Stacking cycle for lean muscle gains

I’m 45 years old.
81kg
1,86cm

I’ve been on Test cyp 100mg (split twice per week) for the last 9-10 weeks. The body comp results, especially around abdominal are looking good.

However, I want to increase strength in the gym & increase lean muscle mass & then just maintain a lean muscular & hard cut physique. I’m currently cutting and eating around 2000 calories, 200g protein, 50-80g fat & rest carbs.

Im considering stacking the most effective least amounts of either Anavar or Primo with the test cyp. Which would be my best option for lifelong test cyp to achieve the physique? Please also recommend brands that you all trust.

Appreciate the advice

Test @240mg (throughout cycle)
Primo @100-400mg
For 16-18weeks working your way up to 400mg primo over the 16 week period.

Add in anavar @20-30mg ed the last 6weeks

Brands : HD Labs or UPA
can’t go wrong with either one. My goto’s

ok in order to GAIN, you need to eat more than 2000kcal a day. You have 2 tools at your disposal for GAINING, and those are milligrams and calories. so if you are going to do anything that you say is going to be "life long" you need to be careful of a few things, getting blood work every 12-16 weeks is a must.

If you are looking for lifelong "HRT" kind of course, I would say take your testosterone up to 120mg per week, introduce PRIMO at 120mg per week, and then look at adding 2-3iu of Growth hormone pre-bed.

You can run that for ages, as long as your blood work is good.

The issue with running orals is the KILL appetite. Also, Anavar and lipid changes aren't great for long-term application. Orals serve a purpose, usually pre-contest, to kill appetite and help with glycogen uptake into the muscles, as orals do that better than most injectables. A common side effect from Anavar is acid reflux, so that also kills appetite. Also, look at adding in Cialis at 5mg daily just for blood pressure control too.

Now that drugs are covered, nutrition needs to be sorted. YOU NEED TO EAT. 2600-2800kcal a day is a good number, and then 8000 steps per day, as if you are looking for long term sustainability, 20mins of cardio 5x a week with heart rate between 120-130bpm..

Thanks everyone; really valuable guidance.

I’m currently in a cutting phase, hence the 2000 calories, with a daily average of 400-600 caloric deficit. I’ll keep going until I’ve dropped more fat in abdominal area - went from 96cm to 91cm on waist currently.
I want to try take it down to around 85-87cm. Thereafter I want to start maintenance calories (so add the deficit back) & increase the lean muscle gains & then just cruise from there on Empire’s recommended doses of stacking Primo & HGH.

Hope I’m on the right track with how I’m reading your feedback& guidance.

Hi there

I’m now ready to go ahead with the guidance provided on the stacking cycle:

- 120mg Test cypionate per week
- 120mg Primo UPA per week
- HGH peptide 2-3iu at bedtime

Shall I run this cycle for 12-14 weeks & then just come off the Primo & HGH? Meaning I’ll continue staying on the Test Cyp HRT dosage of 120mg per week. I’ll then do my blood work to check the markers & vitals. 

How long do I then wait to stack the Primo & HGH peptide again if the blood work looks good?

Looking forward to you guidance.

Thanks
 

Hi there

I’ve continued to stay in a cutting cycle, but have increased my daily averages caloric intake to 2200-2300, split with 40% protein, 35-40% carbs, 20-25% fat.

The lean muscle gains & maintenance are looking good & I’ve kept the waist circumference at 86-88cm; down from 95cm beginning of year. My weight is 80kg, height 1.86cm & body fat 14%.

I’ve added Primo  (100mg per week) to my  base Test Cyp (100mg per week) for last 7 weeks. I did blood work before starting the stack of Primo & my blood markers all looked very good. I also check blood pressure once per week & it’s looking good consistently at 116-125/65-85. Depending on my next blood results I’m planning on increasing my Test Cyp & Primo to 120mg per week; to try keep it at lowest effective dose. I’ll come off from the Primo after week 16; although at this stage it appears that there’s no side effects at these low dosages & I’m therefore wondering if I shouldn’t just run it all year around if the blood markers are staying good.

