"Lean gains" come more from your diet than the gear. Keep that in mind, first. You can use dbol and make lean gains. I'm not a big fan of using 2 orals in the same cycle. I'd much prefer to use an oral to kick start and if I wanted more later, I would add a fast acting injectable like NPP. Fast acting shots are still more toxic on the liver than slow long acting drugs, but they will be safer overall. So what if you ran either tbol or var for the first 8 wks. Then at wk 9, dropped it and added NPP, even at say, 300mg EW. Could be very beneficial and I bet you would have much better cholesterol than running winstrol...plus, the gains would be better. Just a suggestion. Otherwise, I would not use winny for a mass gaining cycle. Its good for getting dry and hard, but not really a mass builder...not to mention, dry joints and heavy lifting dont go together very well.

As for arom vs adex, arom is safer on your cholesterol, but adex is stronger and easier to control estrogen with. I suggest arom for HRT use, when health is the main concern and then switch to adex during the more serious portions of the year, running heavier gear