People often take anabolic steroids in cycles to prevent tolerance to the drugs, reduce side effects and allow natural testosterone production to resume. Cycles mean you take steroids for a period of time (on cycle), then stop taking them for a similar period of time (off cycle) before starting again.
There is no set length of time a cycle should be, as it depends on what anabolic steroid you take and the dose you are using. In general cycles last 6 to 12 weeks. If you are taking oral steroids, you should not take them for more than 8 weeks as they may affect your liver. Oral steroids cause osteoporosis if used for more than a couple of cycles.
Some people use different approaches:
- Pyramiding involves starting off taking a low dose of one or more anabolic steroids, and then increasing the dose over time up to a maximum dose. They then stop taking them for a rest period to give the body a break before starting the cycle again.
- Blast and Cruise involves taking anabolic steroids for a longer period but increasing to a peak then tapering down the amount they are using. This method carries more risk of unwanted effects and dependence because the lower doses are still much higher than natural testosterone levels.