Everything You Need To Know About Legal Steroids
If you want a shredded, jacked body, and you want it quickly, you’ve probably already considered anabolic steroids. But have you considered the legal ones? Don’t start using them until you read this!
Whichever gym you join, the story is the same. When you tell your trainer that you want to become buff, he will tell you that it can be done. However, you will be warned that nothing happens overnight and that you might need to work for years to achieve your goals.
Well, if you’re anything like me, you won’t have the patience to try your hardest for years. The idea of working out every day for a long time without seeing the results is simply discouraging.
That’s why most people turn to steroids — for quick and immensely visible results. And I get it. But if you do want to use steroids, you first need to make one big decision — anabolics or legal steroids?
Steroids are organic compounds that are biologically active. Natural steroids, those found in animals, fungi, and plants, have two primary functions. They regulate fluidity of cell membranes and they are signaling molecules, thereby trigging specific reactions in the body. The naturally occurring steroids have specific functions and their distribution in species is influenced accordingly. Legal steroids or those that are available over the counter are not necessarily the same that are produced in animals, plants or fungi. Steroids may be manufactured artificially. The chemical compositions and structures of manufactured steroids are often altered and in some cases radically to achieve a preset objective.
What are legal steroids?
To be honest, there’s no such a thing as a legal steroid. In fact, products advertised under this name aren’t real steroids. They are just called that to make the differentiation between them and anabolics simpler.
Products known as legal steroids are actually muscle building supplements that can replicate the effects of anabolic steroids. Moreover, each legal steroid is made to imitate a certain anabolic steroid when it comes to the results.
Why are legal steroids better than anabolics?
Although anabolics like Dianabol, Sustanon, Trenbolone, Deca Durabolin, and Oxymetholone show fast results, they do come with some downsides. They can wreak havoc on your insides. And I’m not talking diarrhea here, but big-time, serious problems.
Anabolic steroids can make your blood thicker, blood pressure higher, damage your heart, liver, and eyes. But the negative effects don’t end there. Anabolics can also cause psychological issues such as roid rage and mood swings.
Oh, and did I mention that they also have external side effects? Yes, they can trigger a second puberty and cause acne all over your face, back, and chest. Moreover, they can cause testicular atrophy, baldness, and worst of all — gynecomastia, aka breast growth.
As if all of these side effects aren’t enough, anabolic steroids can get you in another kind of trouble as well. The legal kind. You see, anabolics are illegal in most countries. For instance, in the US, if you don’t have a prescription and these steroids are found in your possession, you can get a $1000 fine and a year in prison. In my opinion, the risk is simply not worth the gains.
On the other side of the coin, we have legal steroids that have very little side effects, and they are all mild. These deliver faster results than you would get by simply working out. However, those results are still slower than those anabolics provide, and definitely less intense.
So on the one hand, legal steroids can’t replace anabolics completely. But on the other hand, they are better than going full natty and definitely healthier than taking the anabolic route.
How long does it take for legal steroids to show results?
That is the first question I asked when I first heard about legal steroids. I mean, if it takes as long as going natty to see the results, I’m not interested. However, the answer wasn’t as simple as I had hoped. Several factors determine this.
We’re not all the same
You see, not everyone reacts the same way to steroids. More importantly, not everyone will follow the same training regime, and not everyone will follow it to the T. So if, for instance, you’re slim and you can eat as much as you want without gaining unwanted weight, you will probably have problems gaining mass quickly, regardless of the type of product you’re using.
The diet matters
For instance, if you want to build mass, you need to pay close attention to your diet — steroids or no. If your diet isn’t balanced, you don’t ingest enough protein, and you take a lot of sugar, you’re more likely to gain weight than muscle. And that will end up with layers of fat on top of those muscles you wanted to show off.
Health is an important factor
Regardless of whether you’re using steroids or not, some health issues will prevent you from achieving your goals within the set timeframe. For instance, having Type 1 diabetes will slow down gains, as will the celiac disease.
Don’t get me wrong; it’s not as if there are no timeframes for legal steroids, it’s just that they may vary. Therefore, if your health, diet, and genetics are ok, you should be able to get to your desired physique in approximately three months. Go through four weeks of cutting and eight weeks of bulking, and you should get pleasing results.
Which legal steroids are the best?
There are dozens of manufacturers who claim that their legal steroids are the best. Moreover, if you start googling “the best legal steroids” you will get a whole load of different results, YouTube videos, and testimonials. Since those are mostly paid promotions, I chose to ignore them and dig deeper.
I asked people at my gym and on bodybuilding forums, checked Facebook and Instagram posts related to legal steroids, and I only got one answer — Crazy Bulk.
This company started out in 2004, and their main claim is that they are making 100% safe, legal, and effective replacements for anabolic steroids. Furthermore, their products are FDA approved, and even many natties are using them to bulk up.
What are Crazy Bulk products and what do they do?
Once you get into it, you will notice what I did. There are literally no dangerous contents in Crazy Bulk products.
