Maintaining your muscle and performance gains can be one of the most frustrating bodybuilding objectives for intermediate level bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts. The problem is you tend to peak from your initial bodybuilding gains as a beginner and once you reach a plateau, your progress as a bodybuilder becomes stagnated or moves at a very slow pace at best.
And what is more surprising about this turn of events is that the sluggish progress you experience occurs even when you are genuinely putting in the required hard-work in the gym while also maintaining a structured nutrition plan geared towards promoting muscle growth and improved athletic performance.
However, if you are currently in this situation, do not despair, as there are intermediate bodybuilding plateau solutions that can gradually promote muscle and strength gains even when it appears that you have hit your optimal muscle building and performance.
One surefire solution is the use of androgenic-anabolic steroids with Deca-Durabolin being a great choice in this regard.
In this article, we will drop all you need to know about Deca-Durabolin including what Nandrolone Decanoate is, how Deca works, Deca-Durabolin benefits for bodybuilders, and all you need to know about running a Deca-Durabolin cycle.
A Quick Overview of Deca-Durabolin
Nandrolone Decanoate otherwise known as Deca-Durabolin was first synthesised way back in the early to mid 1960s primarily as a clinical drug for the treatment of patients suffering from medical problems that lead to muscle wasting, such as, cancer or HIV/AIDs. Deca-Durabolin is also known to be used in the treatment of osteoporosis or brittle bone syndrome.
However, overtime, Deca-Durabolin or Deca for short, has been one of the most sought after anabolic steroids by bodybuilders looking to improve both their muscle mass and overall athletic abilities.
What makes Deca a prized asset amongst bodybuilders in the global bodybuilding community lies in its ability to act just like your endogenous testosterone hormone which is responsible for building your strength level and muscle mass.
With high anabolic, but low androgenic properties, Deca is mostly favored for its high tolerance levels with low to moderate androgenic side effects which is often exacerbated by the dosage amount and/or length of Deca cycle.
As soon as you start running a Deca-Durabolin cycle, the anabolic steroid immediately interacts with the androgen receptors in your body to cause you to experience a series of anabolic effects, such as :
Promoting Greater Protein Synthesis in Muscle Tissues
Deca is known to boost protein (C4 and C1INH) synthesis in muscle tissues. The direct effect of this anabolic process is the repair and growth of skeletal muscle tissues.
Increased Nitrogen Retention in the Body
Deca-Durabolin is also reputed for promoting increased nitrogen retention in the body. It may interest you to know that nitrogen is vital to the process of protein synthesis.
This means that for your skeletal muscles to consistently grow in mass, your body needs to retain a good amount of nitrogen that will be used in producing the right amount of protein needed to promote muscle repair and growth.
Enhanced Collagen Production
Deca-Durabolin will not only enhance your nitrogen retention and protein synthesis, but also your collagen production. Thisbis particularly important as enhanced collagen synthesis is necessary for stronger cartilages, ligaments, and bones.
With your joint and bone health secured, you will be able to lift heavy during your strength training sessions and encourage muscle growth in the process.
Enhanced Red Blood Cell Production
Another function of Deca in the body is to boost the production of red blood cells in the body. The benefits of this to your bodybuilding efforts cannot be overemphasized as increasing red blood cells will lead to a greater amount of oxygenated blood being conveyed throughout your body.
The increased level of oxygen in your muscle tissues will lead to a drop in the accumulation of lactic acid in your muscle tissues during your strength training sessions.
The slow build up of lactic acid in your muscles when you are lifting weights due to increased oxygen supply in your muscles will mitigate against quick muscle fatigue which is a great hindrance to weight training log, muscle damage, repair, and growth. Increased red blood cells also helps with your cardiovascular conditioning which is great for high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Deca-Durabolin Benefits for Intermediate Level Bodybuilders
Now that you know what Deca is and how it functions in the body, you may want to seriously consider running a Deca-Durabolin cycle as an intermediate level bodybuilder for the following reasons :
#1. Deca Can Help You to Break Through Plateaus
As a bodybuilder spending a tremendous amount of time weight training, your body will eventually adapt to the stain and stress you put it through whenever you lift weights.
And as you engage in progressive overloads overtime, you encourage muscle damage which leads to the repair, recovery and growth of your skeletal muscles until the process reaches an optimal level or plateau where sustained muscle growth is stagnated or slow at best.
