What is the Ideal Steroid Dosage to Maximize Fat Loss?

How high a dose of anabolic steroids is needed for good acceleration of fat loss?

Even the 500 mg/week dosage level, as a total of all the steroids used in the stack, is sufficient for substantial improvement in fat loss compared to the natural state. There’s some further improvement as the dosage increases to about the 1000 mg/week level.

In a few cases there have been remarkable results with quite low dosages, such as 250 mg/week testosterone or even 9 mg/day Dianabol (as odd as that number is, the specific case really was that amount.) However, that’s unusual, and appears to be correlated with the individuals having somewhat low natural testosterone. Generally, 500 mg/week is a reasonable minimum for a fat-loss steroid cycle.

Whether to lose fat first and then gain muscle, or do it the other way around, will depend on the case. A simple rule of thumb though is to accomplish the personally-easier task first.

For example, if you know you can drop 10 lb of fat relatively easily but adding 10 lb of muscle will be a challenge, then by all means lose the fat in the first few weeks of the cycle, preferably with quite high volume training. Your body will then be in a highly responsive state for muscle gain in the following weeks, due both to the previous high volume training and due to a homeostatic tendency to return to previous weight, in this case with muscle gain. More importantly than any reason why, this simply has been found to work very well.

Or if on the other hand if you find it hard to get much leaner than your present condition but you know you can add the planned amount of muscle in a matter of weeks, then add the muscle first. This will aid in the following fat loss, both because the added muscle increases metabolic rate, and again because of a homeostatic tendency to return to accustomed weight, in this case with fat loss. And again, regardless of reason, this too works very well in practice.

Gaining muscle while losing fat simultaneously can be done, but generally isn’t the optimal approach. It would pretty much look at that as being a possible unintended outcome in some training scenarios, where very intensive programs with intent of maximum strength gains might result in some fat loss despite best efforts at sufficient eating. But as a deliberate plan, most times it wouldn’t aim to accomplish both fat loss and muscle gain at the same time in a steroid cycle.

Steroids that do not cause virilizing effects in women

Steroids use among women is not as popular as among men. However, the number of those who want to build a nice body through anabolics is quite high, and it continue to raise every year. And it is not about professional female bodybuilders or athletes only. There are ordinary women who would like to give a try to these gears, but are concerned about their side effects. When it comes to steroids and women, the biggest concern is about virilization side effect these drugs have on women body. That’s why in this article we will talk about anabolics that has less or almost no virilization side effects, and how to manage to stay safe while building muscle mass.

Anabolic steroids are safe drugs, if used properly. This is available for both women and men. Taking them with responsibility and in right doses are the key points that prevent the occurrence of any unwanted side effects. When it comes to women, they are safer using these compounds, since they take them in much lower doses than men do. If you are informed enough to choose a steroid that carry low virilizing properties, than you can be sure that great muscle mass would be achieved.

But what is virilization? It is the antagonist of femininity, and women fear it enough to think twice before getting involved in steroids use. It is about developing some masculine traits, as a result of hormonal changes caused by steroids use. Anabolic steroids are synthetic derivatives of the natural produced by the body hormone testosterone. Whereas testosterone is a male hormone, women body produce it too, but in much lower doses. When taking steroids, the testosterone level increased, leading to unwanted virilizing effects.  Even taking in much lower doses compared to men use, the likelihood of facing such effects as body hair growth, voice deepening, and clitoris enlargement are still present.

It is quite hard for a women to even imagine such a picture, not even to accept that it may happens to her too. Despite of this, there are many women who succeed to build  great bodies, preserving their femininity. Of course, you ask how? Indeed this is simple.  Reading a lot about anabolic steroids, getting informed which steroids are the most androgenic and which one fit women use are just based steps to take before planning any steroids cycle. If you do it blindly, than the likelihood that you will end up failing is very high.

How to avoid virilization
Knowing which steroids are safe for you, and which ones to avoid is main criteria for staying away of any virilization effect. Bear in mind, that even taken “no virilization” steroids for women you are at risk to develop some of the unwanted side effects. This is because we are different, our bodies might have different reaction to the same drug. Thereby, is impossible and totally wrong to talk about a wonder steroid with “no virilization”, when there are still chances to occurs in someone. So, let’s stay realistics and do not idealize the use of steroids. After all, you take some risks every time using any other drug. But the sense of reality is what you have to follow all the time.

Here are four steps to take for avoiding virilizing effects:
-Choose steroids that present low or almost no virilizing properties. Usually, the more powerful is the steroid, the less suited is for women use. Thus, mild anabolic steroids are the first choice for women.
-Interrupt the steroids use if you body begin to develop virilizing effects. Carefully watching your body while running a steroids cycle is tremendous for safe use. Listen to first signs your body display to you and take a timeout if you are not  happy with what you get if the smartest decision to take for you. Allow you more time for understanding what you did wrong, change the steroid or doses to stay safe next time. The good news with steroids use, is that any side effect disappear once you cease their use. So,  just stop using them if you notice something bad, and your body will begin to return to its previous functions.
-Use steroids in low doses. People think that taking higher doses lead to bigger gains. It is a big mistake, that undoubtedly end up with a range of dangerous effects for your health. Begin with lower doses, and stick to them during the all course. Over time, once you gain some experience with steroids use, and checked your body reaction to it, you can go with higher doses with no damage for your health.
-Short steroid cycle. A six weeks cycling is maximum you can follow to get great results and stay safe. More longer cycles automatically increases the risks of developing virilization side effects and not only.

Post Cycle Therapy for Female Steroid Users

Even men are the most popular users of steroids, women also tend to use them, especially those women who are professional bodybuilders. There are more men than women in this sport so almost every research is based on men’s organism. But consequences that steroids can produce in a female body are bigger and more significant that one’s appearing with men. But, women, just like men, use steroids to gain body mass and strength faster than they would get it without using steroids.

