There are a lot of rumors about the use of steroids in sports today. It is difficult for novice athletes to understand where the truth is. Find out all the secrets about sports pharmacology. Everyone has heard about steroids, even those who have nothing to do with sports. There is a lot of information about these drugs today, but it is very contradictory. Today we are going to talk about the secret facts about steroids in bodybuilding that are beyond question.
What is the half-life of AAS?
All medications, including steroids, have a half-life. This is the time that elapses between taking the drug and removing half of the dose taken from the body. Let's say you have taken a drug that has a half-life of 10 hours in an amount of 150 milligrams. This means that after ten hours, 75 milligrams of the substance will remain in the body. After another 10 hours, 37.5 milligrams will remain in the blood, and so on until the drug is excreted from the body.
In those days, when steroids were just created, their use was hampered by the half-life indicator. Natural hormones have a fairly small indicator, and scientists were faced with the question of increasing it. Today, two methods are used to extend the half-life.
Alkylation at 17-alpha
This method is used in the manufacture of tablet preparations. Its essence lies in the addition of an extra carbon atom to the structure of the steroid at the seventeenth position. Thanks to this step, the drug does not lose the ability to interact with androgen-type receptors and its half-life increases to several hours. The disadvantage of alkylation is the increased stress on the liver.
Esterification
This method involves the inclusion of esters in the structure of the steroid. This significantly increases the half-life, up to several days and weeks. Esterification is used in the production of injectable AAS.
How to increase the effectiveness of steroid use?
Monitor nutrition
If you consume a lot of calories, then this has a positive effect on the work of steroids. The main nutrient for increasing the effectiveness of anabolic steroids are protein compounds. At the same time, with a calorie deficit, the efficiency of using AAS decreases.
Choose the right dosage
Steroids are powerful hormonal drugs and the recommended dosages must be taken when using them. If you start using steroids in large quantities, then this can lead to disruptions in the functioning of the liver, kidneys, hormonal system, etc.
The presence of physical activity
If you don't exercise, there will be no benefit from steroid use. They are not magic tools for gaining muscle mass, but only help you with it. At the same time, it is necessary to train more intensively during the course of anabolic steroids in comparison with natural bodybuilding.
Correctly compose an AAS cycle
If you did not correctly draw up the anabolic course, then you may not only not get any benefit, but even harm the body. First of all, you need to pay attention to the combination of drugs, their dose and time of administration. It is also very important and correct to exit the course so as not to lose the gained mass. To do this, you need to draw up a rehabilitation therapy plan in advance.
Delivery of analyzes
It is advisable to take tests three times. Do this the first time before the start of the course, then during the course, and the last time during PCT. So you can find out your hormonal profile, which you need to bring the body to after the course. In addition, by knowing the hormone levels while taking steroids, you can make changes if necessary. You may need to reduce the dosage of AAS or you need to start taking ancillary drugs.
What happens if you use steroids and don't exercise?
For quite a long time, scientists were not sure that steroids contribute to gaining muscle mass. Indeed, to establish the truth, it is necessary to conduct research. This is quite difficult, since AAS are prohibited drugs, and not every athlete will agree to take part in the experiment. Yet it happened.
All study participants were divided into four groups. Representatives of the first group took testosterone, but did not exercise, in the second group, athletes did not use steroids and did not exercise. Representatives of the third group did strength training without using AAS, and in the fourth group they took steroids and were actively engaged.
By the way, the subjects took Testosterone Enanthate in an amount of 0.6 grams for a week. Strength training was carried out three times over seven days, and the total duration of the experiment was two and a half months.
As a result, representatives of the fourth group (AAS plus training) gained the most muscle mass. Their average figure was about 7 kilograms. But more interesting results were seen in the group taking Enanthate but not exercising. They managed to gain about 3 kilograms. In turn, "natural" athletes were able to increase their muscle mass by only two kilos.
Scientists were perplexed by the fact that only the use of AAS without strength training yielded better results compared to natural training. On the other hand, all athletes know that today there is no better muscle growth stimulator other than steroids. Yes, athletes use a large number of different drugs, but the greatest results are still given by AAS.
Perhaps this is due to the duration of their use. The same exogenous IGF-1 has not yet been fully studied by scientists, although it is already clear that it has great potential hidden in it. The same can be said for peptides or growth hormone. Do not forget that anabolic steroids have been used for more than five decades, while other drugs have been used for a maximum of two or three.
Learn more about the secrets of using anabolic steroids from this video:
