Anabolic steroids for women are a fairly small group of drugs that have high anabolic properties and minimal androgenic activity. If a girl decides to start using AAS, then she should remember that all these drugs imitate the work of testosterone in the body. High concentrations of this hormonal substance in the female body can lead to serious negative effects (including masculinization). This is why the question of whether women can use steroids remains so relevant.
Why do women take steroids?
Taking anabolic steroids is a normal practice not only in women's bodybuilding.
In those sports where maximum strength and speed are required, anabolic steroids are also used. Behind the scenes, of course. At the official level, these drugs belong to the class of doping agents.
Women's weightlifting, powerlifting, competitive crossfit, javelin throwing - in these truly “female” disciplines, modern records are nurtured on anabolic steroids.
Strength and big muscles have always been purely masculine qualities. This is because the male sex hormone, testosterone, is responsible for the growth of muscle mass and strength.
A man produces an average of 5-7 mg per day.
It is also present in the body of women, only in much smaller quantities. Approximately 0.5 mg.
It is for this reason that girls are naturally physically weaker and have less muscle mass.
However, the world has changed. Women have entered strength sports, which were previously considered exclusively male. And the shortest and most effective way to quickly increase weight and strength was to take artificial male sex hormones, that is, anabolic steroids.
So steroids gradually penetrated into all women's speed and strength sports.
Well, in female bodybuilding and its varieties, where muscle volume and low levels of body fat are the main evaluation criteria, the use of these drugs is practiced everywhere.
The positive effects of using anabolic steroids in women are the same as in men:
- Acceleration of muscle growth rates
- Increased physical performance (strength and endurance)
- Accelerate recovery after intense strength training
- Increasing the rate of fat burning (if there is a calorie deficit)
- Increased competitive aggression (sports anger)
True, very often this aggression is not limited only to the gym. For many women, it goes into everyday life and spills out onto others, which cannot be considered a plus.
The weaker sex: the shocking transformations of women who got too carried away with bodybuilding
Sometimes, in pursuit of an ideal physical form, girls get so carried away by the process that they miss the moment of transforming an elegant athletic lady into a young Schwarzenegger. In our material we will talk about women who overdid it with dumbbells and barbells, and now you can find out their gender only by looking at their passport.
Anna Turaeva, 37 years old
One of the strongest women on the planet, the absolute champion of Russia, Eurasia, Europe and the world in powerlifting and bench press, Anna Turaeva, practiced sambo and taekwondo at the beginning of her career, but then decided to devote her life to bodybuilding.
Previously, the native of Tuapse had a waist-length braid, she wore short skirts and stilettos. However, now, according to the athlete, this feminine image does not fit in with her appearance and muscles. The girl does fitness from 8 am to 11 pm and claims that she has never taken anabolic steroids.
Previously, the native of Tuapse had a waist-length braid, she wore short skirts and stilettos. However, now, according to the athlete, this feminine image does not fit in with her appearance and muscles. The girl does fitness from 8 am to 11 pm and claims that she has never taken anabolic steroids.
Turaeva does not deny that, perhaps, in a couple of years she will decide to start a family. In an interview, she said that she dreams of a son and daughter. Judging by the pictures that Anna posts on Instagram, her personal life is fine. The athlete is dating a girl, Victoria, who turned to her for advice several years ago.
Anna admits that she often finds herself in funny situations. “This is mainly connected with the airport, with toilets. When traffic cops stop you. Sometimes discomfort is caused by ill-mannered people who absolutely do not know how to communicate and speak inadequately. I try not to pay attention to them, but I can also respond sharply, putting them in their place.”
Turaeva now not only takes part in competitions, but also trains young athletes. “I have many male students, everyone treats me like a woman. True, some people congratulate me on both February 23 and March 8. It’s even very convenient for me,” she said in an interview.
Anna Kurkurina, 51 years old
Ukrainian athlete and coach, absolute world champion in powerlifting and holder of 14 records and the title “The Strongest Woman on the Planet,” Anna Kurkurina, as a child did not even think that she would devote her life to sports. She dreamed of working with animals. Having graduated from school with honors, and then from the biology department of the institute, the girl worked in the city of Nikolaev as a school biology teacher, and in her free time she worked as a livestock specialist. One day, small and fragile Kurkurina, who weighed 56 kg, decided to slightly correct her figure and gain muscle mass.
