Boldenone (Equipoise) Profile

[The Anonymizer]

Boldenone (boldenone undecylenate, or 1,4-androstadieene-3-one,17β-ol), also known under the trade names Equipoise, Ganabol, Equigan and Ultragan, is an anabolic steroid developed for veterinary use, mostly for treatment of horses. As it is not designed to be used by humans, it is only available at veterinary clinics.

Use in doping

The activity of boldenone is mainly anabolic, with a low androgenic potency. It has a very long half-life, with minimal blood levels present up to 8 weeks after discontinued use.
Boldenone will increase nitrogen retention, protein synthesis, increases appetite and stimulates the release of Erythropoietin in the kidneys. The drug is commonly used in doping within bodybuilding, even though this use is illegal. If intended to assist in bodybuilding, the drug is taken as part of a steroid stack of other anabolic steroids, usually with a potent androgen like testosterone as the 'base' of the stack.
Common bodybuilding doses range between 200 mg to 400 mg/week but could be as high as 800 mg/week.
Boldenone has a low rate of aromatization (about 50% of Testosterone), which means it does not convert to estrogen easily and does not cause very much water retention. Many Bodybuilders will find that it is a good replacement drug for Nandrolone.
Boldenone is among the substances banned by Major League Baseball, as well as most other major athletic organizations. As of November 2005, Matt Lawton is the only baseball player known to have tested positive for it.
It is a poor drug of choice for any athlete who will be subject to a blood test due to its long metabolichalf-life. Trace amounts of the drug can easily be detected for months after discontinued use.

Side effects

Boldenone has many of the common side effects associated with anabolic steroids. However, because it is not a very potent androgen, side effects are usually minimal. This is not a blanket-statement and depends on dosages and individual tolerances. Supression of the HPTA, water retention, possible increase in acne and possible conversion to estrogen , high blood pressure and DHT conversion are all side effects associated with Boldenone.

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Characteristics:

For something that is generally injected into cows, horses and dogs boldenone is quite a popular and well-liked drug by most bodybuilders because of its unique make-up. It possesses several characteristics that aren't found in any other substance and its use is so varied its much desired year-round. Boldenone is a decent anabolic coupled with both a mild androgenic and a mild estrogenic effect. Sort of like a weak testosterone. In structure it doesn't differ all that much from testosterone, the main anomaly being a double bond in the one position as well as the 4 position. Its nonetheless quite good at promoting gains, but mostly through a combination of androgenic potential and other media than the androgen and estrogen receptors.

The strange thing about its androgenic component is that it is mostly not mediated by a 5-alpha-reduced form, as is the case for most steroids. While it does indeed form a very potent 5AR form (dihydroboldenone, roughly 7 times as anabolic as testosterone1) its shows a very low affinity for the 5-alpha-reducatase enzyme2. This leads to the conclusion that a large part of the anabolic effect boldenone exerts is formed by the hormone itself binding to the androgen receptor. This could also be the reason its had such a successful run as a veterinary drug, because despite differences in the metabolism of species it has always produced extraordinary results.

Like most anabolic steroids it increases muscle mass over time by increasing nitrogen retention and positively influencing protein synthesis or re-synthesis. An action that is not necessarily supported by an androgenic mediator as was shown with nandrolone. What boldenone has that other steroids don't is that it indirectly supplies the necessary means for that protein synthesis because it drastically increases the appetite. Thereby facilitating the high nutritional intake (especially protein wise) needed to book the best results when using anabolic androgenic steroids. Its more of a benefit than you think as a lot of people have theorized that it is this increase that is responsible for the great results booked when using boldenone. This theory may hold its own as there is indeed not much proof of the kind of anabolic activity with boldenone that would be responsible for the elicited effect.

Its estrogenic activities are slight, but present. This has more of a positive than negative influence. The aromatisation of boldenone is too small to cause real problems and in normal doses (300-400 mg/week) problems such as gynocomastia and too much fat retention are unheard of. However small aromatisation is desirable as estrogen too mediates anabolic activity. It can be responsible for better glucose utilization3,4 (repleting lost glycogen stores after exercise) and stimulating increased growth hormone release5. But most notably estrogen is responsible for an upgrading of the androgen receptor6 allowing hormones that act on the androgen receptor to exert a larger anabolic effect. This is why hormones that are strong androgens but also aromatize heavily, like anadrol and testosterone, can put the most mass on your frame. In that aspect boldenone is perhaps the most suitable steroid because of its moderate estrogen levels that allow for the benefits, but not the side-effects of aromatization. And no doubt the perfect balance is partially responsible for stimulation of the appetite.