How are steroids used?
Steroids are not used constantly, there are periods of usage and periods of resting. Your doctor should decide how long periods will be and how high dose you will take. There are no universal rules because there are no two same persons. One cycle can be 6-12 weeks long and it considers that you take steroids every day during those weeks. After each cycle you must make a brake, so your body won’t get used to steroids.

What is PCT (post cycle therapy)?
Post cycle therapy is something that started to be usual practice just recently. It’s very important not to avoid it if you are using or planning to use anabolic steroids. PCT is used to help you preserve effects you gained during the steroid usage period. Steroids have big effect on our endocrine system and it’s important to help him recover from such a big shock. When you suddenly stop using steroids your body will be in some sort of shock. In medicine it’s called hormonal crash or post cycle crash. PCT is different for a man and a woman.

PCT for women
There are so many post cycle therapies and so many people take it on their own, without knowing consequences they can have in the end. If you take PCT without consulting your doctor, you can make more damage than good to your organism.

With women it’s really important to determine their age and stage of life. Pre-menopausal females who have used anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS) can gradually decrease amount they are taking as they come close to end of a cycle. Because steroids affect hormones, the best way that shows to a woman that her treatment is going well is her period return. Anabolic-androgenic steroids cause some kind of menopausal side-effects. It’s recommended to decrease AAS use until period appears. Also, women can do blood tests to see if her hormone levels are getting back to normal.

What PCT is not recommended for women?
Highly inadvisable post cycle treatment for women is SERM (selective estrogen receptor modulators) or ALS (aromatize inhibitors). These two kinds of treatments cause intense menopausal symptoms, so even very young women can face with that problem. They are literally pushing women into menopause. And menopause symptoms are really hard and strenuous even for women who naturally experience it. With men this is different, but women should avoid this kind of post cycle therapy.

SERM medications like Nolvadex and Armidex sometimes are use in breast cancer curing, so they have really large and massive effect on female body. A woman shouldn’t expose herself to so strong medications if she doesn’t have to.

What PCT women can use?
HPGA and HPTA are highly recommended for post cycle therapy for women. HPTA is the hypothalamic pituitary testicular axis and affects brain and helps your endocrine system to control production of testosterone, the male hormone. How your body will react of this treatment depends on:

    individual characteristics;
    anabolic-androgen steroids that you used;
    how long your cycle lasted.

Today everybody can find different types of recommendations for post cycle therapy on the internet, but you shouldn’t listen to them all. Many of those treatments are written for male users and that not even indicated in the text. It’s important to see how wrong post cycle therapy can have harmful consequences in a female organism and go and consult a doctor before deciding to apply some therapy on yourself.

Best anabolics and anti-estrogens for fat loss

Losing fat is a common goal for most of bodybuilders. For this purpose many of steroid users look for the anabolics with best fat burning features and anti-estrogens that helps to keep water retention and bloating low or even inexistent.

A general tendency is to divide steroids into two categories: bulking and cutting anabolics. An inaccurate approach as none of steroids is labeled as serving just one purpose. Indeed, some of them can be better of cutting, while others excel at packing one muscle mass. But in the final, with the proper manipulation any of them can be used for more than one goal.

“Manipulations” suppose diet, workout routine which accompanies the steroid cycle. Or without a diet/workout that support your fat burning goal no or minimal results will be achieved.  Losing fat is a lot about diet, cardio and then steroids. Try to get leaner without steroids, but if you decide to use – make it wisely.

Dosing is also relevant for to attaining one or another goal. Bulking and cutting dosing of the same steroid is different and has to be set accordingly to the way you want to look in the final of cycling. Usually, for cutting purpose a higher dose is recommended. The higher is the dosage, the more ICF-hormone is released and a more powerful fat burning process is triggered.

It is a well known fact that body burns more calories to keep muscle mass than fat. That’s why when being when a calorie deficit body begins to pull energy from fat deposits. The more muscular you are, the faster you burn fat and viceversa.

Low-aromatization steroids for getting shredded

Not all steroids have low estrogenic activity. The more androgenic it is, the greater estrogenic activities it shows. Body is able to assimilate a certain amount of testosterone. With chemicals this threshold goes pretty high, so that anything above this level may be turned into estrogen. The process is called aromatase and especially occurs if you are already susceptible to this.

High estrogens cause water retention and slow rate of fat burning. In order to prevent this use of anti-estrogen is necessary. But about anti-estrogens we will talk later. Now let’s concentrate our attention on steroids for fat loss.

Top 4 non-aromatazing steroids are:

Trenbolone

Primobolan

Winstrol

Masteron

This list can be completed with:

Halotestin

Equipoise

Deca

Have to be mentioned that these steroids may aromatase if you are genetically predisposed to higher estrogenic activity.

Being sensitive to estrogenic side effects limits you in using anbolics that do aromatase. All other people can use aromatase steroids with less or almost no negative impact on their health. Of course with condition that minimal dosage of anti-estrogens is taken.

Trenbolone

This is a powerful steroid with no estrogenic activity and water retention side effects. It’s great for keeping on muscle mass and strength while dosage is moderate-200 mg weekly. If there is a “best cutting steroids” then surely this is about Trenbolone.

All forms of Tren are efficient in burning fat; however Tren-A or Trenbolone-Acetate have been actively recognized as the most effective.

Equipoise

Has good fat burning action with low estrogenic activity.  EQ cause a high nitrogen activity so that even in a calorie deficit an increase of muscle mass will be registered.

A 400mg per week of EQ is a safe dose, allowing reaching a shredded look within weeks of usage.

Anavar

If you want a safe fat burning steroid then Anavar has to be your choice. Free of any side effects, Anavar helps to retain strength, and hence muscle mass. Especially good it is for burning abdominal fat. It also raises the good cholesterol in the body and lowers the bad one.

A 20-30 mg of Anavar per day is required to burn fat. It is not a low dosage, but the real problem is that Anavar is more difficult to find.

