Testosterone is one endogenous male hormone that is absolutely necessary for your bodybuilding efforts.
Testosterone helps with many bodily functions that promote male characteristics associated with bodybuilding including skeletal muscle growth, strength, and power gains.
But as you age, your natural testosterone levels drop and your need for exogenous testosterone to supplement the fall in endogenous testosterone levels become more relevant if you intend improving your physique and athletic performance during your bodybuilding routine.
To this end, bodybuilders constantly seek the best testosterone supplements to boost their testosterone levels and stimulate anabolic responses that would aid their bodybuilding goals.
This article explores five of the best testosterone supplements that you can take during your training program with the guidance of a qualified physician, and/or coach.
We also highlight the risks, recommended dosage, testosterone supplement benefits, and possible side effects steming from the misuse or abuse of the testosterone supplements.
Is it no risk to use Supplements in Bodybuilding?
There are always risks that you expose yourself to whenever you use supplements in bodybuilding. First off, we all have a different physiological makeup and our bodies tend to react differently to the use of supplements.
In addition to this, your age, sex, body weight, and current health status can contribute to how your body responds to using supplements.
The cycle and dosage plan implemented will equally make you more susceptible to potential health risks – which is why it is important for you to always consult your doctor and conduct a thorough medical checkup before supplementation.
The presence of a previously undetected or undiagnosed underlying health issue could be aggravated with the use of testosterone supplements or any similar form of supplement for that matter.
However, if you’re deemed to be in good enough health and you use the supplements in accordance to the recommended cycle and dosage plan for your bodybuilding needs, you will minimize your risk of being exposed to adverse or side effects from the use of supplements in bodybuilding.
While exogenous testosterone is commonly used in testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in individuals suffering from hypogonadism or a low level of testosterone.
You can boost your testosterone levels with potent exogenous testosterone supplements like testosterone cypionate, testosterone enanthate, testosterone propionate, testosterone undecanoate, and testosterone suspension.
These five (5) forms of injectable exogenous testosterone are the most popular and the best testosterone supplements around. They offer you a substantial amount of exogenous testosterone that suppresses and replaces your natural testosterone levels. This in itself is a risk, especially once you have ended an exogenous testosterone cycle.
After a cycle, you will need to restore normalcy to your endogenous testosterone hormone production by your adrenal gland (male and female), testicles (male), or ovaries (female).
This is where a post-cycle therapy protocol becomes necessary to help kick-start your natural testosterone hormone production and minimize the effects of increasing amounts of estrogen in your body.
Testosterone cypionate is one of the most commonly used exogenous testosterone and comes with a long-acting ester with the exogenous testosterone released gradually into your bloodstream.
With testosterone enanthate and undecanoate, you also have long-acting testosterone esters that will provide your body with a sustained level of exogenous testosterone to promote anabolic and metabolic functions leading to muscle growth and weight loss respectively.
Long-acting esters do not require frequent administration, as they release exogenous testosterone slowly into your bloodstream for a more sustained level over time.
However, testosterone propionate and testosterone suspension are short-acting esters that provide your body with a quick jolt of exogenous testosterone, but both require more frequent administration for a longer lasting effect.
What about Real Testosterone dosage?
It is worth mentioning at this point that your cycle and dosage plan is unique to your bodybuilding needs, and goals. Therefore, you should consult a qualified trainer to help you formulate a cycle and dosage plan that would match your bodybuilding expectations.
Nevertheless, there are recommended cycle and dosage plans for each of the five (5) testosterone esters mentioned already.
Here’s a quick look at the recommended cycle and dosage plan for testosterone cypionate, enanthate, propionate, undecanoate, and suspension.
For testosterone cypionate the recommended cycle and dosage plan for bodybuilders will range from 500mg to 1,250mg weekly for a 12 to 16 week cycle.
A lower weekly dosage and cycle length would suffice for female bodybuilders or person’s with health concerns.
In the case of testosterone enanthate and testosterone propionate, a weekly dosage plan of between 500mg to 1,000mg also over a 12 to 16 week period would be sufficient for optimal bodybuilding gains.
