500 mg Testosterone per Week at 26: A Six-Month Body Composition Case Study

// 01

Background

DEXA lean mass

+14.0lb128.0 → 142.0 lb

DEXA fat mass

−4.5lb35.6 → 31.1 lb

Protocol Length

25weeksSep 2025 → Mar 2026

I ran 300–500 mg of testosterone per week for six months at 26. I started at 169.8 lb and 21.0% body fat. I finished at 179.3 lb and 17.3% body fat.

I started with a cut, then switched to a bulk:

• Phase 1: Cut on 300 mg/week. The goal was to lose fat while retaining or gaining lean mass. I was in a calorie deficit and using retatrutide.
• Phase 2: Bulk on 500 mg/week. I shifted toward maintenance or a mild surplus. The goal here was to actually build muscle.
• Injections. I split my weekly testosterone dose into daily subcutaneous injections in both phases.
• Retatrutide. I ran 0.5–2 mg per dose during the cycle.
• Ancillaries. I used hCG, anastrozole, and tamoxifen.
• DEXA scans. I did 6 DEXA scans across two phases, giving me 5 intervals to compare changes in lean mass and fat mass with my training and food intake.
• Bloodwork. I tested testosterone, estradiol (E2), lipids, blood counts, and other biomarkers during the cycle.
• Training, food, and weight changes. I tracked my workouts, food, bodyweight, and step counts through Prana to see what changed between scans.
• Stimulating volume. Prana automatically estimates reps in reserve and calculates stimulating volume per muscle using MUSCLE-1. I used it to track how much of my training stimulated growth.

// 02

Protocol & Results

Phase 1: Cut on 300 mg/week

September 14–December 26, 2025 · 3 DEXA intervals

The goal of this phase was to lose fat while retaining or gaining lean mass. I targeted a 20–25% daily calorie deficit.

• Testosterone. I used 300 mg/week of testosterone enanthate or cypionate.
• Retatrutide. I took 0.75–2 mg per dose during this phase.
• Ancillaries. I used hCG, anastrozole, and tamoxifen.
• Food. Logged intake averaged roughly 2,003, 2,136, and 1,878 calories/day across the three intervals.
• Protein. I aimed for a minimum of 1 g/lb bodyweight.
• Training. I logged 36 lifting sessions. I averaged roughly 52–55 sets/week in the first two intervals, then 28 in the final interval as fatigue rose.
• Testing. Four DEXA scans gave me three intervals to track body composition. I had bloodwork on October 13.

Fat fell in all three intervals, but I lost lean mass too. Most of that loss came in the final interval, when calories and training were lowest.

Phase 2: Bulk on 500 mg/week

December 26, 2025–March 8, 2026 · 2 DEXA intervals

The goal of this phase was to build muscle. I increased testosterone to 500 mg/week and aimed for maintenance calories to a mild surplus.

• Testosterone. I used 500 mg/week of testosterone enanthate or cypionate.
• Retatrutide. I continued at 0.5–1 mg per dose into February.
• Ancillaries. I used hCG and anastrozole, with tamoxifen continuing into January.
• Food. Logged intake averaged 2,708 calories and 216 g protein/day in the first interval, then 2,955 calories and 226 g protein/day in the second.
• Training. I logged 41 lifting sessions. Training rose to roughly 89 sets/week in the first interval, then 64 in the second. About 87% of sets were estimated to be within three reps of failure.
• Testing. The December scan was the starting point, followed by scans on February 3 and March 8. I had bloodwork on January 9 and February 16.

I gained lean mass in both intervals. In the first, fat mass fell too. In the second, I gained both.

DEXA Results

The first three intervals cover the cut. The final two cover the bulk. Switch between absolute mass and change per interval to see what happened between scans.

On the cut, the first interval was −1.6 lb fat with lean mass unchanged. The second was −1.6 lb fat and −0.8 lb lean mass. The final cut interval was −3.1 lb fat and −3.4 lb lean mass.

From December 26 to February 3, lean mass rose 10.5 lb while fat fell 1.2 lb. Best interval of the experiment. From February 3 to March 8, lean mass rose another 7.7 lb, but fat rose 3.0 lb too.