Winstrol

This is another oral quite effective in burning fat. It speeds up metabolism and enhances body’s ability to retain muscle mass and strength. For more details about Winstrol effects in fat burning read our post “How effective is Winstrol for burning fat”.

Anti-estrogens to use when juicing

At least two anti-estrogens have to be taken even you are not prone to estrogen and water retention. Proviron and Arimidex or Provirion with Nolvadex if you are estrogen sensitive. The general idea is that you cannot take fat loss steroids without anti-estrogens even you are not susceptible.

The most important with fat loss steroids is responsible use. As long as you respecting proper dosage and use antiestrogens you are on the way to your perfect body. This post is informative. Please consult a specialist before getting involved in steroids use.

Women on Steroids Myth and Truth

Women on steroids, to many those three little words sound ridiculous; for many the idea of women on steroids is nothing short of a disaster waiting to happen. However, when it comes to anabolic androgenic steroids we have a topic that is one of the most highly misunderstood and quite often spoken of in a highly disapproving light regardless of who such a discussion pertains to and in that light more often than not inaccurate assumptions are made of a highly inaccurate nature. Many will indeed be surprised to learn women do in-fact supplement with anabolic steroids; sure, we’re all familiar with those who do so of a highly extreme end, those who have sacrificed all femininity for mounds of muscle but the reality does not stop there.

Year after year, every single day many women supplement with anabolic steroids; many of the women highly admired for their beauty who possess a fit and healthy look supplement quite regularly; we’re not speaking of a small number, in-fact we’re speaking of a fairly large number. Many female athletes from all walks of like regularly take part in the anabolic game and for good reason, it works but it remains this is a fact most are not willing to accept. Make no mistake, women on steroids pales in comparison to men who supplement with anabolic hormones but the numbers of female users far extends past what most understand.

There is no doubt about it, anabolic androgenic steroid use can be very damaging to a female but when a woman is educated on the matter and responsible use is implored use can be very successful. For women on steroids the biggest risk is virilization by-which masculine traits are brought forth. For any female this is a horrific end as a large part of our personal identity is connected to our sex and the attributes associated with it; however, this horrific end can largely be avoided.

For years many myths and legends have existed regarding anabolic androgenic steroids and the use thereof but it’s important to remember myths and legends are just that, myths and legends, meaning they are absent of truth. While some of these myths may hold some truth to them in-part unless the full truth is explained the rest of the assumption is either a lie or simple ignorance. Such assumptions can be seen on a host of message boards that deal in the topic of anabolic androgenic steroids; for years many have gone to such message boards to obtain anabolic information and while there is good information on many of them there are often just as many half-truths and inaccurate assumptions. We have taken some of the most common myths and outright lies from some of the most popular message boards on the internet that deal in such discussion regarding women on steroids and left you with only the truth. While you’ll find there is still much more to learn hopefully you’ll find this to not only be an interesting starting point but one that urges you to seek the truth.

Myth: Masculine traits will occur in women on steroids and it’s largely unavoidable.
Truth: While many anabolic androgenic steroids will produce such an effect there are certain steroids that can be used both effectively and safely without such an effect occurring. Most notably is the steroid Oxandrolone or as it is more commonly known Anavar. Most women will find Anavar to not only be highly effective but to possess little to no side-effects whatsoever. Women on steroids who make Anavar a stable part of their plan will find they build a leaner and tighter physique that still possesses all the femininity they began with.

Myth: Women on steroids will gain massive amounts of weight and turn into gigantic piles of muscle.
Truth: For some women such an end is desired and if so then absolutely, it can be obtained. However, anabolic steroid use will not by itself produce this end in a woman any more than it will for a man. This is a common misconception regarding anabolic steroids as a whole but one that is often used to scare women away. In order to be big you have to eat big; steroids or not this is an inescapable fact. Women on steroids who do not follow a mass gaining diet will not blowup into behemoths by any stretch; sure, they may indeed possess more lean muscle tissue but lean muscle tissue is a good thing. Lean tissue not only lends to a healthier body but one that is more appealing; the amounts of such tissue will be highly regulated by the amounts of food you take in but the doses of the steroids will also play a role. Women who are looking for a nice athletic boost in-terms of function or appearance can reach this end through steroid use and take it as far as they want from very slight to very extreme and everywhere in-between.

Myth: Most of the women on steroids are competitive bodybuilders.
Truth: Most of the women on steroids are not competitive bodybuilders at all; however, physique sports do make up a large portion of the total users. Many and by many we mean a whole lot of figure, fitness and bikini competitors of the physique world supplement with anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. Such use however by no means ends with physique competition but stretches to non-competitive fitness models to many of the celebrities the world loves and adores to some of the women you find attractive at your local super market who simply enjoy working out. There is a very good reason many women are able to hold onto a more youthful appeal and maintain a more well-rounded healthy look in far greater numbers and for far longer extended periods of time and it’s not some magical machine they step into; it is undisputedly performance enhancing drugs and anabolic steroids make up a large portion of this group.

What are the Best Steroids for Women?

It may seem surprising but Anadrol (oxymetholone) is a good choice for women who wish to be conservative yet have very effective results.

Medically, you’d be astonished at the doses women and even girls have taken with very low virilization rates. So anyway, contrary to what intuition might suggest, Anadrol is not one of the riskier choices for women.

That aside, 15 mg/day of Anavar (oxandrolone) will be virilizing in quite a few cases. Probably about 5 mg/day of oxandrolone is comparable to 25 mg/day Anadrol (divided doses) for risk.

Primobolan up to 50 mg/week, divided injections, is a common and reasonable choice, but has some risk: not a particularly high rate though.

In the earlier parts of Denise Rutkowski’s career, he had her on 25 mg/day Anadrol. I тще a secret, because he also published this. She obviously did very well with it and at that point she was not virilized at all.

