For the performance enhancing athlete, there are several performance enhancing drugs from which to choose. There are anabolic steroids, peptide hormones, SERM's, AI's thyroid medications and a host of other items the individual may find useful. Within each category, there are also several choices; for example, there are numerous anabolic androgenic steroids, and of each steroid, there are often numerous variations. Take the most popular anabolic steroid testosterone; it is often provided in six different forms with more than a dozen being available. While we can break down each anabolic steroid specifically, regarding a particular form, one common distinction that provides a lot of understanding is by breaking them down into oral and injectable steroids, and it is injectable steroids we want to focus on here today.
Injectable steroids are typically defined by the active steroidal hormone by which they are comprised as well as the ester that is attached. While a steroidal hormone may come in many forms, it is primarily the ester that is attached that distinguishes one particular form. For example, the popular anabolic steroids Testosterone, Trenbolone and Nandrolone can be found in several forms; each form carries the same exact steroid but an ester that is unique to its design.
The ester attached to the hormone does not change the hormones specific mode of action but does affect its activity. The smaller the ester the shorter its half-life, the larger the ester the longer its half-life; as such, shorter esters become effective sooner than larger but their total active duration is also less than larger esters. Further, smaller esters take up less mass in the total compound providing more active steroidal hormone per milligram. To provide an understanding of how esters affect various injectable steroids we've given you some examples in the charts below. The first chart shows how the ester effects the potency of four popular injectable steroids; while the second chart shows the most popular injectable steroids, the ester(s) attached, the total active half-life, any popular trade name associated and the recommended administration of the hormone for performance purposes. As you may have already guessed smaller ester injectable steroids must be administered more frequently than large esters, but at the same time, there are specific cases where large ester injectable steroids need to be injected on a very frequent basis in-order to maximize peak blood levels. While this is true, for our purposes here we will keep things very simple and assume all things are equal.
A common question regarding injectable steroids revolves around how they stack up next to oral steroids. In many cases, oral steroids are often quite welcomed by performance enhancers if for no other reason than their ease of use. Further, most oral steroids are very fast acting and can produce noticeable gains and progress much faster than most injectable steroids. However, while extremely useful, most men will find oral steroids to be better served when viewed as supplements to supplemental anabolic steroid use with injectable steroids being their foundation.
Most oral steroids are highly toxic to the liver due to their C17-Alpha Alkylated (C17-aa) nature with a few exceptions such as oral Primobolan. While most oral steroids are C17-aa, most are very toxic to the liver, whereas most injectable steroids are very liver friendly; again, with exceptions. For example, although most injectable steroids are very liver friendly Winstrol Depot, the injectable form of Stanozolol is a C17-aa steroid just as its oral version. Then there are injectable steroids like Trenbolone, while although not of the C17-aa group can produce liver toxicity when used for extended periods of time.
Beyond liver issues, injectable steroids have one very significant advantage over orals in that the gains made through injectable steroids are far easier to maintain, and often far more sustainable. This is not to say you can't keep your gains from oral steroids, but it has been proven time and time again, if you supplement with only oral steroids you shouldn't expect to keep much. Again, oral steroids should be viewed as additions to a cycle, not part of the foundation. To get the most of your anabolic steroid use, you will need to stick tried and true injectable steroids such as the various forms of Testosterone, Nandrolone, Trenbolone and Boldenone making these steroids your foundation.
What should one expect from injectable steroids; simply put everything one might desire from anabolic steroids. As there are numerous injectable steroids from which to choose every trait and benefit one could ever want is available. For many performance enhancers, injectable steroids are all they need; for all the desired benefits can be obtained while keeping the liver safe and healthy. If you want to grow, if you want to pile on massive piles of muscle and strength injectable steroids are the way to go. If you're looking to truly lean out and display a physique akin to a granite statue, again, injectable steroids are the way to go. Absolutely, oral steroids have their place, but they are not essential, as for the performance enhancer injectable steroids are the end all be all.
