I was always told as a bodybuilder, to do squats and deadlifts because they increased testosterone and helped build muscle throughout the body. I decided to try and seek out a definitive answer to these common beliefs.

Studies on Testosterone Increase in Squats & Deadlifts :

It didn’t take me too long to stumble across research studies showing that after squats or deadlifts, there was a large increase in serum testosterone levels. Not only is there a increase in testosterone levels, but in Growth Hormone and IGF-1, a couple of other important anabolic hormones. This anabolic release didn’t just happen in squats and deadlifts, but also in smaller resistance excercises, including bench press and isolation excercises. Research indicates that the larger more involved excercises, like squats and deadlifts, will have the largest increase in Testosterone and Growth hormone. Although all resistance training has this effect, a curl for example, would have only a very small increase in Testosterone and Growth hormone. A study published in (Int J Sports Med. 1991 Apr;12(2):228-35) showed this hormonal increase after weight training in both men and women.

I was glad to see there is research to back up that squats and deadlifts are good for increasing testosterone levels. However, there is one major caveat. According to studies it seems to be temporary increase, as a few hours to about a day later, your Testosterone and Growth Hormone levels drop below normal and cortisol remains high. This is where your body is recovering hormonally and people warn about overtraining.

After about a couple days your testosterone levels will return to the same or maybe even slightly higher. I couldn’t find any research that showed those who squatted or weightlifted in general, have significantly higher body testosterone levels long term. In fact, you have to be careful of overtraining. In a study published in (Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1993 Aug;25(8):929-35), strength lifters who came back from a break of weight training, had a surge in testosterone and lowering of cortisol levels. Therefore, taking a break was actually a good thing for them for restoring / increasing their anabolic hormones. If anything, it looks to be long term weight training, is more likely to cause lower testosterone levels than higher levels, if you don’t take a break from training every few weeks and watch workout volume.

Do squats help increase overall muscle mass in body?

This is a little more difficult question to answer. There is no research directly on it, but if we use some logic here, we can probably answer the question. When you do squats, your releasing a substantial amount of hormones that your whole body can feel the effect. When your testosterone increases in your blod, it reaches all parts of the body. It’s not like your arms are going to grow significantly from just a leg workout, but I believe the testosterone increase in the blood can cause muscle growth to other parts of your body. Steroids help you grow by increasing testosterone in the blood, so it makes sense that squats could have a similiar stimulus effect on other muscle parts in the body.

Testosterone levels is by far the most important muscle building factor in the body. Bodybuilders for decades have been trying to increase testosterone levels, be it artificially or naturally. Artificially it is done with the use of Steroids, but in this article we will discuss how to help maintain or increase testosterone levels through your own bodies natural production system. This article is mainly for men, although following the advices here can help women maintain healthy levels of testosterone and estrogen and other hormones, making them feel healthier and vibrant.

Ways to increase testosterone levels:

- High fat diet. Countless research has shown that fats help maintain and even increase testosterone levels. Omega-3’s, monounsaturated and even saturated fats in diet, have all shown to increase testosterone levels.

- Quality consistent sleep. Your body can’t recuperate it’s hormone levels if you dont get at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. People who work swing shifts or change the times of day they sleep constantly, also throw their hormones out of balance.

- Long term dieting. When you are in a calorie deficit, you releas cortisol and lower your testosterone levels. It also lowers other hormones such as Thyroid. During dieting, people generally aren’t as healthy or energetic.

- Don’t overtrain. Excessive weight training and other excercise like cardio, eventually leads to a gradual build up cortisol and lowering of testosterone.

- Prescription / Over the counter drugs. Find out if a prescription drug or over the counter drug interferes with testosterone or DHT. Some drugs for hair loss (Nizoral, proscar, etc), block or interfere with the conversion of testosterone to DHT and may cause side effects, since DHT is more responsible for masculinizing sex effects than testosterone in males.

- Zinc. A few years ago, Zinc was shown to boost testosterone levels in football athletes, when taken together with Vitamin B6. This led to the ZMA craze among bodybuilders, which was a proprietary blend of Zinc and vitamin B6. Zinc prevents the conversion of testosterone to dht, helping to maintain healthy testosterone levels. It is also good for the prostate and if taken before bed, very helpful for getting a good deep sleep. Most people are deficient to some degree in zinc. You can supplement with extra zinc even beyond your multi-vitamin. Taking ZMA specifically is not necessary for the benefits of Zinc, as vitamin B6 only helps aid in Zinc’s absorption.