The medical doses are pretty astonishing. The reason that 50 mg is the tablet size is because that’s the standard minimal medical dose, including for women and children! It used to be used extensively for improving red blood cell count.

You see some women developing hoarse voices and facial hair naturally with time, so there must be some women that are right on the edge. But generally speaking, this is a conservative dose, yet quite effective.

The mg amount that women can tolerate of Anadrol is markedly higher than any other anabolic steroid. However, that said, it’s also true that effect per mg is less, but not enough so to make up the safety difference IMO. I would put 25 mg/day Anadrol (in divided doses) up against 50 mg/week Primo any time for effectiveness and it’s at least equally conservative.

Another thing about Anadrol that’s remarkable is that other anabolic steroids are very easily disruptive of the menstrual cycle. Even dosages such as 2.5 mg oxandrolone 2x/day commonly raise issues. Anadrol however medically has shown often only moderate effect on the menstrual cycle at 50 mg/day, 25 mg/day only lightened and shortened the cycles slightly. Remarkably less disruptive.

As a rough rule of thumb: take a dosage that would be quite moderate for a man, nearly the minimum likely to be recommended that could still give reasonable results for a novice, then divide by 10 to have something that’s moderate but effective for a woman.

For each individual steroid, suggested mild-but-effective dosage range may differ from the above slightly, and of course the above also is only approximate because there will be diffferent opinions as to what would be moderate for a man. But if having nothing else to work with, if you see or are considering a dosage and want to do a quick “reality check,” the above can help. For example, say that someone is proposing EQ at 100 mg/week. Multiply by 10, and our comparison would be to 1000 mg/week of EQ for a man. That’s well above being a mild cycle. So we can see at a glance that this EQ dose is off, without having had to remember specific values for each steroid.

Returning to the stacks and in general to anabolic steroids other than Anadrol for women:

It couldn’t possibly be that some stacking method might give better ratio of muscle gain to side effects, but as to whether we know what that is, that’s another question entirely. The best understood uses are single-drug, and single-drug works fine. Primo or Anadrol are my top two choices for bodybuilding and fitness; oxandrolone is also acceptable but must be lower dosed than those two; for quality of life enhancement, very very low dose testosterone works fine.

Steroids and Women

“Steroids and Women” for many people it’s an odd sounding phrase; after all, when you think of anabolic steroids you normally think of massive, muscular men. Most people have no idea how important the relationship between steroids and women truly is, but it is we assure you massively important. It’s true; many more men supplement with anabolic steroids than women, and of course, you can easily pick out some women who do, but the numbers exceed the imagination of most.

Anabolic steroids can be very damaging to women for one specific reason; they can destroy her femininity. While true, anabolic steroids and women can co-exist in harmony; caution must, however, be applied; we’re talking about responsible use. Women have fewer anabolic steroids they can supplement with safely, and further, must implement extremely low doses. Let’s take a look at all the factors, everything you need to know; we’ll explain the fear, how to avoid it, and explain to you why the relationship between steroids and women is so crucial to society as we know it today. Absolutely, we’ll even show you which steroids most any woman can consider, and even how to mix and match all her PED’s; in short, your questions will be answered.

Virilization

When it comes to steroids and women, there is a universal fear; turning into a man. As you know, anabolic androgenic steroids derive from the primary male sex hormone testosterone, and as such, while no woman will turn into a man, if she’s not careful she can easily display masculine traits. Many anabolic steroids cause what is known as virilization, specifically put, changes that occur due to the high presence of androgens in the body. Androgens are hormones we all produce, both men and women, and essentially so with Testosterone and Dihydrotestosterone being primary. Of course, men require about ten times the amount as women, and when androgen production goes beyond the needed amount for a female, masculine traits can manifest. The most common virilizing effects include:

    Body-Hair Growth
    Clitoral Enlargement
    Deepening of the Vocal Chords

There is hardly a woman alive who would enjoy such effects, but guess what; plenty of women supplement with anabolic steroids and never experience a single one. The reason is simple; they’re not idiots. They’ve done their homework; they understand which hormones to take and which ones to avoid. They understand if virilization symptoms begin to show then that particular steroid is not for them; we’ll explain shortly.

Avoiding Virilization

When steroids and women coexist if we’re going to avoid virilization, and we’re assuming you want to, the first order of business is to choose anabolic steroids that carry low virilizing properties. Some steroids carry higher virilizing properties, and logic tells us, we’ll need to avoid these; this isn’t rocket science. Even so, let’s be clear; all anabolic steroids carry a level of virilization concern, some higher and some lower than others. When we choose anabolic steroids that carry low virilizing properties, in most cases, most women will be fine, but there is still a risk. As we are all unique individuals, some women will not tolerate some steroids at all even though another woman may tolerate it perfectly. Look at it like dairy products; most of us can drink all the milk and eat all the cheese we want, but some of us get sick if we even think about a cow; some of us are lactose intolerant, but most of use aren’t.

The key to avoiding virilizing symptoms is straightforward; choose steroids that carry a low rate of probability in this regard. Second, if for any reason virilization symptoms begin to show, discontinue use immediately. Once you discontinue use, the effects will dissipate rapidly. If you ignore the symptoms and let them set it, this is where true damage is done, and in many cases, where they cannot be reversed. At any rate, if symptoms show discontinue all steroid use; in your next go around do some examining of your prior use. Was your dose of a certain steroid too high? Maybe you simply need a lower dose that is more tolerable; maybe you need a different steroid altogether. In any case, if you’re smart and pay attention to your body you can supplement without these effects becoming problematic.

Steroids and Women – Not Just Bodybuilders

Competitive bodybuilders; when it comes to steroids and women these are the only women supplementing with anabolic hormones, right? Nope, you’d be dead wrong; in-fact, they make up a very small portion of the steroids and women family. If it’s a physique based sport, then there is a strong relationship between steroids and women; fitness, figure and even bikini, you bet, thousands of them supplement. This doesn’t mean they all do, but the majority is well-versed in anabolic steroidal supplementation. Then there are the physique models, the women you see advertising for your favorite protein bar or pre-workout formula; of course, many of them are competitors too, but either way most are supplementing.

