Female bodybuilding: Anavar and Primo

Female bodybuilding: anavar and primo

Steroid use within the female bodybuilding community has recently become more openly discussed than it ever was before. Anavar and Primobolan (Primo) are two steroids that are often used by female athletes during their competition prep, as well as during their off-season. However, many female competitors tend to take these without really knowing how they work, nor being aware of the potential side effects they can cause. Therefore, the aim of this article is to describe what Anavar and Primo are, explain the rationale behind their use, identify the side effects that could come from their misuse, and consider if they can be run alongside fem test. It should be noted that this article is written for educational purposes only and should not be taken as advice in anyway.

Why are they used?

Before we get into discussing the why, I’d strongly advise you to read the other articles on the website, to familiarise yourself with the science behind how steroids work: introduction to aas, introduction to DHT + Nandrolone, introduction to orals, fem test. It will help the rest of this article make a lot more sense!

It is important to note that all steroids are preparations containing one of the three naturally occurring steroid hormones: Testosterone, Dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and Nandrolone (19-nortestosterone), or chemically altered derivatives of these. Anavar and Primobolan fall under the DHT derivatives. As you will already know, DHT derivatives do not act like pure DHT (which is 3-4 times stronger than testosterone), because they do not get stronger or weaker in the body and cannot aromatise to oestrogen. In essence what this means is that they have a very well-balanced effect between muscle and androgenic tissues, making them far less androgenic than testosterone.

Before I move on, let me clarify a few things:

When I talk about androgenic side effects, I’m referring to the sides from AAS that are unrelated to muscle growth, such as: physical body presentation, organs, skin, voice, and bodily/facial hair. It’s those androgenic side effects that females are trying to avoid as they lead to virilisation. Virilisation refers to when women develop male characteristics, such as deepening of voice, oily skin, facial hair growth, hard jaw line, and clitoral enlargement.

Thus, it makes sense that women want to avoid these side-effects, which is why the use of DHT-derivatives are favoured for female athletes. Importantly, when using these steroids, females will recover better, be able to train harder, and add more muscle mass quicker and more efficiently when compared to not using these AAS. In short, females can get the best of both worlds by maximising gains and minimising adverse or unwanted side effects.

Later in the article, I will discuss whether you can take these whilst using fem test alongside fem test; but first let’s look at each of these steroids individually.

Anavar

Anavar is taken as an oral pill, which can appeal to many women who do not wish to inject themselves. Amongst bodybuilders, it’s often taken pre-workout to help with strength during your weight session; in addition to this, Anavar also has cosmetic properties and can bring a “harder” look to the physique.

In the research, it is shown that Anavar has poor to no binding to the androgen receptor, which means it works through non-androgen receptor mediated pathways. Although this hasn’t been extensively researched, users of Anavar can attest to its benefits during training and the effect it has on their physique.

Of note, it often comes in 5-10mg tablets for females, and has a rough half-life of 13 hours, which means that it is often supplemented daily, and its typical duration of usage is 6-8 weeks.

Primo

Primo can also be taken as an oral pill, but it also comes in an injectable form. One of the main things that draws people to choose Primo, over other drugs, is its tissue selectivity. This means that it more readily binds to the androgen receptor in muscle compared to other tissues such as our organs. It is worth noting that it’s known to be relatively weaker than Anavar when comparing the benefits it conveys, both for strength and cosmetic changes.

Of note, it often comes in 5-10mg tablets for females and in 100mg/ml injectables. The half-life for tablets is 5-20 hours and the injectables is 4-7 days. One steroid that is very similar to primo and often used which can bring about a cosmetic effect is Masteron, which often brings a slightly drier look.

Females will tend to use either Anavar or Primobolan alone during their contest prep or off season but there can be occasions where they might run both together. When deciding which one to use it can often come down to personal preference and their response to the drug.

