AAS and tendons

[daved150]

TweetAAS And Tendons

While injecting test increases protein synthesis by roughly 50 times, depending on dose and time, most bodybuilders forget that it will reduce collagen synthesis by more than 50% -- more like 80%, giving you the collagen synthesis rate of a senior citizen. Since collagen makes up tendons, bros are very prone to injury if they continue to lift very heavy, unless they cycle off T and let their collagen synthesis get back to normal. It's like having the skeletal muscle of a gorilla with the tendons of a very old man.

Winstrol increases collagen synthesis. It will give you bigger tendons. However, your body compensates for this by making them more brittle, weaker, and more prone to injury. I can't tell you how many bros work out anaerobically and become injured while on winstrol. Guys who lift in the 1-5 rep range while on winstrol, to baseball players who sprint all out from a stationary position -- winstrol should be the LAST drug they choose. Most of them like winstrol because they don't get the weight gain from it but it is very detrimental to bros who train for any sport anaerobically. Tendons tear easily on it.

Also, the drugs I mention increase collagen synthesis while also increasing collagen cross-linking integrity, making for a much stronger tendon.

Winstrol, on the other hand, will dramatically increase collagen syn, but ironically it decreases collagen cross-linking integrity, thus making a much weaker tendon.

You can plan a cycle of AAS which will increase collagen synthesis and skeletal muscle growth at the same time. The key is the drug(s) you choose.

Deca, Equipoise, Anavar, and Primobolan will ALL increase skeletal muscle while at the same time dramatically increase collagen syn and bone mass and density, leaving you with a substantially reduced chance of becoming injured than if you choose to use AAS like sus, cyp, or enth.

While testosterone will increase bone mass and density, even at supra-physiological levels, the result is weaker tendons due to inhibition of collagen syn.

To plan a cycle where the goal is to increase skeletal muscle mass/strength while at the same time increase joint/tendon/ligament strength, enough to keep up with the dramatic increase in skeletal muscle, you must choose drugs like Eq, Deca, Anavar, or Primo as the base of your cycle. Testosterone and its esters can be added to your cycle to keep levels within a 'normal' physiological range (ie, 100-200 mg/wk) but must not go above this. Since drugs like eq, deca, anavar and primo will reduce endogenous, natural levels of test, these levels may be maintained with exogenous test in the 100-200 mg/wk range. Test at this dose will not inhibit collagen syn, but paradoxically, will help increase it. It is when exogenous testosterone is used > 200 mg/wk that collagen syn is inhibited.

Deca @ 3 mg/kg a week(about 270 mg/wk for a 200 lb male) will increase procollagen III levels by 270% by week 2. Procollagen III is a primary indicator used to determine the rate of collagen syn. As you can see, deca is a very good drug at giving you everything you want -- an increase in collagen syn, an increase in skeletal muscle, and increases in bone mass and density. The one thing it does not give you is wood

Primobolan, @ 5 mg/kg, will increase collagen synthesis by roughly 180% -- less than deca and equipoise but still substantial.

Equipoise @ 3 mg/kg will increase procollagen III by approximately 340% -- slightly better than deca.

Oxandrolone has over a hundred studies documenting its effectiveness at treating patients needing rapid increases in collagen syn to enhance healing.

These drugs have longer half-lives than most other AAS, so this should be considered when timing your post cycle clomid use. Here they are:

Deca: 15 days Equipoise: 14 days Primobolan: 10.5 days

Anavar has a half-life of only 8 hours so it should not pose a problem.

GH is probably the most remarkable drug at increasing collagen synthesis. It increases collagen syn in a dose dependant manner -- the more you use, the more you will increase collagen syn. It has also demonstrated this ability in short and long term studies. From what I've read, hGH at 6 iu/day increased the collagen deposition rate by around 250% in damaged collagen structures. This result indicates that the increased biomechanical strength of wounds to collagen structures treated with biosynthetic human growth hormone was produced by an increased deposition of collagen in the collagen structures.

Eq, primo, anavar, and deca are all good -- they increase several biomakers of collagen syn -- ie, type III, II, I, procollagen markers. GH just seems to do so most dramatically.

Use of any of these drugs @ supra-physiological levels with a maintenance dose of test will increase collagen syn while at the same time increase skeletal muscle mass. Skeletal muscle mass gains will not be as dramatic as with large testosterone doses but you have to weigh the risk/reward basis for yourself. Also, these drugs do not satisfy the libido like testosterone, but that is not the point of this thread. It is only to demonstrate that you can increase skeletal muscle and collagen syn at the same time with certain AAS, the decision is up to you.

[bionic redneck]

Tweetthanks for the good info boss

[Doink the clown]

Tweetinteresting read

[BIGMOFO]

Tweetgood stuff bro

[Testify]

TweetThat is GREAT info Dave - thanks for posting that. A lot of people know that using AAS - especially for those who do not ahere to a consistent training schedule while "off" - has the potential for connective tissue damage, but now we can understand why this is true. I'll admit that I didn't know about much of the info in this article. I love that this article expands on the subject by talking about ways to use these properties to your advantage!

Thanks Dave!

[jamescb77]

Tweetgood article i think the test dose they talk about is a little low but that's just my opinoin i will be doing a low prop high eq here soon and look forward to the increase in tendons.

[bowbow]

TweetI know when I have ran test by itself toward the end of my cycles it hurts to squat. Terrible tightness in the upper potion of my legs. I know the pain is this very thing with my tendons tightening up. I will always have EQ in with test from now on. Very good article.

[a-bomb83]

Tweetvery good read. i'm going to be in the market for some eq and var very soon it seems

[bionic redneck]

Tweeti wonder if igf has the same affect as gh?

[Testify]

TweetDave - or anyone - the article implies that a higher than normal (exogenous) Test dosage will negate the positive effects some of these AAS have on collagen. Is that true? My joints have always felt great with EQ, and always with much higher test dosages. Thoughts?

[FUZO]

TweetBUMP

[Dragon]

Tweet

i wonder if igf has the same affect as gh?

Good question.

Great post. I always have problems with tendons. The hard part is keeping the test at 200mg. I make it a month or so than get a case of the F-its and bump it up, and end up with tendonitis again, eating motrin like candy and reviving my ulcers.

200mg of T is more than enough to retain all the bennies of it with out going overboard.

[daved150]

Tweet

Dave - or anyone - the article implies that a higher than normal (exogenous) Test dosage will negate the positive effects some of these AAS have on collagen. Is that true? My joints have always felt great with EQ, and always with much higher test dosages. Thoughts?

thats what i got out of it too (the article). and i agree about the eq also...i run eq a little high, but i love the results i get from it

[skinnyman]

Tweetthis is great info. thanks