Each of Crazy Bulk legal steroids is a combination of plants that mimic the effects of anabolic steroids but have no side effects. They use plants like the Indian bdellium tree, Tribulus Terrestris, nettle leaf, Hawthorne berry, and clary sage to create their supplements.
In fact, if you’re interested in their ingredient lists, you can simply go to the Crazy Bulk website and check them out. Moreover, this company is incredibly open regarding what they use in their products.
Each product on their website is designed to replace a certain anabolic. At the moment, Crazy Bulk has 13 different supplements, but I’ll list out seven that are most popular in the bodybuilding community, explain which anabolics they replace, and what they’re doing.
D-Bal
D-Bal is made to replace Dianabol, also known as the granddaddy of steroids, and both are used for increased strength, faster gains, and bridging cycles. Although effective, Dianabol can cause body hair growth, acne, baldness, water retention, gynecomastia, and liver damage.
D-Bal is the legal version of this steroid that has no negative effects, and you take it orally instead of injecting it. It boosts nitrogen retention which causes an increase in protein synthesis, resulting in fast muscle gains.
Trenorol
Trenbolone is the name of the anabolic this legal steroid replaces. Trenbolone gives incredible strength, enables lightning-fast gains, and provides great physical conditioning. However, it can cause insomnia, depression, nose bleeds, swelling, erectile dysfunction, and cardiovascular damage.
Trenorol causes none of the above but provides all the benefits. Also, it increases your red blood cell production, which improves vascularity, resulting in pure muscle gains.
Testo-Max
Before legal steroids existed, if you wanted additional strength and to increase your lean muscle mass, you had to use Sustanon. This anabolic causes water retention, an increase in estrogen levels, and high blood pressure.
Crazy Bulk’s Testo-Max replaces this anabolic perfectly. It provides all the positive effects but also gives you more energy during workouts, speeds up the recovery, and helps reduce body fat.
DecaDuro
Deca Durabolin is an anabolic steroid that first appeared in 1960. It enhances protein synthesis and nitrogen retention, which in turn causes increased muscle growth. However, its side effects include irritability, insomnia, liver problems, nose bleeds, swelling, acne, depression, and reduced libido.
Luckily, DecaDuro is a great replacement for this anabolic, and it offers the same results while at the same time preserving lean muscle mass, reducing body fat, and promoting faster recovery after workout sessions.
Anadrole
The anabolic variant of this is Oxymetholone. Its main purpose is to ward off fatigue for prolonged periods, make recovery faster, and enable fast muscle gain. Although its benefits sound great, the dangers that come with it are even greater. In fact, it can cause jaundice, nausea, vomiting, gynecomastia, iron-deficiency anemia, excitation, and voice-deepening in women.
Anadrole, on the other hand, delivers all the positive effects. Plus, it helps you to regain lean muscle while speeding up the fat-burning process.
Anvarol
Anavar is a steroid people most frequently use for cutting cycles. However, it can cause headaches, a decreased sex drive, skin color changes, hair loss, and vomiting.
Anvarol is also designed for use during the cutting cycle. It will help you create more ATP, which will result in feeling more energetic while cutting.
Clenbutrol
The original anabolic’s name is Clenbuterol. This steroid binds to muscle cells therefore stimulating the synthesis of muscle protein. Perfect for cutting cycles, it also helps preserve muscle mass while cutting. However, its side effects outweigh the benefits — headaches, anxiety, vomiting, increased risk of stroke, and increased bone fragility.
Crazy Bulk’s Clenbutrol has the same thermogenic effect but is a bit slower when it comes to losing weight. In addition to this, it also makes you feel great even after the most exhausting workouts because it helps to maintain healthy energy levels.
How effective are they?
If you have no previous experience with legal steroid supplements, you might expect some results the very next day. Unfortunately, that’s not how these work.
On the first day, you probably won’t see a difference at all. But after a week, you’ll notice that your training sessions have become much more fun. Furthermore, you will have more energy, feel stronger, recover faster, and lift much heavier weights. Most importantly, you will see a difference when you step in front of a mirror.
Now, when it comes to things like these, I don’t pay much attention to what the label says, or what the manufacturer claims. For that reason, I check everything with people who are actively using these products.
For instance, there are people online who claim that they have gained 30 pounds in two months just with legal steroids. Furthermore, according to one study on the effectiveness of legal steroids, people going natty managed to gain 4.4 pounds on average. However, in the same study, people who were on legal steroids managed to gain at least 12 pounds during the same timeframe.
Well, my research didn’t stop there. I looked for serious, harsh reviews of Crazy Bulk products, and not even they said that these supplements are useless. Social media feeds are full of people posting their impressive before and after photos, and to be perfectly honest, the results are great.
Therefore, according to users and research data, these are definitely very effective.
However, Crazy Bulk recognizes that their products might not work for everyone. They are pretty fair when it comes to it. Moreover, they are willing to refund the money for any unopened products that you return within 14 days of placing the order. So if you go through 10 days of a cycle and see no results whatsoever, you can return unopened products and get your cash back.
