Are you ready to take your bodybuilding game to the next level, but unsure about the potential steroids before and after results? Before making any decision of putting any chemicals inside your body, it’s crucial to examine the striking steroids before and after transformations to get a clear picture of what you can expect. 

In this article, we’ll showcase the type of results that can be achieved with the use of specific anabolic steroids, like the impressive 12 week testosterone cycle results. At the same time, we’ll clearly spell out the risks that are part of the territory.

Let’s take a look at some striking steroids before and after images to see the potential transformations.

Dianabol Before & After

This individual went from 159lb to 172lb in three weeks of taking 20mg of Dianabol. The picture above clearly shows his Dianabol before and after state. This is a pretty impressive transformation, but knowing how Dianabol promises rapid gains and unparalleled strength – this isn’t surprising either! This dry addition of lean muscle mass shows that you can, indeed, use Dianabol as a means to lean bulk.

Since these dbol before and after pictures are very convincing, you should keep in mind that 10lbs of the 30lbs of this extra weight is water weight. This is one of the reasons why this drug may make you look puffy and bloated as well.

While Dianabol has carved its name for being a potent force, lurking underneath its alluring facade are definitely a minefield of negative side effects that can leave even the most seasoned bodybuilders reeling.

So if you’re looking for quick ways to become the next Wolverine without jeopardizing your wellbeing – you might want to steer clear of this one!

Deca Before & After

Deca. Boy, oh boy, is this a powerful compound. Known as a Nandrolone, Deca will leave you big, swollen, and more juiced up than, well, a juicehead! 

Take a look at these 1 month deca durabolin results to see the impressive transformation. 

Deca is known for causing phenomenal size and strength gains, but it does come at a cost of blood pressure and a watery look. You may also experience some trouble sleeping, nausea and vomiting. Deca can also affect your moods and consequently put your mental health at risk – may lead to aggression and depression.

As you can see from this transformation, this guy tracked his steroids before and after transformation and he definitely did not disappoint! You should also keep in mind that this transformation isn’t the result of purely Deca-only, rather you must add a TRT base to offset the many side effects of this compound in order to stay safe and healthy.

Trenbolone Before & After

Trenbolone is one of the most powerful steroids you can take, and it’s probably one of the most dangerous ones as well. It’s not called the ‘monster steroid’ for no reason, it can change your life but not always for the better!

It is quick acting and not suitable for beginners due to its high toxicity. Trenbolone is known for being powerful as well as having some severe side effects, other than the typical low testosterone and acne, such as live toxicity (a more severe illness).

It can also severely impact your kidney function, which you need to be functioning correctly if you want to be digesting all that protein!

So instead of focussing on getting great trenbolone results in 2 weeks, it’s important to use it with caution. That said, it’ll change your life! And as mentioned… not always for the better. Check out this shocking tren before and after transformation to see the drastic changes.

This (idiot) school kid decided to take Tren. I mean, it worked, but at what cost? Not a smart idea at all! If you’re looking for a legal and less sh*tty alternative, we do have one option.

Winstrol Before and After

Winstrol is perhaps one of the most popular Steroids on the market for those looking to lose weight or shred up. Why? Well, it doesn’t aromatize, it doesn’t cause water retention, and due to its effect on progesterone – lowers it. Here we can see someone who has gained size on Winstrol which is possible if you eat enough food!  

What’s also fascinating about Winstrol is that it will increase strength without increasing your body weight. This makes it ideal for cutting phases. It also significantly boosts strength and power, making it quite attractive to athletes. So, what’s the bad thing? 

Well, it does have a tendency to cause hair loss and acne. Winstrol is also known to have cardiovascular side effects which include increasing LDL (bad cholesterol) and causing high blood pressure leading to hypertension. Whilst this steroid has numerous benefits, it’s important to keep the serious potential risks in mind as well.

Anadrol Before and After

Anadrol is known as one of the more popular drugs for gaining sheer size and strength. Quite famous among strength and power athletes, it can also be used to gain lean muscle mass.

Anadrol is most commonly used in the offseason when trying to get as big as possible. This is due to the compound often causing a lot of water retention, due to its estrogenic nature. You won’t be able to miss someone who’s cycling Anadrol.

They will be a prime example of someone relishing in their steroids before and after results as their muscles will be unrecognizable in just a few weeks on this steroid.

They’re also likely to become very bloated, especially when combining this steroid with a high-calorie bulking diet (containing plenty of sodium). As you can see from this individual, it definitely isn’t the leanest gainer on the planet.

Anavar Before and After

Contrary to popular belief, Anavar can be used by men as well! It certainly is not as powerful as other drugs, especially at lower doses. It was designed to be used on those more susceptible to androgenic side effects, so, if that goes for it. 

