Customizing your ‘sports TRT’ to fit your goals

Intro

The term ‘Sports TRT’ is thrown around a lot these days.

It refers to TRT add-ons, most often in the form of other anabolic agents other than testosterone ran on a longer term basis.

True TRT would generally be considered 80-200mg of Testosterone enanthate/cypionate/propionate weekly to bring levels within a reasonable range with the intent of eradicating symptoms of low testosterone.

An example of ‘Sports TRT’ could be 200mg of Testosterone + 100mg Primobolan weekly.

While an actual cycle could look like 500mg Testosterone + 500mg Masteron + 50mg Anadrol.

The goal of sports TRT is to stay at the lower end of supraphyiological levels of androgens and reaping those benefits, while also mitigating the majority of the damage caused to health and bloodwork that normally accompanies an actual full blown cycle or ‘blast’.

So what’s left is not only more sustainable long term, but also more performance enhancing benefits over just TRT alone.

Why not just stick with testosterone?

Well why eat plain donuts when you can have a chocolate donut, or one packed with jam, glazed with icing and covered in sprinkles?

Some people like plain old donuts and that’s perfectly ok.

However, there’s a range of options that open up if a person is willing to experiment a little and many add-ons that can be hand selected based on individual needs and goals.

Want more drive, libido, less water retention and estrogen suppression? Add Masteron.

Want joint relief, fullness and size? Add Nandrolone.

Maybe you are a high aromatiser and need to take an AI even on a replacement dose. Replace the AI with Primobolan for it’s ability to lower serum E2 as well as provide extra anabolism.

Maybe you’re an endurance athelete that could benefit from EQ due to its tendancy to increase red blood cells more so than other anabolics.

Get the picture?

Options… Options… Options…

Lets take a deeper look into what’s available as suitable add-ons to TRT.

Masteron

Masteron provides me with noticeably more drive and libido. I suspect this is because Masteron is a DHT derivative providing neurological and sexual benefits aswell as lowering SHBG allowing more circulating free testosterone.

Anecdotally it tends to keep my physique a little bit drier and vascular than usual which is particularly noticeable at lower bodyfat levels.

However I wouldn’t recommend more than 150mg per week on a long term basis, as it may start to impact lipid parameters negatively.

Some people get an AI effect from masteron but I don’t at such a small dose. For me and many others it seems to act more like a SERM however at such low doses the extent of those benefits are likely to be minimal, while still preventing some estrogen binding at the tissue level, which could be help with suppressing gyno formation in individuals that are prone.

There’s some speculation that long term use of masteron can negatively effect collagen synthesis more disproportionately than other AAS. As a result, in higher doses users frequently report that it makes them look ‘old’ or aged. Anecdotally, I’ve not noticed this using smaller doses.

Also if you are prone to hair loss/MPB and care about hair, then Masteron tends to be one of the worst at accelerating MPB. This cannot be solved by 5-AR inhibitors like testosterone can, because masteron is already a direct DHT derivative that has already bypassed the process of 5-AR.

There are some guys that report having success with minoxidil + derma-rolling combined with RU-58841 which is a topical anti-androgen to prevent hair loss from Masteron.

Nandrolone (NPP/Deca)

Nandrolone is probably the best option for pure, steady size gains and is a great choice as a TRT add-on if your goal is a slow lean bulk.

For a lot of people Nandrolone seems to have a appetite-stimulating effect further aiding the bulking process.

This is due to Nandrolones ability to increase intramuscular nitrogen retention more than other anabolics.

Nitrogen retention is key to gaining lean muscle because muscle cells assimilate extra protein when they have a positive nitrogen balance.

The drawbacks however are enough to put me off.

Nandrolone tends to have a slightly negative effect on mood when in a 2:1 ratio with testosterone. At least for me.

My mood tends to be flat and quite apathetic, this also comes with a dulled libido and sense of well being.

While I’m sure adjusting the ratio of test to nandrolone or adding supplements could fix this problem, I’m yet to run that experiment and find out for myself.

There’s also evidence to suggest that Nandrolone can have more of a negative impact on the brain and heart more so than other anabolics, albeit at a much lesser extent such a small doses when used as a TRT add-on, but still something to consider.

If Nandrolone is something you are considering, I’d suggest starting with NPP – This is the shorter ester of nandrolone, and is useful for rapidly adjusting dose to find your individual sweet spot and ideal ratio to testosterone.

