Dianabol (Dbol - Methandrostenolone)
Dianabol was more or less the second Anabolic Steroid ever produced. The first, as we all know was Testosterone, which was produced in the early 1900s and experimented with by Nazis in WW2, in an attempt to produce a better soldier.

Russian Dianabol and Team Sports History
Russian athletes in the 1953 World Championships as well as the Olympic games then used testosterone with great success. After that, John Zeigler, who was a doctor working with the US Weightlifting Team, began a cooperative project with Ciba to develop an equalizer for US athletes. Flash forward to 1956 and enter Dianabol ; the original trade name for Cibas Methandrostenolone... but called "Dbol" by athletes.

The original package insert said that 10mgs/day was enough to provide full androgen replacement for a man and Dr. Zeigler recommended that athletes take 5-10mgs/day. Incidentally, this is also the dose that Bodybuilders were reputed to take from then until roughly the 1970s. Yeah, this was allegedly Arnolds dose, Zanes dose, etc... simply stacked with some testosterone. (For any trivia buffs out there, Dan Duchaines mail order steroid business operated under the name "The John Zeigler Fan Club").

Dianabol Steroid Use
Enough with the history lesson, lets get into what this Dianabol is, and what it does. Well, first off, its usually found in pill form, though it can be found as an injectable also (Under the Trade name: Reforvit-B, which is 25mgs of methandrostenolone mixed with B-vitamins). Dianabol is a 17aa steroid, which means it has been altered at the 17th Carbon position, to survive its first pass through your liver, and make it into your blood stream. Dianabol will raise your blood pressure (4) and is also hepatoxic (Liver-Toxic), so be careful with it. Although I have known people to take up to 100mgs/day of this stuff and not suffer any ill-effects, and one study looked at that exact dose, and the people involved didnt suffer any intolerable side effects ( 7). Lets examine this particular study a bit further, though:

d-anabol,Dianabol,SteroidsIn this study, done in the early 80s, a very high dose of Dianabol (100mgs/day for 6 weeks) decreased plasma testosterone to about 40% of its normal value, plasma GH went up about a third, LH dropped to about 80% of its original value, and FSH went down about a third also (these are all approximate numbers, for the sake of brevity, but you get the idea). Body fat did not go up significantly and Fat Free Mass went up anywhere between 2-7kgs (3.3kgs average gain). The researchers concluded that Dbol increases Fat Free Mass as well as increasing strength and performance. I can only agree, having found this to be the case for me when I did my first cycle (which was 6 weeks of dbol alone at 25mgs/day), I gained roughly 25lbs and kept nearly of it. Since then, Dianabol has always had a special place in my heart.

Dianabol Side Effects
As with many other 17aa steroids, Dianabol is also a very weak binder to the Androgen Receptor, so most of its effects are thought to be non-receptor mediated, and are attributable to other mechanisms (i.e. protein synthesis as indicated by the production of muscle tissue with very high levels of nitrogen, etc... which was indicated in the 100mg/day study). This also means Dianabol only has a modest aromatase activity (2).

How strong is Dbol? Well...on a mg for mg basis, most people agree that its stronger than A50...but the reason most people don't get the same gains off of Dianabol is that almost nobody takes equivalent doses (I mean...Ive heard of people taking 150mgs of A50, but not Dbol, even though the dbol would probably provide more solid gains and be less toxic, I suspect).

So how do we incorporate this stuff into our AAS regimen? Clearly, the inclusion of Dianabol at any point in a cycle would contribute to gains, however, Id speculate that Dbol is most regularly used for 2 reasons:

At the start of a cycle to "Kick Start" gains
As a "Bridge" between cycles, to maintain gains
Lets examine these two uses.

Dianabol Cycle
In order to kick start a Dianabol cycle, usually what you do is incorporate a fast acting oral like Dianabol (or anadrol) and combine it with long acting injectables (such as Deca or Eq with some Testosterone). The reasoning here is that the oral (Dbol in this case) will give almost immediate results, while the injectable takes time to produce results. The end result is that you start seeing results within the first week of your cycle and continue up until the end with the injectables. This entails taking anywhere from 25-50mgs of dbol (although as little as 20mgs or as much as 100mgs have been reported) for 3-6 weeks at the start of a cycle (average time for a "Kick Start" is 4 weeks, though), and then ceasing their use as the injectables start to produce results.

In order to successfully bridge between cycles (and this means using a low dose of AAS, in this case dbol), you need to recover your natural hormonal levels to pre-cycle levels or to within acceptable parameters, and then you start your next cycle. The idea here is that you wont lose any gains, but rather a low dose of an AAS will help you maintain them. Typically, you'd use around 10mgs/day of dbol and combine it with an aggressive Post-Cycle Therapy (PCT) course of Nolvadex (and/or Clomid) and HCG. This would give you full androgen replacement from the Dbol and a shot at recovering your natural hormonal levels via the other stuff you are taking. Remember, the 100mg/day dose of dbol in the study we looked at earlier did not suppress Test, LH, or FSH to a degree that would make recovery impossible and certainly not with 1/10th that dose in conjunction with an aggressive PCT.