It is also almost exclusively used in a cutting environment. Reason being is it has the ability to mess with your thyroid hormones, enabling you to burn a few extra calories. What’s more, being an oral drug, you will see some fullness and quite a bit of strength thanks to it being a DHT derivative.

We do see some muscle gain, not a ton, as displayed by this individual who did gain 14 pounds in 6 weeks.

Clenbuterol Before and After

If we’re discussing steroids before and after results, especially for fat loss then you can’t go wrong with this one! Clenbuterol won’t do much for muscle growth, but it will shred fat like no other compound. Clen’s not a steroid, but it’s been added to this list because it’s often used in steroid stacks and alongside other AAS. 

Clen spikes your metabolism significantly, resulting in the user’s under-eating, thanks to the process of thermogenesis. This heating up of the body also causes the body to sweat more, which is why Clen can also have a diuretic effect.

A user may look more muscular from cycling Clen, due to less fat hiding your muscles, but any noticeable increase in muscle size is unlikely (despite studies showing that horses do build mass on Clen). This individual did not only use Clen, but they do claim to ‘Clen and Tren hard’.

HGH Before and After

Like clenbuterol, HGH isn’t officially a steroid, but it’s been added to this list, as many bodybuilders combine this in their steroid cycles. And its effects are very steroid-like, with it building muscle and burning fat. 

Generally, HGH’s ability to build muscle is overrated. It will cause some increases in muscle size, but this is much less dramatic compared to bulking steroids. However, it is more adept at burning fat stores and leaning out users. 

Most Pro Bodybuilders (and models) will use growth hormone purely for its ability to make you feel good. It’s great at making you gain a few extra pounds while actually helping you lose weight! It’s important to note that HGH changes take YEARS to see, so, the individual here took a peptide called HGH-Frag, which is the fat loss part of HGH isolated. 

Excessive or improper use of HGH may cause acromegaly in some individuals which is overgrowth in the bones and connective tissue. This may lead to alterations in facial features or hands and feet.

Even small doses of HGH pose the risk of heart disease and diabetes.

Test Cycle Before & After

Testosterone is the most popularly used anabolic steroid by bodybuilders around the world. It can be effectively used in either a bulking or a cutting phase as shown by this guy’s test cycle results, gaining muscle and losing fat at same time! 

Take a look at these impressive testosterone cycle before and after results for yourself in the image above.

Due to being extremely anabolic, testosterone will stimulate protein synthesis. At the same time, it is an excellent fat burner. This is why when you’re looking at a before and after testosterone cycle, the changes in body composition are often dramatic. The 12 week testosterone cycle results can be particularly impressive.

The test cycle results you get will depend on what type of ‘T’ you take. Here are several options:

• Testosterone Cypionate
• Testosterone Enanthate
• Testosterone Propionate

Each of these types of testosterone has different esters, which affect the speed of its delivery. The faster-acting esters will provide greater results. Check out this incredible testosterone cypionate before and after to see the transformation.

How much muscle will you gain after 1 month (on steroids?)

The above transformation is typical for a steroid-newbie, who’s likely used Dianabol or Testosterone. One cycle of steroids results in a gain of roughly 15-25lbs and users will notice gains thick and fast. 

How much muscle you’ll gain will also depend on the dose, how many weeks you cycle for, if you combine steroids together in a stack, your diet, workouts, and your genetics. However, these are standard gains for a first-time cycle.

How to Cycle Steroids

A steroid cycle is the length of time that a steroid is taken for. This is commonly known as the ‘on’ cycle with the time between cycles being called the ‘off’ cycle. Many people are curious about the steroid before and after results they can expect from a cycle.

A cycle can either involve a single steroid or a combination of two or more steroids taken together. This is known as a stack.

When comparing steroids before and after 1 cycle, the changes can be quite noticeable, especially with a well-designed stack.

It is generally advised to take some form of testosterone as part of a stack. This will ensure that you are able to maintain sufficient testosterone levels in the body.

On your first steroid cycle, you should keep things as simple as you possibly can. Use hormones that are already coursing through your body, such as testosterone.

Use a single steroid at the lowest recommended dosage and for no longer than 6-8 weeks. Follow your cycle with some form of post-cycle therapy to rebuild your body’s natural testosterone levels.