With testosterone undecanoate, you can run 1,000mg weekly for a duration of 12 weeks while a weekly dosage of between 350mg and 1,400mg over 12 to 16 weeks will be ideally suited for your testosterone suspension use.
Note that the testosterone supplements mentioned here can be stacked with other androgenic-anabolic steroids (AAS), and in that case your recommended cycle and dosage plan may alter to accommodate the other AAS.
Main Advantages of taking Testosterone Supplements
There are many testosterone supplement benefits worth mentioning, but some of the main advantages of taking testosterone supplements include:
#1. Skeletal Muscle Growth
This is perhaps the most sought-after bodybuilding benefit of all. Using the best testosterone supplements mentioned in this post will stimulate a number of hormones and bodily functions that will promote the growth of your skeletal muscle tissues.
Testosterone supplements will increase your human growth hormone (HGH), Insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and nitrogen retention levels which leads to an increase in both C1INH and C4 protein synthesis in your muscle tissue. Increased protein synthesis in skeletal muscle tissue will promote muscle growth.
#2. Quick Recovery
Due to the increased protein synthesis in your muscle tissues, you will tend to recover quickly from muscle-related injuries during your rest days or in off-season.
#3. Increased Bone Density
Testosterone supplements also promote increased bone density by increasing your collagen production.
With greater bone density, you are less likely to suffer from osteoporosis and/or experience bone-related injuries during your weight training regimen.
#4. Increased Strength Levels
Testosterone supplements will increase your body’s production of red blood cells. As your red blood cell (RBC) count rises, your body will supply a greater amount of oxygenated blood to all parts of your body and that also includes your skeletal muscle tissues.
This rise in oxygenated blood in your muscle tissue will slow-down and reduce the accumulation of lactic acid during your strength training.
With less lactic acid build up in your muscle tissue, you will be able to engage in weight training for much longer than before as your risk of muscle fatigue is significantly reduced.
#5. Body Fat and Weight Loss
Testosterone supplementation will boost your metabolism causing you to experience greater levels of thermogenesis (body heat).
Your body will naturally lower this body heat and maintain homeostasis by increasing your perspiration level.
The increase in body heat and cooling down with incessant sweating will lead to lipolysis (fat burning) and the loss of body weight.
Possible side-effects of Testosterone abuse
You are advised to always consult your trainer and/or physician before running a testosterone supplement cycle. This way you will be able to avoid misusing or outrightly abusing your choice of exogenous testosterone.
Typically, the use of testosterone leads to aromatization where the exogenous testosterone hormone is converted into estrogen (female) hormone when intramuscularly injected.
The level of estrogen hormone in your body will be aggravated when you misuse or abuse exogenous testosterone supplements.
Abusing testosterone supplements could leave you exposed to life-threatening health complications like liver health issues, blood clots, and cardiovascular problems, such as; stroke and heart attack.
Using testosterone supplements within recommended limits is safer than abusing exogenous testosterone, but notwithstanding, you will still be exposed to estrogen-related and other side effects like acne, water retention, bloating, gynecomastia, headaches, injection site inflammation and pain amongst other adverse effects.
Summary
The best testosterone supplements are injectable AAS like testosterone cypionate, testosterone enanthate, testosterone propionate, testosterone undecanoate, and testosterone suspension.
These testosterone supplements offer users a number of bodybuilding benefits including increased skeletal muscle growth, quick recovery, reduced body fat and weight loss, and increased strength levels.
You should note that abusing testosterone supplements can be detrimental to your overall health, so taking exogenous testosterone according to a recommended cycle and dosage plan is advisable.
In addition to this, it is important to also note that you should have a post-cycle therapy (PCT) plan in place before running any exogenous testosterone cycle.
PCT will help to normalize your natural hormone production including your endogenous testosterone levels which are usually suppressed when you take testosterone supplements.
You can reach out to an IFBB PRO here to help you in drafting a workout program including a training schedule and dietary plan that will meet your bodybuilding expectations.
