
Introduction
The word “steroid”
refers to the chemical structure of a
class of compounds. Prefix ‘ster’ is derived
from the Greek word ‘STERE’ which means a solid, and the suffix ‘oid' is
derived from the word ‘EIDOS' and is commonly affixed in Greek as a suffix as
‘OIEDES', which means a three-dimensional form or shape. The types of steroids
that we are dealing with are known as anabolic steroids. The word anabolic comes from the Greek word “anabole” which means to build up.
Steroids are organic compounds whose chemical structure is
composed of four cycloalkane rings that are connected. These
rings are labeled as A, B, C, and D rings and are composed of at least twenty
carbon atoms that are bound together, which form the ring shapes. The A, B, and
C rings are cycloalkane rings known specifically as cyclohexane rings (rings
that contain 6 carbon atoms). The D ring is different and is known as a
cyclopentane ring (a ring that contains 5 carbon atoms).
There exist
many different types of steroids, the majority of which are not connected with muscle
growth, strength, or athletic performance. Even opposite, a lot of steroids,
destroy and break down muscle tissue (these steroids are known as
corticosteroids). Naturally occurring steroids (there are hundreds of different
types of steroids and steroidal compounds in nature which exist in plants,
animals, insects, and even fungi) are synthesized in cells of the different
aforementioned organisms.
Many
different types of steroids exist in the human body, such as Cholesterol,
Cholecalciferol (Vitamin D), Estrogen, Testosterone, and Cortisol (among many
others). For example, Vitamin D is known as a secosteroid, which is a steroidal
molecule but contains a broken ring. Cholesterol is the basis for all other
steroids produced
in the human body. Also, Cholesterol serves as the base steroidal
compound that the body’s cells use to synthesize all other steroids (Estrogen,
Testosterone, Vitamin D, etc.).
As
we already know, the word ‘steroid’ refers to the steroid nature of the
compound. Anabolic-androgenic steroids are often abbreviated as AAS. The word
‘androgenic' refers to the masculinizing effects, and is derived from the Greek
words ‘andro’ which means “male” or “masculine” and ‘genes’ which means “to
produce”. Meaning that anabolic steroids are steroids that promote tissue
building or tissue growth, and in this case it refers specifically to muscle
tissue anabolism.
The
main anabolic steroid produced in every human body is the hormone Testosterone.
Being the male sex hormone it provides the male gender with the common male characteristics
such as deepening of the voice, development of bodily and facial hair, and
increases in muscle size and strength. Within the human body, Testosterone
is the precursor hormone to Dihydrotestosterone and Nandrolone, which are two
other naturally endogenously, produced anabolic steroids in the human body. All
other anabolic steroids are derived from those three naturally manufactured
anabolic steroids. Meaning, that hundreds of different anabolic steroids are all
modified forms of Testosterone, Dihydrotestosterone, or Nandrolone. They are
known as anabolic steroid analogues or derivatives. In case when the anabolic
steroid is an analogue or derivative of Testosterone, it is simply Testosterone
with a modification to its molecular chemical structure.
There
are three types of steroids existing:
1.
Testosterone analogues (or Testosterone derivatives);
2.
Dihydrotestosterone analogues (or Dihydrotestosterone derivatives);
3.
Nandrolone analogues (or Nandrolone derivatives).
Without
Testosterone, Dihydrotestosterone and Nandrolone wouldn’t even exist within the
human body, meaning that without the existence of DHT and Nandrolone, none of
their analogues and derivatives would exist. The development of an anabolic
steroid derivative will often have the same properties and characteristics as its
parent hormone (or progenitor hormone).
That
is important to understand that once an anabolic steroid is modified to create
a brand new type of steroid analogue, the resulting analogue is considered now
a different hormone with its unique properties and it may share characteristics
with its parent hormone or have the opposite, or a differing effect.
The Main Goal of
Modifying Testosterone to Create Analogues
The
main goal of modifying Testosterone is to create various analogues of
Testosterone that could exhibit different effects on the human body that may be
more productive in the treatment of a certain condition or disease than
Testosterone itself. Another goal could be the development of a more convenient
anabolic steroid for various individuals in different age groups (children or
elderly patients), gender categories, or for patients suffering from such
debilitations and diseases where Testosterone itself may worsen the medical
condition of the patient.
The
process started during anabolic steroid boom in the 1950s – 1980s. The quest
was to develop an anabolic steroid that could be considered ‘perfect’ in the
sense that it would provide the user with all of the benefits of the anabolic
effects but without undesirable estrogenic or androgenic side effects. The main
idea of such development and use of different analogues is that the discovery
of the ideal anabolic steroid analogue which exhibits a stronger anabolic
effect than Testosterone itself. Such ideal anabolic steroid would also provide
the athlete with less negative effects while exhibiting more of the positive ones.