- 6-OXO. A anti-estrogen supplement developed by the well known bodybuilding supplement chemist Patrick Arnold. Anti-estrogen supplements available on the market today help boost natural testosterone production, by lowering the estrogen in your body. They should be safe for those over 21, as long as it is for brief occasional cycles. Unlike steroids, they do not shut down testosterone production or create supraphysiological levels many times that of natural levels. Instead they increase testosterone levels to a level moderately higher than you normally would have. When you get off of anti-estrogens, your testosterone levels will decrease again as your body goes back to equilibrium.

-Warmer weather. I’ve come across studies that showed that in the cooler months, men’s testosterone levels dropped. I’m sure there is a genetic basis for this, so living in warmer weather most of the year is an advantage for maintaining testosterone levels.

- Lower bodyfat %. The higher your bodyfat % is, most likely the lower your testosterone levels will go. Your fat cells aromatize testosterone to estrogen instead of DHT. Estrogen in the body tends to decrease natural testosterone levels.

- Excercise regurly. Excercise helps keep your testosterone and other hormones at healthy levels, just don’t overtrain.

I hope you learned from this article, how to effectively increase your testosterone levels. This is the list I’ve compiled after reading research studies and bodybuilding articles for years.

There are so many different Creatine forms out today. Every supplement company that came out with a new form of Creatine, claimed that there was better than previous other Creatine forms.

One reason why new forms of Creatine came out after the original Creatine monohydrate was because some people appear to be non-responders. It was believed that this was caused due to a absorption issue, therefore a lot of it was being excreted in the urine and not absorbed into the muscle tissue. Creatine loading was invented to increase the absorption of Creatine. During the loading phase, you may have digestion problems such as diarrhea or stomach upset. That was where you took it in higher doses with glucose/dextrose in order to increase it’s absorption into the body. This is because not all of the Creatine is digesting and the creatine molecule loves to “suck in” a lot of water with it, as it travels through your digestion tract. This is the same reason why creatine works to bloat up your muscles.

Despite creatine loading, many still don’t respond well with creatine monohydrate. New Creatine forms came out that claimed to have a higher absorption rate. Then newer forms of Creatine even claimed other benefits due to the extra compound in the molecule bonded with the creatine molecule. I will review every form of creatine on the market today and which is the best creatine form.

Creatine Forms:

Creatine Monohydrate :

This is the very first creatine product. It is a tasteless white powder. Creatine monohydrate is the cheapest form of creatine so is still widely used, but it also appears to have the highest amount of creatine “non-responders” too. The absorption rate is approximately 1% and it’s advised to be loading phase. Creatine monohydrate is very unstable in water, so make sure when you put it in water you immediately drink it. Creatine Monohydrate in it’s pure form made in Germany, is labeled with the Creapure logo on the tub.

(CEE) Creatine Ethyl Ester :

For years this was the hot new creatine form. Many recommended it as the superior form of Creatine, even though there were no substantial valid studies to really back up claims. CEE could be taken in pill form with no loading phase required. In 07, the first real study came out on CEE by Department of Life Sciences, Kingston University, Penrhyn Rd, Kingston-upon-Thames, United Kingdom. 2University of Northumbria, Sport Sciences, Northumbria University, Northumberland Building, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. The study showed that over 60% degraded to inactive creatinine within 30 minutes sitting in an acidic water solution that mimiced the stomach. This proved it was not as good as once claimed.

Micronized Creatine :

This is creatine monohydrate that underwent a new process called micronization. It allows the molecule to have more surface area making it a higher absorption rate. It will still require a loading phase and only slightly better absorption.

Effervescent Creatine :

This is also just a fancy name for Creatine Monohydrate. The only thing differe here is they add add some sugar and salt.

Tri and Di Creatine Malate :

Tri and Di Creatine Malate are made from Malic acid and Creatine. If you remember biology, malic acid is involved in the Kreb’s cycle of the cell. This is how all energy in the cell is created at it’s basic core. You can see in the diagram below of this cycle how the malate molecule plays a catylst to get the NADH to donate two hydrogens to the malate to convert the NAD to NADH+ and the malate to oxoloacetate.

This Creatine form was created to give more muscular endurance and energy. Users report that it helps do that. Creatine malate has a higher absorption rate than Creatine monohydrate and doesn’t require a loading phase.

