Attention! The administration of the project does not approve or encourage you to use anabolic steroids. The use of anabolic steroids can cause irreparable harm to your health. This article is for informational purposes only.
Pure testosterone, or testosterone suspension, breaks down very quickly in the body. Testosterone suspension is an aqueous solution of testosterone. It has a very fast half-life and a high incidence of side effects. To avoid this, it was invented to dissolve testosterone in oil, and these drugs received the name – testosterone esters. By the way, most often testosterone esters are made on the basis of grape seed oil.
Content
- Half-life and lifetime of testosterone esters
- Types of testosterone esters
- When to Start PCT (Post Cycle Therapy) after Testosterone
- Testosterone propionate and its half-life
- Testosterone enanthate, testosterone cypionate and their half-lives. The example of a cycle
- Testosterone decanoate and its half-life
- Sustanon 250 and its half-life
- Testosterone acetate, testosterone caproate and other esters
- Video about testosterone esters
Half-life and lifetime of testosterone esters
Esters of testosterone have a slower release into the bloodstream and have a longer half-life than pure testosterone. The half-life of testosterone is the time during which the concentration of testosterone in the blood after 1 injection will decrease by 50%. When talking about the half-life, it is often confused with the life of the drug.
The period of life (lifetime) of testosterone is the time at which the amount of testosterone in the body is sufficient for it to have the desired effect on the body, or to suppress the natural restoration of natural physical function. The period of life directly depends on the dosage. For example, the half-life of 100 mg of testosterone propionate is 2 days, but the lifetime is 5-7 days (see graph above).
Types of testosterone esters
To date, there are a large number of testosterone esters. Some of them have a short half-life (about 2 days), some have a longer effect, their half-life can be up to 15 days. And so, the most common testosterone esters that are used in bodybuilding include:
1) Testosterone propionate;
2) Testosterone enanthate;
3) Testosterone cypionate;
4) Testosterone decanoate;
5) Sustanon 250.
The half-life of these esters is known, I will show them below. But with a period of life (lifetime) is more difficult. It depends on the dosage and the selected ether. Accordingly, PCT (post cycle therapy) should be started mainly focusing on the period of life, and not on the half-life.
When to Start PCT (Post Cycle Therapy) after Testosterone
There are 2 main recommendations about when to start PCT (post cycle therapy) after various testosterone esters.
1) After one or another testosterone ester, PCT should be started after at least 2 half-lives.
2) After one or another testosterone ester, PCT should be started when the concentration of the drug, or drugs (if you have a “mix”), in the blood has dropped below 100 mg.
However, these are general recommendations and may not fully reflect reality. Even after the specified period, the ether can “flash” in the blood.
Also, when you inject and accidentally enter a blood vessel, you may create “bumps” – small lumps at the injection site. They can also form if the drug is “dirty”. These bumps can slow down the release of testosterone into the blood, which means that the period of life can increase. Therefore, the most correct option would be to start Post Cycle Therapy, focusing on blood tests.
Testosterone propionate and its half-life
Testosterone propionate has 2-day half-life.
To date, propionate is the most popular drug in bodybuilding. Due to the fact that it has a very short half-life, bodybuilders include it in almost all of their steroid cycles. They do this in order to successfully start the course on it and also successfully complete it. At the beginning of the cycle, propionate is used for “acceleration”, while long ethers have not yet been intended to the work. And at the end of the steroid course, it is used for “exit”, in order to most effectively reduce the concentration of long esters in the blood and to start Post Cycle Therapy on time.
In addition to these features, testosterone propionate has the slightly less tendency to aromatize, it does not “fill in” body with water as much as with long esters. Therefore, it is ideal during the preparation for bodybuilding competitions, in other words, fat burning period and shredding muscles. Of course, if you correctly monitor the indicators of estradiol and prolactin on the steroid cycle, you will not be flooded with long esters, but still propionate is the preferred choice.
