Disclaimer: The following article is for educational purposes only and NOT to promote the use of illegal steroids. If you have any questions or concerns, Dr. Touliatos is currently available for consultations.
Trenbolone is an injectable anabolic steroid, commonly nicknamed the ‘monster steroid‘ in bodybuilding circles. This is in reference to its incredibly powerful nature, producing exceptional results (and equally as harsh side effects).
Tren can be used as a potent bulking or cutting steroid, due to its lipolytic (fat burning) and anabolic (muscle-building) properties.
Because of its versatility, Trenbolone is in a league of its own when it comes to simultaneous muscle gain and fat loss. Other anabolic steroids may be able to match Trenbolone’s anabolic nature or fat-burning attributes alone; but not simultaneously.
Thus, Trenbolone is considered the best steroid for transforming a user’s physique as quickly as possible.
However, because of Trenbolone’s high toxicity, beginners seldom cycle this steroid; with it instead being utilized by intermediate and experienced steroid users.
Thus, overly dramatic Trenbolone before and after pictures are uncommon, as most of a steroid user’s results occur in the first few cycles (typically on Testosterone, or milder compounds such as Anavar).
Therefore, by the time a user’s body is primed for taking Trenbolone there is little potential for huge gains in muscle hypertrophy or/and strength. Despite this, Trenbolone certainly will take a first-time user’s physique to the next level; with greater muscle mass and reduced subcutaneous body fat.
Trenbolone Before and After Pictures
Disclaimer: There is no proof that the above bodybuilder has used Trenbolone. However, the changes in body composition are typical of Trenbolone-use.
The above transformation is the level of change users can expect after taking Trenbolone for the first time. They will experience: enhanced fat loss, increased muscle mass, more prominent vascularity and greater muscle definition.
Also notice how the deltoids and trapezius muscles ‘pop’ more in the after picture, which is typical due to Trenbolone’s high androgenicity. These two muscle groups have a high number of androgen receptors, thus making them more susceptible to growth.
Trenbolone also creates a dry look to the muscles, due a lack of aromatization; producing a diuretic effect. This causes a photoshopped-like appearance to the body, due to minimal amounts of extracellular fluid surrounding the muscles — increasing the likelihood of prominent vacularity and muscle striations.
Experienced steroid-users who have taken several cycles before and then choose to use Trenbolone, can expect to gain a further 10-15lbs of muscle. Users can also typically lose 5-7lbs of fat on Trenbolone (almost irrespective of calorie intake).
How to Maximize Results on Trenbolone
A person’s results on Trenbolone will be determined by their genetics, diet, lifestyle, workouts and cycle protocol.
Thus, if someone is a hyper-responder to Trenbolone, they naturally may gain more muscle and burn more fat than someone that is a hypo-responder.
Equally, a person’s diet can maximize results from a cycle. For example, if someone is taking Trenbolone to bulk up and combines such ‘supplementation’ with a calorie surplus diet — they will gain more muscle than someone else eating maintenance calories (with all other factors being equal).
Furthermore, a small calorie deficit will maximize fat burning when cutting on Trenbolone.
Getting enough sleep, minimizing stress and generally living a healthy lifestyle will also aid your results on Trenbolone.
A user’s dosage and the duration of cycle will also determine the results. Users should understand though that there is a cut-off point and dosage, thus if you go beyond this point it is futile (yielding diminishing returns).
Therefore, a higher dosage doesn’t necessarily produce better results on Trenbolone; and thus a moderate dose is optimal — especially for controlling side effects and making long-term gains.
Trenbolone Cycles for Maximum Results
A person’s physiological and psychological health is most likely going to take a downturn from cycling Trenbolone, thus a cautious dosage should be taken to begin with.
However, if a person genetically less vulnerable to this compound, or has built up a comfortable tolerance to this anabolic steroid — it can be stacked with other potent AAS for enhanced results.
Trenbolone Stacks
Trenbolone can be stacked with virtually any anabolic steroid with great success, due to its versatility in regards to bulking or cutting.
Thus, if a user was taking Trenbolone predominantly for muscle gain, it could be combined with Testosterone or Anadrol for greater muscle hypertrophy and strength.
In such a scenario, where a user wants to add mass, Testosterone would be the mild stacking option; with Anadrol having notably increased toxicity.
Testosterone complements Trenbolone well, being another injectable compound and thus not posing any additional risk to hepatic (liver) health. Furthermore, Testosterone has only subtle effects on cholesterol values, and thus it is perhaps the least dangerous anabolic steroid to combine with Trenbolone.
Although a Trenbolone/Anadrol stack could be considered the most potent duo for promoting muscle mass, it could also be considered the most toxic — particularly to the heart and liver. Thus, such a stack would be considered unsuitable and unnecesary to health-conscious bodybuilders.
If a person wanted to prioritise fat loss and muscle retention when cutting, Trenbolone could be combined with Anavar, Winstrol or Clenbuterol.
Anavar and Winstrol will increase anabolism, thus preserving/building additonal lean muscle tissue; whilst enhancing fat burning.
Anavar should be considered the more preferrable compound due to its more mild nature vs Winstrol — with cholesterol and liver values typically prone to less fluctuation.
However, it can be argued that Winstrol will produce slightly better results — albeit at a cost.
In contrast, Clenbuterol will solely reduce adipose tissue, due to its potent thermogenic effects on the metabolism. There is some evidence for Clenbuterol having anabolic properties in animal studies (1), however such effects are unlikely to render in humans (at least to a significant degree).
Strength Gains on Trenbolone
Trenbolone is one of the most potent steroids for strength, despite it not causing large amounts of weight gain, due to a lack of aromatization and thus water retention.
Non-drug tested powerlifters will almost certainly cycle Trenbolone prior to a competition. Intermediate steroid-users taking Trenbolone for the first time can expect approximately a 20lb increase on main compound lifts.
These are dramatic results, considering most intermediate steroid-users will most likely have used several potent bulking steroids before taking Trenbolone — such as Testosterone or Dianabol.
Summary
The results on Trenbolone are exceptional, especially considering its synergistic anabolic and lipolytic effects — making it a potent compound when bulking or cutting. Its ability to transform a user’s physique is largely unmatched by its anabolic steroid counterparts.
However, Trenbolone is not a compound suitable for beginners and its effects will surely have a negative effect on the HPTA (hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis), whilst increasing the risk of arteriolosclerosis (2).