Liquid serum creatine :

This is absolute scam that has been widely debunked years ago. Creatine is unstable and degrades in liquid.

Creatine Orate:

The orate molecule is a pre-cursor to nucleic acids like ATP, used as a basic energy currency at the cellular level. This requires no loading phase. Unfortunately, it is quite expensive and there are no studies on the safety of this form of creatine.

Creatine Kre-Alkalyn:

This is a much higher absorption rate than creatine and doesn’t require a loading phase. No studies have been done on the safety of this form of creatine.

Which form is the best creatine?

Considering all the factors together of price, studies, benefits, and side effects I would say the best creatine forms are Creatine Monohydrate, Creatine Kre-alkalyn, and Creatine Malate. All are good choices and each has their own pros and cons. You can’t beat the price of Creatine Monohydrate and for many it works fine with little side effects. If you are a creatine monohydrate non-responder or have a lot of side effects with monohydrate, than Kre-alkalyn is a good creatine form to try instead. If you want a possible extra energy benefit during your workout, you should try Creatine Malate.

I’m writing this article to help separate steroid facts from the government propoganda and exaggerations. As a former user of steroids and spent years researching opinions of steroid experts and research studies on steroids, I will try to give the unbiased facts on their use to the best of my knowledge. My purpose in this article is not to be pro or against steroids, but to be unbiased looking at it from my own experience and what the research says on the issue. I will talk about the various symptoms of steroid use and whether it’s actually a myth, fact, or possible. Possible means it is either happening in susceptible people or there is lack of scientific research to prove it as a fact. Also note this is article is for steroid users taking high doses of steroids and not those who are taking testosterone prescribed through doctor to maintain healthy testosterone levels for HRT (hormone replacement therapy).

- Steroids cause BPH (Benign Prostate Hyperplasia)

Possible. BPH is enlargement of the prostate, that usually effects only older men. But, if you use steroids for years, then BPH will probably affect you. Getting BPH from steroids, would depend on how susceptible you are and how long you have used Steroids. Many users of steroids notice a enlarging of their prostate after a while on cycle, making it slighlty more difficult to urinate. There is controversy over what really causes BPH naturally in men, but DHT is thought to be just one possible component. DHT is converted from testosterone in the body and is 3.5 times more androgenic than testosterone. DHT is what gives men their masculinizing sex effects on the body. All androgenic steroids stimulate the same receptors on the prostate (to various degrees called the androgenic to anabolic ratio) in the same way DHT does.

Another mechanism by which BPH might be caused from steroid use, is due to low testosterone levels post cycle. Low testosterone levels and high estrogen, like as seen with post cycle and hypo gonadal men, can actually cause BPH. Many men have had a reduction in BPH when they were treated clinically with testosterone replacement therapy for low testosterone. The prostate usually shrinks back eventually after a steroid cycle, once your testosteron levels get back to normal, but over time I would think this may lead to a more permanent enlargement effect.

- Steroids increase risk of prostate cancer

Myth. For years doctors thought testosterone (steroids) caused prostate cancer itself by “awakening” a slow hidden growing cancer. This is why men who went on HRT (hormone replacement therapy), would get a PSA test to assess their risk for prostate cancer. As time goes on more and more studies are showing prostate cancer is not due to testosterone levels at all and therefore steroid use wouldn’t have any correlation with prostate cancer. This makes logocial sense to me, since younger men would be getting prostate cancer due to the high testosterone levels. It’s also worth to note, that the prostate holds up to 600 times the level of carcinogens as the rest of the body. I believe the risk of Prostate cancer is mainly caused bytoxins and other genetic factors. This is why it was shown in recent studies, that men who ejaculated more frequently in the 20’s, had less likely chance of prostate cancer later in life. Ejaculation helps the flushing of the prostate from cancer from these toxins. Some research studies are also showing increased risk of prostate cancer based on genetics, race, diets, and environmental factors.

- Steroids cause Roid Rage

Myth This is an absolute myth. Roid rage is seen as a condition 360 degree change in personality causing an uncontrollable psychotic anger state. Most studies have disproven the idea of what people consider roid rage. Now there are studies that show a slight more aggression or confidence, but its not going to turn a calm person into an angry psychotic person where they lose all rationale for no reason.

- Steroids shrink your Penis

Myth. Absolutely false. This myth is spread probably from confusion in the fact that your testicles shrink on cycle, due to your testosterone production shutting down temporarily.