However, Deca can provide your body with the anabolic boost needed to promote increased nitrogen retention, protein synthesis for faster muscle repair, recovery and growth to enable you break through plateaus.
#2. Improved Bone Structure
As mentioned already, Deca promotes collagen synthesis which leads to stronger joints and bones overtime. With a stronger joint and bone structure, you will be able to withstand the stress that regular weight training can put on your bones, ligaments and cartilages.
#3. Lean Muscle Gains
This is one benefit of Deca that intermediate bodybuilders will find very interesting indeed. Whenever you run a Deca cycle, you are not exposed to excessive fluid retention which is quite common with many other anabolic steroids.
This gives Deca cycles a huge advantage over other steroid cycles, as bodybuilders can expect to have hard, dry, lean, and vascular skeletal muscle gains that most bodybuilders are looking for.
#4. Improved Cardiovascular Conditioning
Increased oxygenated blood supply is one function that Deca promotes and this function can help to improve your cardiovascular conditioning helping you to successfully complete your daily high-intensity interval training (HIIT) sessions.
#5. Reduced Joint Pain
With a boost in collagen production whenever you use Deca, you will greatly reduce joint pains by increasing joint lubrication and strengthening your cartilages and ligaments. Frequent joint pain can arise from the constant stress you put on your joints whenever you engage in regular strength training.
How to Effectively Run a Deca-Durabolin Cycle
As an intermediate level bodybuilder, you will be able to optimize your Deca cycle by adhering to the recommended cycle length, dosage plan, stacking strategies, and post-cycle therapy (PCT) program.
You should run a Deca cycle for between 8 and 12 weeks with a weekly dosage of 200 to 400 mg. It is important to avoid misusing or abusing your Deca cycle by using a higher weekly dosage and/or extending the cycle length beyond 12 weeks. Any misuse or abuse of Deca could potentially result in severe side effects.
Deca is a highly tolerable anabolic steroid that can either be used in a standalone cycle or stacked alongside other anabolic steroids like Dianabol (Dbol) and Testosterone base for your bulking phase or Winstrol during a cutting cycle to help with shedding excess body fat while at the same time preserving your lean muscle mass gains.
Your Deca cycle is not complete without a proper training and nutrition schedule. If you are using Deca for your bulking phase, then it is worth noting that maintaining a caloric surplus of between 300 to 500 calories more than your calculated maintenance calories should suffice.
For your training, you should concentrate on performing compound exercises and always aim to engage in progressive overload where you increase the intensity of your training and/or the weights you lift at different intervals to promote muscle damage, repair and growth.
Don’t forget to take time out to properly recover from your training, as it is at this time that your muscles heal, grow and adapt to the stress provided by the increase in intensity and/or weights.
Deca-Durabolin Side Effects Management and PCT Protocol
Deca-Durabolin is generally considered to be a highly tolerant and mild anabolic steroid in comparison to other steroids like Trenbolone.
However, this does not take from the fact that you could still be exposed to side effects especially during stacking, such as :
hormonal suppression leading to erectile dysfunction or what the bodybuilding community call “Deca-Dick.”
Other side effects that are common with Deca stacks include fluid retention which using aromatase inhibitors (AIs) like Arimidex during your cycle could help to mitigate and an imbalance in your cholesterol levels which can be regulated with a diet that is rich in omega-3 fatty acids along with frequent cardio workout sessions.
Before you start your Deca-Durabolin cycle, it is important to have a post-cycle therapy (PCT) plan in place which will help to regulate any hormonal imbalances after your cycle.
Typically, your PCT protocol could include the use of human chorionic gonadotropin or HCG to help boost your body’s endogenous production of testosterone hormone along with selective androgen receptor modulators (SERMs) like Nolvadex (20 to 40 mg) and Clomid (50 mg) taken daily for a period of four (4) weeks after your Deca cycle.
Conclusion
Deca-Durabolin is without a shadow of doubt your go-to anabolic steroid if you want to overcome plateaus, maintain lean muscle gains, boost cardio and your overall athletic performance.
But don’t forget to pay particular attention to your training and diet before, during and after your Deca cycle. We offer personalized Deca-Durabolin steroid cycles for intermediate lifters and you can chat with a professional at Wikistero for coaching today.