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Good posts Merc and your quite correct about the role of estrogen. It is somewhat of a delicate balancing act between ensuring we keep moderate levels of estrogen while on cycle without contributing to gyno and at same time using an AI if necessary but not letting the estrogen levels drop too low. This then will cause your gains to be modest to negligible as in your buddies case. On the flip side too much estrogen can also have similar effects. There are also different estrogen metabolites within the body and bloodstream and they also have differing effects.

I also made mention in a recent post that fat cells are loaded with aromatase and this contributes to them storing larger quantities of estrogen. This is important to understand for anyone looking to do a cycle that has a high bodyfat percentage and why I always make a point to ask newbies in particular to lower their bodyfat before commencement of a cycle. If you don't and obviously are unaware of your body reponses to exogenous testosterone administration being a first cycle your asking for estrogen related problems. It is not ok to just take an AI to keep estrogen at bay as you then will severly limit your muscle growth.

Clearly as I made mention initally it is all a balancing act but a very important one at that to ensure maximum potential to gains and limiting sides associated with estrogen.