- Steroids cause excessive hair growth and very deep voice

Possible. This will depend on how naturally hairy and deep your voice is before your steroid cycle. You may notice more and faster hair growth rate while on cycle. Your voice may get deeper from steroid use long term. It all depends on your genetics, as many steroid users have a higher pitched voice and still lack of natural body hair, even despite frequent steroid use.

- Steroids increase hair loss

Possible. Once again this will depend on your genetics before your cycle. If you have thick hair and aren’t destined to go bald in your life, then you will lose very little hair during cycle.

- Steroids cause hallucinations and delusions

Myth. Steroids are not a mind altering drug and do not cause roid rage or any other kind of psychotic behaviour, like hallucinations.

- Steroids cause high blood pressure

Possible. Steroids due to increased water retention and stimulation on the heart, cause increase in blood pressure. If you have borderline blood pressure it may become high blood pressure during cycle.

- Steroids cause diabetes

Possible. Steroids are known to cause high glucose levels and reduced insulin sensitivity. Using that logic, long term use of steroids possibly could increase risk of diabetes, especially in those who are genetically susceptible to the diabetic gene.

- Steroids cause cataracts

Possible. I think this claim from the fact that diabetics get higher chance of cataracts and steroids increase glucose levels. I don’t think there is any scientific evidence to know what role steroids play in causing cataracts.

- Steroids cause impotence

Possible. This is very common side effect and may happen during or after a cycle. If you are using testosterone, then impotence will probably only happen post cycle, as your body tries to recuperate it’s natural testosterone levels. If you are using a steroid other than testosterone, you may experience it during and after your steroid cycle since your body won’t have testosterone in it because it’s shutting down it’s testosterone production. Even though your replacing one androgenic steroid (dht and testosterone) for a different artificial one, it won’t have the same sexual and libido effects as DHT and testosterone does.

- Steroids cause depression

Possible. It would depend on the type of steroids, what your mental condition was before steroid use, and if you are on or just getting off a steroid cycle. Many users might experience depression post cycle, due to the low testosterone levels.

- Steroids are addictive

Possible. When a person gets off steroids they may be depressed and feel weaker and less energetic than while they were on. This leads to you often wanting to start another steroid cycle and when that is done do another and then another. Most people do not just do one steroid cycle and quit forever.

- Steroids increase risk of liver cancer

Fact. Oral methlyated steroids are certainly proven to be carcinogenic (cancer causing) to the liver. They are methylated so they can bypass the liver the first time. However, many steroid users don’t use oral steroids, but inject them. Injecting them is much safer for the liver.

- Steroids increase stress on your kidneys

Fact. Steroids cause you to retain more sodium and water and increase blood pressure. This results in more stress on the kidneys, especially if you let your blood pressure get too high or don’t drink enough water.

- Steroids lower sperm count

Fact Anytime you take in extra endogenous (outside body) steroids, your natural testosterone and sperm production shut down. Once you get off your steroid cycle, your testicles should awaken and start making sperm and testosterone again. This has made testosterone a viable birth control option and has even been considered in the medical community as male birth control.

- Steroids cause permanent damage to natural testosterone production

Possible. Recovery of your testosterone depends on your personal genetics. Some individuals have problems recovering their testosterone levels, even after their first short cycle. Some have to go months using clomid ( a common post cycle ancilliary) or even inject HCG to jumpstart the testicles. On the other hand, many can do multiple cycles in a row and recover fully their natural testosterone production between each cycle. THe more cycles you do, the more likely you may lead to some long term damage on your natural testosterone production.

- Steroids shorten your life

Possible. There is some research in rats, showing those injected with testosterone didn’t live as long. Testosterone may also be why men don’t live as long as women. Steroids certainly won’t increase your lifespan, but there isn’t evidence that a few steroid cycles will significantly shorten a person’s life either. If one were to abuse it for many years, than I imagine it probably will shorten your lifespan at least a little.

- Steroids lower your HDG (good cholesterol)

Fact. Most steroid users will notice a drop in HDL cholesterol. They also may notice a lowering of LDL and total cholesterol because the liver is under more strain and tends to produce less cholesterol.

- Steroids enlarge your heart

Possible. There is some research that shows that steroid users may have more risk for enlarged or thickening of the walls in the heart. There is controversy over those studies and there isn’t much evidence either way.

