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Bodybuilding is a journey of learning – identifying boundaries and how to break through them. Major limitations are usually physiological, psychological or environmental. Each bodybuilder brings different success variables to the gym. Some have access to great facilities while others obtain great coaches or nutritionists. Elite bodybuilders reveal genetics that allow unusual amounts of muscle mass to be acquired – while others seek pharmaceutical assistance to make up for genetic shortcomings. Anabolic-androgenic steroids, hormones that boost muscle anabolism, have been used by professional and recreational athletes for decades. Periods of AAS use, referred to as steroid cycles, are employed to generate greater increases in strength and muscle hypertrophy.

What are anabolic-androgenic steroids?

Testosterone is a naturally occurring male hormone. It virilizes female embryos to become male fetuses. Through puberty and into adulthood, testosterone continues to influence many of the body’s characteristics. Females naturally produce testosterone but in very small amounts since they lack the male reproductive organ, the testes, which produces a great portion of circulating testosterone. If they are not cautious and modest with steroid use, females can obtain permanent male characteristics. Women tend to avoid steroid use for this reason.

All anabolic-androgenic steroids are derivatives of testosterone. Synthetic anabolic steroids were originally developed to alter the testosterone molecule for increased anabolic and decreased androgenic functions. Anabolic refers to the tissue-building events (muscle, bone), while androgenic activity is the result of the male-like effects (body hair, deepening of the voice). Obtaining a purely anabolic steroid would be ideal but is not possible – all exert some androgenic effects to varying degrees. On the therapeutic index, a measurement of anabolic versus androgenic ratios, testosterone rates as the baseline standard. Compared to testosterone, nandrolone rates an 11 to 12, significantly more anabolic than androgenic. The general idea behind stacking compounds is to increase total steroid use while minimizing unwanted androgenic side effects; such as increases in body hair, deepening of vocal patterns, prostate (males) or clitoris (females) enlargement, and aggravation of hereditary hair loss. Furthermore, steroids are combined in a manner destined to limit water or fat retention.

All steroid cycles need testosterone; even if only at a replacement dose. Self-administering testosterone, and other derivative androgens, shuts down natural testosterone until the body no longer senses external intervention. Eliminating testosterone from day-to-day functions routinely causes decreases in libido and general disposition. Anabolic steroid use in teens is careless since the body must maintain control during puberty’s development stages. The hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis can not fully regain power until all drugs complete their active lives. At that point, a post-cycle therapy plan is needed for a swift recovery. Ancillary drugs are often used to help complete recovery and amplify required signals to resume natural production; such as: nolvadex, arimidex, HCG and Clomid.

First AAS cycle, gaining familiarity

First cycles are a revelation of sorts. Under the right conditions, gains in muscle mass are rewarding. An athlete might feel a bit uneasy the first time supra physiological levels of androgens are experienced – not to mention getting accustomed to self-administering intramuscular injections – but most apprehension is cured through prior education. It’s paramount to take time to learn about drug use for enhanced performance, as well as how to remain safe. The steroid cycle’s purpose and forecasted actions must be outlined before anything is administered. Hormones are powerful chemical messengers and should always be treated as such to avoid unwanted results. Safe injection procedures must also be discovered.

Only one steroid is needed for an introductory cycle: testosterone. A first cycle should be structured in a simplistic manner that allows some initial guidance for future endeavors. Stacking several compounds is difficult to learn from due to all the concurrent drug use. Stacking is generally unnecessary for first time steroid cycles. It’s important to first understand reactions that occur during supra physiological amounts of blood testosterone. Notes should be taken regarding physiological, psychological and performance effects.

Anabolic steroids help athletes who are interested in greater musculature by escalating protein synthesis and cross-over binding to gluco-corticoids. The required dose for a pronounced ergogenic affect, with minimal risk, primarily depends on current lean body mass, partly due to receptor availability. Testosterone-induced muscular hypertrophy is dose-dependent. First-time steroid users frequently obtain performance benefits from testosterone-only therapy at doses that increase circulating testosterone levels 10-fold. If a strength athlete can not profit from major elevations in testosterone, there are deeper problems to address.

Steroids and the training year

Time spent off a cycle is at least as important as how the time is spent on; an important lesson to learn about training augmented by anabolic-androgenic steroids. Many embark on cycle, after cycle, extending the duration and becoming increasingly risky in their use. Frequently they get bigger and softer as time elapses – others lose the muscle gains they obtain. Why go through the torture of gaining muscle only to routinely lose it?

Time spent off is often left as an after thought, almost like a hopeless period. Many feel time off is an inevitable loss, but it does not need to be that way. A bodybuilder must fully explore their unique nutrition and training variables for many years before starting any pharmacological ergogenics, to include anabolic steroids. With cumulative training and nutrition knowledge, time spent off is also progressive.

Taking the time to lose accumulated fat in between steroid cycles directly makes future cycles more rewarding. Staying lean allows the body to obtain productive calorie partitioning and embrace shifts into rewarding growth phases. Periods of gaining muscle can benefit largely by anabolic steroid use but neither maintenance nor fat loss requires supra physiological amounts of androgens. Bodybuilders with excessive amounts of lean body mass can become an exception if steroid use has catapulted them past what their body can reasonably support naturally. Everybody has unique genetic ability to hold varying amounts of LBM.

It is also important to detrain every once in awhile – no matter how hard and unnatural it feels to stop working out. Periods of detraining can reset any accumulated levels of micro-trauma and fatigue and allow full recovery. An entire year without any breaks will lead to some degree of overreaching or overtraining syndrome. A couple weeks of rest should follow periods of frequent exhaustion; such as after an AAS-assisted bulking cycle or a long cutting phase. Detraining can lead to natural increases in plasma concentrations of growth hormone, testosterone and the testosterone-to-cortisol ratio (from decreases in cortisol levels). These hormone changes benefit any athlete trying to reverse the negative effects of overtraining syndrome. They are also helpful when coming off a cycle, when quick and full HPTA restoration is needed to support an increased in LBM.

Time spent off anabolic steroid cycles should be targeted toward cycle preparation, general preservation, eliminating excess fat mass or recovery after an exhausting period. Cycle priming, an AAS cycle preparation period, can use a cyclic carbohydrate diet and a fairly progressive training routine – the goal is to become sensitive to an upcoming increase in calories and training intensity. Maintenance phases are a time to set aside the training log and complicated dieting strategies – simply sustain current development. Cutting phases target excess body fat for breakdown and removal. Recovery periods of detraining are meant to replenish energy and allow the body to fully recover from the trauma caused by previous training cycles – abstinence from resistance and cardiovascular training. For example, this is a general training structure for a journey into enhanced bodybuilding performance:

Cycle priming for 8 to 10 weeks;
AAS-assisted bulking for 4-8 weeks;
Maintenance for 2-4 weeks;
Cycle priming for 8 to 10 weeks;
AAS-assisted bulking for 4-8 weeks;
Maintenance for 2-4 weeks;
Body fat cutting for 8 to 10 weeks;
Detraining for 1-2 weeks;
Maintenance for 2-4 weeks;
So on, so forth…

The type of training (volume versus abbreviated, high-intensity versus fast-paced), for priming, cutting, bulking and maintenance, should have been discovered through trial, error and research – before embracing steroid use. Previously kept training logs can be analyzed as a golden map to discovering what works and what doesn’t for each training phase.

For many, the choice to use steroids for enhanced muscular development is clear and absolute. But impulsive moves and risky application can be avoided with a little prior research and planning.

USATODAY.com - How anabolic steroids work.