Masteron (Drostanolone)

Masteron is the trade name for Drostanolone, a popular anabolic steroid among bodybuilders, who use it as a polishing compound in conjunction with their steroid stacks. It is known as a dihydrotestosterone (DHT) drug, and as it has some interesting qualities that make it very different from other anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS).

History

Syntex introduced masteron to the pharmaceutical market in 1971, a decade after introducing anadrol - an oral anabolic steroid that also shares DHT properties, but yet produces drastically different results. As a matter of fact, masteron was a drug used to inhibit breast cancer in postmenopausal women, and it was kept under the radar in the bodybuilding community until much later.

Today, masteron is no longer produced for therapeutic purposes, as there are more advanced options for females to fight breast cancer, such as SERM's (Selective estrogen receptor modulators) and AI's (aromatase inhibitors). However, it is definitely produced for the bodybuilding community, and in the last decade it has grown in popularity. For instance, if you look at the steroids used by competitors, it is quite common to see masteron included in their cycles.

Anabolic and Androgenic ratio

On paper masteron (drostanolone) has an anabolic number of just 62, and the androgenic number is 25. Hence, it is considered a weak steroid, and when used alone it will not do much for the user. However, keep in mind that these ratio's are just theoretical, and they do not always translate to real life. For instance, masteron shines when used in combination with other AAS, and if it is used correctly in a stack, this steroid can actually provide amazing results in spite of relatively weak stats.

Forms of delivery

Masteron (drostanolone) is an injectable steroid suspended in oil. Interestingly, the original version only came in propionate ester form, but with the advancement of underground labs around the world, it is now common to see masteron available with the enanthate ester as well. Obviously, the only difference between the two esters is half life, which will determine the frequency of injections.

How it Works

As it was mentioned above, masteron is a DHT compound, so it will inhibit estrogen to a certain extent. In fact, it is almost pure DHT, being the only difference the addition of a carbon 2 position methyl group, which makes the compound more effective and resistant to breakdown in the body. Additionally, it is more anabolic than straight DHT.

Given these DHT properties, masteron cannot aromatize in the body, meaning there will be zero conversion to estrogen. What's more, it will help inhibit estrogen to a certain extent, although it would be foolish to use it as a replacement for AI's in cycles with aromatizing steroids like testosterone, dianabol, or deca durabolin.

Another great property of masteron is its tendency to bind to sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), making the other steroids you are using more effective by increasing 'free testestosterone' ratio. Hence, the reason it is often used in all sorts of stacks.

All in all, these properties give masteron the ability to enhance a steroid cycle, harden up muscles, and help dry the user ahead of a photo shoot or competition.

Dosages

Masteron is normally added to a steroid cycle at around 400-500 milligrams (mgs) per week on average. While some users will run half that dosage to help inhibit estrogen and get SHBG binding advantages, others will run masteron higher than 500 mgs to really harden and dry out in order to offset a large steroid cycle.

The propionate ester should be dosed every other day at minimum, and the enanthate ester version can be injected twice a week with success.

Doping

Athletes have been busted using masteron in all kinds of sports, including boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA). In fact, two of the best known dopers in these sports - Anderson Silva and Mike Richman, used masteron. One may wonder why masteron is mostly used in fighting sports, and the reason for this is very simple - those sports are weight slotted, so athletes will use masteron to maintain strength and muscle, while shedding unneeded water weight and dry out. This is advantageous over using other methods of shedding water weight, like sweating or diuretics, which hurt performance.

Half Life

As it has been mentioned, there are 2 main esters used with masteron, so the half life will depend on each of them. The propionate ester's half life is going to be around 3 days, while the longer enanthate ester is 10 days or so.

Detection times

Tested athletes should be careful using masteron, and if they absolutely must use this steroid, then it would be optimal to go with the propionate version, which has a detection time of only 3-4 weeks vs. the 3-4 month detection time seen with the enanthate version.

Side effects

Compared to other compounds, masteron is very mild, as it lacks the non-DHT related androgenic, or estrogenic side effects. However, there are still some issues that can arise from masteron use and should be kept in mind.

First of all, and most obviously, there are the dihydrotestosterone side effects, especially head hair loss since DHT will fry head hair follicles. The bad news here is that using a 5a-reductase inhibitor like finasteride will not help you because all it does is inhibit the conversion of testosterone into DHT. However, since masteron is already a DHT as such, there is no conversion into DHT, so there is no place for finasteride to work. Nevertheless, many forum guru's will recommend using finasteride (dutasteride) with masteron, but this will only inhibit results and crush libido, so it is counter productive to do so.

Furthermore, just like all anabolic androgenic steroids (AAS), masteron is suppressive, so a post cycle therapy (PCT) is highly recommended if you want to recover the natural testosterone production as fast as possible.

One final side effect is joint pain that takes place because masteron will dry the joints out. Therefore, I recommend using a joint support supplement like N2Joint RX with it.

User results

Users with body fat levels over 15% will not get very much out of masteron, but those with lower body fat will notice better aesthetics and striations to give them a stage ready look. Moreover, masteron will harden up the muscles. In fact, when I used masteron I had a massage therapist tell me she had never felt such hard muscles before, and masteron does this better than anything else out there.

Users will also notice pumps while working out, which can be counter productive with those who do more strength training or endurance sports, but beneficial to users who crave the pump. Luckily, this issue is very easy to solve by taking a support supplement that contains taurine, which can help lessen the pump if it becomes too strong to handle.

Stacking

Masteron shines best when added to an aromatizing cycle with such compounds as testosterone or dianabol. In such a stack, it will help keep estrogen under control, and it will improve the effectiveness of these compounds with its SHBG binding properties. Therefore, users will stop using aromatizing compounds ahead of their competition, limiting their PED use to just masteron and other dry compounds right before their show in order to hit their hardening and dry peak.

Let's take for example the following situation. There are only 12 weeks left before a competition, and a competitor is running a stack of testosterone, trenbolone, and masteron. In such case, he would run the compounds together for 8 or 9 weeks, then stop the testosterone and trenbolone, while keeping the masteron going. What's interesting, masteron stacks especially well with progestins, or estrogen increasing compounds, because of its ability to help inhibit those female hormones. For this reason it is not surprising that many users consider a stack of masteron and trenbolone (which is a progestin) like peanut butter and jelly.

Cost and ease of access

Masteron is easy to find, but it is pricey. One source I checked had 10 weeks worth at 500 mgs per week for around $300 or so. Due to the high price, some sources have been caught selling other compounds as masteron, or underdosing the product.

Female use

Although on paper you would think masteron would be a good choice for females, you need to remember that dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is a male sex hormone, and females run the risk of having virilization symptoms such as enlarged clitoris, deeper voice, and other masculine traits.

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Author: George Spellwin