All in all, this is a very good drug, and a potent tool for quick gains or retaining gains...when used properly and safely.

Dbol Facts
[17a-methyl-17b-hydroxy-1,4-androstadien-3-one]
Molecular Weight: 300.44
Formula: C20H28O2
Melting Point: N/A
Manufacturer: Ciba (originally)
Release Date: 1956
Effective dose: 25-50mgs (as low as 10 and as high as 100 have been reported)
Active Life: 6-8hours
Detection Time: up to 6 weeks
Anabolic/Androgenic Ratio (Range): 90-210:40-60

Dianabol Cycle
Ask any experienced performance enhancer and most will tell you a good Dianabol cycle is hard to beat. One of the first anabolic steroids ever created and one of the few created for the purpose of performance enhancement, for well over half a century athletes of all types have implemented a Dianabol cycle into their routine. Without question much of this steroids popularity resides in the ranks of competitive bodybuilding and power lifting; after all, it was for Olympic strength athletes first created and wildly popular all through the Golden Age of bodybuilding. One of the absolute best anabolic steroids for pilling on mass and increasing strength, the Methandrostenolone hormone not only possesses these traits but it provides them at a rapid rate. How good is this small oral steroid, how powerful? You may be familiar with the popular steroid Anadrol and in many circles it is considered the premier oral steroid for size and strength. While Anadrol is a quality steroid, on a milligram for milligram basis Dianabol blows it out of the water in-terms of strength and power; it is far more potent on a per milligram basis. So how do we use it in order to maximize the benefits held within? Let’s take a look at how to plan a Dianabol cycle.

Off-Season Dianabol Cycle:
Without question most who supplement with the Methandrostenolone hormone will do so when they are in their off-season mode; simply meaning, they are trying to grow larger and become stronger. First and foremost, yes, this steroid can be used all alone and no, it shouldn’t be. Dbol, as it is commonly known will suppress your natural testosterone production and exogenous testosterone is advised to be administered. For the off-season Dianabol cycle we generally have two choices and sometimes in more hardcore elite circles a combination of both is used; the two options include kick starting and plateau busting.

Kick Starting: Kick starting is the most common point of Dbol use and simply refers to the beginning of a total stacked cycle in a priming sense. In reality, while “priming” is often the term used really most use it here simply because they’re eager to see gains come quickly A Dianabol cycle for this purpose will generally last approximately 6 weeks with 4 weeks generally being the minimum and 8 weeks being the maximum. Once the Methandrostenolone use is complete the total cycle will continue without the Dianabol being present but by this time more foundational steroids are well into the athletes system allowing for progression to continue.
Plateau Busting: Plateau busting refers to a point during an anabolic steroid cycle in-which the individual has stagnated, gains are no longer coming and this can be very frustrating. This can occur at any time during a cycle but usually begins to show for most around the 8-10 week mark as the body begins to adapt and a change is needed. This is where a Dianabol cycle can really be useful; while it is beneficial at the beginning of a cycle it is perhaps even more efficient here. Once the new hormone is introduced and as it is so powerful and fast acting the plateau is busted and progression begins again. A typical Dianabol cycle of this nature will rarely go past 6 weeks and is often only 4 weeks.
There are some who will kick start and use this steroid as a plateau buster but this is not something we generally recommend. Absolutely, it will work but a Dianabol cycle can be quite toxic to the liver and it is recommended use be kept short and brief as to maintain optimal liver health.

Cutting Dianabol Cycle:
d-anabol,Dianabol,SteroidsIt is a common myth that plagues many message boards and it is nothing more than a myth; the myth states Dianabol makes you gain fat. It is true, the Methandrostenolone hormone does aromatize and by this effect can cause a lot of water retention and when bulking most rarely concern themselves with a little water. Lets examine; water retention or bloat is not fat, its water retention plain and simple. Further, many who bloat badly when implementing a Dianabol cycle automatically blame the new found bloat solely on the Dbol when more times than not a large culprit is them overeating, especially regarding carbohydrates. Finally, if water retention is truly a bad issue for you and it will be more pronounced in some than others, a good aromatase inhibitor will eliminate concern. In short, if youre eating properly, not stuffing your face like a fat cow and supplementing responsibly, massive water retention will not be a problem and any that does occur is certainly not body-fat; but can it be used while cutting?

Without question increasing size and strength is this steroids primary nature but like many steroids it can serve secondary purposes apt for other goals. When the individual is dieting a good Dianabol cycle can aid in maintaining strength levels as they commonly drop when in a calorie deficit; further, like most anabolic hormones Dbol will preserve lean tissue. For the competitive bodybuilder this steroid can absolutely be used during a diet but we wouldnt recommend it at the tail-end due to the high aromatase factor. It is true, the Methandrostenolone hormone is perhaps not the best anabolic steroid for dieting purposes but if it is what you have available it will more than get the job done and the good news for you is this steroid is generally cheap and widely available.