Physique athletes and fitness models, “yeah, yeah” you say; you already knew a lot of them supplement, but many aren’t aware. Then we have the next group, and this is the one that will surprise far more than the above. When it comes to steroids and women, never has this relationship been as important as it is to our celebrity population. Look at the women of the silver screen from fifty years ago or even twenty years ago; for that matter, look at the women from twenty years ago who look better than they did twenty years ago. Do you think this is all plastic surgery; is it because they have the best trainers in the world? While these factors indeed play a role, without anabolic steroids and a host of other performance enhancing drugs, the female physique as we know it today in popular culture would not exist. What’s more, anabolic steroids aren’t all that expensive, and as these women have money to burn they have no problem dropping a few grand here and there.

These are the women supplementing with steroids, but they’re not the only ones; nope, we’re not done yet. You can find women supplementing with steroids, and women in almost all walks of life doing so if any kind of fitness is concerned. Female performance athletes, and even the gym rats that don’t compete supplement on a regular basis. These women recognize what men have for nearly sixty years; anabolic steroids will create a physique that is impossible to obtain without. Granted, far more men still supplement, but the amount of women who do would blow the minds of most if they truly had any idea.

Top Steroids

We established early on there are certain anabolic steroids women do not need to take; such steroids carry too much risk to a woman’s femininity, and if she wishes to protect it, she must avoid such forms. With that in mind, the only question is which anabolic steroids can women take? Without question, the number one anabolic steroid for any woman is Oxandrolone; more commonly known by its most popular trade name Anavar. Anavar is the most female friendly steroid of all, and while men can use it to it appears to be far more beneficial to women. Anavar is such a female friendly steroid, in most performance based circles it is informally referred to as “The Girl Steroid.” This steroid carries the lowest virilization rate of any anabolic steroid, and further, will provide every last trait a female could be alter with supplementation. Most all women can tolerate 10mg every day extremely well, with some women handling as much as 20mg every day perfectly. In any case, most will never need more than 10mg per day, but if more is desired it is recommended you increment up 5mg at a time. If you respond well to 10mg and want more try 15mg, if you still want more, the next go around try 20mg; however, there is something important you need to understand. The higher you go with the dose, the greater risk of virilization. In any case, most women can tolerate 10mg of Anavar a day for up to 8 weeks remarkably well; in some cases even longer if needed, but 8 weeks is our max recommendation with most only needing 6 weeks.

While Anavar should be any woman’s top choice, there are other steroids that can be solid options. Of such steroids, Primobolan Depot is the second most female friendly anabolic steroid. Oral Primobolan can be used, but as it is not a C17-aa oral steroid it is not recommended as most of it will be destroyed by the liver. At any rate, most women will find they tolerate 100mg of Primobolan Depot a week fairly well, but they must limit their use with 4 weeks of use generally being a safe time frame and 6 weeks being the max. Then we have the Stanozolol hormone, more commonly known as Winstrol. This one is more or less a 50/50 shot; about half the women who supplement with it will tolerate it well, while the other half won’t. In truth, perhaps a little more than half will tolerate it well, but it falls below Anavar tremendously in-terms of toleration. If it can be tolerated, most women will find 10mg every other day to be all they need. Injectable and oral Winstrol are both fine, but most women will find oral Winstrol to be the way to go as it commonly comes in 10mg tabs.

These are our top steroids for women, but as we’ll see soon there are other performance items that can be added to a stack that will tremendously enhance it. Of course, before we move on we must mention a few other steroids in passing. There are some women who may find extremely low doses of Equipoise to be beneficial, and in some cases even testosterone; especially if the woman is testosterone deficient. Most women will not need to touch these steroids, but they can be useful in very low doses; we’re referring to extremely low doses. This is something you may have to play with a little bit, and you’ll need to keep an extra close eye on virilization, but for the majority, these are items they should not touch.

More than just Steroids

As you have seen, steroids and women can coexist; it’s simply a unique relationship that has boundaries if a woman is to remain protected. With this in mind, while the above steroids can provide tremendous results, there are other performance enhancing items that can be added to truly enhance a physique to its maximum potential. There are six items specifically that can be added, and we have listed them all with additional notes where beneficial.

    Arimidex: an AI that can be used for estrogen control – should rarely be used and only by the hardcore where absolutely necessary

    Clenbuterol: a potent beta-2 stimulator perfect for fat-loss – Clen, as its most commonly known stimulates the metabolism to perform at a higher rate

    Cytomel: a thyroid hormone more commonly known as T3 – an extraordinarily potent fat-loss tool – use should be limited to only when dieting and typically only at the end of a diet for 6-8 weeks max so as not to cause damage to the thyroid

    Ephedrine: a sympathomimetic amine that is a potent weight loss tool – works well as a fat-burner and appetite suppressor

    Human Growth Hormone: normally referred to as HGH, this is a powerful peptide hormone – of all things to add to a stack this should be your number one choice – very anabolic, will enhance the metabolism tremendously – will promote recovery and a more youthful look overall

    Nolvadex: a popular SERM that can be used to control estrogen – perfect for pre-competition – can provide a tighter look when body-fat is low.

Steroid abuse turns female bodybuilder into "a man"

Female bodybuilder Candice Armstrong's abuse of Anabolic Steroids has changed the appearance of everything from her back to her private parts
Due to her steroid use over the past two years, Candice has developed hair on her back, chest and upper lip. She has also developed acne on her face and has developed a tiny penis as a result of an extremely swelled clitoris. Similarly, her breasts now hang limp due to her overdeveloped pectoral muscles. Bodybuilders have been using anabolic steroids to bulk up for years but rarely do they cause such drastic changes as seen in Candice.