For athletes of sports other than strength sports or bodybuilding will also note that boldenone is quite likely the most favorable steroid for them to use as it also stimulates the release of erythropoeitin in the kidneys. Erythropoeitin is a hormone known as EPO and heavily abused among endurance athletes because it signals the body to increase the production of red blood cells (erythrocytes). Red blood cells are the carrier of oxygen in the body, meaning that a higher maximal oxygen capacity can be obtained and better performance can be achieved over longer amounts of time before lactic acid is built up, which would in turn result in cramps and a cessation of the activity at that level. In short it improves your stamina. For bodybuilders this characteristic may be useful in promoting increased vascularity.

In that aspect boldenone combined with a non-aromatizing steroid like Winstrol or Primobolan may be perfect to help you get cut and ripped while improving vascularity. The downside to that is that you really need to try hard to suppress the increased appetite. Which is why its probably a better idea to stack a somewhat larger dose of boldenone with a mass building drug like testosterone or anadrol to elicit major gains.

The negative effects of boldenone are quite limited. In the normal doses of 300-400 mg a week estrogenic side-effects are almost never noted except in those who are very succeptible to estrogen. In terms of androgenic side-effects long-term use or very intense use of boldenone can cause slight virilizing effects such as acne and increased body-hair growth. Never really a problem for men, but women considering its use on account of its moderate androgenic qualities should be aware of this.

Stacking and Use:

As an undecylenate ester, boldenone needs only be injected every week (staying active well over 4 weeks), but because the preparations come in 25 mg/ml, users most often opt for 25-50 mg every day to every other day. A use of 300-400 mg per week seems to be the normal recommendation. Its not hepatoxic to any serious degree and can therefore be used for longer cycles. The appearance of underground forms of boldenone in higher concentrations (200 mg/ml) has made it easier to inject only once a week, which is to be preffered over the multiple dosings because it has a more even release and the cumulative effect shows much sooner. Speaking of cumulative effect, the best results with boldenone are seen when a user front-loads. Usually that means he will use a high doses of 600-800 mg/week for 2 weeks and then lower that dose to the normal 300-400 mg/week for the remaining 8-10 weeks.

Boldenone is most often used for cutting. Its stacking partners for this purpose in particular are trenbolone, stanazolol and testosterone propionate. I'm no big fan of testosterone for cutting, although propionate is commonly used with great success by many users. Nonetheless I don't recommend test for cutting for beginners. Stanazolol is particularly useful in improving muscle hardness and strength while boldenone offers increased vascularity without overly aromatizing. The use of 50 mg of stanazolol every day, stacked with 300-400 mg per week of boldenone should serve the purpose of retaining gains and gaining increased definition and vascularity while shedding fat very well. Trenbolone would be a better match for those looking for moderate but very lean gains. Parabolan at 76 mg every other day for example will provide a decent increase in lean mass in combination with boldenone, without having to sacrifice shape or definition. Of course any combination of the above is an option as well. For example 300 mg of equipoise per week stacked with 76 mg of parabolan every other day and 50 mg of Winstrol every day, possibly with some test propionate at 50 mg a day.

But though rarely mentioned, I personally find boldenone the better choice for bulking. Due to its effect on vascularity it is mostly used for cutting, but if you had a drug that increased your appetite like boldenone does, would you really use it to lose weight? It makes more sense to use it in a stack with a testosterone ester like enanthate or cypionate for good gains, instead of nandrolone. Sort of as a base. It aromatizes less than nandrolone and doesn't have that pesky progestagenic effect either, and because it increases appetite it would provide you with the means to an end in terms of gaining weight. 300-400 mg a week of boldenone with 500 mg of sustanon or 500 mg of testosterone enanthate would form an incredible stack. Even for those who prefer deca, adding a small amount of boldenone will go a long way in improving appetite. But boldenone is stronger than Deca, mg for mg, as well as safer and less suppressive.

Boldenone makes a very poor match for nandrolone and methenolone though, since its very similar in action. The beauty of boldenone is that it can be an alternative for nandrolone when bulking due to its leaner results and more potent anabolic action, as well as an alternative for methenolone because while barely aromatizing its stronger than methenolone (Primobolan), gram for gram.

The use of secondary drugs is rarely required. It doesn't aromatize at a great rate so the use of anti-aromatases is rarely implemented and the use of Nolva and clomid, during a cycle, is only necessary when stacked with aromatizing steroids like testosterone. Nolvadex or Clomid may have some use in restoring natural test post-cycle, because of the long-acting ester (11 carbons) and the mild estrogenic component. Normally 4 weeks of treatment is required, starting 1.5 to 2 weeks after the last shot.