Sometimes the use of Testosterone or various other anabolic steroids is not advisable
due to various attributes they may have that could worsen the results in
specific athletic activities. For example, Testosterone tends to promote water
retention through its ability to be aromatized into Estrogen via the aromatase
enzyme. While such an effect might be beneficial for a strength athlete or a
powerlifter, this is not the desired effect for athletes involved in sports that
involve speed and swiftness, for example sprinting.
The Importance of
Using Testosterone as a Reference Point
It
is crucial to understand that Testosterone is utilized as the measuring stick
and all other anabolic steroids are measured against it, referenced with it,
and compared to it. Upon understanding this, that is easy to observe how a
particular given anabolic steroid possesses an anabolic strength that might be
several times stronger (or weaker) than Testosterone (Testosterone’s anabolic
and androgenic ratings are both respectively 100). The importance of the
anabolic and androgenic strength ratings of 100 is paramount to understanding
the different strengths of the various types of steroids.
Testosterone
Derivatives
All
anabolic steroids could be considered as derivatives or analogues of
Testosterone, but there are several direct derivatives of Testosterone that
exist. Derivatives of Testosterone will possess and exhibit the same properties
as Testosterone itself, and this can present both advantages and disadvantages.
First
officially created Testosterone analog was Methandrostenolone (Dbol), which was
followed by Boldenone (Equipoise). The general characteristics of Testosterone
derivatives are very similar its parent hormone: they all exhibit the ability
to aromatize into Estrogen and they all exhibit the ability to interact with
the 5-alpha-reductase (5AR) enzyme to become reduced to a stronger androgen. Even
though they do not reduce into Dihydrotestosterone as Testosterone does, they
still can interact with the 5AR enzyme and reduce to their own respective
individual stronger androgens (Dianabol will reduce into
Dihydromethandrostenolone and Boldenone will reduce into Dihydroboldenone). Anyway,
the reduction of these analogs into their stronger androgenic metabolites is
different from Testosterone because they are reduced into very small trace
amounts (usually the result of the structural modifications allowing these
anabolic steroid analogs to possess a lesser affinity to bind to the 5AR
enzyme).
Dihydrotestosterone
Derivatives
Dihydrotestosterone
analogues are different types of steroids that are derived from
Dihydrotestosterone. These anabolic steroids use Dihydrotestosterone as the
base template for the modifications to the core Dihydrotestosterone chemical
structure.
The
majority of anabolic steroids are Dihydrotestosterone derivatives and belong to
the family of DHT-derivatives (such as Winstrol, Anavar, Primobolan, Masteron,
and several others). Dihydrotestosterone is a very unique anabolic steroid
because it holds absolutely no activity within muscle tissue, which is a very
interesting and unusual fact. All anabolic steroids from the family of DHT-derivative
contain modifications to their chemical structures that grant them significant
activity and effectiveness within muscle tissue, where unmodified DHT would
never survive metabolism. This is so because Dihydrotestosterone, once it
enters muscle tissue, is instantly deactivated and metabolized into two
ineffective hormones by an enzyme. This enzyme is the 3-hydroxysteroid
dehydrogenase enzyme, which is present in large quantities in muscle tissue and
is the enzyme that serves to metabolize any DHT that enters muscle tissue into
two inactive metabolites: 3-Alpha
Androstanediol and 3-Beta Androstanediol. These two hormones which are metabolites
of DHT are not anabolic whatsoever in muscle tissue. The nature of DHT being a
non-anabolic steroid is because of the outside factors and has nothing to
do with the properties and nature of the hormone itself. But it wouldn’t be
right to refer to DHT as only an androgenic steroid as it also holds the
capability to be anabolic, but is stripped of that experience as soon as it
enters muscle tissue by the enzyme 3-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase.
The typical
characteristics of DHT derivatives are those of elimination of any possible
interaction with the aromatase enzyme, thereby allowing all DHT derivatives to
exhibit absolutely no estrogenic activity. Anadrol (Oxymetholone) is the only
exception as it possesses a high degree of Estrogenic activity, but this is not
because of interaction with the aromatase enzyme – it cannot interact with the
aromatase enzyme. Anadrol instead exhibits unique properties because it and its
metabolites can act as Estrogens themselves in various tissues in the body.
DHT
derivatives will exhibit no Estrogenic activity in the body, meaning there will
be no such side effects as bloating and water retention, gynecomastia, and
other Estrogen-related side effects. This fact makes them the preferred choice among
bodybuilders and athletes than other types of steroids. Bodybuilders utilize it
for fat loss and cutting phases of dieting. DHT derivatives do not interact with
the 5-alpha-reductase enzyme, which is responsible for the conversion of
Testosterone to the much more androgenic Dihydrotestosterone. DHT derivatives
have already been reduced, meaning there is no risk involved in these types of steroids converting
to any metabolite that exhibits stronger androgenic effects.
Nandrolone Derivatives
The
only existing derivative of Nandrolone is Trenbolone. Although other Nandrolone
analogues have been developed, they are not popular. Trenbolone is an anabolic androgen. Being
a derivative of Nandrolone means that Trenbolone is
a 19-Nor anabolic compound. 19-Nor anabolics come from Nandrolone and they are created
by removing the 19th carbon. Nandrolone and Trenbolone belong
to a unique category of anabolic steroids known as Progestins.