Of this dramatic change in her physique, Candice said "It happened gradually, people began to assume that I was a man dressed in drag." She now dresses primarily in male clothing and says she often gets called "tranny" on the street.

Candice has been diagnosed with body dysmorphia, which means that she has a distorted view of her body. Despite the extreme change Candice said that she didn't consciously decide to be a man: her initial goal was only to bulk up her upper body and reduce the size of her hips.

While the once slender blonde concedes that the changes to her voice and organs are irreversible, she has no intention of stopping her steroid use. She says that her changes have allowed her to do a drag act, something that she has "always wanted to do".

Candice is not alone in her abuse of steroids and the long term can effects include liver damage, changes in mood and lactation from the nipples in males. These changes in mood, according to bodybuilder Ed Gheur, are the worst of the side-effects as it continues the idea of improving your body in people who already have body issues.

LEGS AT HOME

LEGS ARE THE HARDEST BODY PART to train at home. And there’s so much great equipment available at the gym — power racks, leg presses, hack squats, leg extensions . . . you get the idea. However, as this routine proves, training legs at home is far from impossible.
The front squat was included instead of the rear squat because if you’re a seasoned lifter, you can “clean” the barbell into place if you don’t have a rack. If this isn’t an option for you, replace this move with dumbbell squats, in which you hold a dumbbell at each side to do the exercise.

FRONT BARBELL SQUAT
START: In an upright, shoulder-width stance, take a barbell from a rack (or have a spotter help you), letting it rest along your upper chest. Grasp the bar with an Olympic-style grip, where you hold the bar in place with the ends of your fingers. This position can be stressful on your wrists, but stretching them out and slowly increasing the weight you use will help you adapt to this in due time. In addition to providing the most control over the bar, holding the bar in this manner also allows you to handle more weight and squeeze out more reps.
MOVE: Perform a basic squat, bending your knees and driving your hips back to lower yourself until your thighs are parallel to the floor or slightly beyond. (Look forward and maintain the natural arch in your back throughout the squat). Think of the movement like sitting back into a chair. From the bottom, drive back up through your heels to the start position.

DUMBBELL SPLIT JUMP
START: Grasp a dumbbell in each hand and step into a lunge position, one foot forward (that knee bent 90 degrees), the back leg nearly straight, toe down, knee
not touching the ground.
MOVE: Push explosively off the ground using both legs and switch foot position mid-air, landing with your other foot forward. Repeat for reps — one full rep is two jumps.

ONE-LEG DUMBBELL SQUAT
START: Stand on a bench set next to a stationary object you can hold onto. Grasp a dumbbell in your free hand, step to the side of the bench so one leg is in the air (with no bench beneath it, as shown).
MOVE: As in a two-leg squat, keep your head up and back arched as you bend at the knee to lower yourself, moving your hips backward until your working thigh reaches a point parallel with the floor. From there, drive up through your heel back to a standing position.
Move slowly and deliberately (especially in the deep position). Your non-exercising leg can be kept either in front of your body, which is better, or behind. To get the hang of
the movement, work without the dumbbell for your first few leg workouts.

SISSY SQUAT
START: Grasp a stationary object with both hands and lean back with your body straight and knees extended.
MOVE: Let your knees bend and extend out in front of you and lean back as your torso descends. Slight changes in body position, such as leaning back further, can make this movement much harder. As your knees come forward, your heels will come up off the ground. At the bottom, simultaneously push down through your feet and drive your hips forward and up.

The Difference Between Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss

For bodybuilding, having low body fat levels is essential if you want to display the muscles that you have worked so hard for. A big mistake however that many bodybuilders make is that when they want to get ripped, they focus too much on losing weight instead of just focusing on losing fat.

You see, weight loss and fat loss are not necessarily the same thing. Weight loss is very easy to accomplish actually. All you have to do is take in less calories than what your body burns on any given day. So if your body burns 2,500 calories, and you just take in 2,000 calories, weight loss will occur. The problem is that if those calories that you take in do not have the right amount of nutrients, the weight loss may come in the form of muscle tissue loss, water weight, and perhaps even some bone mass! With that being said, let's consider the three examples below:

Bodybuilding Diet Example #1

An example of a diet that can have a negative impact of this nature is a fad diet like eating just chocolate for example (let's call this "The Miraculous Chocolate Diet". In a case like this, because you are taking in less calories than what your body burns, you will lose weight. However, at least 50% of the weight loss will not come from fat. It will come instead from muscle tissue and bone tissue as a diet like this does not provide enough good nutrition to maintain (or slightly increase) muscle mass. The end results will be a smaller but still flabby version of yourself. Furthermore, your metabolism will be crippled by the fact that you have lost lean muscle which is one of the tissues that serves to maintain a high metabolism!

Bodybuilding Diet Example #2

In this example, the bodybuilder is a hardcore athlete who wants to work hard for his/her goals. This bodybuilder is willing to pay the price in order to achieve the bodybuilding goals. However because of his over-enthusiasm, logic is thrown out of the window and a bodybuilding diet consisting of 1500 calories, mostly coming from proteins and some good fats is implemented, in conjunction with an aggressive cardiovascular workout of twice a day 45 minute sessions and killer bodybuilding workouts.

While initially the body will respond well for about ten days, because the calories are so low and the stress on the body so high, cortisol levels will skyrocket, halt fat loss and start cannibalizing muscle tissue in order to cover the energy demand. In addition thyroid levels begin to shut down as well in order to lower the body's metabolism and halt weight loss.

So even though tons of weight will be lost from a program like this, again, the best you can hope for is a 50% split between muscle loss and fat loss (so if you lose 20 pounds, 10 pounds are from fat/water and 10 pounds are from muscle; not good). Thus, the end result will be a more defined but much smaller version of you with a crippled metabolism.

