
Testosterone
Propionate is the shortest estered testosterone preparation
available
on the market currently. It does everything you’d expect from
testosterone,
but anecdotally seems to promote less water retention
than longer estered versions of the product.
Testosterone is the
hormone which served as the base molecule for all
anabolic steroids currently on the market today. By adding
or
subtracting from it, all steroids we see currently in circulation, were
developed. It is both a highly
anabolic and highly androgenic hormone,
having an anabolic (muscle building) as well as anabolic rating of 100
each, respectively. Testosterone exerts the majority of its effects by
initiating gene transcription in a very specific manner, thereby
promoting increased nitrogen retention in the muscle.
[1]Testosterone
is also known to increases levels of the growth factor IGF-1
in both
the muscle tissue as well as the liver.
[2]
Testosterone also increases
the activity of satellite cells,
[3] which are
cells that play an active
role in repairing exercise-damaged muscle. As previously stated,
Testosterone exerts
these effects primarily by genomic mechanisms,
meaning that it binds to the androgen receptor (AR) thus initiating the
aforementioned gene transcription. This particular stimulation of the
AR promotes various of the AR dependant mechanisms for both muscle gain
and fat loss
[4], as well
as reducing catabolic glucocorticoid hormones
[4],
and increasing red blood cell production
[5].
Testosterone may
even aid in protecting the heart against coronary disease.
[6]
It also
has a pronounced effect on aggression.
[7]
Since Testosterone occurs naturally in both the male and female body,
and this particular version of testosterone clears the body relatively
quickly, it’s often the testosterone of choice for drug tested
athletes. Drug-test-passing levels of testosterone can often be had
relatively quickly upon cessation of this product
As with any form of testosterone, Testosterone
Propionate (often just
called “prop”), once in the body, is partially converted
to both
estrogen as well as Dihydrotestosterone. These are often the cause of
many side effects such as gynocomastia, water retention, hair loss and
prostate enlargement. Also, as with most steroids, injected
testosterone propionate will inhibit your natural testosterone levels
and HPTA (Hypothalamic
Pituitary Testicular Axis). The advantage with
testosterone propionate, in this respect, is that it will clear your
system more quickly than other versions, and allow you to begin
recovery more rapidly.
Typically, testosterone propionate is stacked with other quick acting
injectables, and is usually reserved for cutting
cycles, where short
esters are preferred. Trenbolone
Acetate and Masteron
are typically
used in such cycles.
Sometimes
experienced users will actually employ a strategy known as
"frontloading" with testosterone propionate. They usually
use the rapid
onset time of testosterone propionate to gain quick results in strength
and weight, while also using a longer estered
testosterone concurrently, and allowing the longer ester to “kick in” a
few weeks into the cycle.
Unfortunately, Testosterone Propionate is the most expensive
testosterone to use, due to the injection frequency and high demand on
the black market- where it is readily available. Currently, it runs
about $40-60 for a 10-20ml bottle dosed at 100mgs/ml, which will only
last a couple of weeks for the average user.