Trenbolone
being a Nandrolone derivative is, of course, missing the aforementioned carbon
atom at the 19th position (which is, in
reality, a whole methyl group) and this carbon atom is instead replaced by
double-bonds between the two carbon atoms that the 19th carbon was originally bound with (this differs
from Nandrolone itself where the lacking 19th carbon is
simply replaced with a hydrogen atom instead of double-bonds in Trenbolone’s
case). This
quality makes them unique compared to other anabolics. This
lack of a 19th carbon is what increases the resistance of
19-nor compounds to interact with the aromatase enzyme and therefore very
resistant to any Estrogen conversion.
Trenbolone
also contains modifications at carbons 19 and 11, where one hydrogen atom was
removed from each carbon so that carbons 19 and 11 become double-bonded with
their neighboring carbon atoms in their respective cycloalkane rings. Thanks to
these additional modifications of double-bonds at carbon 19 and 11, Trenbolone has
increased resistance to aromatization and is completely immune to it, meaning
it is unable to interact with the aromatase enzyme. These modifications are
also responsible for granting Trenbolone with the extremely high anabolic and
androgenic strength ratings.
19-nor
Progestational compounds exhibit various unique effects and side effects in the
body, that are not seen among many other types of steroids. The study of a
group of 19-nor anabolic steroids shown that they tend to exhibit a binding
affinity for the Progesterone receptors in the body. Trenbolone possesses very
strong binding affinity (much stronger than Nandrolone itself) for the
Progesterone receptor. This is one of the reasons why Trenbolone possesses side
effects that are rarely seen in other anabolic steroids that are not
Progestins.
Progestogenic
side effects are almost identical to Estrogenic side effects and include severe
endogenous Testosterone production shutdown/suppression, gynecomastia, and
water retention. There is evidence that the activity of Progestins is closely
correlated with the activity of Estrogen in the body. Special attention should
be paid to understand the Progestogenic properties of Nandrolone and its
derivatives before start to using them. Also, research should be done on how to
properly deal with the associated Progestogenic side effects in case they occur.
19-nor
compounds (Nandrolone derivatives) mainly are chosen by athletes and
bodybuilders for the same reasons as DHT derivatives. 19-nor compounds are
either highly resistant to aromatization or do not aromatize into Estrogen at
all (like Trenbolone), and therefore eliminate the Estrogen-related side
effects such as water retention/bloating and gynecomastia. 19-nor compounds also
do not interact with the 5AR enzyme or interact with it in very miniscule
amounts (in Nandrolone’s case).
The Myth of Anabolic
Steroids for Bulking and/or Cutting
There
is the popular myth that there are various anabolic steroids made specifically
for ‘bulking’ and/or specifically for ‘cutting’. First of all, Anabolic steroids do not
directly burn fat instead they simply increase nutrient partitioning. Nutrient
partitioning is defined as the effect of directing ingested nutrients,
vitamins, and minerals towards muscle repair and muscle growth to a large
degree – so much so that fat storage is either completely avoided or
dramatically reduced.
Anabolic
steroids do not possess any direct effects on fat metabolism, they do interact
with androgen receptors on fat tissue to initiate lipolysis (fat breakdown),
but this does not give any significant results. Some types of steroids exhibit
the aforementioned extreme level of nutrient partitioning at a far greater
degree than any other anabolic steroid, especially anabolic steroids such as TRENBOMED A 100 (Trenbolone Acetate). Even TESTOMED P 100 (Testosterone Propionate) does this, when an individual is engaged in their
first-ever cycle of Testosterone, this results in the gaining of lean mass, and
a reduction of varying degrees of body fat percentage. That is very important
to remember the fact that results are 100% dependent on the individual’s
nutrition and training.
Different
types of steroids merely serve as a help to the efforts and hard work that the
nutrition and training aspects have properly established. If the user's main
goal is fat loss, then the individual’s nutrition must reflect that by either
engaging in a caloric deficit or some sort of nutritional plan that supports
fat loss. There are various anabolic steroids which also might exhibit effects
and properties that support bulking or mass-gaining cycles, for example, such as DIANAMED 10 (Methandienone) or ANADROMED 10 (Oxymetholone), but
it does not mean that they cannot be utilized for fat loss or cutting. The
result depends on the individual's diet that will determine whether fat loss or
muscle gain will be achieved.
Most
athletes decide not to use compounds such as DIANAMED 10 (Methandienone) for fat loss. This
decision is based on the fact that DIANAMED 10 (Methandienone) exhibits Estrogenic activity that
results in water retention and bloating, resulting in the puffy, bloated, and
soft look to the physique that is not desired during fat loss phases. That
is easy to avoid this limitation with the inclusion of an aromatase inhibitor,
but the main thing must be understood here: nutrition and training determine
results, not the types of steroids used.
Leave a Comment