For this, Anna went “to the usual harsh rocking chair,” where she spent about three years. “Of course, my body gradually changed, became less feminine,” she recalled in an interview with Moskovsky Komsomolets. Now Kurkurina picks up clothes in the men's department, and underwear in the women's department. True, I had to give up a bra a long time ago. “My breasts look more like a man's than a woman's. On a body like that, a bra would look weird, like on a transvestite,” she says.
Anna lives by the principle “she doesn’t owe anyone anything,” and she doesn’t take criticism to heart. For those who disagree with her position, there are always two compelling arguments ready (and we are not talking about breasts, but about biceps). “I’m not crazy to consider myself a stunning beauty. But I’m happy with my appearance,” says Kurkurina confidently. Despite her brutal appearance, deep down Anya is very vulnerable. Like any woman, she can cry from a sad movie.
Now Anna regularly conducts professional master classes and seminars for trainers. According to her, she does not feel the need for a strong male shoulder.
The athlete is reluctant to talk about her personal life. It is known that she has a son, whom she gave birth to at the age of 41. However, she admits that it’s strange for her to hear that a woman’s main purpose is to start a family and become a mother.
“I am a woman to the core. And I pumped up my muscles so that not a single man could offend me,” says Kurkurina.
Candice Armstrong, 33 years old
Not long ago, London resident Candice Armstrong was a pretty barmaid with blond hair and a slender figure. Dreaming of gaining a little muscle mass, she decided to take up bodybuilding, and to quickly achieve the effect she began taking anabolic steroids. “I just wanted strong arms and broad shoulders. I had no goal of turning from a woman into a man,” the girl said in an interview.
Many hours of training and “doping” soon bore fruit - the muscles became prominent, but the body was covered with dark and coarse hair, the skin deteriorated sharply, the genitals began to change... It would seem that it was time to know the honor. However, Candace was so fascinated by the process that she continued to study and became more and more like a man. “My clitoris has grown so large that it looks like a small penis. It’s about two and a half centimeters long,” said the bodybuilder.
Now Candice is afraid that if she stops taking her usual steroids, her muscles will lose tone, and all that will remain of her former strength is loose skin. “I think it will do more harm than good,” she explains.
Armstrong does not regret at all the metamorphoses that happened to her. In numerous interviews, she admits that she is madly in love with her own low voice and steely muscles.
Denise Rutkowski, 56 years old
In the early 1990s, Texas native Denise Rutkowski was at the top of her game. In 1993, she took second place in the most prestigious Miss Olympia competition.
The spectacular blonde appeared in advertisements and popular shows, where she campaigned for “muscular female beauty.” Experts predicted gold medals for her at competitions, but unexpectedly she ended her career.
As a result, the woman developed symptoms of bipolar disorder, lost her hair and grew a beard. In 2012, Denise was arrested by the police, and law enforcement officers had difficulty establishing her identity. The man they saw in front of them had nothing in common with the passport photo.
Now Rutkowski travels around the United States on so-called “Bible tours” and encourages American citizens to read the Holy Scriptures more often.
Natalya Ogryzko, 42 years old
A native of St. Petersburg, Natalya Ogryzko is the absolute world champion in bench press and master of sports in bodybuilding. To achieve such an impressive shape, a woman has been training several hours a day for more than 15 years, eating right, and adding protein to her food instead of seasonings. However, looking at Natalya’s photographs, there is no doubt that she also takes hormones.
Finding photographs of a woman before she decided to engage in architectural construction of her body is not so easy. On Ogryzko’s page (pictured on the right) on VKontakte, the earliest dates back to 2012. Even then it was obvious that the active use of steroids had a radical impact on her appearance.
Along with hundreds of compliments, Natalia regularly receives criticism.
Under her photos on social networks, battles are fought every day between the athlete’s fans and haters.
Now Ogryzko wears a short haircut, prefers jeans and alcoholic T-shirts to feminine dresses, and does not use makeup.
