Just saw this posted...figured everyone here may be interested
You read that right – Halodrol is back!!
A few months ago when Hi-Tech founder Jared Wheat bought a stake in Gaspari Nutrition, we knew great things were in store for the brand. In more recent years, Gaspari had stagnated due to a number of circumstances, but that’s appearing to change overnight.
We expected Gaspari to re-release some cutting edge formulas like SuperPump 250, but this one goes above and beyond expectations.
Those of you who remember Gaspari’s glory days may remember a certain product named Halodrol. Well guess what?
It’s back and badder than ever before, using a blend of this year’s hottest legal prohormones for a huge testosterone-boosting muscle mass building blast to your summer gains.
This one’s going to be no-joke strong, so you’ll need to do your research and prepare your stack – the gains are coming.
Halodrol harkens back to Gaspari’s original days in the supplement game as one of the few major prohormone producers. The new halodrol is no different, it’s loaded and primed to help you get completely jacked to the gills.
This is a once-daily tablet that contains a 250mg blend:
1-androstene-3b-ol, 17-one (1-Andro)
The gains-maker of Halodrol, coming in hot on the first ingredient. 1-androstene-3b-ol, 17-one, a.k.a. 1-Andro or 1-DHEA. What follows is a brief overview of its effects, if you want to go full monty and really understand this powerhouse prohormone, check out our in-depth guide titled: 1-Andro / 1-Androsterone / 1-DHEA: 2016’s Prohormone.
Targeting the 1-Testosterone anabolic hormone
Basically, 1-Andro undergoes a two part conversion. First, it converts to 1-Androstenediol (1-AD) and then converts to the target anabolic 1-Testosterone. Like our previous ingredient, this two-step process classify 1-Andro as more of a pre-prohormone than an actual prohormone.
Sounds fancy, but what does it do?
It builds muscle! Research conducted at Texas A&M in 2013 recruited 17 men aged 18-35 and had the group ingest a total of 330mg 1-DHEA, split into 3 equal doses, each day for four weeks.[1]
At the end of the four weeks, the group’s lean mass significantly increased, while fat mass significantly decreased! TData from the study shows that on average, lean mass increased from 74kg to approximately 78.5kg, which translates to a 10 pound gain in muscle!
Furthermore, the group increased their BIG 3 (i.e. squats, bench, and deadlifts) numbers. While all were statistically significant, the back squat had the greatest improvement — increasing from about 360lbs to 405!
Unfortunately, we don’t know the dosage of 1-Andro in Halodrol, so you may not see the same results as the A&M study, but you should still see some pretty noticeable growth and improvement in your big 3 lifts.
1-Andro in other products, but Halodrol adds the testosterone base next
Two alternative products with this ingredient alone are Hi-Tech Pharma’s 1-AD (lower-dosed with an ester for beginners or slow and steady lean gains) and Hi-Tech Pharma 1-Testosterone (higher clinical dose for experts and serious bulking!)… but the new Halodrols have something else on them: a testosterone base. Enter our next ingredient, 4-Andro:
4-androstene-3b-ol, 17-one (4-Andro)
Powering the other end of Gaspari’s comeback to the world of prohormones is one of the most popular legal prohormones of 2016 — 4-androstene-3b-ol, 17,one, a.k.a. 4-Andro. Like 1-Andro, 4-Andro undergoes a two-stage conversion process… but unlike 1-Andro, it becomes actual testosterone in your system!
First, it does converts to both 4-androstenedione (Andro Dione) and 4-androstenediol (Andro Diol – also known as 4-AD) via the 3-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 17-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzymes, respectively.
What makes 4-AD so special? Well, 4-AD converts to testosterone!
Note that 4-AD is the heavy hitter here, and is the prohormone that was banned in 2005, amongst other top level prohormones like 1-AD. Back in the day, the 1-AD / 4-AD combo was absolutely epic. Nowadays, you have the 1-Andro / 4-Andro combo to make up for it.
Having 4-Andro in Halodrol sets the stage for great gains by adding a “testosterone base” to your prohormone stack. Whereas 1-Andro on its own may lead to some lethargy and lowered sex drive, 4-Andro reverses that and then some!! We still want to get some blood tests for this (see the PricePlow blood testing program), but it should boost your T-levels and increase many of the anabolic (and manly) properties that prohormone users want.
However, like all great things in life, there’s often a catch:
Like many other testosterone boosters, 4-androstenedione (Andro Dione) can convert to estrogen.
Unfortunately, any time we’re involving high levels of testosterone in the muscle gain equation, we’re also going to have to deal with increased estrogen levels. Plus, when 4-Andro converts to both 4-androstenediol and 4-androstenedione, the “dione” part readily converts to estrogen more so than testosterone.
Because of this, it is of the utmost importance to stack in an aromatase inhibitor (A.I.) and get blood tests when using Halodrol! It is also necessary to see a doctor, preferably an endocrinologist, anytime you’re considering hormonal-based supplements.
One of the most common and frequently used over-the-counter AIs is arimistane, or Androsta-3,5-diene-7,17-dione, but honestly, you need to be doing blood tests to make sure that it’s strong enough at keeping estrogen levels low enough. Prohormones are serious business and should be treated as such.
