Active Life: around 48 hours

Drug Class: Anabolic/Androgenic Steroid (for injection or oral)

Average Dose: Men 50-100 mg/day.....Women 25-50 mg/week

Acne: Rare

Water Retention: Rare

High Blood Pressure: Rare

Liver Toxic: Yes, it is a 17AA steroid

Aromatization: No, it is a DHT derivative

DHT Conversion: None

Decrease HPTA function: Low

    [17beta-Hydroxy-17-methyl-5alpha-androstano[3,2-c]pyrazole]

    Molecular Weight: 344.5392

    Molecular Formula: C22H36N2O

    Melting Point:N/A

    Manufacturer: (Originally) Sterling

    Release Date:1962

    More Effective Dose(men): 50-100mgs/day

    More Effective Dose (women): 2.5-10mgs/day

    Active Life:8hours

    Detection Time:3 weeks (oral) to 9 weeks (injectable)

    Androgenic/Anabolic Ratio:30:320

Winstrol - Stanozolol is a very commonly used anabolic steroid for cutting cycles. While many people will attempt to use Dianabol or even Anadrol for cutting cycles, I´ve really never heard of anyone using Stanozolol for anything except a cutting cycle. It´s a bit of a one-trick-pony in this respect. Let me repeat that: Stanozolol is a cutting drug. Not many people will argue for its use in a bulking cycle. It´s certainly not a very effective compound for treating anemia (1) and thus, one could rightly assume that its role in bulking cycles is very limited. One novel use for Winstrol in any cycle (perhaps even bulking) would be to use it at a very limited dose, in order to lower SHBG. (2) One of the properties of Winstrol is it´s profound ability to lower SHBG much more than other steroids. A dose of .2mg/kg lowered SHBG significantly, which would in turn, raise the amount of free testosterone circulating in the body. As with 99% of steroids, however, it´s important to note that suppression of your natural hormonal levels will occur (though perhaps not to the extent that it will with many other steroids).(10) As with running virtually any compound, testosterone supplementation (i.e. running test in a cycle containing Winstrol) is warranted to avoid possible sexual dysfunction.

Adding it to a heavy bulking cycle could be problematic, as Stanozolol is a 17aa compound, meaning that it´s been altered to endure the first pass through your liver without being destroyed. This makes it an orally active compound; so many people choose to take the pills which are available from both legitimate pharmaceutical companies as well as Underground Labs. Unfortunately, since it is 17aa, it is also liver toxic& in fact; Stanozolol has one of the worst hepatoxicity (mg for mg) of any steroid. This is the reason its addition to a bulking cycle could be problematic; generally a bulking cycle will be very heavy, dosage wise as well as toxicity-wise. It also has undesirable results on Cholesterol, and a mere 6mgs/day of Stanozolol can lower HDL by 33% and raise LDL by 29% (3). Cardiac Hypertrophy, even at lower doses could be a concern with Winstrol as well (4) Thus, many people limit their intake of Stanozolol to precontest or Summer-cutting types of cycles. It´s generally accepted that due to the toxicity issues of Stanozolol, its use should be limited to 6 weeks& as with anything though, many people have run it for up to 12 weeks with no problems.

I ran Winstrol for about 3 months (12 weeks) at a dose of 100mgs Every Other Day (along with Test prop at 125mgs, every other day) and I suffered no ill-effects. My joints felt fine, and I can say that the only thing which was undesirable about that cycle was the injection pain. Generally, people report a "dry" and less lubricated feeling in their joints when on this drug (fluid retention is nil with Stanozolol), and also a "dry" overall look as regards contest prep. This could be due to a sort of "reverse-osmotic" effect...of course this is speculation, but people do look "dryer" on Winnie, and some even look dryer in the site they inject (more on this later). There are many conflicting reports on tendon strength and Stanozolol, even in medical journals. Some reports state that it weakens tendons, others that it strengthens them (and some speculation on the internet among many "guru´s" is that it strengthens them unevenly, leading to possible injury). For this reason, it may be best for athletes in explosive or high-impact sports to stay away from this drug. It has certainly been shown to be beneficial in some bone ailments induced by glucocorticoid induced stress (5) as well as having collagen producing properties (11), but with all of the anecdotal problems athletes have suffered with their joints while on Stanozolol, I simply can not recommend it with confidence to strength/speed athletes. I can say that personally, it was an effective compound for me and did not cause joint duress, but I can do without the discomfort of the shots, and have found other DHT based compounds to be far more effective (Masteron springs to mind).

As previously stated, this compound is unique, as it is available in both an oral form as well as an injectable form. Both forms contain the exact same compound, but injecting this compound (and yes, you can drink the injectable version, and no you shouldn´t) is superior to ingesting it orally in terms of nitrogen retention (6), and thus one would also imagine, for overall anabolism. Injecting it also has the advantage of avoiding the "first pass" through your liver, and thus places your liver under less stress.

Stanozolol is also one of the few compounds that women can take safely, as it´s anabolic:androgenic ratio is quite skewed towards anabolism. It´s generally accepted that women can tolerate around 5-10mgs a day of this compound. Men, on the other hand can dose themselves in the .5-1.5mg/kg range. I find 100mgs injected every other Day to be sufficient, but of course, even with the injectable form, every day dosing is optimal. I tend to favor DHT based compounds, and have enjoyed great success with a Winstrol/Masteron/Testosterone cycle, but I suspect that replacing the Masteron in that cycle with Trenbolone would prove more beneficial for most bodybuilders seeking to get ripped.

Although the anabolic ratio of this product is very high as compared to its androgenic actions, not many people report huge weight gains off of Stanozolol. Also, interestingly, it has a relatively weak AR binding ability (7), which is quite unusual for a "cutting" steroid. Many of the effects of this drug, as relates to building muscle, are probably from its very high protein synthesizing ability (6) (8). In addition, since this compound is derived from DHT, it tends to promote a very nice, "quality" look to the user´s muscles, with little or no water retention. Winstrol does not aromatize at any rate and has even been speculated to have anti-progestenic properties (in at least some cases, where it may "block" that receptor) (9). If one were to run ancillary compounds with Stanozolol, perhaps Tamoxifen would be appropriate for it´s beneficial effects on blood lipids, but an anti-estrogen (in it´s classic sense) would be unwarranted; proper post cycle therapy is still needed, though.

Most underground labs produce Winstrol at very reasonable prices, in both an oral as well as injectable form. Unfortunately, production value differs vastly due to the varying size of the Stanozolol powder used to make the injectable version; the finer the powder, the smaller gauge needle it will fit through, and the easier the injection will be. Of course the opposite is also true& In any case, you should be paying under $100 for a 10ml bottle of 100mg/ml concentration, and roughly the same for 100 or so 10mg tablets.

1.    Trop Doct. 2004 Jul;34(3):149-52.

2.    J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 1989 Jun;68(6):1195-200

3.    JAMA. 1989 Feb 24;261(8):1165-8.

4.    J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2005 Jan;93(1):43-8. Epub 2005 Jan 25.

5.    Di Yi Jun Yi Da Xue Xue Bao. 2003 Nov;23(11):1117-20.

6.    Can J Vet Res. 2000 Oct;64(4):246-8.

7.    Endocrinology. 1984 Jun;114(6):2100-6.

8.    J Am Vet Med Assoc. 1997 Sep 15;211(6):719-22

9.    Agents Actions. 1994 Mar;41(1-2):37-43.

10.   Chemical Muscle Enhancement

11.   J Invest Dermatol. 1998 Dec;111(6):1193-7.