If you read this site with any regularity, you probably remember TC describing his grandmother, Olga Luoma. Olga was renowned throughout mother Russia as quite possibly the world's most powerful woman. Although she never officially competed in any powerlifting competitions, her feats of strength were legendary.

Once, after a particularly good growing season, her village harvested several thousand bushels of potatoes. As a monument to their hard work and good fortune, Olga and her fellow villagers piled the potatoes into a sort of spud pyramid, the top of which nearly grazed the fist of the huge statue of Lenin that stood on the outskirts of their town.

It was then that TC's grandfather, Stolichnaya, the town drunk, whirled into the pile of potatoes while attempting a Russian folk dance. The potatoes rained down on top of him and within minutes, he was entombed in a pile of spuds.

Olga, all 280 pounds of her, began bulldozing through the potatoes to find him. As she juggernautted through the tubers, several were thrown high in the air; so high that they could no longer be seen by the stunned villager's naked eyes. Higher and higher they flew, and one of these potatoes actually escaped the earth's gravitational pull where it was detected by an alarmed United States Air Force. They mistakenly identified it as an orbital satellite and it became known worldwide as Spudnick, and it launched the entire space race.

Grandma Olga saved Grandpa Stoly, but as punishment, he was forced to eat boiled potatoes out of a trough, alongside the family's goats, for the remainder of his days.

Years later, TC, while rummaging through Olga's belongings, found a series of "cookbooks" that contained not only conventional recipes, but a series of descriptions of various anabolic agents. Clearly, they were partly responsible for her incredible strength. TC brought these to the office, and we are proud to reprint the first three of many "recipes" to come.

Print them out, if you like, and start your own Steroid Cookbook.

Current brand names and companies

There's only one company that makes this compound, and it's sold under the brand name Parabolan. It comes in a blue box containing a 1.5-ml vial yielding 76 mg of the active ingredient.

Historical perspective

Parabolan was first developed in 1962 but wasn't introduced to the market until 1980. Then it was discontinued twice in the early '90s and was just reintroduced in the beginning of 1996. Currently, it's only available through official medical channels in France. However, Northern European bodybuilders will often trade Parabolan with French bodybuilders for oxymetholone or methandrostenolone. It's the most sought-after injectable in Europe. Once its chemical cousin Finaject was discontinued in 1987, Parabolan's popularity soared. The top portion of the new ampoule is much smaller than its predecessor, and the new product doesn't have as strong a scent as the earlier versions of this drug.

Dosage

Bodybuilders and powerlifters normally take two ampoules, or 152 mg, per week. However, many professional bodybuilders have taken as much as two ampoules a day, bringing up the dosage to 1,064 mg a week.
 

Beneficial effects

• It's both a strength and mass drug and the results are impressive. Will foster additional development in bodybuilders who have adapted to other steroids.
• One of the few androgens that does not aromatize, therefore users are not bothered by feminization characteristics such as gynecomastia, nor are they plagued by extreme water retention.
• Promotes significant muscular hardness when calories are restricted. With males, it along with Primobolan, is a top pre-physique-contest injectable. However, unlike Primobolan, Parabolan cannot be taken year round because of its toxicity.
• Does not cause an increase in blood pressure.
• Does not convert to DHT, therefore does not cause hair loss or severe acne.
• Increased aggressiveness due to its high androgenicity, making it a favorite of strength athletes.

Negative side effects

• Should not be taken for periods longer than 10-12 weeks due to the stress it imposes on the kidneys.
• Like Anadrol, it's only used by the most ambitious female bodybuilders. It's known to cause strong virilization characteristics in females, with most the side effects being irreversible (e.g. voice deepening and clitoral hypertrophy).
• Stressful to the kidneys but not to the liver; it's best to increase water intake when using Parabolan.
• Parabolan is often associated with hypoglycemia, thus many people use it in conjunction with high carb diets and various forms of insulin.
• The activity spectrum of trenbolone is similar to that of 19-nortestosterone or those anabolics that are derived from 19-nortestosterone. The compound has an androgenic effect about three times stronger than testosterone propionate, which also means that the possibility for virilizing effects is strong. The antigonadotropic activity (inhibition of ovulation and testicular growth) of trenbolone acetate far exceeds that of testosterone propionate.

Drugs commonly stacked with parabolan

Powerlifters like to combine it with an injectable form of stanozolol (2-4 mg/kg a week) or with oxandrolone (0.3-0.5 mg/kg per day) when going up a weight class. The gains in strength are appreciable and the gains in size are definitely high-quality, lean muscle mass with this stack.

For rapid weight increases, athletes combined Parabolan with methandrostenolone (0.2-0.6 mg/kg per day) or oxymetholone (0.5-1.5 mg/kg per day). Austrian and German bodybuilders like to combine Parabolan (3-4 ampules a week) with stanozolol (200-400 mg a week) and Oral-Turinabol (0.5 mg/kg per day). There is a stronger German bootleg form of Parabolan, which permits these athletes to have a regular supply.

