Anabolic steroids have become the trend nowadays among athletes and bodybuilders to give them fast muscle building, strength, and enhanced performance. However, steroid cycles given to an athlete could be interrupted at any phase in his life when his natural hormonal levels are disrupted, giving rise to many side effects. It is here when PCT plays an important role.
PCT helps restore your body’s natural hormone balance, especially testosterone production, usually suppressed when one is on a steroid cycle. In this blog, we will discuss why PCT is highly important, how it works, and why it needs to be a critical component at the very least in the regime of any serious steroid user.
What Can You Expect From Steroid Use?
Anabolic steroids introduce artificial hormones within the individual’s system upon administration. The forceful dosage of the medicine introduces the hormone into the individual’s body, mimicking the action of testosterone, trenbolone, and nandrolone, which is generated through natural production.
Steroids also increase protein synthesis and nitrogen retention. By enhancing these two facets, steroids can enable muscles to grow faster because of better recovery of muscles and noticeable strength gain.
Suppression is the very reason PCT is necessary; it merely allows the restart of natural testosterone production and rebalances your body as a whole, minimizing the possible side effects from coming off steroids.
What is Post Cycle Therapy (PCT)?
PCT is designed to help the body recover after a steroid cycle. It consists of using certain medication for the stimulation of one’s natural testosterone and reduction of estrogen levels. The key purpose of this is the restoration of hormonal balance and the preservation of the muscle mass obtained during the steroid cycle.
With PCT, you generally use SERMs and Aromatase Inhibitors to keep your estrogen levels in check and up the production of testosterone. Without PCT, it may take several months for your body to develop its own hormonal balance; within which time you could suffer from acute side effects.
Why is PCT necessary?
One of the most important reasons PCT is used is prevention against muscle loss. As soon as a steroid cycle ends, your body will have an extremely hard time maintaining muscles it has built, especially without that added testosterone coming from steroids.
A proper PCT program will help your body get back into its natural testosterone production, which in turn helps you retain your gains.
More importantly, PCT is necessary for general health. Low levels of testosterone can change more than just your body; they can even affect how you feel mentally. Depression, anxiety, and low energy are common symptoms among people who finish a steroid cycle without proper PCT. PCT balances your hormones so that you recover both physically and mentally.
How Does The Pct Work?
PCT thus addresses two operational major concerns that arise once a steroid cycle has been activated: the shutdown of testosterone production and high levels of estrogen. Here is how that happens:
- SERMs are drugs such as Clomid and Nolvadex that work by blocking the estrogen receptors; hence, whatever free floating estrogen may be present in the body cannot exert an effect on the body in various ways such as causing gynecomastia. The SERMs have been known to increase Luteinizing Hormone and Follicle-Stimulating Hormone production, both of which become an important constituent of natural testosterone production.
- AIs (Aromatase Inhibitors): AIs in simple terms actually is the abbreviation of Aromatase Inhibitors. Arimidex and Aromasin are some of the drugs given to decrease the amount of estrogen formed by the body. In doing this, it blocks the aromatase enzyme responsible for changing testosterone into estrogen. These drugs limit the levels of estrogen, hence assured of normal hormonal balance during recuperation.
PCT Drugs and Their Functions
Several PCT drugs are well used to assist recovery after a steroid cycle:
Clomid is classified as a SERM drug which works by basically blocking the estrogen receptors in the brain. This, in effect, triggers the production of natural testosterone, which in return would increase the secretion of LH and FSH.
- Nolvadex-Tamoxifen: It is another popular SERM that prevents estrogen from binding to receptors, hence reducing the risk of gynecomastia, while at the same moment testosterone production is boosted.
- HCG-Human Chorionic Gonadotropin: Medication of HCG is utilized right at the beginning of PCT and serves to ‘kick-start’ the production of testosterone. This is a substitute for LH because it triggers a similar pathway that stimulates the testes to manufacture testosterone.
- Arimidex (Anastrozole): AI – This medicine works by inhibiting the aromatase enzyme and targets a reduction in estrogen levels. That prevents testosterone conversion to estrogen.
- Aromasin (Exemestane): Like Arimidex, it acts by inhibiting the process of aromatization, hence lowering the production of estrogen and favoring testosterone recovery.
PCT: Time Relation and Duration
Knowing when to start the PCT is as important as going about it right. This actually depends upon the type of steroids you have taken. Correspondingly, you may have to wait two to three weeks after the last dose before commencing PCT in the case of long-acting Testosterone Enanthate or Deca-Durabolin. In the case of shorter-acting steroids like Testosterone Propionate, usually PCT can be started on the 3–5 days following the last injection.
The average PCT cycle is normally within the 4–6 weeks range; for longer cycles of steroids, longer recovery periods may be in order.
Risks of Skipping PCT
The failure of proper administration of PCT may bring serious problems, both physical and mental. If not on PCT, your body could take several months of recovery to return your body to its natural production of testosterone. Without it, within that period you will feel, or probably experience:
- Muscle atrophy
- Depression and fatigue
- Gynecomastia and water retention
- Long-term health risks
Conclusion
Post Cycle Therapy is not optional; it is a crucial part of maintaining your gains, health, and hormonal balance after a steroid cycle.
If you stick to a proper PCT plan, it will also allow your body to recover its natural testosterone quickly and prevent most of the possible side effects such as gynecomastia and muscle loss.
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