Trenbolone
Enanthate is a drug that’s exclusive to the underground
market. In
other words, you won’t see it with the Organon or STERIS
label on it.
It was produced as a cheaper alternative to Parabolan, by a leading
underground lab several years ago. When I first got my hands on it, I
sent it away to a large lab to have it tested for purity and although
they replied that it
was probably about 90% pure, they couldn’t be totally sure because they
had no test sample to compare it to. So what’s really interesting here,
from a philosophical point of view, is that the underground actually
began to produce their own unique products instead of simply producing
clones of the steroids already available at the pharmacy. Other than
the ester, which only effects the blood plasma levels of a steroid,
peak concentration, and active life, this drug is identical to
Parabolan
and Trenbolone
Acetate- differing only in the fact that it is
active in the body for a longer time. Therefore, injections with this
compound are typically once or twice per week.
Trenbolone
is derived from 19-nor Testosterone,
but with three additional bonds- making it unable to aromatize
(convert) to estrogen, as well as making it not subject to 5a-reduction
(conversion to a Dihydro form). Speaking from a structural standpoint,
Trenbolone is actually very similar to Deca-Durabolin
(Nandrolone Decanoate),
except for a c-9 and c-11 double bond. These
two double bonds are very important, however, and provide Trenbolone
with several important differences. Firstly, the c9 bond serves to
prevent aromatization (conversion) to estrogen, while the c11 double
bond seems to increase Androgen Receptor binding quite profoundly
(although this may also have something to do with the c9 bond as well).
Thus, as compared with Deca, Trenbolone’s lack of estrogenic activity
and potent ability to bind to the androgen receptor allow it to be a
much stronger anabolic/androgenic agent than Deca Durabolin. So what we
see in
Trenbolone is a drug that’s roughly 4x as anabolic as Deca, and roughly
10x as androgenic (according to the Vida Reference scale). With
Trenbolone,
the majority of weight gained on this drug is lean and
quality muscle.
[1]
Trenbolone also has the advantage of significantly increasing the level
of the hormone IGF-1 (which is highly anabolic) within muscle tissue.
[2]
Not only does it increase the levels of IGF-1,
substantially, it
also causes increased sensitivity to it
[3].
This is true of many
steroids, such as Testosterone, and many others. However, if we compare
Trenbolone to Testosterone, we additionally see that it’s binding
affinity to the androgen receptor (AR) is significantly stronger
[4].
Strong androgen receptor binding is a major contributing factor in
anabolism as well as fat loss.
Trenbolone
Enanthate (or any form of Trenbolone)
aids anabolism by
promoting nitrogen retention and protein synthesis in muscles
[5]
and
it seems to interact strongly with the receptors of anti-anabolic
(muscle growth preventing) glucocorticoid hormones
[6].
This will
reduce cortisol
[7]
and aid in muscle growth. Due to these protein
synthesizing effects, it can aid your feed efficiency and mineral
absorption
[8] which will
make food you eat more productive in building
new
muscle
tissue, and makes it a very effective agent with regards to
nutrient partitioning
[9], which is
how
your body metabolizes foodstuffs.
Since Trenbolone binds so tightly to androgen receptors, and those
receptors are found in lipid cells as well as muscle cells
[10],
Trenbolone
seems to have a profound effect on the AR in both of these
types of cells to catalyze anabolism as well as lipolysis
(fat-burning)
[11].
Finally, Trenbolone significantly promotes red blood
cell production and also increases the rate of glycogen replenishment,
both of which serve to profoundly improve recovery.
[12]
The most common complaint with Trenbolone
is that it can reduce aerobic
capacity possibly due to bronchial dilation from increased
prostaglandin formation. However at least in most
users, since the blood levels of Trenbolone
Enanthate won’t spike as
rapidly or peak to as high of a level as quickly as we see
with the Acetate version- this effect is not as pronounced with the
Enanthate version. Thus the infamous “Tren Cough” many users complain
about with the Acetate version isn’t as common with the Enanthate ester.
Doses are usually in the 200-600mg/week range, and since the ester
length of this steroid
is reasonably long, it only needs to be
administered via intramuscular
injection once or twice a week. Of course, it is equally useful in both
cutting as well as bulking
cycles.
The principal drawback to Trenbolone
Enanthate is that it can be quite
costly.