How To Start To Use Pharmacology

1. Intro

Today's article is precisely about this, what you need to know before deciding to take PEDS, what options you have, how to do it correctly, and what is the proper order to preserve health and maximize results.

2. Let's Assess The Decision

Let's be clear, you don't want to use drugs, you want to improve, improve faster and continuously.

This is a reality, if we could all become competition bodybuilders and have those striking and aesthetic physiques without using drugs, we wouldn't take them, but this is what we have.

So let's assess the decision, let's use drugs appropriately, but are they all steroids? Not at all, there are many drug options that can help us lose more body fat, improve performance, enhance the appearance of the physique, and that do not require a post-cycle therapy or have a negative impact on the body like anabolic steroids do.

But before anything else, are you sure you are doing what makes you improve correctly, which is training, nutrition, and rest?

Are you sure?

3. Training, The Base

Whenever you hear a professional bodybuilder, what is the secret to that size, that physique, that definition, they don't talk about drugs, they talk about training, diet, and rest, no, they're not lying.

Let's start with training, this is the most important thing, yes, this is the stimulus that will make you gain muscle mass and when you are in a calorie deficit, lose fat and retain that precious lean tissue.

In fact, during a calorie deficit process, you can lose fat and gain muscle mass at the same time, as long as the premise of training is met, at the highest level.

What does it mean to train correctly?

There are several premises:

Train with the maximum technical quality
A good cadence and control of loads (kg)
Sufficient training volume per muscle group
Take each of the series to a minimum of RIR 2-1, or RPE 8, near muscular failure without degenerating the technical gesture.

Since the early days of bodybuilding, there were bodybuilders who advocated for higher training volume, with long and exhausting sessions. However, others like Arthur Jones and the Heavy Duty school, with its main figures like Mike Mentzer and later Dorian Yates with their 45min-1h high-intensity workouts, argued that intensity was paramount.

So, what is more important? Well, as they say, intensity is non-negotiable. The last repetitions close to failure are the ones that are truly stimulating, and repeating the technical gesture helps recruit the maximum possible fibers of the target muscle without affecting other muscles that shouldn't be working, as in the case of a bicep curl where the shoulder and even the back are often involved.

Mike Israetel, Ph.D., established a minimum number of sets per muscle group, based on its size, tolerance to workload volume, as well as average and maximum tolerable volume.

It's important to note that this is individual and should be adapted to each person, but it's a good guide for beginners and intermediates to start programming their training.

Once you understand this, the distribution can vary greatly. Push-pull-legs, Push-pull-legs-Torso-Legs, Torso-Legs, all of them are valid as long as they suit the individual.

The ideal approach is to gradually increase training volume as the weeks progress and the individual adapts to the workload.

If you manage to master the technique of certain exercises, become strong in them, follow the workouts as they should be, and make progress, this will never be a problem. However, having a good coach who plans your workouts week by week, recording the loads, repetitions, RPE/RIR, and also reviewing your technique during the sets is ideal.

4. Nutrition. What Do You Need To Know?

There are many diets out there, which you've probably heard of on social media, claiming to be the best for losing fat, gaining muscle, some of them eliminating food groups, like carbohydrates in the Keto diet, animal-derived foods in the Vegan diet, and so on.

No diet is effective for fat loss without a caloric deficit, and this is a universal truth. Any diet that helps to lose fat without counting calories is simply creating a caloric deficit by chance, but this premise will always exist.

There are no good or bad foods, simply those more ideal for each stage of preparation. In the cutting phase, there are some foods that are more suitable for keeping us satiated and avoiding hunger, such as potatoes, rice pudding, lean proteins, etc. However, in an advanced bulking phase where we need to eat a lot, we'll typically consume more rice, pasta, liquid meals, and even sweets.

Ronnie Coleman's best condition was achieved by eating fried chicken wings, fries, barbecue sauce, and Coca Cola the day before the championship.

This doesn't mean we should always eat like that, but rather that calories count and the overall balance of the diet is crucial. But how do we know the calories we need to lose fat and gain muscle?

