Dbol kickstart the first 4-6 weeks or just wait for the test esters to kick in - does anyone still bother?

About to start test e and deca, 500mg and 400mg per week. Everybody says add a Dbol kickstart for the first 4-6 weeks while the long esters build. But a few experienced guys at my gym stopped doing it because the water makes it impossible to track whether the test and deca are actually working underneath. Is anyone still running the classic kickstart or have most experienced guys moved past it?

Still do the Dbol kickstart. 50mg per day for the first 4 weeks, split morning and afternoon. The motivation and strength bump in weeks 1-4 while the long esters are building is worth it to me. Yes the water makes it hard to track the test and deca underneath but after enough cycles you know what to expect anyway.

Stopped doing Dbol kickstarts about 8 years ago. The water retention made it genuinely impossible to assess whether the test and deca were dialling in properly underneath. Now I just wait the 3-4 weeks for the long esters to build and use that time to dial in my AI response without the Dbol aromatization complicating things. The kickstart is psychologically satisfying but it muddies the data.

I use short Tbol as a kickstart instead of Dbol now. 40mg per day for 4 weeks, much drier, still gives the strength and motivation benefit in the early weeks without the water management headache. Does not hit as hard as Dbol but the cleaner start is worth more to me than the extra initial size from Dbol water.

interesting - i was gonna do a dbol kickstart on my second cycle but reading this thread im not sure now. makes sense that you cant properly track whats happening underneath with all that water. might just wait for the long esters and actually learn what test and deca feel like properly first time