While most performance enhancement cycles with testosterone as the base will use single ester compounds like Testosterone Enanthate or Testosterone Cypionate, a lot of athletes are now switching to Sustanon.
Sustanon is a four ester blend of Testosterone that was originally designed as an alternative to conventional esters used for TRT. (1)
The idea behind the blend is that with both, long and short esters in it, people would require fewer injections to maintain stable test levels.
While it is rarely used in the United States for its intended purpose, Sustanon is the most widely used form of Testosterone in Europe and many other parts of the world.
Athletes have discovered that using Sustanon as the foundational steroid in their cycle has many advantages.
For one, it provides stable blood levels of the compound, with both an instant peak and a gradual decline.
Also, in some countries, RX-quality Sustanon is easier to come by than single esters, which are often brewed in underground labs.
If you are looking to run your first steroid cycle with Sustanon, then here’s a low down on this testosterone blend.
What is Sustanon 250?
Sustanon 250 is a testosterone blend manufactured by Organon, who are one of the largest manufacturers of AAS in the world. (2)
There are four esters in Sustanon, which amount to 250mg of Testosterone in total.
Testosterone Propionate: There’s 30mg of Test Prop which is a small acting ester with an active halflife of approximately 3.5 days.
Testosterone Phenylpropionate: There’s 60mg of Test Phenylprop, which again is a short ester with an active half-life of approximately 4.5 days. These two are the fast acting esters which provide instantaneous relief from low-test symptoms.
Testosterone Isocaproate: There’s 90mg of Testosterone Isocaproate, which is a medium ester that has a half-life of 9-days. In a TRT program with one injection every fortnight, the Isocaproate ester will prevent a sudden dip in testosterone levels as the two short acting esters are metabolized.
Testosterone Decanoate: There’s 100mg of Testosterone Decanoate, which is a long ester that has a half-life of 15-days. This is the longest ester which gets metabolized the last and the higher concentration of this ester allows the levels to slowly return to baseline in about 21-days post injection.
The pharmacokinetics of Sustanon 250 is not too different from Testosterone Enanthate. It has a Cmax(max serum concentration) of about 70nmol/l, which is achieved in about 48-hours past the injection.(3)
The advantages & disadvantages of Sustanon
While it is increasingly being used by athletes in a performance enhancement setting, Sustanon’sprimary use is still for TRT in the UK and many parts of Europe.
The advantages are many.
- You need fewer pins per week as opposed to short acting single esters of testosterone. If you are going to use Test Prop for example, then you will need to pin at least thrice a week, if not more. With Sustanon, you can get away with one injection every two weeks, depending on your HRT protocol.
- Despite the four ester blend, Sustanon is essentially pure Testosterone. It has all the advantages of test. It boosts your mood, improves confidence, builds more muscle, burns more fat. You become a better version of yourself. We will touch on the effects of Sustanon
in a bit.
However, it does pose a few disadvantages as well.
- It results in uneven peaks and troughs, which ironically it was designed to avoid. So, even if your doctor might prescribe one injection a fortnight, your testosterone levels may not be stable and uniform throughout the two-week period. In a performance enhancement setting
though, this challenge is non-existent, since you will be using more frequent pins. - Dialing down your Estrogen levels can be challenging because of the unstable levels of testosterone and the different rates at which the esters aromatize. (4)
What are the results that can be achieved with Sustanon 250 in a steroid cycle?
Sustanon 250 can be the testosterone base in your steroid cycle. Apart from the four-ester blend being unique, it is pure testosterone and will produce all the performance enhancement effects of Test.
- Increased muscle mass: Testosterone is the most basic muscle building anabolic steroid in the world. It increases RBC, nitrogen retention and protein synthesis which amplifies recovery and boosts the rate at which your body is able to produce muscle tissue. There is some concern among athletes that the gains made with test are not clean. But that also has to do with the diet. If you can eat clean, you can make reasonably clean gains. (5)
- Increased lipolysis: As your muscle tissue increases, your basal metabolism increases as well which leads to enhanced fat loss. Testosterone does not directly influence lipolysis. But if you are using Sustanon in supraphysiological doses, you can be rest assured that it will lead to enhanced fat loss. (6)
- Amplified strength: If this is the first time you are using testosterone in a steroid cycle, you will absolutely crush all your previous plateaus. Testosterone will allow you to lift heavier and run faster. Your muscle endurance increases due to the enhanced RBC production and so does the total workload that you are able to do at the gym. Your recovery rate is amplified considerably as well.
What are the side effects of Sustanon?
Sustanon can cause all the side effects associated with exogenous testosterone use. These include both androgenic and estrogenic side effects.
It has an anabolic to androgenic rating of 100:100.
This means that it can cause acne, hair thinning and oily skin, which are classic androgenic sides.
It also aromatizes readily to estradiol, which means that E2 management is the key. Else, it can cause high E2 symptoms such as mood swings and possibly, gynecomastia. You will have to use an AI throughout the cycle to control aromatization. (7)
All said and done, managing the side effects of Testosterone are far easier than managing the sides for other compounds. Moreover, if you are looking to run other performance enhancement compounds in future, this allows you to understand how your body will react to those.
Ref:
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Sustanon-250
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organon_International
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5182226/
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/j.1939-4640.2003.tb02739.x
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/nejm199607043350101
http://www.afboard.com/library/AS-dose-study.pdf
https://www.nature.com/articles/3901154