// 03

Nutrition

I ate roughly 2,003 and 2,136 calories/day in the first two cut intervals, then dropped to 1,878 in interval 3. On the bulk, intake rose to 2,708 and then 2,955 calories/day.

Protein fell from 193 to 170 g/day between intervals 2 and 3. Per pound of bodyweight, it fell from 1.17 to 1.06 g/lb. Both bulk intervals averaged about 1.34 g/lb, with 216 and 226 g of protein/day.

// 04

Metabolic rate and activity

I used my calorie intake and the change in fat mass between DEXA scans to back-calculate total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) for each interval.

The estimate fell late in the cut and rose on the bulk. It went from roughly 2,381 to 2,167 calories/day between intervals 2 and 3, then jumped to 2,840 in the first bulk interval. In the final interval it fell to 2,565, even as I ate more.

Activity and estimated TDEE

I combined steps and training frequency into one activity score, giving each equal weight relative to interval 1. The chart compares that score with estimated TDEE in calories/day. Switch to steps or training sessions to see each part separately.

I was moving less by the end of the cut. Steps fell from 7,369 to 4,821/day between intervals 2 and 3, and training fell from 3.0 to 1.8 sessions/week.

On the first bulk interval, lifting jumped to 4.7 sessions/week while steps stayed around 4,840/day. That is where the expenditure estimate rose most. The bigger change was in lifting.

Across five intervals, training frequency tracked estimated expenditure most closely: Pearson r = 0.94. Steps alone were r = −0.23, and the combined activity score was r = 0.57. Combining the two did not make the relationship stronger.

// 05

Training volume and intensity

On 500 mg/week and more food, I trained a lot more. I went from 28 sets/week in the final cut interval to 89 in the first bulk interval. Recorded volume, measured as weight × reps, rose about 3.9×.

I was taking more of those sets close to failure too. The share estimated to be within three reps of failure rose from 16.3% to 87.7%. That took near-failure sets from 4.6 to 78.3 per week. In the second bulk interval, 86.5% of sets were still near failure.

// 06

Bloodwork

Testosterone at 300 and 500 mg/week

Total testosterone roughly doubled, from 1,731.8 ng/dL on 300 mg/week to 3,451 ng/dL on 500 mg/week.

Using the same Prana calculation for both draws, estimated free testosterone rose from approximately 503 to 1,175 pg/mL, about 2.3×. Estimated bioavailable testosterone rose from approximately 1,275 to 3,106 ng/dL, about 2.4×.

Free testosterone assay differences

The lab-reported free testosterone values were 39.3 and 1,280.6 pg/mL. On paper, that looks like a 32× increase. The tests used different methods, so that ratio is not a valid comparison.

October used Labcorp’s direct free-testosterone assay. February used Quest’s free/bioavailable/total panel. Mass spectrometry on the total-testosterone test does not make the free-testosterone methods equivalent.

Estrogen (E2) and gyno

My estradiol was 63.6 pg/mL in October, above the lab’s range. It fell to 10 pg/mL in January, then rose to 93 pg/mL in February on the bulk. January was in range; February was high again.

During the cut, I felt gyno starting to creep up, so I added tamoxifen alongside anastrozole. I was using anastrozole to bring E2 into range and tamoxifen to address the gyno symptoms.

hCG during the cycle

I used hCG to help preserve semen production while on testosterone. Testosterone suppresses luteinizing hormone (LH), the signal that tells the testes to produce testosterone. hCG acts on the same receptor to stimulate testosterone production in the testes.

I injected 250 IU subcutaneously during both phases, but I was inconsistent with it. When I went longer without an injection, I noticed less semen volume. After injecting, I noticed the volume increase again.

// 07

Side effects

Would I do it again? Absofuckinglutely. The first bulk interval stood out: high lean-mass gain with continued fat loss.

// 08

Insights and Findings

Training volume vs. protein intake

Training volume tracked my lean-mass changes more closely than protein intake. Across the five intervals, the correlation with lean-mass change per week was 0.94 for recorded training volume and 0.88 for protein per pound of bodyweight.

