Why Is Test Prop Preferred To Cyp/Enth For Cutting?
- Thread starter Jock
- Start date
StoneColdNTO
Administrator
JohnnyB said:
For some guys..... yes, for others it has the opposite effect.
Once the ester is cleaved off, you have still have the same compound, "test", whether it is from prop or enanthate or cypionate.
IMO.....the real reason you might notice less water retention is because with prop the dosage taken is usually lower on a weekly basis. Less test = less aromatization = less water retention.
Also...if you take an anti-aromatase with your test, it should not matter which ester you use for a cutting cycle.
DUANABOL
New member
Probably the biggest myth associated with Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) surrounds the efficacy of various testosterone esters. Those of you who are new to the steroid game are confounded by the myriad of testosterone preparations available. Cypionate, enanthate, propionate, which one is best suited for your particular situation? While we've discussed this exact topic once before in the pages of AE, it's clear to me that many of you aren't doing your required reading since this is still a hot topic that burns up my email on a daily basis!
I suppose I should start by explaining exactly what constitutes an ester group. Remember that wonderful position 17 on the steroid molecule where an alkyl group was added to make certain steroids orally active? Well, many injectable steroids will have an ester group added to the 17th position. The primary difference between various esters is simply the number of carbon atoms they contain. The more carbon atoms in an ester group, the longer the drug will last in the body.
AAS such as testosterone cypionate or nandrolone decanoate are not active in their modified state. Each of these drugs must be broken down into the "parent" drug, or down to its basic component. For testosterone cypionate the parent drug would be testosterone and for nandrolone decanoate it would be…….that's right, nandrolone. Once you understand this, it's fairly easy to see why all the talk of various esters being more effective than others is a bunch of gym bullshit. I can distinctly remember being bombarded with erroneous information about testosterone esters when I first started using steroids. Use cypionate, it's the best for size! Use propionate, it bloats you less. The bottom line is the only difference between these various testosterone preparations is an issue of pharmacokinetics, or the length of time the drug is active in the body. To say that one is more effective than another is somewhat ridiculous, since they all will ultimately break down into the same parent drug, testosterone.
In order to effectively plan out a steroid cycle, it's important to understand the pharmacokinetics of each drug you're using. Say for example you had two bodybuilders, one of whom was going to use 400 mg of testosterone suspension per week, while the other was going to use 400 mg of testosterone cypionate per week. Each of these athletes will be injecting 200 mg on Monday and Friday. At the end of 12 weeks, who would have gained more weight and why? Given that all other variables were the same, meaning that these two bodybuilders had the same genetics, diet, training routine, etc, the athlete using the cypionate would gain more muscular weight. Why? Because the athlete using the test suspension is going to have very high serum levels of testosterone for several hours after each injection, but the body will rapidly break it down and testosterone levels will return to normal. On the other hand, the athlete using test cypionate is going to have lower circulating levels of testosterone (compared to the period immediately following injections), but for a very long duration. Since the half-life (the time it takes to metabolize half the drug) of cypionate is approximately 6 days, one shot of cypionate would ensure elevated testosterone levels for almost two weeks. This doesn't necessarily mean that cypionate is more effective than test suspension, it simply means that an athlete using suspension would need to take more frequent (daily) injections.
I suppose I should start by explaining exactly what constitutes an ester group. Remember that wonderful position 17 on the steroid molecule where an alkyl group was added to make certain steroids orally active? Well, many injectable steroids will have an ester group added to the 17th position. The primary difference between various esters is simply the number of carbon atoms they contain. The more carbon atoms in an ester group, the longer the drug will last in the body.
AAS such as testosterone cypionate or nandrolone decanoate are not active in their modified state. Each of these drugs must be broken down into the "parent" drug, or down to its basic component. For testosterone cypionate the parent drug would be testosterone and for nandrolone decanoate it would be…….that's right, nandrolone. Once you understand this, it's fairly easy to see why all the talk of various esters being more effective than others is a bunch of gym bullshit. I can distinctly remember being bombarded with erroneous information about testosterone esters when I first started using steroids. Use cypionate, it's the best for size! Use propionate, it bloats you less. The bottom line is the only difference between these various testosterone preparations is an issue of pharmacokinetics, or the length of time the drug is active in the body. To say that one is more effective than another is somewhat ridiculous, since they all will ultimately break down into the same parent drug, testosterone.
In order to effectively plan out a steroid cycle, it's important to understand the pharmacokinetics of each drug you're using. Say for example you had two bodybuilders, one of whom was going to use 400 mg of testosterone suspension per week, while the other was going to use 400 mg of testosterone cypionate per week. Each of these athletes will be injecting 200 mg on Monday and Friday. At the end of 12 weeks, who would have gained more weight and why? Given that all other variables were the same, meaning that these two bodybuilders had the same genetics, diet, training routine, etc, the athlete using the cypionate would gain more muscular weight. Why? Because the athlete using the test suspension is going to have very high serum levels of testosterone for several hours after each injection, but the body will rapidly break it down and testosterone levels will return to normal. On the other hand, the athlete using test cypionate is going to have lower circulating levels of testosterone (compared to the period immediately following injections), but for a very long duration. Since the half-life (the time it takes to metabolize half the drug) of cypionate is approximately 6 days, one shot of cypionate would ensure elevated testosterone levels for almost two weeks. This doesn't necessarily mean that cypionate is more effective than test suspension, it simply means that an athlete using suspension would need to take more frequent (daily) injections.
