by Mike Arnold

For those of you who have been following the sports supplement scene for a while, you may be familiar with a compound known as androsterone. First released about 8-9 years ago, this non-methylated DHEA derivative quickly became one of the best selling products in its class. Marketed as a non-toxic strength gainer with distinct muscle hardening effects and alpha-male promoting characteristics, many found it to be the perfect complement to their OTC regimen. However, pending legal troubles and high production costs soon put an end to this once popular prohormone. Since then we’ve seen a few attempts at reintroduction, but if using consumer reviews as a means of product evaluation, it appears that more recent formulations have fallen short in terms of effectiveness. But what exactly is androsterone and what makes it stand out from the other DHEA-based prohormones on the market?

by Mike Arnold

Of all the sports in the world today, bodybuilding is certainly one of the most complex. While other athletic outlets might be more elaborate in terms of competitive application (posing on a bodybuilding stage vs. olympic diving, for instance), none involve a potentially greater amount of learning over such a broad range of subjects. With direct links to over a dozen different sciences, including kinesiology, physiology, pharmacology, anatomy, and nutrition, just to name a few, a bodybuilder’s education never ends.

by Mike Arnold

In order to understand what Super -1 Andro RX is and how it works, let’s first look at DHEA, its close cousin and a crucial step in testosterone synthesis. Testosterone, with which you are all familiar, is produced through an extensive process known as steroidogenesis. This process is initiated by cholesterol, one of the most important substances in the entire body due to the vast number of vital functions it plays a role in. Involved in the formation of a host of active metabolites, cholesterol is the base precursor to every single sex hormone, glucocorticoid, and mineralocorticoid in the body. However, before cholesterol can become DHEA and then testosterone, it must first go through over a half-dozen different bio-chemical conversions, which are listed from start to finish, below:

by Mike Arnold

One of the lesser mentioned, although more interesting compounds to make its way into the bodybuilding community since the turn of the millennium is 7-Keto DHEA. Primarily marketed as a fat loss drug, its initial release was accompanied by a good deal of fanfare, but after the first few years of sales its popularity just kind of trickled off. These days, not much is said about it other than perhaps in passing. Given the dominance of stimulants in the fat loss arena, this isn’t really surprising. Trends show that most customers tend to prefer products they can feel, as it gives them the impression they are working. Although not necessarily a reliable indicator of efficacy, stimulant-based fat burners certainly fit this criteria, providing intense nervous system stimulation that is perceivable to everyone that uses them. While stimulants are generally effective, they certainly aren’t the only category of fat loss products capable of yielding positive results. More importantly, stimulants possess some undesirable characteristics which make chronic use undesirable.

by Mike Arnold

As most of you guys know by now, I have been working for with IronMag Labs for the last several years, and proudly so. I was initially attracted to the company about 5-6 years back, after trying one of their original products called Super DMZ. Since then, IML has made great strides in terms of both company growth and product development, releasing numerous new and innovative products along the way. Some of these have gone on to be top-sellers in their respective categories and regular additions to my supplement regimen, such as Advanced Cycle Support and Essence EFA. Others, such as the now defunct Methadrol Extreme and M-StenRX, were among the most potent and trusted designer steroids ever released onto the OTC market and gave even traditional anabolics a run for their money.

by Mike Arnold

Over the last 10 years, the grim reaper has visited our community more times than I care to remember. In fact, more post-millennium professional bodybuilders have died in their 30’-40’s than in the previous 3 decades combined. While it is true that not all of these deaths can be attributed to the bodybuilding lifestyle, an alarmingly high percentage can be either directly or indirectly linked to PED use. A difficult statistic to ignore, bodybuilders are no longer able to casually dismiss the relationship between ill health and what they put into their bodies. As I see it, the days of “ignorance is bliss” are long gone.

by Mike Arnold

Along with training and diet, sleep is one of the foundational pillars on which any successful bodybuilding program rests. Slack in this area just a little bit, and progress will be compromised. This is not surprising, as sleep is the time during which the body recovers from the previous day’s stress and reenergizes for the day to come, but what is surprising is the level of inattention it usually receives. With such a profound influence on the body’s ability to recover and grow, the uninitiated might assume that bodybuilders routinely place special emphasis on this aspect of their program. However, this is rarely the case. Unlike training and nutrition, in which most of us agonize over every little detail, sleep is generally given short shrift, with little attention paid to quantity and even less given to quality.

by Mike Arnold

With the FDA’s penchant for removing as many steroidal agents from the OTC market as possible, we all knew the day was coming when our freedom of choice would be finally stripped away, robbing us of our right to great designers such as dymethazine, methylstenbolone, epistane, and many more. They are all gone; never again to be seen on supplement shelves, but unlike previous post-ban comebacks, this time they will not be replaced. The passing of the 2014 Designer Anabolic Steroid Control Act made sure of that.