In interval 3, my training volume fell 54.5%, from 47,620 to 21,668 lb/week. Protein fell 8.7%, from 1.17 to 1.06 g/lb. I was still eating more than 1 g/lb, but lost 3.4 lb of DEXA lean mass.

In the next interval, training volume rose to 84,190 lb/week, about 3.9× that level. I gained 10.5 lb of lean mass while fat fell 1.2 lb.

The two bulk intervals

Interval 4 was the best body-composition result of the cycle: +10.5 lb lean mass and −1.2 lb fat. I averaged 2,708 calories/day and 84,190 lb/week of recorded training volume.

In interval 5, calories rose to 2,955/day while training volume fell to 67,206 lb/week. I gained another 7.7 lb of lean mass, but also 3.0 lb of fat. Eating more did not give me a better result.

Cholesterol during the cut and bulk

I have suspected familial hypercholesterolemia. My LDL has typically been around 150 mg/dL, including during previous surpluses without testosterone. My HDL has historically been low too.

During this cycle, LDL fell from 112 to 98 mg/dL through the cut and transition, then rose to 191 mg/dL during the bulk. HDL went from 36 to 38, then fell to 30 mg/dL. ApoB was 136 mg/dL on the final draw.

The bulk on testosterone pushed LDL above my usual surplus levels, with a smaller drop in HDL. What surprised me was how much better LDL looked during the deficit while using Reta. These numbers were already an issue before the cycle, and I’ve since started a low-dose statin to address them.

Hematocrit and blood pressure

Hematocrit was 49.6% → 52.6% → 50.7%. There was no sustained rise; it ended close to where it started. My blood-pressure checks never showed high readings.

Glucose while using Reta

My glucose reached 38 mg/dL while using Reta. I attributed this to Reta. Quest called me after the test because the result was critically low. I felt fine. The result was verified by repeat analysis of the same sample.

IGF-1 on 500 mg/week

My IGF-1 was 322 ng/mL on 500 mg/week of testosterone, without taking exogenous GH. That is comparable to levels I’ve seen while using 4 IU of GH.

Fatigue in interval 5

I briefly tried MK-677 at the start of interval 5, in early February. Around that time, I developed fatigue, headaches, and head rushes in the gym. The symptoms eased after I tapered off MK-677.

My training volume dropped for about two weeks during this period. The logs show lower volume in the weeks beginning February 9 and 16, followed by a rebound in the week beginning February 23.

// 09

Post-cycle Therapy

My post-cycle therapy involved 25 mg of enclomiphene run over a few months to recover my natural testosterone levels.

Testosterone recovery

• Washout. I waited two weeks after my last testosterone injection before starting enclomiphene.
• Enclomiphene. I used a 25 mg dose for one month, then took two weeks off.
• First follow-up. After those two weeks off, my total testosterone was around 400 ng/dL. I restarted enclomiphene.
• Three to four months out. My total testosterone was back around 900 ng/dL while taking enclomiphene. I continued at 12.5 mg for a few months to maintain my testosterone levels.

Lean mass after the cycle

Two months after the cycle, DEXA showed I had retained about 10 lb of lean-mass gain.

After a four-week break from training, my lean mass dropped back to where it had been at the start of the bulk, in interval 4.

When I returned to training, I regained 15 lb of lean mass in four weeks while on a cut and using around 10 mg of Anavar (oxandrolone). Despite losing muscle off-cycle, muscle memory kicked in from the cycle and all of my gains returned without running test again.

Now, more than six months out, I’m walking around with 900 ng/dL testosterone and more muscle than I had at my on-cycle peak.

// 10

Tools used

• Prana and MUSCLE-1. I logged my workouts in Prana. MUSCLE-1 automatically estimates reps in reserve and calculates stimulating volume for each muscle.
• DEXA. Six BodySpec scans tracked lean mass, fat mass, and total mass across the cycle.
• Bloodwork. Labcorp and Quest measured testosterone, estradiol, lipids, blood counts, glucose, and other biomarkers. Prana calculated free and bioavailable testosterone using the same method across draws.
• Nutrition and bodyweight. I tracked food and weigh-ins in Prana, using its smoothed daily weight to calculate protein per pound.
• Activity. I used Apple Health step counts and my logged training sessions to track activity between scans.