How to Take Steroids Safely

To help you on your steroids journey so that you can always make the most educated choices for your own body, here’s a table to further breakdown everything you need to know about how to take steroids safely:

🌟 Safety Tips for Steroid Use 🌟	🏛️ Legal Considerations	📚 Research & Education	⏳ Proper Cycling	🛒 Reputable Sourcing	🐴 Human vs Veterinary
Understand local laws	Check legal status where you reside.	Educate yourself on types (orals vs. injectables).	Stick to recommended cycles to minimize risks.	Purchase from trusted sources to avoid counterfeit products.	Vet steroids are identical if reputable and cost-effective.
Educate yourself	Know effects on liver (orals) and usage guidelines.	Learn about testosterone suppression and safety concerns.	Adjust cycles based on expert advice, not personal preference.	Avoid underground markets; prioritize quality assurance.	Quality matters more than intended species of the steroid.
Follow recommended cycles	Length impacts safety; follow established guidelines.	Understand implications of prolonged use on health.	Ensure proper disposal of used syringes and vials.	Vet steroids can offer same benefits with careful selection.
Source from reliable sellers	Market lacks regulation; prioritize safety over cost.	Know differences in absorption and metabolism.	Discard expired or contaminated products properly.	Human-grade steroids ensure consistency and safety.
Consider veterinary options	Similar potency; check for purity and legality.	Monitor hormone levels during and after cycles.	Monitor for side effects; adjust usage as needed.	Legal aspects vary; verify legality in your region.

How much muscle can you build from many cycles (over 1 year)?

This depends on your experience, genetics, and cycles. If you haven’t lifted weights before, you can expect to add roughly 20lbs of lean mass (newbie gains), even without juicing.

In comparison, someone who’s an experienced bodybuilder won’t have as much potential for muscle growth – as they’ve already been lifting weights.

However, how much muscle you’ll gain will depend on how well your body responds to lifting weights and steroid cycles.

Although, as a general rule: A regular steroid user can gain roughly 50lbs of lean mass after several cycles. After the first few cycles, muscle gains are harder to come by.

Will You Lose Your Gains After You Stop Taking Steroids?

There is research to suggest steroids DO have a permanent effect when tested in mice. After previously being exposed to testosterone, mice who began exercising again, experienced 5x more muscle growth naturally, compared to other mice.

This is due to nuclei in the muscle cells increasing when on steroids, which is permanent, even once steroid administration comes to a halt.

This seems to be a form of muscle memory. Thus, steroids do have a somewhat permanent effect.

However, just how permanent is still unknown. Typically, people are able to retain a good amount of the muscle they gained from cycling steroids. 

While bodybuilders before and after steroids may look quite different, much of the muscle mass can be maintained.

Retaining roughly 60% of your size is typical in my experience, however, this may vary from person to person.

Review: Steroids Before and After 1 Cycle

Without getting into the specifics of each particular steroid cycle (we’ve already done that above), a single one-month steroid cycle will be enough time to see some significant improvements in terms of strength, muscular size, and energy levels.

You should notice yourself getting stronger than you normally would on every exercise that you perform in the gym.

Your workout recovery will also be significantly enhanced and you’ll notice a marked increase in your sex drive and your ability to get it up repeatedly. 

Another positive effect that you should experience during your first cycle is that you will experience a greater blood flow to the working muscle along with more muscle water retention. This will help you to achieve a greater pump while you are working out.

Be aware that during your first cycle you will also start to experience a lowered natural production of testosterone and human growth hormone.

In order to prevent this from becoming permanent, you need to limit the length of your cycles to no more than eight weeks, followed by a similar period of time when you are off the steroid. This will allow your natural hormone production to come back up to normal levels.

Steroids Before and After 3 Months

If you are a beginner steroid user you should limit your first few cycles to 4-6 weeks on, and the same time off. After a few of these cycles, however, you may wish to extend your cycle length to 8, 10, and then, at a maximum, 12 weeks.

Be sure to give yourself the same length of off-cycle time in order for your hormones to come back to normal production levels. 

It’s also important to be aware of potential side effects, such as testicular atrophy. Some users share steroid balls before and after pictures to document these changes.     

After a 12 week cycle, you will experience some pretty dramatic improvements in your muscle size. You can expect to put on 1-2 pounds of lean muscle mass per month on average.

So, after a 3-month cycle, you may have an extra 3-6 pounds of muscle on your frame. If that doesn’t sound a lot, go and grab a pound of butter and then imagine a half dozen of them, in the form of muscle, on your body!

Over that same 3 month period, you should also experience some quite significant strength gains. Your strength on your compound lifts like squats, deadlifts, and the bench press should increase by about 10%.

So, if you were benching 300 pounds at the beginning of your 12-week cycle, you should be up to around 330 at the end of it.

Steroids Before and After Face

The first thing you have to acknowledge before you start down the steroid route is that it is impossible to predict precisely how they will affect you because we are all individuals.

