To maximize your gains every time you step into the gym, increasing your calorie intake and leveling up your weight can help. However, maintaining a shredded physique is challenging when you rely on diet and exercise alone.
Supplementing your efforts in the kitchen and the gym with the right supplement stack is essential to growing lean muscle without added water weight.
Prohormones are an excellent addition to any supplement regimen and might be the answer to your muscle growth needs. These incredible supplements increase muscular anabolism — your body’s ability to grow muscle tissue.
If you’re curious about how prohormones work and want to know if you should give them a shot, this post is for you. Read on to learn how prohormones can pump up your routine.
How Do Prohormones Work in the Body?
Your body synthesizes most of its hormones through precursor molecules or prohormones.
When you take a prohormone supplement, the supplement is absorbed through the digestive system. After absorption, your body unpacks the prohormones into active hormones like testosterone through enzymic reactions in your liver.
Once the prohormones become active hormones, your body delivers them to the proper receptors to unlock different bodily functions.
In the case of anabolic hormones like testosterone, these hormones bind to androgen receptors throughout your musculoskeletal system, triggering protein synthesis.
This increase in protein synthesis leads to increased muscle mass and improved recovery times after weightlifting sessions.
What Are the Benefits of Prohormones?
Prohormones unlock similar benefits to synthetic anabolic steroids by stimulating the same receptors in your muscle tissue. Typical benefits of taking prohormones include:
- Increased muscle mass, hypertrophy, and enhanced protein synthesis
- More significant strength gains and improved athletic performance
- Faster recovery times due to less inflammation and muscle breakdown
- Enhanced fat loss, metabolism, and lean body mass increase
- Reduced cortisol levels and an increased libido
Prohormones also contribute to dry muscle gain, which you won’t experience with supplements like creatine that cause water retention.
Can Prohormones Help Me Break Through a Training Plateau?
Many prohormone users experience higher endurance levels as well as mass gain. This lean muscle increase allows you to push your physical limits and break through a training plateau better than you would without prohormones.
Prohormones can also temporarily increase your mental clarity and focus, giving you a mind-over-matter push that helps you overcome training stagnation.
How Quickly Can I Expect to See Results from Prohormones?
Everyone’s results vary when supplementing prohormones, but people typically notice significant results during their first 4-8 week cycle.
Opting for a shorter four-week cycle increases strength and improves body composition. As you near the end of the cycle, you can expect to notice significant muscle mass increases and fat loss.
Longer cycles, around eight weeks, will net the maximum benefits of prohormone supplements. Many users notice an increase of around 10 pounds of lean muscle, higher endurance levels, and shorter recovery times.
It’s important to note that prohormone cycles come with diminishing returns the longer you take the supplement. Around week six, people typically notice minimal gains until the end of the cycle.
Do Prohormones Require Post-Cycle Therapy?
Post-cycle therapy (PCT) is essential to getting the most out of your prohormone cycles because of how the supplements affect your body.
Prohormones add an external testosterone source that overloads your muscle tissue, causing your body to shut off natural testosterone production during the cycle. Supplements used during PCT will kickstart testosterone production to prevent future issues.
Since prohormone synthesis often occurs in the liver, post-cyle therapy ensures proper liver health. Many prohormone stacks, like the 1-Testosterone Stack from Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, include a liver protectant to counteract the prohormone synthesis.
Ending your cycle also causes a spike in cortisol, leading to a catabolic state that harms your gains if you don’t opt for post-cycle therapy. PCT includes supplementation that keeps cortisol levels low and staves off potential catabolism.
What to Watch for When Taking Prohormones
Your liver function is the number one thing to protect when on a prohormone cycle. While less intense than anabolic steroids, prohormones are hard on the liver.
Avoiding other supplements and NSAIDs processed in the liver will prevent excess strain during your cycle. It’s also essential to avoid alcohol when supplementing with prohormones.
You should also consult your physician or a trusted medical professional before taking hormones. They will help you determine if you are healthy enough to take prohormones or if you should try another supplement for muscle growth.
Trust Black Diamond Supplements for Your Prohormone Needs
Prohormones could be your solution to quick muscle building, but you must thoroughly research and weigh the potential pros and cons before starting prohormones.
With over a decade of recommending and selling prohormones, we have the answers to your prohormone questions at Black Diamond Supplements. If you have any questions about these supplements, please reach out to us for more information.
And if you’re ready to add prohormones to your supplement regimen, check out our top 10 prohormones to find the right one for you!
