You’re going to have to excuse another comparison to bodybuilding but we’ve already established that as a group they have a monopoly on available information when it comes to performing enhancing drugs. If gymnasts or swimmers created a similar volume of blog posts, YouTube videos, and podcasts about the compounds they use I’d be all over it. But no, it’s just bodybuilders. Wall to wall bodybuilders.
With that said, I’m not sure whether bodybuilders and climbers mean exactly the same thing by “pump”.
For a climber, being “pumped” is usually described as a build-up of lactic acid in the forearm muscles although this is an oversimplification of the physiological processes involved. I don’t want to divert this post to one on metabolism, so here’s a video from someone who seems to know what he’s talking about.
For climbers, pumps are awful but for bodybuilders they’re seen as a positive thing. The muscles fill with blood and look fuller, harder, and more defined. As bodybuilding is about optics, this is presumably desirable.
Whether this effect on muscle volume is a different aspect of the same physiological process or a separate phenomenon entirely, named identically, I’m not really sure. And that actually matters too because it’s possible that certain compounds might produce pumps from the point of view of a climber but not a bodybuilder, and visa versa.
This brings me to Drostanolone. On paper it seems like a perfect PED for climbers.
Seeing as a low to moderate dose of Testosterone should already have me covered terms of enhancing post-exercise recovery, really what I’m looking for is an add-on which will help with strength. I could just use more testosterone but this comes with the potential of increased water retention not to mention muscle gain. Both of these are counterproductive when it comes to my goal of remaining as light as possible.
Among bodybuilders Masteron (as Drostanelone is more commonly known), is not known as a “mass gainer”. They call it “mild” and mention that rather than being beneficial for muscle accrual, it has a “hardening” and “drying” effect. I’m not exactly sure what this means (I do find it difficult to relate to those who are in the game for aesthetics), but it sounds like it doesn’t just lack water retention it actually counters it.
OK, so this sounds good so far. We know what it doesn’t do, but does it increase strength? Anecdotal reports are mixed and seeing as there hasn’t exactly been any clinical trials on it’s use as a performance enhancer, that’s all I have to go on.
There are definitely other compounds better renowned for their neuromuscular enhancement capabilities. Anadrol, Halotestin, and Trenbolone all spring to mind, but they are also renowned for both side effects and toxicity. Masteron may hit a sweet spot in this respect. A relatively benign compound with some strength gains which will either keep me light or actually make me lighter than running Testosterone alone.
So, what about the dose? Bodybuilders (bodybuilders again), are fairly unified in suggesting that a 400mg/week is appropriate whether you’re at a beginner, intermediate, or advanced level. Less results in reduced effects, but more doesn’t help. So (will I ever learn?), in the face of such a consensus from the bodybuilding crowd, 400mg administered over two 200mg injections a week is where I started. And… at this dose I have never felt such incredible, stinging, crippling pumps.
A couple of weeks in, once the drug had time to take hold, campussing was near on impossible. Three sets in I’d had enough, and gritting my teeth (and gripping each forearm with the opposite hand), I called it a day. The troubles didn’t stop there either. I woke up at night with shooting pains in whatever muscles I’d worked that day, and even holding a climbing guidebook as I walked through the forest of Fontainebleau made my hand ache.
As you can imagine being the sensible sort that I am, I stopped taking it immediately and waited for it to work it’s way out of my system… did I fuck?!
Seeing as I did notice an obvious if not profound increase in my strength in the days leading up to my forearms exploding, I decided to play with the dose to see what would happen. At 140mg a week, I didn’t notice much of anything. Raising up to 300mg a week and the pumps were a problem again but (thankfully) to a lesser extent. At this point the bottle ran out so I’m left at least with a question: is there a dose between 140mg and 300mg a week where I can find the strength gains I’m after but with tolerable pumps?
Doping For Climbers 