Steroid Cycle Stacks

Steroid Cycle Stacks

With the wide variety of anabolic/androgenic steroids available, planning the most appropriate cycle may seem like a difficult task to the steroid novice.

With the wide variety of anabolic/androgenic steroids available, planning the most appropriate cycle may seem like a difficult task to the steroid novice. Even if we have settled on a particular drug or drug combination, it is still easy to question whether or not we are using them in the most effective manner. This is one of those topics which can get more confusing with research.

It is an extremely common practice for an athlete to take more than one individual steroid during a cycle. By taking a combination of steroids, the user is of course seeking to enhance the amount/quality of muscle mass gained from drug therapy. While I'm sure it is no surprise that stacking is generally an effective practice, you should probably give some thought to expected goals and side effects before simply combining steroids. For example, if you are looking to gain considerable mass, the use of two strong androgens like testosterone and Anadrol 50 would be one of the more potent cycles to attempt. But this combination would also lead to very harsh side effects, and may be too uncomfortable for some individuals. In this case it may be a good suggestion to combine a milder anabolic with a base androgen instead. A stack such as Deca-Durabolin and Dianabol would still produce very formidable muscle mass gains, but would provide the user much less water/fat retention, gynecomastia, hair loss/growth, and acne than the former.

On the other hand, non-aromatizable anabolics are typically the favored class of steroids for cutting/dieting phases of training. This is because the lack of estrogen conversion makes them less apt to induce fat and water accumulation. It is important to remember, however, that these steroids can still suppress endogenous testosterone production during a cycle. Since the administered drug(s) may not provide the body enough androgen content to compensate for this loss, this type of cycle may sometimes interfere with aggression and libido (Deca is a common offender). In such a state the user might become depressed and unmotivated (see: side effects, depression), seriously reducing the quality (results and comfort) of the cycle. Therefore, it is usually a good idea to include some type of androgen during this type of cycle, especially if you have experienced such problems before. The preference would be a non-aromatizing androgenic compound like Proviron, Halotestin or trenbolone, which will not increase the likelihood for fat/water retention. In the absence of excess estrogen, the heightened androgen level brought about by these drugs can actually enhance the removal of body fat, and noticeably increase the look of hardness/density to the physique (provided the user's body fat percentage is low enough to make this visible). If such compounds were unavailable, perhaps a weekly (low dosage) shot of testosterone would prove sufficient to ward off any problems.

Finally, is also good to remember that it is not absolutely necessary to take more than one steroid at a time. The term you hear most often is synergy, which implies that two (or more) steroids used together will often compliment (and amplify) each other, and provide a greater muscle gain than if they had been used consecutively. Though not well understood, a number of studies do suggest that different modes of action might exist for steroids outside of the androgen receptor (which would seem to support the notion that cooperative or synergistic effects can be seen with different drug arrangements). Athletes also seem to know that certain drug combinations work extremely well together (Deca & Dianabol, testosterone and Anadrol 50, trenbolone and Winstrol etc.), which is a testament to the notion of drug synergy. But this should not be confused with the idea that you cannot make gains on one drug alone. For example, an athlete new to the world of steroids could make exceptional gains on a cycle of testosterone, Anadrol 50 or Dianabol, without ever needing to add a second drug. Heavily increased dosages and multi-drug stacks are likewise most prominent among those who are already very familiar with steroid use, and find they are necessary in order to continue to gain or maintain muscle mass.