Today prohormones are increasingly used in sports. This is especially true for "natural" bodybuilders. Find out what medications you can take to actively build muscle. Today, on specialized Internet resources, you can often see the words "proanabolic", "prohormone", "precursor", "steroid". These are all synonyms and refer to the same product. Now these substances are increasingly used by athletes. Let's take a look at what prohormones are and how safe and effective precursors are.
What are prohormones?
Prohormones are building materials that, when ingested, are converted into the male hormone. Since testosterone is a steroid hormone and has anabolic properties, prohormones are often called pro-anabolic or steroids.
In most cases, prohormones are not initially active substances or may have a low indicator of anabolic activity. Thus, prohormones can only be effective in gaining weight after being converted to male hormone.
These drugs are supposed to increase testosterone concentration, which will be very beneficial for natural athletes. But it should be remembered that the limiting factor in the effectiveness of prohormones is the process of their conversion into testosterone. According to some studies, only about 15 percent of prohormones are converted to testosterone.
The most popular prohormones are Androstenedione, Dehydroepiandrosterone, and Norandrostenedione. All of these drugs are not on the prohibited list and can be freely purchased. You also don't need a prescription for this.
Precursor effects
Theoretically, the use of prohormones should cause an increase in testosterone levels and, as a result, an increase in anabolic background. To understand how the theory corresponds to practice, it is necessary to find answers to two questions.
- The first of them is the following: can prohormones increase the concentration of testosterone. According to the results of recent studies, we can say that when using precursors in the amount of 0.3 grams, the level of the male hormone, an increase in the level of the male hormone is observed. Keep in mind, however, that precursors may not have the same effect on all people. In some cases, testosterone levels will only reach normal levels.
- Second questionWhat we are interested in is how effective this boost will be in terms of gaining mass. Here, the research results do not look so rosy. In some experiments, no increase in mass was noted. But at the same time, with the right training and nutrition programs, taking prohormones can be very effective.
Are precursors safe?
We have already said that prohormones do not belong to the steroid group and can be freely used. However, these substances have certain disadvantages. For example, in a study of the effectiveness of Androstenedione, which was used by healthy men for three months at a dose of 0.3 grams, no negative effects were noted.
However, other experiments have shown that prohormones can in a certain situation have the same side effects that are inherent in steroids. Androstenedione is a precursor to the male hormone and also has the ability to convert to estradiol.
For this reason, the same side effects that testosterone causes are possible. But precursors do not have the power of steroids and all the negative effects of their effects on the body are mild. They are also completely safe for the liver and do not disrupt the work of the pituitary arch. From this we can conclude that if prohormones are consumed in an amount of no more than 0.3 grams for a maximum of three months, then they will be safe for the body.
It should be said that caution should be exercised when purchasing prohormones and it is advisable to do so in specialized stores. There are cases when drugs from some manufacturers contained only a small part of prohormones from those stated on the label. In addition, precursors often carry names that are very similar to steroids. But if you get acquainted with their composition in detail, then they do not contain anabolic steroids. Summing up the results of today's conversation, we can say that precursors can be useful for natural athletes. However, they must be taken in accordance with the rules and without proper nutrition and training, they may not be effective.
For more information on prohormones, see this video:
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