers going up each week, like you said. 

Fast forward to the present day, I've been on TRT for the past 5 months, and nothing felt as good as those first few weeks on it, I genuinly felt euphoric sometimes. 
Even now I feel more normal, but still overall pretty good. I don't think dosages have much to do with it, I think the overall balance of all the hormones, having healthier bloodwork etc all play a part in making you feel good.


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## DLTBB

ThatsLife said:


> It's a weird one this "feeling." I tried a few different compounds years ago, and some definately gave me mental boost, but I think it may be more due to the fact I was gaining and seeing the numbers going up each week, like you said.
> 
> Fast forward to the present day, I've been on TRT for the past 5 months, and nothing felt as good as those first few weeks on it, I genuinly felt euphoric sometimes.
> Even now I feel more normal, but still overall pretty good. I don't think dosages have much to do with it, I think the overall balance of all the hormones, having healthier bloodwork etc all play a part in making you feel good.


Could have been that you got a fine balance of hormones in a sweet spot for a period of time or because it was brand new to you back then which made you feel more of a difference. But for me, I always feel the same but bloods show the gear is legit and I still gain well.


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## Gamingcrook22

Nice thread stopped at the I’m not gaining bit mentioning online calculator for maintainence calories ! I do this I’m definitely in a surplus though I put on around 7kg in the last five weeks and only been on cycle for two weeks


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## Boris Johnson

DLTBB said:


> *“Is my gear bunk?”*
> 
> It's a question we see almost daily on the forum. The author's cycle isn't living up to their expectations and more often than not, the first thing they'll do is blame the gear for their underwhelming results. But are they doing everything that is required from them to make gains? Are they using the correct metrics to evaluate whether their gear is legit? And have they started the cycle with realistic expectations? In most cases, absolutely not.
> 
> *“I don’t feel anything from it.”*
> 
> You won’t necessarily feel different on gear. I don’t, regardless of what compound/dose I’ve used, I always feel the same, laid back and easy-going. When you read about people feeling superhuman when they start injecting a bit of Testosterone, the chances are they’ve suffered from low Test without necessarily realising for their whole lives and are finally experiencing normality, which they think feels fantastic.
> 
> *“But I’m not getting any side effects!”*
> 
> Good. That’s what you want. You don’t have to suffer from side effects for your gear to be legitimate. Consider yourself lucky. Would you prefer to be covered in acne, bloated and balding to help confirm you’re actually injecting hormones? If you’re asking this question in the first place, the chances are you’re new to using PEDs and using moderate doses of 1-2 mild compounds. It’s more common not to suffer sides at all than it is to be riddled with them with this kind of cycle.
> 
> *“I’ve not gained any weight/have gained very little weight!”*
> 
> What’s your maintenance calorie intake? How did you reach this figure? Please don’t say you used a shitty generic online calculator. How active are you day to day? How many calories do you burn during training? Are you doing cardio? Combine all of this. That’s your maintenance calorie intake. If you want to gain weight, you need to be in a calorie surplus daily. Don’t think you’re a special snowflake who will do an insane recomp at maintenance calories during your first cycle. You’ll spend the whole cycle spinning your wheels and have nothing or very little to show for it at the end.
> 
> *“But I’m eating roughly 2300-3300 calories every day and still not gaining”*
> 
> Roughly won’t cut it. It needs to be consistent. If you’re spending half of your days at -500 calories and half at +500 calories, you’re at maintenance over the course of the week and that’s why you’re gaining next to nothing. Your surplus needs to be consistent over the week if you wish to gain consistently.
> 
> *“My bench press hasn’t suddenly shot up by 50KG..”*
> 
> It won’t. Sure, you’ll gain strength faster than you would naturally. But you’re not going to turn superhuman overnight or even during one full cycle. You need to tailor your routine so it’s focused on progression and work on adding small increments in weight, extra reps or additional time under tension to your lifts each week over the course of the cycle. The small and consistent increments will add up and it’s possible to boost your numbers considerably in 15 weeks, but you’re not going to turn in to Larry Wheels. Look at the volume and frequency of your training and make sure it’s right for you and you’re able to recover in between sessions. Focus on progression. Get rid of all of that junk volume where you’re lifting with little to no intensity and aimlessly trying to pump the muscle thinking it’s going to explode. That kind of training might work for a select few with superb genetics, but you’re better off focusing on the bread and butter and getting stronger over low to moderate volume.
> 
> *“Is (random UGL that has existed for one week) Pharma legit?”*
> 
> There’s countless threads on the forum already with reviews. You’ll see certain labs mentioned and praised daily. Outside of putting out a bad batch due to dodgy raws or somebody producing identical replicas, you’re more than likely going to be good to go with those labs. If they’ve put out a shit batch, you’ll have probably heard about it already. If you’re buying from some obscure lab that nobody has ever heard of despite having dozens of well reviewed labs at your disposal, that’s on you.
> 
> *“Should I add X, Y and Z to make up for the fact that this might be bunk?”*
> 
> No. You’re brand new to gear. It might not be bunk and could be a training/nutrition issue. Throwing in another compound is going to give you more potential side effects to worry about and require you to add additional ancillaries to counteract them. You’re only just learning how you respond to Test by itself and if you’re ticking all the boxes, you can make great gains on that alone with little to no sides.
> 
> *“I’m using (extremely high)mg of AI and on (relatively low)mg of Test and feel like shit, this Test must be bunk!”*
> 
> You’ve been using a high dose of AI from the offset and have crushed your E2. That’s why you feel like shit. Use your AI when it’s required at the lowest dose you can get away with using and ideally, have bloods done to determine when it’s required or you’re going to be blindly throwing super strong medication to fix a problem which may not exist, risk crashing your E2 and ruining your whole cycle.
> 
> *"I don't feel extremely horny 24/7 and don't want to shag every woman in sight, this must be bunk, right?"*
> 
> Not necessarily, no. It's all a fine balancing act. Your Test could be sky high but your E2 or a range of other different hormones could be slightly out of whack, creating a ratio that your body doesn't like and having a negative impact on your libido. Over time, you'll learn what levels/ratios work for you and help you feel on point and you'll be able to achieve them through a proper dosing schedule/can use blood work to dial them in. Not only that, but your Test levels aren't the only thing that will impact your sex drive. Are you stressed at work? Hate your job? Anxious? Depressed? Worried about the cost of living increasing? Having trouble sleeping? Think your Mrs is having an affair with your mate? You're hardly going to want to shag every woman within a 2 mile radius while you've got dozens of issues and stress bubbling away under the surface. There's more to a healthy libido than Testosterone levels.
> 
> *"I haven't been able to replicate (fitness influencer)'s physique even though I've used the same cycle as them, my gear must be bunk!"*
> 
> There is a million things separating your physique from theirs other than your cycle. Your height, weight, frame, insertions, muscle bellies, muscularity, body fat percentage, body fat distribution, calorie/macro/fluid/mineral intake, training volume/frequency/intensity/style and countless other factors will differ from theirs. And what's to say they are being honest about their cycle and dose to begin with? It's common for somebody in the public eye to downplay their cycle/doses to pay homage to their work rate, genetics and consistency. You are naïve if you think you will mimic somebody's exact physique by simply copying their gear protocol.
> 
> *“I don’t feel anything, I have zero side effects, my training and nutrition is perfect and I’ve still not gained a single pound”*
> 
> Get a blood test from MediChecks while on cycle and post your results. If the gear is bunk or severely under dosed, your blood work will show this quite clearly and then we can all agree that the gear is indeed bunk. I’ve been blasting and cruising for upwards of 8 years and I can’t ever recall using any gear that was blatantly bunk and I’ve used every lab under the sun, so I don’t think it’s as common as the constant bunk gear threads are suggesting. If you’re using a compound which won’t show on a blood panel, send a sample to Janoshik or a similar lab for testing. That will identify the exact contents of your gear and you'll know if it's accurately dosed, under dosed or bunk. Most of the time, it’s a training/diet issue and people are blaming it on the gear before accepting they might not be ticking all the boxes. If in doubt and you’re doing everything right, get a blood test or a lab test and you’ll know for sure.
> 
> Don’t go in to this with your expectations too high. If your diet consists of one solid meal a day and 5 snacks that are fit for a primary school student’s lunchbox, you’re not going to look like Nick Walker any time soon. In fact, you’ll probably never look like him, or even a low level IFBB Pro. Your genetics will dictate 95% of your potential and even if you do EVERYTHING perfectly, you’ll finish your first cycle looking like a slightly thicker, fuller, stronger version of your natural self with slightly rounder delts, more prominent traps and a couple of extra veins running down your upper arm when you’ve got a good pump. Maybe 1 in 50 of you will be a great responder and finish the cycle looking dramatically different, but you’ll never need to ask this question because it’ll be clear your gear is real from the offset.