- Steroids cause sleep apnea

Possible. Some people may experience sleep apnea while on cycle. This may be caused due to the weight gain and higher blood pressure, while on Steroids.

- Steroids make it harder to gain muscle naturally

Possible. It would depend on how much you used steroids and other factors. If you gained 20 lbs of muscle off a recent steroid cycle and kept it, yes it will be harder to gain muscle naturally on top of that new muscle. On the other hand, if you damaged your testosterone levels from steroid abuse long term, yes it will be harder to gain muscle naturally in the future. If you lose your muscle gains, it may be easier to gain that muscle back naturally because you will have stretched your fascia tissue. Many bodybuilders believe muscle memory is mainly caused by the stretching of fascia tissue in the muscles. Therefore former steroid users may have a easier time reaching more muscle mass, even if they lost their steroid gains because of the muscle memory factor.

- Steroids damage tendons

Fact. There is some research that indicates steroids are damaging to the tendons. To make matters worse, the large increases in strength and weight gain on cycle can cause greater risk of injury on tendons. Usually are tendons don’t have enough time to adjust to the these gains.

- Steroids cause bone loss

Myth. This is confusing anabolic steroids with another form of steroids called Glucocorticoids, which is used for other medical conditions and has very different effects on the body. Anabolic steroids actually have been prescribed in the past for bone marrow stimulation and treating osteoporosis.

- Steroids cause gynecomastia (”Man boobs”)

Possible. Many boys get gynecomastia during puberty. Usually it is lumps of breast tissue underneath the tissue. Steroids can possibly cause or aggrivate it either during a high dose Testosterone cycle, when estrogen levels get too high. It can also happen possibly with Trenebolone, which aggravates gyno through another mechanism in the body, prolactin. Another common way it can happen is post cycle, when your testosterone levels are low but your estrogen levels may be high. This imbalance creates a big risk for gyno to develop. That is one reason why it is important for fast recovery post cycle using anti-estrogen ancillaries like clomid to boost testosterone production and lower estrogen levels.

- Steroids increase acne

Possible. This will depend on how susceptible you are to acne before your cycle. Many show more cystic acne in the face and on their back and chest during cycle. If you are already susceptible to acne, it may increase to extreme levels causing painful acne cysts on the back, chest, or face.

- Steroids cause heart attacks or stroke

Possible. I see absolutely no evidence that in the short term, it would cause this in healthy individuals. However, long term use for decades may increase risk of stroke and heart attack due to the negative effects steroids have on your HDLs, blood pressure, and other possible negative effects of your heart health.

If you want a comprehensive authoritive book on Steroids from a leading industry expert, I recommend Molecular Nutrition Anabolics Book 9th Edition: 2009 written by William Llewellyn at Amazon.com.

Almost every male bodybuilder has wondered if ejaculating too frequently, could hurt their muscle building gains. Some have even recommended holding off for days to help boost their muscle gains.

Sex & Ejaculation effects immediately on testosterone levels

The basis for the argument that ejaculation hurts muscle gains, I believe is probably rooted from the belief that it reduces testosterone. I used to believe the same thing, until I did research on it. From looking at animal and human studies, there doesn’t seem to be any basis that ejaculation will lower testosterone levels immediately afterwards.

Animal studies show a rise in testosterone during mating and arousal. Human studies such as one published in (Psychoneuroendocrinology. 1993;18(3):205-18), have shown men’s testosterone levels rise during sexual arousal and even aggressive activies, such as holding a gun. I have only seen animal studies, that measured testosterone levels post ejaculation. Some of these studies show no changes post ejaculation, while others show a rise in testosterone. No study I have seen, has shown a actual drop in testosterone post ejaculation.

So why is it such a common belief that testosterone drops after ejaculation? I believe this is because men get tired and satisfied after ejaculation, leading people to think it lowers testosterone levels. I believe this mental effect is actually from changes in the brain after ejaculation. An interesting study at Department of Pharmacobiology, Centro de Investigación y Estudios Avanzados. measured the androgen receptor density (how potent testosterone would feel in the brain) after ejaculation. The study showed a decreased density, post ejaculation in rats. The density didn’t return to normal for 72 hours. So, we may feel like testosterone levels in the blood drop post ejaculation, but they actually don’t.

