Boldenone Use and Cycles

Given the mild nature of boldenone, one should not expect dramatic gains. One may compare the gains from boldenone to that of methenolone (primobolan) for example, in that the gains are slow and steady, however generally quite retainable post-cycle. As there is little aromatisation, little water weight will be put on, so many may be disheartened at the beginning of a cycle when compared to an AS such as testosterone, which will put on several pounds of water in the first week. However one must remember that this water will be lost post-cycle, and if one can gain 1lb of muscle per week then little more can be asked of any AS. Given the relatively long half-life of the undecylenate ester (at least 8 days) and the mild nature of boldenone, it is best taken for a minimum of 10-12 weeks. Users do tend to suggest that the drug is best utilised in longer cycles. PCT should begin approximately 3-4 weeks after the last shot of boldenone undecylenate. Although many people claim boldenone is useful for cutting given its low aromatisation rates and increasing vascularity, the amplification of appetite is a negative aspect for cutting. Thus it is my opinion that the best use of boldenone is as part of a bulking cycle. This use gets the most out of boldenone's benefits – namely increased appetite.

Alternatively boldenone could be stacked with other non-aromatising drugs such as primobolan (methenolone) or masteron (drostanolone) where the small amount of estrogen produced by boldenone is beneficial and the resultant gains should be lean and more easily kept. Given the long undecylenate ester (11 carbons) normally attached to boldenone, injecting the hormone twice a week is more than sufficient, although favourable for stable blood levels over injecting once per week. If one purely wants to use boldenone for its appetite enhancing properties, lower doses of 400mg/week should suffice for this purpose, although the full benefit of boldenone in my opinion is not achieved at these lower doses. Some example cycles are outlined below (I recommend in all cases 500IUs HCG is administered weekly from week 1 throughout the cycle as this will significantly aid recovery by helping to stop shut-down from fully occurring):

Novice Mass Cycle
500mg Testosterone Enanthate/Cypionate pw, weeks 1-12
600mg Boldenone Undecylenate pw, weeks 1-11
Dianabol 30mg ed weeks 1-4 (alternatively the injectables can be doubled in the first week for a front-load)
PCT – 3 weeks after last testosterone injection

Low-aromatising Mass Cycle
800mg Boldenone Undecylenate pw, weeks 1-12
600mg Primobolan (Methenolone Enanthate) pw, weeks 1-13
(Optional – Anavar 60mg ed, weeks 1-16)
PCT – 3 weeks after last Primobolan injection

Advanced Mass Cycle (For very experienced users – recommend regular bloodwork before, during and after such a cycle)
500IUs HCG pw, weeks 1-18
1000-1500mg Testosterone Enanthate/Cypionate/Sust pw, weeks 1-16
500-750mg Deca (Nandrolone Decanoate) pw, weeks 1-14
800-1000mg Boldenone Undecylenate pw, weeks 1-14
150-200mg NPP (Nandrolone Phenylpropionate) eod, weeks 14-18
150-200mg Testosterone Propionate eod, weeks 16-18
100-150mg Trenbolone Acetate eod, weeks 12-18
(Optional kick-start with 40-50mg dianabol ed weeks 1-4)
PCT – 3 days after last Trenbolone Acetate injection

The Truth About Steroid Use in CrossFit

I have been hearing a lot about how there is steroid use in CrossFit. I will not say I can tell if someone is using steroids, nor will I talk ill about the blogs I have read, but all I can truthfully say is that I do not know if someone is using steroids unless I have tested their urine sample. I do not believe that every person in CrossFit or the CrossFit Games is using steroids. The reason for this I hope can be explained in this article about natural hormone increases brought on by heavy resistance training.

Steroids or Strength Training?
Long-term weight training brings significant adaptations that can result in enhanced size, strength, and power of trained musculature. When there is an increase in anabolic hormones brought about by heavy weight lifting, it can increase hormonal interactions with various cellular mechanisms and enhance the development of muscle protein contractile units. When there is stimulation From a motor neuron to initiate muscle contraction, various signals are sent from the brain and muscles to endocrine glands.

Hormones are secreted during and after weight lifting due to the physiological stress of the exercise itself. Hormone secretion provides information to the body regarding the amount and type of physiological stress (e.g. epinephrine), the metabolic demands (e.g. insulin), and the need for changes in resting metabolism. Thus, specific patterns of nervous system stimulation from weight training results in certain hormonal changes that are simultaneously activated for specific purposes related to recovery and adaptation to the acute exercise stress.