Source:© Woman.ru
Preferred Anabolic Steroids for Women
The decision to take male sex hormones is a serious step. After all, most of the negative consequences from taking anabolic steroids in women are irreversible.
The steroids women choose should have minimal risk of side effects.
Traditionally, preference is given to drugs with low androgenic activity, since this component provokes undesirable consequences in the female body.
Anavar
In first place in terms of safety is Anavar (oxandrolone) - a tableted anabolic steroid, which in medicine was specially created for use by women and children.
It promotes moderate growth of lean muscle mass, does not retain water, and has a fat-burning effect in the presence of a diet.
There are no side effects (provided the recommended dosages are followed).
The optimal dose for women is 5-10 mg per day. Maximum – 20 mg.
Primobolan
Another very “soft” drug. Available in injection form (methenolone enanthate) and tablets (methenolone acetate).
It is believed that the tablet version is absolutely safe for the liver, unlike other similar steroids, where as the dosage increases, the load on the liver also increases.
Optimal doses:
- methenolone acetate – 50 mg per day
- methenolone enanthate – 100 mg per week
Anadrol (oxymetholone)
For medical purposes, it was created to treat anemia - a disease of anemia.
Increases total blood volume by up to 40%! Users of oxymetholone note its ability to increase the “pump” and vascularity of the body.
The optimal dosage for women is 25-50 mg per day.
Winstrol (stanozolol)
This steroid was once the most popular and beloved in almost all types of women's athletics.
It was especially respected in sprinting, jumping, and throwing, where its use provided a rapid increase in explosive and starting strength without increasing total body weight.
For female bodybuilding, the goal of taking Winstrol is to increase lean muscle mass, strength and reduce body fat levels.
As with Primobolan, there are two forms of release - tablets and injections.
In large dosages it exhibits toxic properties for the liver . Therefore, it is necessary to adhere to safe recommendations:
- For tablets – this is 5-10 mg per day. The maximum permissible dose is 20 mg per day
- Stanozolol injections – 25 mg every other day or 50 mg 2 times a week
Turinabol
Another name is chlordihydromethyltestosterone.
This is a fairly powerful anabolic steroid, which in terms of effectiveness can be compared with the legendary Dianabol (methandienone).
Unfortunately, the risk of side effects here is also much higher than with Primobolan or Anavar.
Turinabol is a tablet drug, so it is moderately toxic to the liver, and there is also a risk of virilization (the development of secondary male sexual characteristics in women).
This risk is greater the higher the dosage of the drug and the longer the dosage cycle.
For women, it is recommended not to exceed the turinabol dosage of 5-10 mg per day.
Alina Popa
This Swiss bodybuilder of Romanian origin occupies one of the leading places in the ranking of the International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness. Since childhood, she was fond of strength training, and as she got older, she took up bodybuilding.
Alina is the winner of many competitions. She continues to participate in competitions to this day. At Ms. Olympia 2013, she took second place, losing only to ten-time champion Iris Kyle.
Safe dosage regimens and general recommendations
There are three main criteria for safe use of steroids by women:
- Type of steroid
- Dosage
- Cycle duration
We've sorted out the safest types of anabolic steroids and their dosages.
Important nuance:
Women are recommended to take steroids “solo”, that is, when the cycle consists of only one drug.
It is not advisable to practice combined courses, when 2 or more types are used simultaneously, due to the 100% guarantee of side effects.
Now it remains to decide on the duration of use.
Ideally, take tests for hormonal levels and general blood biochemistry before starting steroids, every 2-3 weeks of the cycle and 3-5 weeks after the end of the steroid course.
Thanks to these analyses, the optimal duration of one cycle is calculated with minimal negative interventions.
Of course, this requires a specialist who can interpret the results and recommend measures to adjust the steroid course (drugs, dosages, duration of use, plus concomitant medications).
If such a specialist is not at hand, then we focus on the data below. They are approximate, since each girl, due to her individual characteristics, will have a different body reaction to taking steroids.
- One of the popular “female” schemes is 3+3.
The steroid is taken for three weeks, followed by three weeks of rest. Then the cycle is repeated 1-2 more times, after which the rest continues for 2-3 months.
- Another option is to take 4-5 weeks
Longer cycles are undesirable due to the high possibility of side effects.