Thankfully, arimistane is one of the ingredients in the on cycle support supplement we strongly suggest, Olympus Labs Ar1macare Pro, which also has some other supporting cycle ingredients.
You may also wish to consult the aromatase inhibitors section of our post cycle therapy article for stronger suggestions that are prescription-based with your endocrinologist’s opinion, but blood tests and hard workouts should lead the way.
Circling back to 4-Andro, this is the ingredient that brings the libido, confidence-boosting energy, and testosterone-driven effects to your Halodrol cycle, while 1-Andro, the primary ingredient above, brings the most clinically proven gains. The one-two punch of the year. But we’re not done yet…
Androsterone
Androsterone, a.k.a 3α-hydroxy-5α-androstan-17-one, is often confused with 1-Androsterone, due to the similarity of names but the two couldn’t be more different.. Although both are DHEA relatives, Androsterone is a metabolite of DHEA by way of androstenedione/testosterone/DHT. Androsterone is also naturally occurring.
For a more precise understanding of exactly what this prohormone does, it’s best to check out Thomas Scott’s book, titled Concise Encyclopedia Biology, where he explains,
“Androsterone, 3α-hydroxy-5ß-androstan-17-one: an Androgen which is formed in the interstitial cells of the testes. Its androgenic potency is 7 times less than that of testosterone, but it is used as the international reference standard for androgenic activity: 1.0 international unit (IU) corresponds to 0.1mg A.A. is excreted in urine as a metabolic product of testosterone.”[2]
Pay close attention to how Scott uses 3α-hydroxy-5ß-androstan-17-one as opposed to 3α-hydroxy-5α-androstan-17-one, which is the form used in Halodrol. What this means is there might be a slight difference in effect, but the possibility of increased anabolism is still there..
Lastly, Androsterone also can get converted to anabolic dihydrotestosterone (DHT) via 3α-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase and 17β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase.
Androstenolone Acetate
Androstenolone acetate is a quick-acting ester of Androstenolone, hence the “acetate” component at the end of ingredient name. In more simple terms, Androstenolone Acetate = DHEA acetate ester.
While there aren’t volumes of research delving into Androstenolone acetate, it is said to promote lean mass (i.e. muscle) gain. The general idea behind prohormones like these is to assist the body in creating new muscle cells due to increased protein synthesis capabilities. This leads to the body’s increased utilization of amino acids and helps spur new muscle growth.
DHEA’s best research is with the older crowd,[6,7,8] where testosterone levels have been reduced thanks to father time. Many of Halodrol’s past users are now a bit older, so having some DHEA ester is a fantastic idea here to keep testosterone high and the benefits that it brings to bone and muscle density.
Rhaptonicum carthomoides 100:1 extract
More commonly known as Maral Root or Russian Leuzea, Rhaptonicum carthomoides is a plant rich in ecdysteroids, notably ecdysterone. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, ecdysteroids are more or less “insect steroids” that promote muscle growth through non-hormonal pathways.
No substantial human trials have been conducted really, but animal studies using the extract found it stimulates muscle protein synthesis (MPS)[3], and boosts power output.[4] Furthermore, ecdysteroids can mimic the actions of insulin in the body, although independent of it, when it comes to enhancing glucose uptake.[5]
The one drawback to Rhaponticum Carthamoides and other ecdysteroids when taken orally is that it’s rapidly metabolized by the body, it only has about an 8 minute half-life or less, depending on the trial. However, the next “ingredients” help solve that: Hi-Tech Pharma’s Cyclosome Delivery Technology, which slows the release and increases uptake.
Cyclosome Delivery Technology
While prohormones are indeed great, one drawback to nearly all new / legal prohormones is their bioavailability – they have a tough time getting past the small intestine when taken orally. This is the primary reason most cycles involving prohormones don’t match up with the expected results.
However, to get around this, Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals has crafted a novel delivery system to make sure your body is using the compounds you put into it. Enter their Cyclosome delivery technology!
Cyclosome™ is the first 100% pharmaceutical grade supplement delivery system to combine both cyclodextrins and liposomes in supplements for a “best of both worlds” situation in improved bioavailability.
The basic idea behind Cyclosome™ is that this lipid encapsulation is used to make the compound more bioavailable orally. It’s been previously used, with great success, with compounds such as curcumin (where “Phytosome” is often used)[9] and various prescription drugs, but now Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals is one of the first prohormone suppliers to incorporate it.
It’s not officially written on the label as “Cyclosome” anywhere, but you can see the two ingredients Phosphatidylcholine 75% and Beta-cyclodextrin, which are the two components of this process.
That’s just a glimpse of how Cyclosome actually works, for a real in-depth understanding of all the ins and outs of the delivery system, check out our mega post titled: Cyclosome: New Age Liposome + Cyclodextrin Delivery System.
There you have it: two ultra-strong prohormones aided by two additional natural muscle-builders, all bringing Gaspari back to the top of the muscle building market.
This is the next step up from Nova-X, the popular natural testosterone booster – they’re not to be stacked together, but if the prohormones in Halodrol look too strong, Nova-X would be a better place to start.
Dosing
Take one tablet 30 minutes prior to training. On non-training days, consume one tablet in the morning or afternoon. Gaspari advises that you DO NOT consume more than two capsules in a day.