Cortisol and its effects on AAS users.

bigdelt69

New member
So what is cortisol and where does it come from?

You see, the body maintains homeostasis through a series of checks and ballances (feedback loops, ect...) Cortisol is a hormone released during times of stress, which include, physical (..execirse...), mental (job stress ect..), and emotional ( problems with wife, gf ect...) stress. When the body sences any type of stress the hypothalamus in the brain releases a hormone called corticotropin-releasing hormone or CRH for short. This hormone travels to the pituitary, stimulating it to release adrenocorticotrophic hormone or ACTH for short. ACTH then travels by circulation to the two adrenal glands stimulating them to release glucocorticoids like cortisol.

So what does cortisol do. and why do we have it?
It has several primary roles which include; making sure the brain and tissues of the body have an adaquate supply of energy and it maintains proper immune responce including anti-inflamation. This is why we dont want to suppress it to low, or let it get to high.

Now I bet your wondering why cortisol is so bad for the muscles. Well it all goes back to one of the primary functions of cortisol, which is maintaining adaquate supples of energy to the brain and other tissues. When cortisol is released it travels to muscle tissue where it stimulates the release of amino acids for energy use. These amino acids will either be directly oxidized by the working muscles or travel to the liver and be converted to glucose. It is this catabolic role that gives cortisol its bad rap.

What does cortisol do during, and after a workout?
This applies to anyone interrested in building muscle not just anabolic steroid users. Cortisol levels increase very much during the first 15 minutes of working out. They stay at a level state and dont start to decline untill about 90 minutes after a workout is finished. Now where does this leave you after your workout? Your muscles are torn down and cortisol is eating away at whats left. This is not good, but can be prevented with a few grams of Vit-c pre workout.

So now I hope you see and understand where cortisol comes from, and its primary function. You see, it should be a cause of concern to those who don't even use AAS. But now the big question is how do Anabolic steroids effect cortisol, and what role does managing cortisol play in recovery.


As you know already, the entire hormonal system works in a loop, so to speak. Once you effect one part of the loop the other parts are effected as well. Seeing where cortisol comes from and how its produced its not hard to see that cortisol is an essential part of that loop. All anabolic steroids cause cortisol levels to drop and stay suppressed while you are on cycle. This is why it is easy to pack on muscle and maintain anabolism. Not hard to do when there is little cortisol to fuck things up. LoL. The big problem though is that when you end your cycle the cortisol levels rebound in a big way. This is a large part of the reason why maintaining all your gains is near to impossible. This rebound also causes a very very weakend immune system. (which happens when cortisol rises)

These are the reasons that I believe managing cortisol levels are almost as important as restoring your natural testosterone production post cycle. (From a gains standpoint) Now, please keep in mind that I am just now realizing the importance of doing this, and I have yet to try anything post cycle to help. Below are some of the methods I believe to help manage cortisol levels post cycyle. If anyone else has any additions to this please feel free to chime in.

#1. (Best way in my opinion) Low dose of dboll in the am (10) will result in much lower levels of cortisol post cycle. The jury is still partially out as to weather or not this makes post cycle recovery harder, but you can recover this way and manage your cortisol levels at the same time.

#2 Phosphatidylserine at 800mg to 1000mg. It does work, but not as well as some might think. (going by some people who have used it)

#3 Clen. Lowers cortisol levels just a tab, wont prolong recovery, and has a mild anabolic effect. Sounds good to me!

#4 Vit-C. This is a must post cycle and should be taken each day of training.

#5 P-7. Has several ingredients that are know to reduce cortisol levels. Plus the fact that it relaxes you.....hense no stress!

#7 DHEA- have not read much about this but some say it helps.
 
Ok, bro, but how much d-bol would you use and how long?
What about recovery while on d-bol?
 
bigdelt69 said:

bigdelt, awesome post bro. I never knew what kind or how dramtatic of an impact cortisol had on bodybuilding.

Hope everything turns out well bd!
 
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