With the increased popularity and acceptance of Anabolic Steroids in the United States and elsewhere, as personal trainers it is incumbent upon us to become more educated with respect to their proper usage in bodybuilding and conditioning.

My observation as a personal trainer is that they have become so widespread that to ignore continuing education in this area is the equivalent to having one's head in the sand
as a professional trainer. Anabolic Steroids are here to stay.

Indeed, my conservative estimate is that at any given time probably 30% of my clients admit to being on a cycle or between cycles, and upon questioning I have found that many did not cycle on or off properly.

Although I will not provide AS to my clients (this is still a felony in the US), I will provide what I have learned in the way of recent information about beneficial usage of AS through reading and through personal trial and error.

More and more of my clients are women and it is exciting to see the field of bodybuilding becoming so diversified with gender. I see more and more women doing intermediate and advanced training routines in the gym.

Along with these increased numbers, there has been an increase in the number of women who want to bridge their genetic gap with proper use of AS. Unfortunately, compared to the amount of trials and studies on men, literature and published cycles for women is sparse.

In the last 3 years I have been lucky to have been able to train several women who came to me with expressed interest in using AS.

In several cases they came to me with a supply of stack that would grow hair on a man let alone on a woman. They were trying to base their decisions on limited information that they derived from gym-talk and a little bit of literature, and I was able to dissuade them by showing them better alternatives.

One lady had high blood pressure as a pre-existing medical condition, but possessed and wanted to begin using Dianabol at 20mg/day as well as 100mg of enathate/week. As a matter of course, I do a pre-screening medical interview with all my clients to keep a log of medical issues, last doctor's visit, etc.

I remembered that she had been on blood pressure medication and explained to her the side effects of androgenic AS, as opposed to the milder or non-existent side-effects of the anabolics.

The look on her face said it all as I could see that she knew that the androgenic could have been a death sentence for her with her medical issues. Being approachable and knowledgeable as a trainer is the best service that I can provide for my clients.

Having said all that, I will now describe for the lady readers a very successful cycle which a good friend of mine recently completed.

She asked me to personal train her and to provide her with any and all information that I had about a fat-cutting, mildly anabolic cycle.

She is very feminine and wanted to retain that while simultaneously adding some quality gains of muscle with good definition.She has a medium build and had been bodybuilding for about 5 years.

Also, she is 33 years old. I did a routine medical screening with her and she was able to provide the results of her most recent physical which included blood levels of cholesterol and hepatic enzymes.

Everything was within the normal range, and there was no history of blood pressure, kidney, or liver problems. I gave her a rundown on the various problems that can possibly be associated with AS use for women and in general, and told her to contemplate what it was that she wanted to do.

She called me two days later and we set up our first training session.

First, we did a body fat analysis which rendered results of 21%. Her bodyweight was 127lbs at 5'4" Her chief complaint was the lingering fat deposits around her buttocks, thighs, and tricep area which seemed to defy cardio and a clean diet.

I could tell that her gains in muscle had been respectable during her 5 years of bodybuilding, so that was not going to be a major concern. She was not a hard-gainer. First we looked at her diet to see just how clean it was. She had done her research and was eating a good balance of proteins, carbs, and fats.

She was a little heavy on the carbs and admitted to indulging in the late night carbs about three nights/week, so we agreed to begin with disciplining that area first. I also increased her protein to compensate for the lost carbs. Next, we looked at her training routine and changed it from the 10-12 rep routines that she was doing.

Instead, I adjusted it to sets of higher reps and lower weight where she now began doing sets of three for each exercise with the sets consisting of 15reps/12reps/10reps. Also, she was doing 20mins of cardio three days week. I adjusted this to 45mins four days/week.

She would also strength-train 4 days/week. Two of the cardio and resistance-training days would overlap giving her 6 days in the gym.

She was allowed one cheat day per week but not with excessive cheating.

We decided on a 8 week training program and she did the following in the way of supplementation.
 

Week One 100mg/Deca/week 25mg/Proviron/day 10mg/Nolvadex/day Week Two 100mg/Deca/week 25mg/Proviron/day 10mg/Nolvadex/day Week Three 100mg/Deca/week 25mg/Proviron/day 10mg/Nolvadex/day Week Four 100mg/Deca/week 25mg/Proviron/day 10mg/Nolvadex/day 6g/Winstrol/day

Week Five 100mg/Deca/week 10mg/Nolvadex/day 7mg/Winstrol/day Week Six 100mg/Deca/week 50mcg/Clenbuterol/2xs/day 7mg/Winstrol/day Week Seven 100mg/Deca/week 50mcg/Clenbuterol/2xs/day Week Eight 100mg/Deca/week 50mcg/Clenbuterol/2xs/day

The rationale for the above AS cycle is as follows:

1) 100mg Deca Durabolin for eight weeks was intended to be a steady and solid mass builder, but dosed for subtle and non-virilizing effects.

2) 25mg of Proviron per day for the first four weeks was intended to provide a mild androgenic; to potentiate the activity of the other steroidal compounds being added in by displacing them into the bloodstream; and, to promote a change in the ratio of androgen vs estrogen in the female composition allowing for greater solid gains, and to promote the fat-burning process.

Beyond four weeks of usage is not advised for women due to the strong androgenic buildup which could occur, and which could trigger virilization. Also, 25mg is the maximum recommended dose per day for a feminine cycle for the same reasons.

3) 10mg of Nolvadex per day in conjunction with the Proviron is a powerful tool in continuing to rev up the fat-burning and to begin to tackle the trouble areas such as the hips, thighs, etc.

4) Winstrol was added in the fourth week as she prepared to remove the Proviron from the lineup. She did not want too much androgenic/anabolic activity at once for fear of side effects. Winny tabs were used due to the difficulty of administering small enough feminine doses via injection.

5) Clenbuterol was added in the sixth week as she prepared to remove the Winstrol from her cycle. As there is differing opinions as to the anabolic effects of Clenbuterol, this supplement was added primarily as a fat-burner and the daily dose of 100mcg was split into morning and afternoon.

Most studies show that Clen loses much of its effect after 21days, hence, this was added in for basically the last 3 weeks of her anabolics.

In the case of my client, her results were very noticeable, yet not dramatic, nor masculine.

Her bodyweight went to 116lbs of very lean and sculpted look. Her quads become very pronounced, as did her shoulders and rhomboids. Her body fat was at 12% at finish which was a drop of 9% body fat.

Doing the math, one can see that she lost about 10.5 pounds of fat and gained 2.5 pounds of muscle. Very respectable results for an 8 week feminine cycle. No virilization occurred and two weeks after the above cycle she had lost an additional one pound.

Her continued cardio and clean eating warded off any rebound from stopping the clenbuterol.

Also, as the Deca is known to remain very anabolic in the system for about 17 days, she was able to continue to appreciate some notable changes in physique one month later.

In sharing this experience, it is my hope that other female bodybuilders who are up and coming in the realm of AS will see the importance of doing extensive homework, buying quality gear, and seeking the guidance of a personal trainer for more efficient training.

The only way to have symmetry in your body is to have it in the way of knowledge, training, and supplementation.