People in bodybuilding have some misunderstandings about the concept of ester group (Ester) and half-life (Half-lives). This misunderstanding is often due to the over-complexity of the explanation of half-life. So below I will try to explain the meaning in a simple way. I will not compare the differences between different steroid drugs, nor will I explain in detail the specific steroids’ action process in the body. Only when you understand these concepts thoroughly can you match a reasonable cycle for yourself.
All drugs have an active period, or the sum of their curvilinear activities in the human body. The chemical structure of each drug is different, which determines that their half-life is also different. After entering the blood, the drug must go through three stages: 1. Absorption: function in the body; 2. Decomposition: decomposed into further degraded chemical molecules; 3. Clearance: completely decomposed and excreted from the body.
For example, bodybuilding enthusiast Xiaogang once injected 1000mg of testosterone cypionate once a week for ten consecutive weeks. Do you know when the OFF Cycle is for Xiao An? Is it when he finishes the last injection? To answer this question, you just need to calculate the half-life of testosterone cypionate. The half-life of testosterone cypionate is about 12 days. This means that 12 days after you inject 1000mg of testosterone cypionate, there will still be 500mg of testosterone cypionate in your blood. After another 12 days (that is, 24 days after the last injection), the concentration of testosterone cypionate in your blood will still be 250mg.
Anadrol 8-9 hours
Anavar 9 hours
Dianabol 4.5-6 hours
Stanozol 9 hours
Deca-Durabolin 14 days
Equipoise 14 days
Trenbolone Acetate 3 days
Methenolone Enanthate 10.5 days
Sustanon 15-18 days
Testoserone Cypionate 12 days
Testosterone Enanthate 10.5 days
Testosterone Propionate 4.5 days
Testosterone Suspension 1 day
Winstrol 1 day
Arimidex 3 days
Clenbuterol 1.5 days
Clomid 5 days
Cytadren 6 hours
T3 Cytomel 10 hours
Formate 1.5 days
Acetate 3 days
Propionate 2 days
Phenylpropionate 4.5 days
Butyrate 6 days
Valerate 7.5 days
Hexanoate 9 days
Caproate 9 days
Isocaproate 9 days
Enanthate 10.5 days
Octanoate 12 days
CYpionate 12 days
Nonanoate 13.5 days
Decanotae 15 days
Undecanoate 16.5 days
Many students who are interested in anabolic steroids will notice that many steroid labels have very similar names, except for the different prefixes. Let’s take testosterone as an example. There are various types of testosterone on the market, such as testosterone cypionate, testosterone enanthate, testosterone propionate, testosterone decanoate, testosterone undecanoate… and so on. All of these testosterone hormones are pure testosterone Testosterone, but the chemical structure has been improved. The manufacturer adds an ester chain (such as enanthate, propionate, cypionate…) behind the chemical structure of the hormone.
The ester group is a chemical chain mainly composed of carbon atoms and hydrogen atoms. This chemical chain is mainly attached to the position of the 17th carbon atom of the hormone (17β). The esterification of these injected hormones is mainly for one purpose, which is to reduce the drug release rate of the hormone at the injection site.
The principle is that the ester group can significantly reduce the water solubility of steroid drugs and increase the fat solubility of steroid drugs. Simply put, if the ester group is not carried, the steroid will be absorbed, utilized and disappear quickly after entering the body, and when we use the ester-modified steroids, our injection frequency will decrease.
After injection, the drug will not enter the blood circulation immediately to play a role, but will be stored in the muscle tissue where we injected it. As the ester chemical chain breaks a little bit, the drug we injected will be absorbed a little bit and enter the blood circulation to play a stabilizing role. Generally speaking, the longer the ester chain of the drug, the lower its water solubility and the longer its half-life.
When we use ester-modified steroids, we don’t have to take an injection every few hours. You can inject twice a week or once a week. After injection, the drug will not enter the blood circulation immediately to play a role, but will be stored in the muscle tissue where we injected it. As the ester chemical chain breaks a little bit, the drug we injected will be absorbed a little bit and enter the blood circulation to play a stabilizing role.
We should also remember that when we see the dosage of a certain drug, the weight of its ester chain is actually counted. 100mg of testosterone enanthate contains much less testosterone than 100mg of suspended testosterone (each 100mg of testosterone enanthate contains 72g of testosterone, and each 100mg of suspended testosterone contains nearly 100mg of testosterone).
Trenbolone acetate 87mg
Testosterone propionate 83mg
Testosterone enanthate 72mg
Testosterone cypionate 70mg
Testosterone undecanoate 63mg
Nandrolone phenylpropionae 67mg
Nandrolone decanoate 64mg
When you see this, you will understand how fucked up it is that some drug sellers told you, “This XX testosterone is better than YY testosterone, don’t worry about where it’s better, it’s just better.” The article I wrote above tells you that the side effects of all testosterone are the same. They are all testosterone, but the half-life is different. Only when the esterified testosterone is detached and becomes free testosterone, it will really work on us.