Due to the short half-life, the disadvantages of propionate include the frequency of injections, they are carried out every other day.
Testosterone enanthate, testosterone cypionate and their half-lives. The example of a cycle
Testosterone enanthate has a half-life of 10 days.
Testosterone cypionate has half-life of 12 days.
These two are not less popular testosterone esters, and you can even say almost the same popular as testosterone propionate. They differ only in the weight of the ether chain, in other words, in the length of the molecule. In cypionate, it is longer, therefore, the half-life is slightly longer. Enanthate and cypionate are mainly used in bulk steroid cycles. Injections are given once a week. Enanthate and cypionate are more prone to aromatization, and, accordingly, fluid retention in the body, compared to propionate. Therefore, their use during fat burning period is undesirable, but nevertheless, with competent control of estradiol and prolactin indicators, it is permissible.
The most common pattern of use is “acceleration” and “exit” on propionate, the rest of the cycle is the use of enanthate or cypionate. A detailed scheme, if your course is for 10 weeks, is as follows:
Week 1: Propionate + Enanthate (or cypionate)
Week 2: Propionate + Enanthate (or cypionate)
Week 3: Enanthate (or Cypionate)
Week 4: Enanthate (or Cypionate)
Week 5: Enanthate (or Cypionate)
Week 6: Enanthate (or Cypionate)
Week 7: Enanthate (or Cypionate)
Week 8: Enanthate (or Cypionate)
Week 9: Propionate
Week 10: Propionate
Week 11: Reduction in the dosage of drugs in the blood (no injections are given)
Week 12: Start Post Cycle Therapy
As I explained above, the diagram may not accurately reflect reality. It would be more correct if at the end of the 11th week you take blood tests, and with respect to them, with 100% certainty, determine the time to start PCT.
Testosterone decanoate and its half-life
Testosterone decanoate has a half-life of 15 days.
Decanoate has the longest half-life. Decanoate is not as popular among athletes, but along with enanthate and cypionate, it is well suited for mass gain steroid cycle. Most often, decanoate is used as one of the components of a “mix”, such as sustanon.
Sustanon 250 and its half-life
Sustanon 250 is a mix of 4 testosterone esters. Most often, the following dosages of testosterone fall on 1 ml of the drug:
1) 30 mg testosterone propionate;
2) 60 mg testosterone phenylpropionate;
3) 60 mg testosterone isocaproate;
4) 100 mg testosterone decanoate.
Due to the fact that sustanon 250 is a mix of 4 testosterone esters at once, it is not possible to accurately determine the half-life. As you can see above, the dosage of testosterone propionate in Sustanon 250 is very small, so it will be correct to use propionate additionally, during the first 1-1.5 weeks. Most of the time athletes do this. Then they use Sustanon 250 for the rest of the time, and at the end of the cycle they make an “exit”, again on propionate. In general, the scheme is almost the same as the scheme for using enanthate or cypionate.
Sustanon proved to be excellent in bulk gaining steroid cycles, and due to the combination of several esters, the advantages can also include a more smooth background of testosterone concentration in the blood throughout the cycle.
Testosterone acetate, testosterone caproate and other esters
There are other testosterone esters, the half-lives for them are as follows:
1) Format – 2 hours;
2) Acetate – 3 days;
3) Phenylpropionate – 5 days;
4) Butyrate – 6 days;
5) Valerate – 8 days;
6) Hexanoate – 8 days;
7) Kaproat – 9 days;
8) Isocaproate – 9 days;
9) Heptanoate – 11 days;
10) Octanoate – 12 days;
11) Nonanoate – 13 days;
12) Undecanoate – 17 days.
In general, they do not differ much from those discussed above, with the exception of the “fast” testosterone format (do not recommend to use it). When making up a steroid cycle or calculating the start time of the Post Cycle Therapy, the essence remains the same, which is blood test is your best indicator.
Another main thing to remember any time is that the basis of any correct steroid cycle should be testosterone!