Because using Parabolan is often associated with hypoglycemia, athletes often combine it with high carb diets and various forms of insulin.

Bootlegs and counterfeits

Mexican counterfeits often contain more than 1.5 ml, and there's also a 4.5-ml, multiple-dose vial, which contains only sesame oil. One is made in Canada and the other one is made in the US. If you get severe acne from it, you're most likely using a counterfeit. There is also a German bootleg form, 10 cc, 100 mg/ml, and a Canadian bootleg version 50 cc, 100 mg/ml.

One rumor on the black market is that the smell of Parabolan is supposed to fill a room, but genuine Parabolan only has a distinct smell at close range.

Current brand names and companies

• Anabol (LP Standard Labs Company, Thailand) 1,000 tabs at 5 mg each
• Anabolex (Dominican Republic) 90 tabs at 3 mg each, also contains the appetite enhancer Periactin
• Andoredan (Takeshima-Kodama, Japan) 100 tabs at 5 mg each
• Encephan (Sato, Japan) 100 tabs at 5 mg each
• Metanabol (Polfa, Poland) 100 tabs at 5 mg each
• Metanabol (Polfa, Poland) 100 tabs at 1 mg each
• Metanabol (Polfa, Poland) 0.5% cream
• Methandrostonolum (Russia) 100 tabs at 5 mg each
• Naposim (Romania) 100 tabs at 5 mg each
• Pronabol-5 (P and B Labs Private, Limited) 100 tabs at 5 mg each
• Restauvit (Mexico)100 tabs at 2 mg each
• Reforvit (Mexico) injectable 30 cc of 25 mg/ml
• Stenolon (Leciva, Tcheque Republic) 100 tabs at 5 mg each
• Stenolon (Leciva, Tcheque Republic) 100 tabs at 1 mg each
• Trinergic (India) 100 capsules at 5 mg each

Historical perspective

Considered the grandfather of anabolic steroids, methandrostenole (aka methandienone or Dianabol) was developed in 1956 by American doctor John Ziegler in cooperation with Ciba-Geigy. It became available in American pharmacies by 1960. In the early '60s, it enjoyed enormous popularity and it was not uncommon for athletes to use as much as a bottle a day. The little blue pills became known as "the breakfast of champions." By 1982, Ciba pulled it off the market, claiming it was commonly abused.

Dosage

It's used by athletes in a variety of sports with dosages ranging from 10 to 500 mg a day. Most individuals will make appreciable gains with dosages ranging from 15 to 40 mg a day, but in some cases dosages as low as 5 mg a day are beneficial. Most bodybuilders will keep the dosage at less than 50 mg a day, prefering to increase the dosage of their injectables instead. Concurrent administration of oxymethonolone with methandrostenolone is not recommended as their mechanism of action is very similar.

When using the injectable form, you can reduce the dosage by 40%. Since the oral form has only a 3 to 4.5 hour half-life, the recommendation is to take it in divided dosages throughout the day. The half-life is further reduced on intensive training days. Female bodybuilders and powerlifters have made enormous progress on this drug in dosages ranging from 10 to 20 mg per day, and some females have tolerated dosages as high as 40 mg without virilization effects.

Beneficial effects

• Considered both a size and strength drug with weight-training athletes. It's known for reliable and fast gains, hence the maxim: If you can't grow on Dianabol, get out of the sport.
• Different from drugs like oxymethenolone, methandrostenolone is associated with improved feelings of well-being.
• Gains in bodyweight of two to four pounds per week on this product are considered normal.
• Because it clears the system very rapidly, athletes have used low dosages (10 mg or less) as close as three days before an event. However, the newer testing protocol from Cologne, Germany has resulted in positive tests as much 28 days after cessation of drug use.
• It's associated with a 50% to 70% reduction in the endogeneous production of cortisol.

Negative side effects

• Water retention, aka moon face.
• Hair loss, gynecomastia, and severe acne on the upper back and shoulders.
• With dosages above 50 mg a day, many athletes feel uncomfortable instead of the regular slight mood elevation associated with steroids.
• Has some aromatization potential.
• Dosages above 10 mg/day are associated with elevated liver enzymes, high blood pressure, and elevated heart rate.
• Ten mg a day for 10 days is enough to suppress endogenous testosterone production by 30% to 40%.
• Dosages above 50 mg/day are associated with steroid psychosis, and the same sensation of stomach fullness associated with oxandrolone.