Sex & Ejaculation long term effects on testosterone levels

We have established that there is no short term lowering of testosterone levels from ejaculation, but
many think ejaculating too often can lead to lower testosterone levels long term. The only study that looks at more of a long term effect from ejacualation, was done by chinese group (J Zhejiang Univ Sci. 2003 Mar-Apr;4(2):236-40). 28 men volunteered to not ejaculate for one week. There was no change in testosterone levels for the first 6, then on the 7th it spiked by 47% on average. However, the next day while still abstaining from ejaculation, it lowered quickly back to normal. I believe this is because the large spike in testosterone shut off natural production, until testosterone levels went back to normal. This study tells me that every 6 or 7 days, there may be a large increase in testosterone, if someone abstains from ejaculation. Then testosterone will naturally balance out to normal afterwards. So, long term there doesn’t seem to be much (if any) benefit from abstaining from ejaculation.

Sex & Ejaculation effects on strength

Ejaculation may have a effect on your strength in the weight room. Testosterone has a natural stimulant and energy effect on the brain. High testosterone makes you feel stronger and more aggressive. In that study I cited earlier, it showed a lowering of androgen receptor density in the brain after ejaculation. This lowering could effect your strength because your brain perceives less testosterone, even if it actually doesn’t drop. Ejaculation also releases endorphins into the bloodstream. These are opiates that make you feel sleepy. This is not exactly the ideal conditions right before a workout. If you ejaculate hours before a workout, you might be weaker and have less energy. Since strength gains usually help muscle gains in the long run, ejaculating before a workout would not be a good idea for optimal muscle gains. So in that aspect, sex (or ejaculation) will have a negative long term effect on muscle gains.

Hardcore bodybuilders are now more and more open to the idea in recent years of using site enhancement oils (SEOS) to increase muscle size. Site enhancement oils are an oil based substance that is injected into the muscle to help make them grow. The most popular brand name is Synthol , developed back in the 90’s. Synthol is mainly medium-chain triglycerides, with a smaller amount of localized pain killer (Lidocaine) and benzyl alcohol (for sterilization).

Naively one will first think its just the oil inside the muscle causing the muscle to get bigger. They think that as the oil leaves the muscle will shrink back, so it must be injected constantly. That
might be partly true, but site enhancement oils seem to have a more permanent effect by fascia stretching. Fascia is a tight connective tissue surrounding muscles and it’s thought that stretching it helps with muscle gains. It is same reason why some bodybuilders do fascia stretching workouts and probably the mechanism I believe is behind muscle memory. Some bodybuilders report that site injections with steroid esters, also seem to have a localized effect on muscle growth where they were injected. This would probably be caused by fascia tissue once again. SEOs are not to be confused with injecting steroids as they contain different compounds and SEOs don’t have any anabolic steroids in them.

There is another theory about how SEOs cause muscle gains. Some believe it is due to increased scar tissue buildup. I tend to believe the fascia theory instead because the fascia phenomenon is seen to a slightly less degree by spot injecting steroids and because fascia tissue stretching seems the only likely explanation for muscle memory.

Pro-bodybuilders have been believed to have been using SEOs commonly for many years now, but probably wasn’t very common before the mid-late 90’s. Pro-bodybuilders have to be careful of how much they inject because they lose the muscle hardness and natural shape with excessive use. Pro bodybuilders only use it as more of an aide in bringing up their lagging muscles.

If someone abuses SEOs for many years, they will start to look like Greg Valentino.

At one time Greg Valentino was a respectable amateaur bodybuilder as
you can see in this picture in his earlier days.

He got obsessed with using SEOs and even got an abcess from it that he drained himself! (Ouch)

Now Greg Valentino is considered a joke in bodybuilding. Greg is a loud mouth jerk who likes to get attention now. Greg always talks about his steroid use negatively and what it did to him, but the truth is everyone knows he used SEOs, which he conveniently fails to tell others. I’ve seen pictures of others who weren’t that extreme, but everyone who overdoes it gives their muscles a ridiculous unproportioned soft lumpy look compared to the rest of their body.

More importantly to any other issue with SEO use, is the health of using them. Their is a serious risk of stroke or death because you could inject it accidentally in a artery instead of your muscles. If you inject it into a artery, you will cause it to travel to other parts of your body, like your heart or brain or lungs. Years ago, Pro-bodybuilder Milos Sarcev almost died injecting it into his triceps.

Genetics play a huge role on side effects during a steroid cycle, including how much hair you will lose. Some will experience a little increase in shedding during a heavy androgenic cycle, while others will practically see clumps come out when they comb.