Brigita Brezovac
Initially, the girl thought about a career in the “fitness bikini” category. However, after trainers told her that her figure was more suitable for serious bodybuilding, she devoted herself to grueling training.
Perseverance and determination helped Brigita achieve her goals: in 2010, she became the winner of the Tampa Pro competition and took 10th place in the Ms. Olympia competition.
Which steroids are best to avoid?
Representatives of the fair sex, if they want to remain as beautiful, should avoid taking the following types of steroids:
- All testosterone esters
Aqueous suspension, testosterone propionate, enanthate, cypionate, Sustanon 250 (Omnadren 250) - all these are representatives of the most powerful steroid, with the same powerful side effects for women.
- All nandrolone esters
Nandrolone phenylpropinoate, decanoate and their mixes.
- Trenbolone (enanthate and acetate)
- Methandienone
- Methyltestosterone
All these hormonal drugs have pronounced androgenic activity. And this means a guaranteed occurrence of side effects in the body of women.
Joanna Claire Thomas
The girl became interested in sports at the age of 14, after a bodybuilding magazine caught her eye. Since then, she began to actively train, and already in 1998 she became the youngest bodybuilder in the world to receive a professional card from the Bodybuilding Federation. At that time she was only 21 years old.
Joanna later became addicted to steroids. She took part in the Miss Olympia competition several times.
Side effects
To put it very simply, by taking male hormones, women run the risk of turning into men. And you don’t have to look far for examples.
Just look at photos of professional female bodybuilders. There are real men on stage, only for some reason in swimsuits. Here, most of the side effects from taking anabolic steroids are visible to the naked eye.
Among them:
- Breast atrophy
- Masculine facial features (heavy chin, massive jaws and nose)
- Enlarged pores
- Huge muscle volumes
What you won't see in the photos:
- Low voice (to the level of a man's bass)
- Delays or complete absence of menstruation
- Increased hair growth on the body and face
- Increased aggression and libido
It is worth noting that these side effects are the consequences of long-term use of several types of strong androgenic steroids.
When using mild steroids in short cycles and in small dosages, most of the described negative effects are absent.
Dennis Rutkowski
In 1993, Dennise took second place in Ms. Olympia. And a year later she delved deeper into religion: she began to travel around the country and spread the Gospel.
In 2012, she was charged with evading arrest and steroid abuse. To top it all off, Dennise was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. By that point, she looked like a crazy person who had escaped from a mental hospital.
After quitting steroids, Denniz began to look absolutely terrible. Her photos and photographs of other unrealistically changed women are in the article.
Boldenone
With prolonged use of high doses of the drug, virilization phenomena may occur, namely, increased hair growth on the face and body. But this is with long-term use and high doses. Although this feature of the drug should not be underestimated, dosages of about 100-200 mg per week for 4-5 weeks are unlikely to lead to virilization. Interestingly, a mixture of boldenone undecylenate and methandriol dipropionate, known in our country under the brand name “Meprobolone”, is more acceptable for women than boldenone itself.
Other hormonal drugs
Well, everything is much simpler here. Growth hormone, insulin, and insulin-like growth factor - IGF-1 are quite acceptable. Naturally, we must remember that these drugs also have side effects, and very serious ones. The fact that they do not cause virilization phenomena does not mean that they can be used, turning a blind eye to other “side effects”. Interestingly, the effective dosage of growth hormone for women is approximately one and a half times higher than the dosage for men. In relation to IGF-1, however, nothing similar was observed.
Antiestrogens
It is clear that the use of aromatase inhibitors for women makes no sense. Therefore, you need to focus on estrogen receptor antagonists - Clomid (clomiphene citrate) and tamoxifen. And also such a drug as aminoglutethimide (orimethene, cytadren). Both Clomid, and especially tamoxifen, are very widely used in medical practice in the treatment of cancer in women. Both drugs allow you to adjust hormonal levels, changing the estradiol/testosterone ratio in favor of the latter. Dosages may be the same as for men. The same applies to aminoglutethimide, but its mechanism of action is slightly different. Aminoglutethimide is not only an aromatase inhibitor, but also suppresses estrogen biosynthesis.
