Dbol
Dianabol, commonly known as Dbol, was the second anabolic steroid ever created, and one of the few anabolic steroids ever to hit the shelf with nothing but performance enhancement in mind. Brought to us by Ciba in the late 1950's, this small oral steroid was developed for one reason; to help the United States defeat the Soviet Union in the Olympic Games. The cause was straightforward; the Soviet Union had begun administering testosterone to their athletes; testosterone being the first anabolic steroid ever created. Of course, as a result the U.S.S.R. was destroying the U.S. competition, and the U.S. needed an advantage; in came Dbol. With Dbol now in their arsenal, as well as testosterone, the U.S. would soon find itself dominating the Olympic Games, and as a result both of these steroids would spread like wildfire into all athletic pursuits. Of course, since that time numerous anabolic androgenic steroids have hit the shelf, but through it all Dbol has remained in high demand. Further, while direct athletic enhancement was its intent, like many steroids the majority of those who supplement are not athletes at all; they're simply individuals who wish to build a better body and nothing more.
As Dbol was designed with performance in mind, as we take a look at this powerful anabolic steroid performance will be what we keep in mind. While true, this is an anabolic steroid that can serve a strong therapeutic purpose in the form of androgen replacement therapy; unfortunately, it's a purpose very few physicians have been able to grab onto for several reasons that make as much sense as saying what goes up must come diaper. In any case, let's take a look at Dbol and all it has to offer. We'll look at its structural nature and traits, its benefits and side-effects, and with any luck lead you to safe and successful supplementation should you desire.
Dbol 101:
Methandrostenolone is a testosterone derived anabolic androgenic steroid most commonly known by the Dianabol trade name and often referred to as simply Dbol. Carrying an anabolic rating of 210 and an androgenic rating of 60, in-order to understand this you must understand the rating system. All ratings are based on a steroid's structural nature, and such ratings are all measured against testosterone which happens to carry a rating of 100 in both categories. As you can see, Dbol is far more anabolic than testosterone, but its androgenic rating is a bit misleading. Dbol will normally display stronger androgenic activity than its rating implies, and this can be a good thing for those who desire such activity.
A steroid that works in direct correlation with the androgen receptors, like many steroids it will enhance nitrogen retention; nitrogen representing 16% of the composition of all muscle tissue. While that may not sound like much, it's vastly important as the more we retain the more anabolic we remain, and the less we retain can result in a catabolic state. While nitrogen retention is important, the primary traits of Dbol are enhanced protein synthesis and glycogenolysis. Protein synthesis refers to the rate by-which cells build proteins, the building blocks of muscle, and glycogenolysis which simply refers to the breakdown of glycogen into glucose; in-short, our carbohydrate consumption is increasingly utilized.
An oral steroid carrying an active half-life of only about five hours, Dbol must be administered on a daily basis, with twice daily sometimes being recommended; especially with high doses. Like most oral steroids, with the exception of oral Primobolan and Proviron, Dbol is a C17-alpha alkylated (C17-aa) anabolic steroid, and this means it's toxic to the liver. The C17-aa nature refers to a structural change of the hormone at the 17th carbon position; without it, the hormone would largely be destroyed by the liver before benefits could be obtained. Fortunately, this C17-aa nature allows the hormone to survive the first pass through the liver, but it also burdens the liver with a fair amount of stress due to the hepatotoxic nature it now carries. Don't worry, there is hope, but it will all revolve around responsible supplementation as we will see later on.
The Benefits of Dbol:
The benefits of Dbol can largely be summed up with three little words; mass and strength. For this reason, this is one of the premier off-season anabolic steroids, and due to its fast acting nature is often used to kick start a new mass program off. As this steroid will work powerfully fast, you will see massive increases in size and strength while the slower acting injectable steroids are building in your system, but this isn't the only point of off-season use. Dbol can also be used mid-cycle to break through a sticking point. At some point in time, and this happens with or without anabolic steroid use you are going to hit a wall, and to break though it something must change; Dbol can be the change you're looking for. There really are no two ways about it; when it comes to mid-cycle plateau busting, there is no anabolic steroid as effective on earth.