Looking at before and after steroids photos in this article can give you an idea of the potential changes, but your experience may vary. So keep that in mind!

In this section, we consider some typical effects that steroids can have on the face of the user. 

There are 5 main ways that steroids affect the face, none of which are particularly flattering. Of course, the effects will be more pronounced on females as they are introducing male growth hormones into their system.

Facial Hair

Anabolic steroids, particularly those with androgenic effects, can stimulate the growth of facial hair in both and women. This is due to increased levels of androgens, such as testosterone which promote the development of male characteristics. The growth seems to be the most pronounced around the upper lip area. It has even been known to appear on the forehead of the steroid user.

Acne and Oily Skin

Acne is one of the most common side effects of steroid use and it often occurs on the face. That’s because steroid intake leads to increased oil secretion from the skin.

Most people associate acne with boys going through puberty which is, not surprisingly, when they have a huge spurt in testosterone and human growth hormone production.

Sadly, the treatments that teens use to control their acne generally don’t work for adults because their skin is much more worn.

The best acne treatment for adults will contain activated charcoal.

Thinner Skin

No, taking steroids will not make you more sensitive to criticism or insults – it will literally make your skin thinner!

Steroid use leaves your capillaries more likely to bruise or rupture.

Water Retention and “Moon Face”

Certain steroids, particularly those with mineralocorticoid effects, can cause water retention and bloating. If you are taking a cutting stack, you will, hopefully, end up with a leaner face.

On the other hand, if you are on a mass gain or bulking cycle, your face may become rounder, giving rise to the not-so-flattering ‘moon face’ look.

Flushing and Redness

Some steroids can cause dilation of the blood vessels in the skin, leading to facial flushing and redness. This can be particularly noticeable on the cheeks, nose, and forehead.

As a result, you will have a permanent redness that makes people think you’ve just been running for your life.

Do Steroids Make You Permanently Bigger?

After looking at these before after steroid pictures, one question that must be on your mind is how long-lasting are these effects really going to be for these guys?

If they stopped working out tomorrow, for how long would they be able to maintain this physique that they’re showing?

You have no doubt heard the phrase ‘use it or lose it’ bandied about with regard to muscles. There is a ring of truth to the statement because our muscles will get smaller if we stop working out.

This applies to muscle gained through steroid use as well as that gained naturally. However, some recent research has found that the nuclei of your muscle cells – that’s the part that controls muscle fiber size – do not shrink like the rest of the cell.

That means that you retain a muscle memory that will allow you to rebuild any lost muscle much faster when and if you resume training.

The answer to the question about steroids and muscle size, then, is that steroids will not make you bigger permanently.

If you stop working out and/or eating for muscle gain, you will lose some size but the nuclei will be retained so that you can gain that muscle back faster than someone who had never worked out before.

How long does it take for steroids to work?

How long it takes for steroids to work will depend on the type of steroid you are taking. Most steroids will begin to evidence themselves by way of strength and muscle gains within 5-10 days of starting a cycle. Steroids can be divided according to their esters.

Esters are chemical compounds that are linked to the steroid. There are two categories of ester:

• Long term
• Short term

Long-term esters will take a greater length of time before the effects are seen. However, those results will be more profound than those from a short-term ester. Short-term esters will give you faster results but they will plateau sooner.

The most popular short term esters are:

• Anadrol
• Dianabol
• Winstrol

The most popular long term esters are:

• Deca Durabolin
• Anavar
• Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

How long do steroids stay in your system?

There is no simple answer to the question of how long a steroid stays in a person’s system. It will depend on the steroid taken, what it is stacked with, and the physique of the person taking it.

The length of time that a steroid affects a person’s body chemistry is known as its half-life.

There are a number of factors that affect the half-life of a substance. Older people, those who are overweight, don’t exercise, or have pre-existing liver conditions will have a longer half-life than healthier people.

Here are the half-lives of some common steroids, based on healthy individuals:

Steroid	Half-life
Anadrol	16 hours ⏳
Anavar	8-12 hours ⏳
Deca Durabolin	14-16 days 📅
Dianabol (oral)	6-8 hours ⏳
Dianabol (injectable)	60-72 hours ⏳
Trenbolone	2-3 days 📅
Winstrol (tablets)	8 hours ⏳
Winstrol (injectable)	48 hours ⏳

Are SARMs a good alternative to steroids?

SARMS stands for selective androgen receptor modulator. These are not steroids but chemicals that selectively bind to androgen receptors within muscle cells.

They only bind with androgen receptors, meaning that they will not have a negative effect on other parts of the body. They are also far less likely than steroids to convert to estrogen. To get the full scoop on SARMs check out our in-depth feature here.

FAQs