The patterns of stress and hormonal responses combine to shape the tissues’ adaptive response to a specific training program (like Olympic and powerlifting). So without going into anything too confusing, the specific force produced by the activated muscle fibers determines the alteration in hormone receptor sensitivity to anabolic hormones as well as changes in receptor synthesis. As few as one or two weight lifting days can increase the number of androgen receptors (the receptors for testosterone) in the muscle tissue. Combined, these alterations lead to muscle growth and strength increase in the intact muscle.

Following strength training sessions, remodeling of the muscle tissue takes place in the environment of hormonal secretions that provide for anabolic actions. There is an increase in the synthesis of actin and myosin and a reduction in protein degradation. Now, here is the catch to all of this great stuff due to strength training. If the stress is too great for the athlete, catabolic actions in the muscle may exceed anabolic as a result of the inability of anabolic hormones to bind to their receptors or the down regulation of receptors in the muscle tissue. So hormonal actions are important both during and after an exercise session to respond to the demands of the exercise stress. The magnitude of hormonal response depends on the amount of tissue stimulated, the amount of tissue remodeling, and the amount of tissue repaired after strength training sessions.

Only muscles fibers activated by the strength training are able to be adapted. Here is where genetics and muscle fiber types come into play (I know some of you were waiting for it). Some fibers may be close to the athlete’s genetic ceiling for cell size, while others may have a great potential for growth. This is where many people draw their conclusion as to the fact that CrossFitters are on performance-enhancing drugs, because many believe that people only have a certain ceiling for cell growth, but ultimately, unless we can see your genetic code, no one can know for certain what your genetic ceiling is for skeletal muscle cell size. Just because someone doesn’t look like you, doesn’t mean it’s impossible to look like that.

Now going back to hormones, the extent of hormonal interactions in the growth of muscle fibers is directly related to the adapted size of the fibers. Thus, if an exercise program uses the same exercises over and over again, only a specific set of muscle fibers associated with those movements will be activated and stimulated to grow. Since CrossFit is the epitome of variety, in most cases people are working various muscle groups at any given time, which will aid in the growth of all muscle groups, not just one individual group. Studies show that the volume of work, rest periods between sets, and the type of exercise are vital to the response pattern and magnitude of hormonal changes in men and women.

PEDS, Steroids, and Stereotypes
Now many of you may be wondering what all of this has to do with steroids and other PEDs. This has everything to do with why people may fit a stereotype, but not actually be on PEDs - and all because of how they exercise. Every athlete is on a different schedule and type of programming. How an athlete chooses to exercise has an impact how the body responds to hormone interaction. Our bodies all produce their own hormones, and some people have tapped into something within their own bodies that makes them productive in regards to their own hormone secretion.

So just because some people look as though they have only 3% body fat does not automatically mean they are loaded on PEDs. It could mean they have found something that works for them and makes them extremely efficient at using the hormones produced in their own bodies. And there is even more going on to getting strong than what I mentioned here in this article. We didn’t take into account diet, supplementation, or health history. There is a lot going on biologically when it comes to cell growth than what we can see from the outside.

PEDs and CrossFit Competition
As CrossFit becomes more popular in the sports arena, it will be important to ensure that athletes are competing without the help of PEDs. CrossFit does require urine tests for Games-level competitors, but it does so without the help of a third party that has no involvement with the CrossFit organization itself. As the popularity of the sports and the purse sizes grow, this may become a problematic scenario in regards to the drug status of the competitors.

As for right now, there is no need for CrossFitters to get so bent out of shape that people critiquing potential drug use have to pull down their blogs. Everyone has an opinion, even if it may not be valid to you or anyone else you may know. The best thing for us as CrossFitters to do is to be honest, continue to do what we are doing, and not sweat the small stuff. It all comes out in the wash in the end.

The Long-Term Use of Melanotan II for Tanning

How to use MT-II long term and how do to dose it?

There’s no medical evidence on that question, but Melanotan II has been used by very many people for many years now.

Melanotan II works by stimulating the alpha-melanocyte receptor, which promotes formation of melanin in response to sun exposure. When a substantial amount of MT-II has been taken within recent “memory” of the skin cells, an individual tans as if he were a genetically darker type.

Some find MT-II unsuitable for them because of development of moles, or because of uneven skin darkening. But for most it works very well with no problems, including when used long term.

A possible additional side effect is greater tendency to developing an erection, typically beginning several hours after taking the drug. Depending on the individual, dosing may need to be at least 1 mg for this to occur. I’d recommend against exceeding 2 mg at a time. For those specifically seeking this effect, bremalanotide (PT-141) would be another option. It’s reported to share MT-II’s pro-erectile effect, but with no effect on tanning.

