How do anabolic steroids work?

Before discussing about the way anabolic steroids work on muscle mass increase, we will refer to some basic things about steroids. First of all, anabolic steroids are synthetic versions of testosterone, which means that they basically supplement the body with hormone. Of course, not all steroids have the same ability of supplementing the body with hormone as testosterone, but have some common traits. The main mechanism of action of steroids is on the metabolism of ingested proteins that in turn facilitate the muscle synthesis. Comparing the forms of administration and the types of steroids, they all act differently on increasing muscle mass and strength. Considering the fact that injectable steroids and oral steroids carry different features and traits, respectively they work differently on improving the physical performance and creation of "quality muscles” appearance. We shall discuss the most important features of each type of steroids further.

How do injectable steroids work?

The most popular injectable steroid of all times in any steroid cycle is testosterone. It has many derivatives that carry different features and traits. It is an efficient steroid as it supplements the body with hormone; it is well tolerated and does not cause serious side effects.

While all injectable steroids pursue the same goals, there are some distinct features each of them carries.

Popular injectable steroids:

·Testosterone Propionate- is a steroid with moderate to strong androgenic properties, carries a half-life of almost four days, which means that may be administered once in three days. The propionate ester is the shortest in action if compared to the rest ester based derivatives.

·Testosterone Cypionate- carries a high risk of developing side effects. Its half-life is approximately 6-7 days.

·Testosterone Suspension- it is the most preferred derivative by the athletes due to the fact that it carries pure testosterone into the blood, it may be used in bulking cycles and it is short in action which means that it has to be used daily.

·Trenbolone-has the derivatives: acetate, enanthate and hexahydrobenzylcarbonate. It is considered an efficient steroid because it produces quality muscle mass with minimal water retention. The difference between the three derivatives lies in the duration of action. Also, it has the ability to increase protein synthesis and nitrogen retention in muscle tissue, which contributes to more efficiently to the muscle building process.

·Nandrolone- has the derivatives decanoate and undecanoate. It is a good steroid to be used in bulking cycles as it has a very low rate of aromatization and a low rate of conversion to di-hydrotestosterone.

How do oral steroids work?

Oral steroids differ significantly from injectable steroids due to the fact that they are known for providing good results in a short period of time. They carry a much shorter half-life than most of the injectable steroids and have to be taken daily for a pre-determined period of time. Oral steroids are an optimal choice for bulking cycles. This means that to the base injectable steroid many athletes add an oral steroid they are most likely to obtain amazing results. Popular oral steroids are considered the following: methenolone, oxandrolone, oxymetholone, methandrostenolone and stanozolol.