Most injectable anabolic steroids have an ester attached to them that determines their half-life and duration of action: let’s take a closer look.
This article is not intended to be a scientific treatise full of difficult words and incomprehensible phrases. Instead, we will try to explain in the most practical and understandable way possible what esters linked to various anabolic steroids are. Many people write to us asking about the difference between a propionate and an enanthate anabolic steroid, asking us what the differences are between the various esters and how to use them best.
What exactly is an ester?
Esters are organic compounds derived from a chemical reaction that we will not explain in detail to avoid boring you. Put simply, this reaction releases elements that have different absorption times in our bodies: by binding an ester to an anabolic molecule, we can therefore deduce that the half-life of the product can be manipulated. The anabolic half-life is simply the time that the product acts on our body.
Let's take a practical example
If a drug has a half-life of only two hours but the levels of that drug must be constant in the body, we have to take the drug every two hours. If a longer ester is attached to that drug, the half-life increases and we can "spread" the intake over time. Keep in mind that the half-life not only affects the duration of the drug's action in the metabolism but also affects the time it takes for the active ingredient to leave our body.
How many times have we asked ourselves:“Is testosterone enanthate better than cypionate?”, “Is Sustanon (which is a mix of esters) better than testosterone propionate?” The answer is always the same… the molecule itself doesn’t change, but the duration of action does (and consequently, the method of administration). Depending on your needs, you’ll choose the ester that best suits you.
Other effects that anabolic steroids have on our cycle.
It is widely recognized that a drug with a slower onset of action has less pronounced side effects on the body. Anabolic steroids with a short half-life tend to cause spikes and drops in blood concentration, which are not always beneficial for our metabolism.
In addition, anabolic steroids with a fast-acting ester tend to aromatize more, largely due to the fluctuations in serum levels; the levels are less stable. For the same reason, we recommend frequent injections (possibly smaller doses) even with longer-acting esters.
The most well-known anabolic esters:
It should be noted that there are hundreds of possible combinations of esters, and we are certainly not going to list them all here: here is a list of the most classic esters and those most commonly used in the world of anabolic steroids:
Acetate: The acetate ester is very short-acting and is absorbed very quickly by the body. The Trenbolone Acetate is a well-known product that uses this ester.
Propionate: a widely used and very fast-acting ester with a half-life of just over 2–3 days. Well-known anabolic steroids that use this ester include Testosterone Propionateand Masteron Propionate.
Phenylpropionate: With a half-life slightly longer than that of propionate, steroids containing this ester should be injected about twice a week. Nandrolone NPPuses this ester.
Isocarpoate and Carpoate: These esters are very similar and have a half-life of about one week. They can be found in the Sustanon blend.
Enanthate: A widely used ester with a half-life of 10 to 14 days. The most famous is Testosterone Enanthate is based on this ester, as is Parabolan.
Cypionate: An ester that is virtually identical to enanthate, designed specifically to replicate the enanthate ester where the latter was patented and therefore unusable. Its half-life is only slightly longer. Testosterone Cypionatebelongs to this family of esters.
Decanoate: a very long-acting ester (lasting just over 14 days) made popular by its use with nandrolone, which has led to the Deca Durabolin.
Undecylenate: a very long-acting ester that can extend the half-life to more than 21 days. Boldenoneis the classic steroid that uses this ester.