Bodybuilding Diet Example #3

Now imagine that you follow a diet that creates a slight caloric deficit. So if you burn 2500 calories every day, your diet will consist of 2300 (a 200 calorie deficit). Also, imagine that you are following a good nutrition program consisting of 40% good carbs, 40% proteins and 20% fats, and that once a week you consume slightly more calories than the other day (around 2700) in order to prevent a metabolic slowdown. Furthermore, you create an even bigger caloric deficit through your 45-60 minute bodybuilding routines and a cardiovascular program consisting of 30 minutes or so every day. In this case, bone and muscle tissue are preserved (or even improved upon) while fat loss and the release of extra water retention are maximized. This is obviously what we are trying to accomplish.

Conclusion

While any calorie restriction will bring about weight loss it is very important to distinguish between weight loss and fat loss. Regardless of whether a person is interested in bodybuilding competition or simply looking fit, this principle applies to everyone. So always remember, train and diet hard but also be smart. 

Myths of Women's Weight Training and Female Bodybuilding

The myths about women's weight training and female bodybuilding do not ever seem to go away. With this article, I'd like to share the facts regarding weight training and female bodybuilding.

Women's Weight Training Myth #1 -Weight training makes you bulky and masculine.
Due to the fact that women do not, and cannot, naturally produce as much testosterone (one of the main hormones responsible for increasing muscle size) as males do, it is impossible for a woman to gain huge amounts of muscle mass by merely touching some weights. Unfortunately, the image that may come to your mind is that of professional female bodybuilders. Most of these women, unfortunately, use anabolic steroids (synthetic testosterone) along with other drugs in order to achieve that high degree of muscularity. In addition, most also have good genetics coupled with an unbelievable work ethic that enable them to gain muscle quickly when they spend hours in the gym lifting very heavy weights. Believe me when I say that they do not look like that by accident. Women who conduct weight training without the use of steroids get the firm and fit cellulite-free looking body that you see in most fitness/figure shows these days.

Women's Weight Training Myth #2 - Exercise increases your chest size.
Sorry girls. Women’s breasts are composed mostly of fatty tissue. Therefore, it is impossible to increase breast size through weight training. As a matter of fact, if you go below 12 percent body fat, your breast size will decrease. Weight training does increase the size of the back, so this misconception probably comes from confusing an increase in back size with an increase in cup size. The only way to increase your breast size is by gaining fat or getting breast implants.

Women's Weight Training Myth #3 - Weight training makes you stiff and musclebound.
If you perform all exercises through their full range of motion, flexibility will increase. Exercises like flyes, stiff-legged deadlifts, dumbbell presses, and chin-ups stretch the muscle in the bottom range of the movement. Therefore, by performing these exercises correctly, your stretching capabilities will increase.

Women's Weight Training Myth #4 - If you stop weight training your muscles turn into fat.
This is like saying that gold can turn into brass. Muscle and fat are two totally different types of tissue. What happens many times is that when people decide to go off their weight training programs they start losing muscle due to inactivity (use it or lose it) and they also usually drop the diet as well. Therefore bad eating habits combined with the fact that their metabolism is lower due to inactivity, and lower degrees of muscle mass, give the impression that the subject’s muscle is being turned into fat while in reality what is happening is that muscle is being lost and fat is being accumulated.

Women's Weight Training Myth #5 - Weight training turns fat into muscle.
More alchemy. This is the equivalent of saying that you can turn any metal into gold; don't we wish! The way a body transformation occurs is by gaining muscle through weight training and losing fat through aerobics and diet simultaneously. Again, muscle and fat are very different types of tissue. We cannot turn one into the other.

Women's Weight Training Myth #6 - As long as you exercise you can eat anything that you want.
How I wish this were true also! However, this could not be further from the truth. Our individual metabolism determines how many calories we burn at rest and while we exercise. If we eat more calories than we burn on a consistent basis, our bodies will accumulate these extra calories as fat regardless of the amount of exercise that we do. This myth may have been created by people with such high metabolic rates (hardgainers) that no matter how much they eat or what they eat, they rarely meet or exceed the amount of calories that they burn in one day unless they put their mind to doing so. Therefore, their weight either remains stable or goes down. If you are confused about nutrition, please read Nutrition Basics.

Women's Weight Training Myth #7 - Women only need to do cardio and if they decide to lift weights, they should be very light.
First of all, if you only did cardio then muscle and fat would be burned for fuel. One needs to do weights in order to get the muscle building machine going and thus prevent any loss of muscle tissue. Women that only concentrate on cardio will have a very hard time achieving the look that they want. As far as the lifting of very light weights, this is just more nonsense. Muscle responds to resistance and if the resistance is too light, then there will be no reason for the body to change.

Women Should Train Hard
I have trained with girls that train as hard as I do and they look nothing but feminine. If you want to look great, don't be afraid to pick up the weights and lift hard! 

Breaking The Female Myth: "If I Lift Heavy I’ll Look Like A Man"

Does lifting turn women into muscle bound freaks? Of course not! Find out the physiological and hormonal reasons why women can't get as big as men.

You hear it time and again from females in and out of the gym, when it is suggested to them that they either:

    a) Lift weights, or...
    b) Increase the weight that they are lifting.

“I don’t want to do that, because I don’t want to look like a man.”

Many people, males included, have come to believe that for a female to lift weights means that she will somehow transform into the stereotype image of the female bodybuilder. This is simply NOT the reality when it comes to females and resistance training.

Hormones

The primary reason that females cannot gain muscle mass as fast or to the extent as males is the difference in hormone status.

Testosterone is one of the androgenic hormones responsible for anabolism in the body. It is testosterone that is responsible for masculine traits (i.e. excess hair - especially facial, deepening of voice, increase in muscle mass). Both males and females produce testosterone, as it is necessary for hormonal balance and body function (Marieb, 2004). Males have much HIGHER levels of testosterone than females, with the ‘normal’ range of total testosterone (in the bloodstream) being 0.95-4.3 pg/dl, compared to the 0.7-3.6 pg/dl of females.