Yes, good article and well written. 
But it's almost encouraging people to keep quiet and not complain when at the end of the day their gear really could be bunk ! Yes, sometimes people wrongly think their gear is bunk for the reasons stated in the article. But let's not forget that there really is a lot of bunk gear out there. Out of all the labs that you can find from all those different sources ( on Eroids for example ) at least a third of them sell bunk gear that does not work. It's that simple. I've had my fingers burnt before like many others. So yes, think twice before you cry "bunk"........but you could be right !


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## DLTBB

Boris Johnson said:


> Yes, good article and well written.
> But it's almost encouraging people to keep quiet and not complain when at the end of the day their gear really could be bunk ! Yes, sometimes people wrongly think their gear is bunk for the reasons stated in the article. But let's not forget that there really is a lot of bunk gear out there. Out of all the labs that you can find from all those different sources ( on Eroids for example ) at least a third of them sell bunk gear that does not work. It's that simple. I've had my fingers burnt before like many others. So yes, think twice before you cry "bunk"........but you could be right !


It’s not encouraging people to keep quiet. It’s saying before you buy anything, make sure the lab has positive recent reviews (nobody from here should have to use the website you mentioned because there are dozens of labs mentioned here daily which are consistently good). Once you do have the gear, make sure you’re doing everything you can to make the most out of it. If you are, and you’re still not happy with the results, have bloods drawn or have the gear HPLC tested so you know for sure and then complain all you want.


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## felladrol

Also let's say that according to the blood work at least the testosterone was legit and the person was already running like 500mg per week doses, then there is probably a pretty slim chance that that is not going to translate into the appearance in one shape or form regardless of whether everything else was bunk or not.
@DLTBB


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## BelfastMuscle

Outstanding post for all newbies to read


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## 136060

Is there some kind of organisation where you can send off your gear for testing? - akin to WEDINOS, that you can use for recreationals.


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## TheGodHimself

christoff82 said:


> Is there some kind of organisation where you can send off your gear for testing? - akin to WEDINOS, that you can use for recreationals.


JankShik is regarded as the best AAS raw, oil and pill tester. There are a few others but they don't come to mind 

[EDIT] ChemTox is another used one I believe.


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## 136060

DLTBB said:


> *“Is (random UGL that has existed for one week) Pharma legit?”*
> 
> There’s countless threads on the forum already with reviews. You’ll see certain labs mentioned and praised daily. Outside of putting out a bad batch due to dodgy raws or somebody producing identical replicas, you’re more than likely going to be good to go with those labs. If they’ve put out a shit batch, you’ll have probably heard about it already. If you’re buying from some obscure lab that nobody has ever heard of despite having dozens of well reviewed labs at your disposal, that’s on you.


Ye, but which lab would you recommend? Seriously?


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## DLTBB

christoff82 said:


> Ye, but which lab would you recommend? Seriously?


I have a few that I’m using which have been good for me but I’ll avoid recommending one in particular.


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## 136060

DLTBB said:


> I have a few that I’m using which have been good for me but I’ll avoid recommending one in particular.


share the wealth, lad. 

Or PM me if you like. I'm wanting to stockpile for when I'm ready again(nowhere near yet, ffs).


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