Melanotan II has an initial loading phase, and – if desired – a maintenance phase after that. Or, its effect can be allowed to slowly wear off over a period of months, and loading can be repeated.

Usually, 10-30 mg total use is required during the loading phase, with paler individuals requiring more than relatively darker individuals. It’s best to start with very low dosage, such as only 0.25 mg per day, and then work up if desired. Many can tolerate 2 mg/day, but it’s possible that risk increases with such use, and it usually should not be necessary to load up that fast. Even 0.5 mg/day will allow loading with 30 mg in only two months, or 1.0 mg/day will allow that much loading in just 30 days.

To maintain the same tanning ability, ongoing per-year usage after this needs to be about 2-3 times the loading dosage, as an estimate. So for example if you needed 30 mg of loading to get the result you want, to maintain it you might need about 60-90 mg total Melanotan II over the course of the year. You’d already have injected 30 mg of that, so there would be 30-60 mg (typically three to six vials) remaining to inject over the next 11 months.

You could be very precise and figure this as 2.72 – 5.45 mg/month or 0.09 – 0.18 mg/day. But there’s no need to do that. Instead, it would be fine to figure it as a vial per 2-4 months. Once starting on a vial, it could be injected at an amount such as 0.5 mg/day until the vial is finished.

This is easier than having to inject it at all the time, and gives equivalent results.

The frequency of starting maintenance vials can be varied according to personal judgment of effect. There’s no problem with underestimating, or even with going a year or more without maintenance, because it’s always easy to catch back up.

Of course, sun is still required to get a tan. MT-II facilitates tanning, but does not directly cause it.

Dianabol Cycles and Uses

Dianabol (often shortened to D-Bol), was actually a brand name given to the steroid compound Methandrostenolone by the Swiss pharmaceutical and chemical company Ciba. Though production ceased many years ago, the brand name lives on and is still the name by which the steroid is most commonly referred. Nowadays, there are a host of 'underground laboratories' that manufacture this steroid.

Even today, despite steroid users becoming more accustomed to, and have the finance to fund exotic cycles with many different compounds, Dianabol is as popular as ever, owing to the fact that it is not only very cheap and relatively widespread, but results are nothing short of breathtaking, both in terms of mass gained and increases in strength.

Suggested Cycles/Uses
Prospective steroid users will typically look toward Dianabol as their first steroid experience. This is understandable given the unease that they may possess in respect of using inject able steroids. A 4-6 week course of 25mg-30mg per day should yield a pleasing outcome for novice users, whilst minimising side effects. As you would expect, more advanced users will benefit from higher dosages, though the dose/result ratio is not uniformly linear, and will see benefits tapering off strongly above 60mg-70mg per day, a situation also compounded with perhaps unacceptable side effects. However, given the nature of Dianabol, this situation is rarely encountered, as more experienced users will prefer to stack it with an injectable 'base' steroid such as Testosterone or Nandrolone (Deca) in order that the Dianabol dosages are kept modest.

Due to the relatively short half life, the daily dose is usually spread throughout the day, typically three or four times, with meals. Alternatively, some users prefer to take the full daily dose in one sitting, around 30 minutes before their workout. Dosing in this way can give rise to incredible 'pumps' during the workout, providing the user with a very real sense of vigour and increased performance. There is an additional perceived benefit in that a single dosage will result in a slightly greater uptake of the drug. Whilst this is true, it is somewhat of a fallacy due to the fact that any benefit is countered by an increased in liver stress associated with an increased load borne by the liver from a single dosing schedule. Additionally, it will create a spike in blood concentrations, swiftly followed by a crash; a situation which is normally desired to be avoided by users.

Dianabol is particularly suited to mass gaining goals, where the primary aim is to gain as much muscle as possible, with the user typically adjusting their diets to accommodate possibly 5000 calories or more. Testosterone/Deca/Dianabol is a superb combination with this goal in mind, two examples of which are shown below:

(Novice)
Testosterone (Enanthate/Cypionate/Sustanon) 500mg pw, weeks 1-11
Deca 400mg pw, weeks 1-10
Dianabol 25mg ed, weeks 1-4

(Intermediate)
Testosterone (Enanthate/Cypionate/Sustanon) 750mg pw, weeks 1-11
Deca 600mg pw, weeks 1-10
Dianabol 35mg ed, weeks 1-4

Due to the sometimes excessive water retentive properties of Dianabol, it makes it a poor choice of compound in cycles where the user is looking to shed fat. Cardiovascular activity will feature heavily during periods of cutting and these endeavours will be greatly hampered by the water retention and the painful 'pumps' that often ensue.