Bodybuilders usually report though that it starts to thicken back weeks after the cycle is over with. The thing about male pattern baldness is that androgenic alopecia is a condition that gets worse. Just because it grows back doesn’t mean it is the same as before. That is because DHT (or any androgenic steroid) causes follicular miniaturization on hair follicles. Meaning, the hairs get progressively thinner and thinner everytime, until eventually its too thin to see or stops growing completely.

Since DHT and steroids can do irreversible damage to the hair follicles via this follicular miniarturization mechanism, the best way to prevent the damage is blocking via anti-androgens on the scalp. Two common shampoos are Spironolactone and Nizoral, that act as anti-androgens in the scalp. Nizoral 1% can be found in stores, the stronger 2% is via prescription, although over the counter in Canada. Spironolactone is found commercially as a pill taken orally, but obviously it’s anti androgen properties would counteract your steroids, so there are sites that sell it in topical solution for your hair.

The prescriptions Finasteride (Brand names Propecia, Proscar, etc) block the conversion of testosterone to DHT via the 5AR enzyme. This will Not be helpful at all for steroid cycles consisting of Tren, D-bol, Anadrol, or any other steroid besides testosterone that cause hair loss on their own. Taking Finasteride with Deca would even worsen your hair loss, since Deca converts to a very weak androgen DHN in the scalp and prostate, weaker androgenically than deca itself and these 5AR blockers would stop that conversion.

The popular over the counter and prescription treatment Rogaine won’t do much to prevent it while on cycle. It is more for getting your hair back after the fact. Anti-dandruff shampoos with zinc pyrithione, have shown in studies to have a hair diameter increasing effect, so they should be used regurlarly on and off your steroid cycle for good measure.

Most bodybuilders are aware that estrogen can cause gyno. Most steroid users are also fully aware that Trenbolone can cause gyno when taken by itself, even though it doesn’t convert to estrogen at all. How is this possible?

Two major theories of how Trenbolone could cause gyno symptoms have been theorized over the years. They believe that Tren causes the gyno, by directly stimulating either prolactin or progesterone receptors. Anabolic steroids Trenbolone and Deca are both progestins. Deca also converts to estrogen, but Tren does not. They are not to be confused with progesterone, but instead progestins, a type of progestogen, that can stimulate the progesterone receptor. Tren even converts to a metabolite in the body, that binds stronger to progesterone receptors than progesterone itself!

Directly increasing progesterone or prolactin doesn’t necessarily mean you will develop gyno according to research. The study (J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1988 Jan;66(1):230-2) shows that progesterone works synergistically with estrogen, to stimulate breast production. According to (Clin Biochem 2001 Nov;38(Pt 6):596-607), prolactin only has a stimulatory effect on gynecomastia in the prescence of high circulating estrogen levels. Testosterone which aromotizes to estrogen caused a cause of increased prolactin according to (Acta Endocrinol (Copenh) 1984 Feb;105(2):167-72). In the same study, Clomid (clomiphene) and Nolva (tamoxifen) showed a reduction in the man’s high levels of prolactin. There is no research evidence that I have found, that points to true breast development developing with just prolactin or progesterone alone or caused by non-aromotizing steroids, without any high circulating estrogen levels. Estrogen must be at high enough levels to work synergistically with high levels of prolactin or progesterone, to cause breast development and lactation.

Whether Tren stimulates prolactin or progesterone, without at least moderate levels of circulating estrogen at the same time in the body, Tren can’t cause full development of gyno. The real solution to curing gyno caused during a tren cycle therefore, is to take anti-estrogens, to lower circulating estrogen levels. Even if you are taking Tren by itself, you still will have a lot of estrogen circulating in your blood for a few weeks, until your natural testosterone levels shut down. Sensitive people to gyno might have to use a anti-estrogen, even when taking tren without other estrogen converting steroids, to lower natural estrogen levels in the body.

Many bodybuilders recommend using anti-prolactin drugs Bromocriptine or Cabaser / Dostinex (both Cabaser and Dostinex contain active ingredient Cabergoline), or even RU-486 “The abortion pill”, which is a progesterone blocker. These drugs have side effects are expensive and not commonly carried by many sources. I have heard reports from bodybuilders that bromocriptine didn’t help them, but strong anti-aromatase inhibitors like letrozole did. Therefore, it is better to use an anti-estrogen to combat tren based gyno. The only anti-estrogen I wouldn’t recommend for combatting this gyno is Nolva (tamoxifen) because in (J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2003 Sep;86(3-5):461-7) they found progesterone receptor expression increased, while it decreased with other anti-aromatase inhibitors.