History of Legal Steroids
The steroids found in nature are fungal steroids, animal steroids, plant steroids, and prokaryotes. The latter are found in many microbes. Sex hormones and cholesterol are animal steroids. There is a need to distinguish between natural and synthetic steroids before delving into their respective histories. The natural steroids found in humans are called corticosteroids. The legal steroids prescribed by doctors and available as over the counter supplements are mostly anabolic/androgenic steroids. Anabolic and androgenic steroids are also produced by the body but the ones meant for supplementation are synthetically manufactured. There are synthetic corticosteroids too.
Steroids play a role in regulating hormones, influencing the immune system, playing a role in metabolism and sex drive. Steroids can also be targeted for specific remedial roles such as alleviating pain or speeding a recovery process after treatment. Legal steroids have been used for various enhancement purposes. They are popular as sports nutrition and weight management solutions, they are often recommended to regulate hormonal imbalance and quite a few serious medical conditions have steroids as an integral part of the traditional treatment.
Benefits of Legal Steroids
The benefits of legal steroids vary depending on the type and composition of a particular supplement. Legal steroids are available as oral supplements, injections, topical solutions, nasal sprays, and inhalers. Popular oral steroids are Anadrol, Dianabol, Danazol and Winstrol. Popular intravenous steroids are Boldenone, Testosterone, Dihydrotestosterone, and Nortestosterone.
Oral steroids can reduce different kinds of inflammations. They are widely used for asthma, arthritis, ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, and Crohn’s disease. Oral steroids are often used while treating different types of cancers. Topical steroids are lotions, ointments, and creams. They are applied to the skin. These are mostly remedied for skin conditions such as eczema. There are some steroids that can reduce inflammation in the eyes and other conditions such as uveitis.
Steroids available as nasal sprays can ease congestion and reduce stuffiness in the nose. Some are recommended to treat allergies. Hay fever is an example. Inhalers are recommended for those who have lung ailments. Those suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma can get relief with steroid inhalers. Intravenous steroids, available as injections, are usually recommended for people with rheumatoid arthritis, joint problems, inflammation in soft tissues or tendons, tennis elbow and other such conditions. Intravenous steroids are used by bodybuilders for bulking up and to enhance endurance.
Depending on the type of steroid one takes, it can increase testosterone, stimulate the human growth hormone, increase energy, enhance protein synthesis and speed up oxidation of fat tissues. Anabolic steroids such as Winstrol are more common than other variants or types. Anabolic steroids are taken to counter inadequate production of testosterone, manage anemia, assist in recovery from an injury or illness, support some cancer treatments, prevent or regulate wasting syndrome and to limit the effects of growth failure. One of the most popular anabolic steroids available today is Testosterone, marketed by many brands as Axiron, Fortesta, Androgel, Testopel, Testim, Striant, Androderm, and Delatestryl. Other popular anabolic steroids are Androstenedione, Nandrolone, Stanozolol, and Methandrostenolone.
Side Effects of Legal Steroids
Legal steroids do not have serious side effects provided one does not overdose or abuse. Legal steroids should not be used for a prolonged period of time unless prescribed. Illegal steroids, over the counter supplements that are not prescribed by a doctor or any such product that is taken for enhancement and not to remedy any specific condition, may have side effects depending on their composition.
Oral steroids may have some moderate side effects such as indigestion or dyspepsia, acid reflux or heartburn, an increase in appetite and this may result in weight gain, sleep problems, a greater vulnerability to contract viral infections and high blood pressure. Type two diabetes is a side effect if oral steroids are used for a long period of time. Hypertension is common but it is not chronic unless the steroid is used moderately and for the prescribed span of time. Osteoporosis is a possible side effect, especially in case of prolonged use. Anxiety and depression are common but they are transient. A sense of irritability is also felt by most users. Changes in behavior and mood are not worrisome but only when they remain manageable.
The dosage of Legal Steroids
Legal steroids have a course and dosage. Both will be decided by the doctor and a user should adhere to the instructions. The instructions should not be changed voluntarily or abruptly. Only the prescribing doctor should make changes to either the course or dosage or both. Legal steroids take a while to work because the body needs to get familiar and there may be a certain level of tolerance in many people. It is not usual for a user to become dependent on legal steroids but abuse is quite common. One must consciously avoid any form of substance abuse, especially steroids as they can bring about many biochemical changes in the body. It is not just about impairing any one function or affecting one organ. Steroids in high doses and used for a long period of time can cause damage at a cellular and hormonal level.
Legal steroids have specific purposes. They should be used with caution and for thoroughly understood reasons. Many people reach out for steroids as a stopgap measure or to leapfrog to another phase relying on the enhancements. The potential side effects and the long-term plan should be factored in before starting on any steroid.
In the End
When I first heard of legal steroids, I was very skeptical, to say the least. In fact, “alternative” steroids seemed like a load of nonsense. However, after doing a ton of research, checking out what people in my gym had to say, and what people on forums claimed, these really seem legitimate.
They offer the same results as anabolics but none of the dangerous side-effects. Yes, they are slower, but not too slow in my opinion. And while I could never recommend using anabolic steroids to anyone in good conscience, I definitely recommend giving Crazy Bulk legal steroids a shot.