Of course, a common question is how much weight will you gain? This is impossible for us to answer; after all, everyone's response will be different and dosing will also play a role as will the other hormones you may be using. Even so, it's not uncommon for as much as 20lbs in mass to be obtained, and while some of that may indeed be water weight a good bit will be lean muscle tissue. This brings us to another point; your diet. If you want to grow, you must eat to grow; this doesn't mean you should stuff your face like a fat pig, if you do you'll be a fat pig, but you still need to provide the calories needed for growth. If you are in a caloric deficit and the scale doesn't move up, don't be surprised; Dbol like all steroids isn't magical, and the rules of nutrition do not magically disappear just because you're supplementing.
While mass won't increase without excess calories, this steroid can still be beneficial when caloric intake is at maintenance or even in a deficit. Like many steroids, it will preserve lean tissue, but for our purposes here its greatest attribute will be a strength increase. This makes Dbol a great choice for some athletes; after all, the stronger and faster you are the better athlete you'll be. Now if you're an athlete who eats a pretty hefty diet and you're worried about gaining mass, this probably isn't the steroid to use, but it can serve a strong athletic enhancing purpose; after all, that's the very reason it was developed.
The Side-Effects of Dbol:
While the benefits of Dbol are powerful and tremendous, this is an anabolic steroid that carries possible side-effects, and this will hold true for all men who supplement. When it comes to the side-effects of Dbol, the most important factor will revolve around this steroid's strong aromatizing nature; specifically, the conversion of testosterone into estrogen. As estrogen levels rise, this can lead to gynecomastia or what is often referred to as male-breast enlargement, water retention and of course, high blood pressure. For this reason, the use of an Aromatase Inhibitor (AI) such as Anastrozole or Letrozole is often advised in-order to combat and even avoid such conditions. AI's function by inhibiting the aromatase process from occurring, and they take it a step further by reducing your body's total estrogen levels. It doesn't take a genius to see AI's can offer a great deal of protection, but that's not all you need to know. If your dose goes too high, even with an AI your blood pressure can get out of hand; in-fact, Dbol can be one of the worst steroids on earth as it pertains to blood pressure. Further, it's also important to maintain a proper dosing for the sake of your cholesterol as your levels can get out of hand, but this brings us to an important point below.
When you supplement with Dbol, and this goes for all anabolic steroids it is imperative you live a healthy lifestyle that promotes the continuation of good health. If your blood pressure and cholesterol levels are healthy prior to supplementation, and you shouldn't be supplementing otherwise, continue to live in a way that promotes the continuation of such healthy levels; in-fact, give it more attention. This should not be all that hard to do; after all, you're supplementing for the purpose of performance enhancement, and an unhealthy lifestyle does not promote this end. You bet, this means avoiding excess or heavy alcohol consumption, but it also needs to be avoided due to the C17-aa nature of this steroid as discussed above. Heavy alcohol consumption is extremely hard on the liver, and you don't need the added stress; more so, alcohol itself is the most anti-performance thing you could ever put into your body. While you should avoid excess alcohol, and all alcohol if you want to do things right, you are also encouraged to avoid all over the counter (OTC) medications when possible. Many OTC meds carry extremely strong hepatotoxic natures, some even more so than many anabolic steroids, and their use must be limited to only when truly needed.
If you can do all of these things, if you're a healthy adult male then there's no reason you can't, this means there's no reason the side-effects of Dianabol should be a problem for you. If you hold water and you're using an AI, guess what; you're probably eating too much. If your blood pressure goes up, you may need to lower the dose, and if that doesn't work it probably means this steroid isn't for you. As for your liver, enzyme values will increase with use, but if you are responsible with your supplementation and had a healthy liver to being with they will in most cases return to normal shortly after use is discontinued.