One major reason why steroid users usually cycle is so they can regain their natural testosterone levels. During steroid use, your testicles shut down their natural teststerone production. Your testicles shrink because they are no longer “active”. As the anabolic steroids leave your body, your body slowly revs back up it’s production again and your testicles grow back in size.

After short cycles or infrequent use, most will bounce back fairly easily, especially with the use of anti-estrogens post-cycle. Anti-estrogens help boost testosterone levels post cycle by lowering estrogen, an important indicator for the body in regulating testosterone production in the testicles. However, there are some people who struggle to get testosterone back after even their very first cycle. It seems to be genetically determined because some can recover no problems without even anti-estrogens, while others have shrunken testicles and low testosterone problems for many weeks or even months. It’s pretty easy to tell you have low testosterone, you’ll feel like a 10 year old girl scout and you won’t even be able to maintain your gains.

Patrick Arnold, a expert in steroid chemistry and use, has said in the past that some people are pre-disposed to having trouble recovering their testosterone levels post-cycle. He recommends an extra long course of anti-estrogens or even possibly HCG as a final resort. Anti-estrogens usually are only taken for 2 to 4 weeks, but those with problems recovering should probably due it much longer. HCG (Human chorionic gonadotropin) is injected to jumpstart testicles sometimes because it acts like LH, a hormone that directly stimulates the testicles. The one downside to HCG is that overuse will actually cause too much testosterone causes a negetive feedback responce, once again inhibiting natural testosterone production.

Your testicles usually fully recover pretty quickly after one cycle or infrequent use, but long term abuse is another thing. You could possibly damage your testicles by staying on too long or doing too many steroid cycles over the years. It is hard to say how much damage, it would vary by the individual and their history of use. Problems would build up cumulatively, so that is why it is best to do your steroid cycles infrequently, so you allow the body to fully recover in between each one. There are reports of some former pro-bodybuilders or heavy steroid users having to take HRT (Testosterone replacement) because they have damaged their natural testosterone production. Many pro-bodybuilders never go off steroids because they won’t even be able to maintain their muscle if they did so. This will surely cause irrevecoble damage to their fertility and ability to produce testosterone.

Flexcin is a natural joint and arthritis supplement. I know many of my older weightlifting friends have joint or arthritis problems from years of lifting weights or sports when they were younger, so I thought I would tell you guys about this supplement. You don’t have to suffer with joint problems because there are natural ingredients that will help. I haven’t used Flexcin personally, but I gave their other product Flexpet to my dog. Flexpet is equivalent to Flexcin, except its for dogs and cats. I can tell you that Flexpet definitely worked for my dog. He was an older dog and had been suffering from arthritis and also hip dysplasia. After a few weeks he had a much easier time getting up and getting around and he didn’t limp as much if he went outside to play.

Flexcin contains many ingredients you can find in other joint supplements, but they also contain a proprietary ingredient called CM8 that I haven’t seen in any other joint supplement. CM8 stands for cetyl myristoleate and it works in 3 different functions on the join. It works by lubricating the joints. It also reduces inflammation of the joints. Inflammation is the main reason why arthritis causes pain and swelling. Finally, it acts as a immune system modulator. This helps get at the root cause since arthritis is a auto-immune related disease, where your body attacks its itself causing damage and inflammation to the joints. CM8 also has another benefit, it reduces muscle tension. Flexcin is the only product on the market that contains CM8.

In addition to CM8, it contains many other common joint supplement ingredients. It has Glucosmaine, which actually converts in the body to a structural component of the joint. Glucosamine has been shown in research studies to help significantly with arthritis and joint problems. Flexcin also adds in MSM, which has been shown in studies to help alleviate joint pain. There are a few other ignredients that will work syngerstically together with the rest. All the ingredients in Flexcin have been proven to work in research studies and by anecdotal evidence from people I have reviews using it. It’s ideal to have a supplement with a well rounded variety of proven ingredients because it attacks the problem better. When I was looking for a supplement for my dog, I did a lot of research on different supplement ingredients. I’m pretty well versed in supplements and body, so I know when something is junk or not, which is why I chose their product.

Here is a video of a elder weightlifter who saw improvement from using flexcin too.

You can only order Flexcin through their official website. It comes back with a money back guarantee too.