Drugs commonly stacked with methandrostenolone

It's rumored that this drug would potentiate any stack. Some underground steroid gurus have suggested that every single steroid stack should contain at least 10 mg of Dianabol. When the goals are mainly strength with minimal bodyweight increases, it's combined with either oxandrolone or stanolozol tablets. When the individual wants gains in both strength and mass, it is combined with either testosterone enanthate, nandrolone decanoate, or Sustanon 250 in dosages above 250 mg/week. A stack of Parabolan (2-3 amps a week), oxymetholone (2-3 tabs/day), and various forms of testosterone (1000 mg-plus a week) have been used with methandrostenolone in the most radical bulking cycles.

Normally, it's combined with Nolvadex and/or Proviron to minimize the side effects. Users will also incorporate Catapres to minimize elevations in blood pressure. "Dianabol nose" refers to the nose bleeds associated with performing large muscle-group exercises (mainly squats) while on this compound.

In body weight-class sports, it is combined with oxandrolone and/or stanozolol to minimize weight gain. One of the most common stacks in the early '70s to early '80s was Deca-Durabolin (200-400 mg/week) mixed with Dianabol (0.5 mg/kg/day).

Bootlegs and counterfeits

Has been the most frequently counterfeited of all anabolics. The Nerobol (Galenika, former Yugoslavia) and Gedeon (Richter, Hungary) brands have been discontinued for years but have surfaced as counterfeits on the European black market. Metaboline forte, supposedly from Canada, never existed; it is a repackaged multi-vitamin tablet. The bottle of Anabolin (Leiras, Finland), 100 tabs of 5-mg and 0.5% cream are discontinued. So is Métaboline (Desbergers, Canada) in 60 tabs of 2-mg or 500 tabs of 2-mg Nerobol from Gideon Richter is also no longer produced.

Current brand names and companies

• Boldone (France), 25 mg/ml, 10-ml vial
• Drive (Australia), 25 mg/ml with 30 mg of methandriol dipropionate/ml
• Equipoise (Squibb: US and Mexico), 45 mg/ml (discontinued in Canada)
• Equipoise (Solvay), 50 mg/ml (now has the rights in Canada)
• Ganabol (Laboratorios VM, Columbia), 25 mg/ml
• Pace (Jurox Labs, Australia), 25 mg/ml with 30 mg of methandriol dipropionate/ml
• Sybolin (Australia), 25 mg/ml
• Vebonol (Ciba-Geigy: Germany, Switzerland, and Australia), 25 mg/ml

Historical perspective

Ciba developed Equipoise in 1949 for the veterinary industry in treating cattle, horses, and dogs. Yet athletes have also rated it highly. In the US, it was popular in the late '70s and early '80s. Nowadays, its use is restricted mainly to German speaking countries and Australia.

Dosage

Used mainly by bodybuilders in dosages ranging from 100 to 500 mg a week. Some individuals make good gains on a 25 mg every other day, while most people require at least 50 mg a day. Most athletes report that five weeks of taking the drug is necessary before enjoying its true benefits. Underground steroid gurus say it works well only in the presence of high levels of androgens. Because of the low-mg dosage, it requires frequent injections. Female bodybuilders use dosages ranging from 50 to 100 mg per week, since higher dosages are associated with the usual virilization side effects.

Beneficial effects

In the sixth edition of this book, I erroneously stated it has a similar action to Dianabol, but further research indicates that even though it positively affects nitrogen balance, it does not result in striking increases in mass or strength. However, it has a reputation of offering long-lasting, high-quality gains in muscle mass. Athletes claim its main positive effect is perceived enhanced recovery rates.

• Minimal water retention and aromatization potential.
• Good appetite stimulant.
• Increases red bloodcell count.
• Very low liver toxicity potential.
• Minimal, if any, hair loss.

Negative side effects

• Very severe acne, particularly on the upper back and shoulders.
• Potential steroid psychosis.
• Some brands have poor quality-control standards, and some users have suffered mild fever and flu-like symptoms; however, these symptoms disappear within a few days after discontinuing administration.
• It is slightly more androgenic than nandrolone decanoate but doesn't cause the water retention associated with the nandrolones.
• Along with Nilevar (norethandronolone), boldenone is associated with a high incidence of muscle strains.

Drugs commonly stacked with boldenone

In European bodybuilding circles, it is combined with the injectable steroid stanolozol because this pre-contest stack results in significant muscle hardness. The same stack used in positive calorie balance produces appreciable strength and high-quality muscle mass gains.

Within the steroid underground, some claim that a cycle high in androgens (e.g. Sustanon 250, Anadrol 50) or a concomitant androgen uptake drug is necessary. Athletes using it alone have reported minimal effects, but it seems to potentiate the effects of androgens.

Bootlegs and counterfeits

This is one of the most-often counterfeited drugs since a bottle can sell for as much as $400 on the black market. Not a bad profit for repackaged sesame oil which will cost the counterfeiter about $2. The best way to spot these counterfeits is the easily removable cap. The most copied form is the old Equipoise made by Squibb in Canada which contains a weak concentration of a form of nandrolone or one of the testosterone esters.

More "recipes" will follow in the weeks to come!

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