Side effects

No PED is without its side effects, and as such, we must be aware that steroids will skew some of our health markers. Importantly, many of the clinical studies done on steroids are typically done at lower dosages than those which are taken by bodybuilders, and participants are usually exposed to the drugs for shorter periods of time too. It’s for this reason why we tend to see some of the following side effects:

Liver
It’s well documented that an oral steroid, such as Anavar, can increase our liver enzymes and can cause hepatotoxicity (chemically driven liver damage). This is often seen in blood work as an increase in alanine transaminase (ALT). Thus, it would make sense to support your liver throughout usage if you were to take them.

HPG axis
Using steroids can impact the hypothalamic pituitary gonadal (HPG) axis, the system that ties your brain to the gonads telling them make testosterone/oestrogen. It can and will often results in menstrual cycle irregularities.

Cholesterol
It’s common knowledge that steroid use can negatively impact your cholesterol profile, causing a reduction in high-density lipoprotein (HDLs or “good cholesterol”), and an increase in low density lipoprotein (LDLs or “bad cholesterol”).

Kidney functioning
The prolonged and continual use of oral steroids can impact how your kidneys function and the rate/efficiency with which they can filtrate blood. It’s worth noting that once usage has ceased, that kidney functioning, cholesterol, liver enzymes will return to normal after some time.

It's worth adding here that if a female were to inject steroids, such a Primo or Masteron they would experience significantly less impact on their liver, kidneys, and cholesterol levels.

Can Anavar and/or Primo be taken alongside fem test?

By now, you’ll have read all about fem test and how it works in the body. If you are unsure, here is a little reminder: fem test is used to bring a female to the top end of the natural range. This is because they can recover better, get stronger quicker, stay leaner and add more muscle mass at a quicker rate than if their testosterone levels were lower.

With the natural testosterone range for females being between 0.6nmol/L – 2nmol/L, females will sit at the top end of that range year-round and experience little to no virilisation. Now, if you were to want to use Anavar or Primo, it would push you outside the natural range – let’s say around 4nmol/L. If you remember from the fem test article, virilisation typically stems from spending a prolonged period outside of the natural range, and your total exposure to that range over an extended period. This is one of the main reasons you would not want to run anavar/primo for any longer than 6–8-weeks, as it will impact both virilisation as well as your physical health.

Now, if you were wanting to use Anavar and/or Primo alongside fem test, you absolutely could do that. This is because taking Anavar or Primo alone would push you outside the natural testosterone range anyway, so you might as well keep fem test in if you’re wanting to make the most of it,

Because, let’s think about it: if you were to stop taking fem test and your natural testosterone levels dropped to 0.6nmol/L. When you add in Anavar, it will push you to 2.5nmol/L. Compare that to using fem test and having your levels up at 2nmol/l, then the Anavar pushing you to 4nmol/L. If you’re taking AAS for the purpose of getting bigger and looking better, which scenario will allow you to recover better, add more muscle mass and get leaner? I know it sounds black and white… but bodybuilding is quite black and white.

In summary, Anavar and Primo are DHT derivatives that are often used in female bodybuilding. They are favoured due to the low androgenic nature of the drugs, and for the fact that they are primarily consumed orally, for periods of about 6-8 weeks. Continuous usage over a prolonged period with bring some undesirable health and virilisation side effects. You could run these alongside fem test, but you should consult with a professional before thinking of taking any form of assistance.

Vaughan Wilson Bsc Hons

References:

https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/fda/fdaDrugXsl.cfm?setid=8e6af85f-e44e-4c47-8a1a-7c5cb7893167&type=display#:~:text=In%20a%20single%20dose%20pharmacokinetic,half%2Dlife%20was%2010.4%20hours.

https://publiclab.org/notes/print/28388#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20half%20life,)%2C%206%20months%20of%20injection.

https://www.prepcoachuk.com/articles/introduction-to-aas-testosterone

https://www.prepcoachuk.com/articles/introduction-to-aas-dht-derivatives-nandrolone

https://www.prepcoachuk.com/articles/introduction-to-aas-orals

https://www.prepcoachuk.com/articles/fem-test