There are several calculations and estimation formulas for energy expenditure based on height, weight, age, and activity level. Because it's not the same for someone who stays at home or in an office all day as it is for someone who, for example, works in construction and burns a significant amount of calories that they can use to build muscle or lose fat.

So, I'll leave you with a link here where you can calculate your own calories and find out how many calories you need to consume

https://fitgeneration.es/calculadora/harris-benedict/

Meal timing should be tailored to your daily routine, activity level, and individual needs. There's no inherent superiority in eating 5 times versus 4 or 6 times versus 5; the key is to distribute meals in a way that works best for you. It's perfectly fine to have 3-4 meals a day without any issues.

When weight stagnates, whether you're gaining muscle or losing fat, it's ideal to adjust calories by around 8-12% depending on your current state and goals. Typically, this adjustment involves altering carbohydrate, fat, or both intake.

5. Rest, The Missing Link

We all know how to train, follow a diet, but often, rest is the overlooked aspect that people tend to neglect.

It's crucial to get 7-8 hours of deep sleep every night to recover from workouts. Here's where we can improve this aspect with some supplementation if necessary, such as 2-5mg of Melatonin, 500mg of Magnesium, and 500mg of Gaba. Additionally, CBD can also be quite helpful.

At Deus Power, we have a supplement formulated specifically to maximize rest.

But generally, what tends to happen is that stimulants are consumed close to bedtime, daytime schedules are not properly managed, or meals are distributed in a way that digestion interferes with sleep either due to overeating or, conversely, hunger during a cutting phase doesn't allow for proper rest.

6. What You Need To Know Before Starting Steroids

First of all, you should know that there are several ways to consume steroids, all of which carry certain risks that we must partly accept.

Additionally, here's what you need to be aware of:

You'll need to undergo continuous blood tests throughout the year.
You'll have to use supplements and other medications to minimize the risks associated with steroids.
There's always the possibility of experiencing adverse effects.
Steroids are potent and work very well, but all the other aspects mentioned earlier carry more weight than the cycle itself.
Total doses, choice of compounds, and duration of use are the main factors contributing to the risk of experiencing adverse effects.

There are several ways of consuming and using steroids:

Blast or Cycle and PCT: This involves running a cycle for 10-12-16-20 weeks where you continuously improve, and after this period, you begin the recovery of endogenous testosterone, which is the testosterone our bodies naturally produce. During this recovery period, other medications are used to maintain the gains.

The goal is to do one cycle per year, or a maximum of two.

This approach is recommended for beginners to experience the use and recovery process. Later on, they can decide if they want to continue with intermittent use, like this protocol, or perhaps prefer continuous use, as we'll discuss next.

A post-cycle therapy (PCT) should last at least 8 weeks and should begin 3 weeks after the last injection if long esters like Enanthate or Cypionate were used, or within a week if only short esters like Propionate were used.

PCT typically involves a SERM like Clomiphene or Enclomiphene at doses of 25-50mg to maintain testosterone levels within optimal ranges while the body recovers its natural production. The SERM is usually discontinued after about 8 weeks.

There are other aids that do not interfere with testosterone production that can be used during PCT, such as growth hormone, MK677, peptides, but never steroid derivatives, SARMs, or anything that could affect the hormonal axis.

Blast or Cycle and Cruise: After X weeks of the cycle, there will be a period of low doses, around 3mg/kg of body weight, aimed at maximizing health parameters.

This can be done in many ways, for example by adding a DHT derivative like Masteron or Primobolan, which have a fairly good safety profile and can help us continue improving.

The goal of this protocol is for improvement to continue in a less accelerated but more continuous pace than the protocol with PCT, where obviously without steroids, improvement will be very limited, and if the main aspects are not done correctly, gains can be lost.

This protocol is not recommended for beginners; it should only be done by individuals who have accepted that they will use testosterone for life. It's more for experienced users who are either recurrent competitors or, as I mentioned, this has been their lifestyle for years (+5-7 years).

A cruise should last at least a few weeks similar to the Blast stage to perceive substantial improvement during this stage, not depend on higher doses, and minimize risks, as organ damage (heart, kidney, etc.) mainly depends on the accumulated dose and time.

Blast and TRT: This protocol is similar to Blast and Cruise, but instead of including a Cruise stage with low doses, you directly use the maximum amount of testosterone that a man could produce naturally.

This minimizes adverse effects and ensures the amount of testosterone needed to avoid muscle loss. Remember that continuous use of exogenous testosterone inevitably leads to a suppression of natural production. This protocol suppresses the axis during the TRT stages and, if done for a sufficient period, will make us dependent on testosterone for life, just like Blast and Cruise.

The choice of the user should be personal, informed, and preferably with the guidance of a coach who is fully informed about all possible risk prevention strategies. Stay tuned to this blog because we want to provide you with all the information possible, based on updated and validated scientific evidence from users, not just theory.

My recommendation is always to hire a coach; I sincerely believe it is the best investment a person entering bodybuilding or recreational use of pharmacological aids can make. I usually don't have space for more clients, but if you need my help, you can write to me at DeusPower support if you wish to inquire about my work as a competition, health, and lifestyle coach.

It will be a pleasure for me to help you achieve your goals along with my team of trainers, doctors, and dietitians. If that's not the case, I will still provide you with as much information as possible here, although I always reserve certain practices for my clients.

Each case requires individualization and monitoring, as well as an objective viewpoint for decision-making.

7. What Options Are There Besides Steroids?

It's common to think that steroids are the only pharmacological tool for improving body composition and performance, but that's far from reality.

Many people prefer not to take the risks associated with using steroids, either in the short or long term. Some may have genetic predispositions, like alopecia, while others simply seek minimal improvements and nothing more.

For those individuals, this section of the article provides some common alternatives tailored to their preferences and needs.

7.1. Pre-cycle

This is a concept you might not be familiar with, but it's simple: preparing the body and composition for the cycle to make it as efficient as possible.

And how? Through primarily nutrition and pharmacological strategies, reducing body fat percentage, and using some of the following compounds to make this process more efficient.

The pre-cycle can last from 4 to 8 weeks, or even longer. The more work we do before the cycle, the better.

And one of the most efficient drugs for this purpose is the one we are going to mention next.

7.2. Clenbuterol

Clenbuterol is a β2 receptor agonist, an old drug for bronchial asthma that has properties for releasing fatty acids into the bloodstream, increasing the basal metabolic rate, and fatty acid oxidation.

This drug is one of the most efficient when it comes to improving the fat loss process, affecting the three main aspects of it: energy expenditure, the presence of fatty acids in the blood, and their oxidation.

It should be used on an empty stomach, when blood sugar levels are low and the presence of fatty acids in the blood is higher for better utilization, avoiding close to bedtime if there is a second dose.

I also think it's a good way to make a first contact because Clenbuterol has very visible effects, both in terms of performance in training, fat loss, as well as possible adverse effects such as hand tremors, which makes the user aware of the reality of using pharmacology. Things can happen.

Of course, it's not harmless. It's a stimulant and has effects on cardiac tissue and blood pressure. However, this can be addressed by introducing a selective beta-blocker for cardiac tissue such as Nebivolol, which has hypotensive properties.

The doses of Clenbuterol are very individual, as each person tolerates it differently. Doses range from 20 mcg to 120 mcg, with the dose being linear once the ideal dose is reached.

As for the dose of Nebivolol, it's usually 2.5 mg once a day along with Clenbuterol. If blood pressure is higher, it can be taken before bed when antihypertensives are most effective. Conversely, if blood pressure is low, the Nebivolol dose should be reduced to 1.25 mg.

7.3 Insulin

I imagine you're already familiar with insulin, often associated with absurdly large physiques from the 90s, but it has been misunderstood as a substance that is much more positive than negative.

Insulin is a polypeptide, a long chain of proteins secreted by our pancreas in response to carbohydrate and protein consumption. The amount of insulin is higher when carbohydrate consumption is higher, and its response is faster when consuming a high glycemic index meal.