Using the longer ester Deca-Durobolin can take up to 6 weeks to reach steady blood plasma levels and also months to fully clear if you don’t like it, but by all means if you have used Nandrolone before and know what to expect you can use the longer ester.

Primobolan

Primobolan is probably the most common TRT add-on, and for good reason.

It’s the most ‘clean’ and refined anabolic, and as such is particularly benign compared to its counterparts.

It can also act as a replacement for an Aromatase inhibitor, due to its ability to effectively lower serum estrodriol. However the degree to which is does so highly varies based on the individual, so it may take time and experimentation to dial in your ideal Test to Primo ratio. A good place to start for many is 2 to 1.

Being a DHT derivative, there’s no need to worry about estrogen conversion and many users report the positive effects associated with DHT’s like drive and libido, albeit to a lesser extent than Masteron.

A downside of Primobolan is that it is very expensive compared to other anabolics, and can often be 2-3x the price the equivalent dose of Masteron or NPP.

To give you an idea here are the current average black market prices of Primobolan and Masteron in the UK.

£55-70 – 10ml Primobolan Enanthate – 150mg/ml

£30 – 10ml Masteron Enanthate – 250mg/ml

Due to this unfortunately it has a higher likelyhood of being faked, underdosed or even cut with something like Masteron. So unless you really trust your source and can verify what you are getting is the real deal, it’s a roll of the dice.

EQuipoise

This is another one worth considering for it’s niche benefits.

It has the ability to increase red blood cells making it more suited and ideal to anyone training for endurance. It could be argued that due to this, it could be considered damaging long term and may warrant blood donations to keep hematocrit in line. For this reason in my opinion it makes it less suited as something that can be run long term as a TRT add-on.

Some may get away without the hematocrit issues at such small doses but it’s still something worth considering and keeping an eye on if you go ahead and choose to use EQ.

While all anabolics stimulate appetite to some degree, many users report that this effect is even more pronouced with EQ. So if your goal is to lean bulk and you often struggle with eating this may be a benefit that is definately worth taking into account.

Equipoise also has the ability to lower E2 like Primobolan dose, although it’s mechinisms are not fully understood. It’s quite common for users to report anxiety while using Equipoise, and I’d speculate that this is due to Equipoise itself, or a downstream metabolite impacting estrogen expression.

Compounds to avoid

While the previous anabolics are all good candidates for a TRT add-on.

Here’s some that I think should be avoided

Trenbolone

Trenbolone is a very powerful compound that should be used very sparingly and reserved for the final 6-8 weeks of an intense cutting phase as an anti-catabolic agent due to its impressive ability to spare muscle mass when calories are very low.

It should not be used long term due to the long list of negative effects it can induce such as…

• Unpredictable mood changes
• Kidney toxicity
• Induces atherosclerosis at a higher rate
• Cardiotoxicity
• Neurotoxicity

Orals

Most oral anabolics (Anadrol, Winstrol, Dianabol, Halotestin, Superdrol) are simply not sustainable long term at a reasonable dose and therefore have no place in a TRT+ protocol.

They all raise liver enzymes, cause rapid and unpredictable increases in blood pressure, are kidney toxic and increase oxidative stress.

There are two exceptions which are, anavar and proviron.

Anavar

Anavar can be used longer term than other oral anabolics due to it being better tolerated and impacting health to a lesser extent.

However it is still damaging to cholersterol at moderate doses, so I wouldn’t recommend using more than 10mg per day and regularly monitoring lipids if your plan is to use it long term.

It can be used very effectively as a pre-workout sublingually to enhance workouts and provide extra anabolism.

It will also provide a degree of collagen synthesis, possibly aiding in the recovery of soft tissue injuries.

Check out my sublingual anavar guide here

Proviron

Proviron is methylated oral DHT and as such, is a great add-on for those with high SHBG and/or low Testosterone to DHT conversion.

Typically men report much better sexual function with Proviron.

As long as testosterone and estrogen are in a favorable balance, and dopamine downregulation is not an issue from something like the overuse of pornography. Then DHT is the main driver of libido.

Erection quality is also improved. This is because DHT also improves nitric oxide synthesis in penile tissue which enables blood vessels to relax and expand.

Proviron is purely androgenic and not anabolic therefore it does add any significant muscle gains. However Proviron works synergistically with other AAS because it lowers SHBG, freeing up more androgens to be bound to androgen receptors that would otherwise to bound to SHBG.