Anabolic Steroid Cycles

What are the common ways that are followed to use anabolic steroid? Get to know here.

Steroids are a large part of the modern bodybuilding industry. Anabolic steroids are a class of natural and synthetic steroid hormones that promote cell growth and division, resulting in growth of several types of tissues, especially muscle and bone.

People who take anabolic steroid follow a pattern of usage, commonly referred to as anabolic steroid cycles. The objective of following such routine is usually two fold. One, users opt to take the drug in sporadic pre-determined intervals so as to minimize side effects. Secondly, the dosage is so designed as to accelerate the chance of meeting the end result sooner than otherwise.

Terms like 'cycling', 'stacking' and 'pyramiding' refer to common techniques used as part of anabolic steroid cycles. They are briefly explained below:

In cases where the production is illegal, there are often chances that the drug quality, not having to conform to any standard, is questionable or perhaps dangerous. Then again, many anabolic steroids still in wide use are basically for veterinary purposes. Which means that possibly illegal anabolic steroids are actually veterinary grade.

Cycling
This term is simply used to refer to the time one is on steroids. Cycling is the pattern of usage in which multiple doses of a particular drug are scheduled over a specific period of time, stopping thereafter for some time and then resuming the same routine again .

Stacking
Stacking is similar to cycling but differs from it in the sense that while cycling involves one type of drug, stacking usually involves two or more different anabolic steroids, mixing oral and/or injectable types, and sometimes even including compounds that are meant for veterinary use. Stacking is resorted to in the belief that two or more steroids will produce more pronounced effect than each drug taken individually. This theory has not however been tested scientifically.

Pyramiding
In this case, user will start at a low base, slowly escalating the dosage with time by either increasing the number and frequency of a single drug or doing so with multiple drugs till the pinnacle is reached half way, whereupon the dosage is progressively reduced to ultimately bring it to zero. As can be seen, pyramiding is an offshoot of either cycling or stacking though the usage pattern differs from both. Users typically pyramid their doses in cycles of 6 to 12 weeks.