Insulin has been unfairly treated in the realm of health as a cause of body fat gain when it's not. It's a factor, but by no means the sole reason. Other hormones and proteins, such as Acylation Stimulating Protein and Lipoprotein Lipase, which are activated by fat or protein consumption, are what lead to fat gain. The culprit is simply excess calories.

For bodybuilding, exogenous insulin is used for various purposes, contrary to common belief.

Insulin saves work for the pancreas, allowing insulin or most of it to be preserved in the pancreatic islet cells, which allows for greater efficiency in secretion.

Insulin inhibits a protein that inactivates muscle growth in mammals called Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 4, which essentially serves as a growth limiter. Insulin allows us to grow beyond our genetic limitations.

Insulin increases glycogen production by stimulating and synthesizing Glycogen Synthase, the enzyme responsible for its formation, thereby improving performance in training and enabling more training volume.

Insulin increases the uptake of amino acids by skeletal muscle, which is very important for preserving muscle mass in a caloric deficit and stimulates protein synthesis, which is purely anabolic.

Insulin boosts appetite by ushering everything (glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids) into cells, creating a state of low glucose that triggers appetite-stimulating mechanisms. This makes it easier to consume large amounts of calories, mostly carbohydrates.

Important to note, insulin does not cause any pancreatic atrophy. By using insulin for a period, our normal production continues to function, and of course, it does not affect sex hormones, libido, or the endocrine axis. So, it's a fantastic aid that we can use if desired.

Insulin also shines when used with GH/MK677 because, although it has a downside of being lipogenic, meaning it pulls everything into the cell and can lead to a bit more fat accumulation, it's always combined with GH or a GH secretagogue like MK677. Additionally, options like GHRP2/GHRP6 or CJC1295 can also be effective.

7.4 Human Growth Hormone

You've surely heard of this famous drug, which has clinical use for children with growth deficiencies, slowing their growth, but in bodybuilding, it plays a fundamental role.

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) is a polypeptide, like insulin, a long-chain protein that is secreted in the pituitary gland, a region of the brain, and it generates pulses several times a day, with one of the largest pulses occurring while we sleep.

HGH shares several characteristics with insulin, as it does not cause atrophy of any gland, does not affect the sexual axis, and therefore does not require post-cycle therapy.

HGH primarily has lipolytic capacity, meaning it helps extract fatty acids from stored triglycerides in adipose tissue, in the fat we accumulate.

This makes it a perfect complement in growth phases, as we gain less fat and the gains are leaner, allowing bulking phases to be extended.

This substance deserves its own article, just like insulin, so I don't want to go into too much detail here, but it's undoubtedly a great aid with anti-aging properties, improving skin and hair quality, and most importantly, improving sleep quality.

In combination with insulin, we would have a protocol that does not require breaks, does not require post-cycle therapy, and we could obtain additional improvements over time, independent of steroid use. During periods of caloric deficit, we can add Clenbuterol to efficiently remove body fat.

3-4IU per day divided upon waking and before sleeping (1+2IU) or (2+2IU) is more than enough for most users and even experienced competitors. Higher doses incur greater risks, which is another topic.

8. To Conclude

As you can see, there are many possible aids within the wide spectrum of pharmacological assistance, and in fact, I've left out a few for future articles, and this one has turned out to be particularly long, but I wanted to give you the best and most detailed information.

It's important that you are aware that the foundation is key—calories in nutrition, training in all its aspects, and rest. Without these under control and optimization, it's better to focus your effort and resources on fixing them somehow, whether by hiring a coach or studying on your own. What I often see are people who want the results that pharmacology can offer but don't achieve them despite using it for this very reason—they don't have the foundation under control.

Remember, this is a sport and a lifestyle that takes years, many years, to master. It's better to make good choices and not seek quick fixes for something that takes a lifetime to build.

If you have suggestions for future articles or simply have doubts about any topic, you can contact me without any problem.

Nutribuilder

Julio PEDs and Health Educator and Bodybuilding Contest Prep Coach