I do weight training 4 times per week, hitting all the muscle groups at least once per week & steady state cardio (30min-50mins) also at least 4 times per week.

I want to continue adding lean muscle & have solid definition; and reduce catabolism as far as possible. In all of this keep the lower abdominal tight & lean.

Can I now add HGH (2iu-3iu) to my current stack, 5 days per week before bed to help with lean gains and fat lypolysis? I’m looking at somatropin pen from Ipharma, just for the convenience. Let me know if anyone has used this GH before or if you can recommend other brands.

Also, some guidance if you think I should increase my caloric intake to around 2400-2600 per day; with the same macro split at my current training volume.

Appreciate the guidance, again.

 

Growth happens with milligrams, and calories. You are running minimal milligrams so that means you need more calories.

Adding 3iu of gh pre bed is excellent. Great choice of compound, but legitimately , I would go UPA over iPharma, iPharma was bust a couple months back and are still operating, seems way too fishy for my liking, and well, upa products are solid. I am currently on something very similar to you, 200mg primo, 200mg test and 5iu gh pre bed, 105kg at a decent 11% i will keep upping my dosage untill I get roughly to 1200mg total for the week for 16 weeks.

Thanks, Empire. I appreciate the guidance.

I’m on TRT & started stacking with UPA Primo200. I’ll check for UPA GH then.

I’ll increase the weekly dosage to 120mg for each compound, provided the bloods continue to look good. Then I’ll add the GH, 5 days per week at bed time.

I’m just concerned about more calories, but perhaps reversing it up to 2400-2500 per day can still keep the lower abdominal tight with current training volume.

Thanks again.

At 80kg 2400 is maintaince. You aren't going to get much growth. You want to grow, that should be closer to 500kcal above that, still doing 8000 steps a day and 30mins cardio 4x a week.

Thanks Empire!

Remember, by adding growth hormone, that will allow you to stay leaner, by keeping calories low you end up choking your thyroid hormones, so if you are even 100-200kcal above maintenance and still gaining weight, you will also be staying leaner with the GH.

your scale should be moving up, but you should also do check in photos so that you maintain your abs whilst gaining weight, If they start to fade, then you need to hold calories, you will need more calories to maintain the new tissue too.

you are hoping to gain 10kg for example, but even the maintenance calories for say 90kgs is 2700-2900kcal, but you are wanting to be at 90kgs on 80kg calories.

muscle is hard to build, fat is easy to diet off.. focus on the next 16 weeks about building, and then do 4 week hold, then 4-6 week mini cut, then repeat.

Thanks, Empire. Much appreciated!

I came out of a long cut (10-20% caloric deficit) in 2025. Got absolutely peeled & was stacking TRT (150mg Cyp per week), Primo (150mg-200mg per week) and threw in Anavar 10mg per day for the last 6-8 weeks. I then started a lean bulking phase from Jan 2026, same compounds but with Test Cyp at 350mg per week & Primo at 300mg per week, plus added GH 3IU at bed time & Reta 1mg per week. I also throw in the occasional BPC157 & TB500 for the nagging lumber spine & shoulder issues as I’ve started driving up my strength training volume (5 days per week, progressive overload & hypertrophy). The steady state cardio is at about 120-150mins per week, so that’s sorted. In between, I do a lot of dog walking & hiking also.


I’m 46 year old male, 1.86cm height, 79kg weight & 12% bodyfat.

I’m currently eating at 3500 calories on training days & 2700 calories on rest days - about 200-300 caloric surplus now. The lean muscle gains have been solid. Up from 73kg to 79kg in 3 months, with no fat spil over; waist has stayed the same in this time.

I’ve started to feel the impact of the strength training, with the volume increase. It’s not debilitating at this stage, so I want to make sure that it doesn’t get any worse. I take NAC daily & I do Glutathione IV (2000mg) twice per month, which I think helps a lot.

Do you think now is the time to introduce SS31 for about 30-40 days to just strengthen the mitochondria membrane; and then come off for another 1-2 months to avoid potential overspinning? Any guidance here will be great.