Scott Peck in his best seller "The Road Less Traveled" opens up the first sentence of the book with the statement that "Life is difficult".

He goes on to say that if we accept this fact rather than struggling against it our lives will become easier. Paradoxical isn't it?

His thinking and elaboration of this becomes very interesting and involved, but the gist of it boils down to the thought that we should learn to flow with our life and circumstances when we can't change them.

Instead, if we learn to creatively adapt to our circumstances we will happier people, and more content.

- "What has this got to do with steroids?"

By now you may be asking how does this relate to my steroid usage? Well, many of us lament the lost gains, hardness, cut, vascularity, or strength that is associated with cycling off of AS. At the end of a cycle the gains seem to have become permanent.

It feels like this is who we are now as we look in the mirror and as we move the weight in the gym. This integrity of our bodies intensifies even more so with repeated cycles, and one comes to feel that there is no other way of life that can compare. And indeed there is not.

However, with the termination of our cycle, and after a month or so we begin to see some of the beautiful gains slip away. This is where the philosophy of Scott Peck fits in.

We need to learn to flow with this phenomenon of AS supplementation and cycling. Rigidly trying to hang on to your gains is analogous to the person who struggles against the fact that life is difficult.

It will only increase your loss of self-esteem that comes from your body image. You must learn to accept the changes and develop a new way of training that will reward you and change your mentality.

- "Bridging between cycles is a pipe dream...?"

In advance of every cycle I prepare myself mentally for the whole time period that I am going to be on the AS as well as when I will be coming off the AS. And I decide in advance how I will approach the end of the cycle in terms of changing my routine and supplementations. As one member of SE wisely puts it "Bridging between cycles with other steroids is a pipe dream".

If you continue to use any AS after the completion of your cycle and after your recovery cycle then you are not truly resting your body. Some men who must be on maintenance doses of testosterone or other steroids for medical purposes would be the exception to this rule but these are the only ones that I can think of.

Their natural test levels will remain low no matter how long they abstain, so they must supplement. Many of our brothers encounter this problem due in fact to the lack of proper cycling off the juice.

A couple of times I have used Primobolan at doses of 100-200mg week between cycles but I never felt as though I had a complete recovery from the previous cycle. After awhile of doing various recovery cycles a bodybuilder can tell when there system is running on its own again at full speed.

I never reached that level of "full speed" when I tried to bridge with Primobolan. Although very reliable literature suggests that these doses of Primobolan don't cause much suppression of natural testosterone, my thought is that this may be true in men who are already operating at a normal level rather than men who are trying to bring their levels back up after an androgenic cycle.

The same is true of Anavar....any dose that is going to be truly anabolic is going to bring some suppression of the nads and not allow a full recovery. Have I done it? Yes. And will I do it again. Most definitely, but not very frequently and usually only when I have definite goals in sight where I don't want to lose too much between the cycles.

- "...rewarding myself in a way where I spent a little less time in the gym..."

One of the things that I sometimes do when coming off of a cycle is to choose a whole new way of training for at least the next 6 weeks! In my case recently I got into running, bicycling, and hiking. These are things that I really enjoy and it was like rewarding myself in a way where I spent a little less time in the gym post cycle and more time outside doing these other fitness, yet scenic things.

When I bicycle or run I choose a very scenic route on a trail along a lake or something like that. It is mind expanding and helps one to embrace their health and the beauty of the that which is natural.

Somehow getting back to nature between cycles helps me to accept myself. After all, nature and God have given me everything that I really need, but steroids have given me a lot of things that I really wanted and benefit from. I also continue to train hard in the gym, but oftentimes will change my workout to higher reps with lots of "burn" sets.

This will help me keep the fat off and stay as hard as possible.

Everybody is different and you will need to learn what your body and mind best responds to during post-cycle. Nutrition is the other big part, I cannot tell you how many guys I have seen who have the discipline of Ghandi when they are on their cycle, but as soon as they come off it is like a dam of eating urges is let loose!

They consequently "blow up" and give up. I have not done this yet and hope that I never do.

I have worked too hard to get where I am.

In my last article I shared how I had at one time been very fat. Proper usage of AS has transformed into a very happy and healthy middle age man and I want to stay that way. Being a star athlete doesn't mean winning lots of medals to me.

It means doing the next right thing in my training most of the time instead of some of the time. Nutrition is a way of life and should not be a "way of cycle".

It is amazing what you can hang on to in the way of gains and definition with proper nutrition. Personally, I have seen great bridging results from the 50%-20%-30% formula with the sequence of percentages being protein, carbs, and fats.

Hence on a post-cycle of 2600-2800 calories (which is typical for me) I will take in approximately 320gms protein; 150gms carbs; and about 90gms of fat which will be most non- saturated of course.

I have remained very solid and lean when using this equation. Remember, a fat gram contains 9 calories as opposed to protein and carb grams which contain only 4 calories per gram.

- "...when I have supply is Human Growth Hormone"

As some newcomers may now be realizing the word "bridging" refers to an attempt to hold on gains between cycles with other supplementation, and preferably with ones that are going to allow a rest of your system. One non-nutritional supplement that I have used and will continue to use for bridging when I have supply is Human Growth Hormone.

For myself I have found it to be very beneficial in mood elevation, pituitary-axis recovery, and to some degree maintaining muscularity and hardness.

It "tightens" me up nice.

Typically I will use 4iu every other day. With continued use it is also of course a notable fat-burner with many people, although I have never achieved the racing metabolism with it that I have seen other bodybuilders get from its use.

I have also combined the use of insuline with Hgh when "bridging" and have seen my system reached a full recovery. Typically though, I just go with the Hgh and good nutrition. I will often throw in some Tribulus/DHEA stack for some additional testosterone boost. That stuff works great for me on a non-steroidal level.

- "Anabolic Steroids make a great slave but a terrible master"

Learning to be the creative people that we are and using this on and off our cycles will greatly enhance your self- image and greatly diminish your likelihood of dependency on AS. As I have said before, "Anabolic Steroids make a great slave but a terrible master".

Be prepared for coming off and reward yourself for doing so. Always set your target date and don't talk yourself out of it. Be true to yourself and begin focusing more on others as you cycle off. This will help keep your mind healthy and balanced. Keeping your gains is not as important as keeping your health.

I look forward to hearing from you all on the Steroid Encyclopaedia site.

- Paul, SE moderator.