However, it is not so much the total amount of testosterone that an individual has that determines their potential/ability for muscle growth, since most of the testosterone in the body is bound to either sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) or other non-specific proteins such as albumin (Wheeler, 1995), but their levels of FREE testosterone (i.e. the amount of testosterone that is NOT bound in the body). In males 0.3-5% (with an average of 2%) of their total testosterone if free, with their free testosterone normal values being 270-1100 ng/dl, compared to only 6-86 ng/dl of free testosterone available to females.

The female ‘equivalent’ of testosterone is estrogen. Whilst estrogen may increase growth hormone (GH), it also increases,

    a) SHBG, which decreases the amount of free testosterone in the body.
    b) Cortisol, which reduces muscle mass.

Muscle Fibers and Types

There is a similar distribution of the percentage of Type I, Type IIa, and Type IIb muscle fibers in both males and females. However, females have ~60-80% of the muscle cross-sectional area (CSA) and whole muscle anatomical cross-sectional area (ACSA) than that of males. Therefore, despite the potential for muscle hypertrophy in a relatively short period of time, similar percentage increases in either muscle mass or volume as a result of resistance training, results in smaller total overall gains in CSA and ACSA in females than in males.

Resistance Training and Hormonal Adaptations

Studies have shown that resistance training acutely increases total testosterone in males; whereas there is NO change in females. However, free testosterone HAS been shown to be elevated up to 25% in females after resistance training.

Yet, because females have less free testosterone than males at rest, any increase is not significant enough to allow for muscle hypertrophy to the extent of a male. Therefore, it has been suggested that other anabolic hormones, such as GH may be responsible for hypertrophy in females.

Role of Diet in Gaining Muscle

Diet is an important component of gaining muscle mass. To gain muscle mass one needs to be eating MORE than maintenance-level calories. Because females are generally smaller than males (i.e. smaller bone size and mass, less muscle mass, etc.), they usually require (and eat) LESS than males.

If a female ate the amount that a male ate to gain mass, they would most likely end up gaining a lot of unwanted bodyfat along with muscle hypertrophy. Females are also generally more prone to eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, etc. that are detrimental to muscle hypertrophy, and cause muscle loss.


Masculinization in females does not occur as a result of (heavy) weight training, but rather because of the excess of androgenic hormones (i.e. testosterone) coupled with the correct stimulus for muscle growth (i.e. chronic resistance training AND diet directed at muscle growth). The stereotype image of the female bodybuilder in the media is a result of said females chronically using androgenic compounds (i.e. steroids) in order to increase their muscle mass and size.

For the female who is NOT doing this, they can lift as hard and as heavy as they want, and will come nowhere close to “looking like a man”.

ABS 15-MINUTE WORKOUT

YOU CAN GET A GOOD AB WORKOUT in 15 minutes; the key is to squeeze as much intensity as you can into that time. This high-impact regime does just that.
In the knees-down variation of the Swiss-ball roll out, do the same exercise shown, but with both knees on the floor.
Six-time Ms. Olympia Cory Everson (shown in these photos with trainer Jeff Page) uses these moves in her own workout she recommends training your core (abs and lower back) twice per week.

SWISS-BALL ROLL OUT
START: Kneel in front of the ball, resting your forearms on it, fingers interlaced. Then lift up your knees to extend your legs behind you.
MOVE: Without arching or rounding your lower back, move your arms in front of you to roll the ball forward, forcing virtually all the muscles of your torso to work, including the deep core muscles, abs and obliques. Pause momentarily and then roll the ball back in towards your body.

CYCLING WITH BALL
START: Begin in the jackknife position used for the V-up and hold a medicine ball against your chest.
MOVE: As you extend one knee, flex the other to bring your kneecap toward your body while you bring the ball over to that side. Reverse knee positions, shifting the ball over to that side to “meet” the opposing knee. Continue in alternating fashion.

 
BALL PASSING
START: Lie on your back with your legs and arms extended; hold a Swiss ball in your hands.
MOVE: Raise the ball overhead with your arms while simultaneously bringing your legs toward it. When your hands and feet meet, pass the ball from the former to the latter. Without pausing, lower your arms and legs back down. Continue in alternating fashion.

STANDING ROTATION
START: Stand straight, knees slightly bent, holding a medicine ball with both hands in front of your forehead. Your training partner assumes the same position behind you, without a ball.
MOVE: Keeping your lower body in place, rotate your torso to one side and pass the ball high to your partner, who has simultaneously rotated in that same direction. Then rotate in the other direction and receive the ball back from your partner, this time in a lower position (hands at your waist rather than shoulder level). Continue passing and receiving the ball in this fashion for the desired number of reps. Then do the same number of reps beginning with the ball high on the other side.

WOMEN AND STEROIDS

Due to their hormonal make up, female athletes need to take a different approach to the use of steroids than their male counterparts. The specific compounds considered to be the safest for use by women are Anavar, Primobolan, Nolvadex, Winstrol, Maxibolin and Durabolin. It's also very important to note that even on low doses of these particular steroids, some women will develop virilizing effects. This is due to the fact that any amount of steroid introduced into the female endocrine system will trigger a reaction, since it's essentially a derivative of a male hormone. With this in mind, it's always recommended that low dosages of weak androgenic steroids are used for short periods of time.










SIDE EFFECTS

Most common side effects experienced by women using steroids are:

•     Acne and oily skin
•     Aggression
•     Male pattern baldness
•     Lowering of voice tone
•     Disruption of menstrual cycle
•     Clitoral enlargement
•     Increased hair growth on face, legs and arms

More positive side effects of steroid use in women would be:

•     Increased feeling of well being
•     Increased energy
•     Decreased recovery time from workouts
•     Heightened sex drive
•     Muscle and strength gain
•     Decreases in estrogenic fat (e.g. upper legs, abdomen, upper arms, butt)