Primobolan (the brand name for the active ingredient methenolone) is an anabolic-androgenic steroid. In medicine, it is primarily used to treat anemia caused by bone marrow failure, while in sports it is valued for its anti-catabolic properties and relative safety.

Chemical information on Metenolone – Primobolan

Metenolone (Primobolan, to be precise) is, like Masteron, a derivative of DHT and, as such, has no estrogenic activity and very low (if any) progestinic activity. Primobolan does have an anabolic effect, but it is mild; when combined with other steroids, it can help build solid, lean muscle mass over time with very few, if any, side effects.

Methenolone was originally produced with an acetate ester (very fast-acting) and in the 1960s and 1970s, athletes used to inject Primobolan acetate during the competition period to enhance their performance. Immediately after this, primobolan acetate was banned and removed from the market, even as a therapeutic drug. In fact, only Primobolan Enanthate is currently available for therapeutic use and also for sports use – "doping."

Applications of Primobolan in bodybuilding

It may not have been used very widely here in Europe, but Primobolan Enanthate is probably the absolute favorite steroid among bodybuilders worldwide. As mentioned earlier, when combined with other steroids (such as testosterone, for example), it guarantees solid muscle gains (slow and modest but steady and clean), to the point that it is used both off-season and during cutting cycles (since it is a very dry steroid) with truly excellent results. All this comes with virtually no side effects and very high tolerability by the human body.

But if it's so powerful, effective, and well-tolerated, why isn't it used by all athletes? For more information, see the Product, Drug, and Anabolic Steroid Fact Sheets.

Why is Primobolan not as popular as its qualities would suggest?

There are essentially two problems, one a consequence of the other. Metenolone (Primobolan) is truly very effective—extremely effective—and is very well tolerated by our metabolism… but at a cost: the price! Primobolan is probably the most expensive steroid per milligram, and you need a lot of it (and for a long time) to maximize its results. And this leads to another problem: due to its high price and the long time it takes to see results, Primobolan is probably the most counterfeited steroid out there. In fact, it often happens that unlicensed labs sell T-Mix (T3 + T4) or Masteron as if it were Primobolan, or they falsify the dosages—or, believe it or not, they even sell plain sterile oil!