Equipoise is a brand name of the anabolic steroid Boldenone. It is an oil-based injectable with the addition of an undecylenic acid ester. The added ester helps increase half-life and release rate. The substance is a derivative of testosterone with symmetrical anabolic power, but with a reduced androgenic effect. Equipoise is a drug used in veterinary medicine. But among bodybuilders and athletes it has gained popularity as a form of testosterone, a derivative with less estrogenic and androgenic activity.
They like to compare Equipoise to Nandrolone (Deca-Durabolin), but it’s not the best comparison because Nandrolone has different properties and a completely different class of compounds (19-nor or progestin). However, many consider Equipoise and Nandrolone to be interchangeable drugs, even in anabolic steroid cycles.
Medical properties
As Equipoise is derived from testosterone, this gives it many symmetrical properties. First, it has exactly the same degree of anabolic activity (index 100). Second, Equipoise is an aromatizable anabolic steroid and through interaction in the body with the aromatase enzyme, it can be converted into estrogen. The modification with a double bond between carbon atoms 1 and 2 reduces its ability to aromatize and therefore provides less estrogenic activity of Equipoise in the body.
All of this means that Equipoise converts to estrogen, but in much lower amounts than its parent hormone, testosterone. This positive property does not exclude the manifestation of estrogenic side effects, which should be taken into account when taking the drug. So don’t expect Equipoise to not retain water in your body. This will only happen to a relatively small extent.
Of course, everything is individual and depends on the sensitivity of the body to the drug. But, in moderate doses, Equipoise should not cause water retention in the body or any other negative manifestations. At the same time, the risk of side effects will increase as the dose of the drug increases, since an increase in the equilibrium concentration in the body will symmetrically increase the rate of aromatization to estrogen.
The drug Equipoise itself is characterized by a low level of androgenic strength (lower than that of the parent hormone, testosterone). Such a positive moment is important for people sensitive to the manifestations of even minor androgenic side effects. Equipoise can be expected to increase strength, bulk, and mass symmetrically to that achieved with testosterone, but with less estrogenic activity and androgenic side effects.
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This means that the benefits of Equipoise will, for the most part, be a fairly significant increase in dry weight with minimal water retention (depending on dosage). It will be the perfect addition to any weight gain or muscle building program. And in some courses, Equipoise can even become a substitute for Nandrolone. Unlike nandrolone, Equipoise is not a progestogen and has fewer side effects by suppressing natural testosterone production.
It is important to understand that the drug will not give rapid muscle growth, the process will be much slower compared to other anabolic steroids, but the long term results and the absence of side effects when used correctly are the obvious advantages of Equipoise.
Side effects
As mentioned above, Equipoise exhibits less estrogenic activity in the body than testosterone. Equipoise aromatizes in the body approximately twice as slowly as testosterone. This means that the side effects associated with Equipoise should be significantly lower than those of testosterone. But here it is important to remember that the estrogenic activity of Equipoise will be slightly higher than that of Nandrolone (Deca). Of course, if you increase the dose, the aromatization (and therefore the estrogenic effect) will increase proportionally. In such cases, anti-estrogens and aromatase inhibitors will be needed to help prevent the manifestation of negative factors. Estrogenic side effects may include: fluid retention, increased blood pressure (due to fluid retention), increased body fat percentage (increased body fat), and potential development of gynecomastia.
Androgenic side effects, although to a much lesser degree than testosterone, are still possible with Equipoise. It interacts with the enzyme 5-AR (5-alpha reductase), which is responsible for converting testosterone into the more potent androgen DHT (dihydrotestosterone). Equipoise does not convert to DHT, but rather converts to dihydroboldenone (DGB) at a much slower rate than testosterone to DHT. Androgenic side effects may include: oilier skin (sebum secretion), increased acne (associated with sebum secretion), body and facial hair growth and (if predisposed genetics) an increased risk of male pattern baldness.
Equipoise is non-toxic, does not affect the liver, and is associated with the same degree of cardiovascular disease risk and suppression of endogenous testosterone production as most anabolic steroids.