I received an email question a few days ago that was a less than typical inquiry. I’ve edited it a bit, but here was the general question:
“…I’m looking to see if there is a prohormone applicable/beneficial to something like CrossFit.
I’ve been doing CrossFit for the past two years now and have a good handle on what I’m capable of and what I want to be capable of. I’m stronger now than I ever was… And while I’m not opposed to additional strength in my dead lift, back squat, front squat, clean and jerk, snatch and strict shoulder press I’m looking to gain a higher capacity to do these movements.
I guess my goal in simplest terms is to move the most amount of weight in the shortest amount of time. Or to move weights for a long period of time.
I’m not sure if this is even advisable, but I’d like to hear your opinion.”
Not being an expert in Crossfit, I had to take some time to answer this question on what truly are the best prohormones for crossfit. Quite simply Crossfit is a sport of “working capacity”. When it comes to supplementation and working capacity, or time to exhaustion, the first supplement I think of is beta-alanine. There are a myriad of pre-workout beta-alanine benefits, in particular when stacked with sodium bicarbonate (Read this for a full list of research on the Beta-Alanine & Sodium Bicarbonate Stack). But using a prohormoneprohormone to increase working capacity, time to exhaustion, and endurance is less common. Still prohormones can help even in a sport like Crossfit (side note – I have no idea if Crossfit drug tests, so please adhere to the rules of your sport). Keep in mind many, if not all, prohormones and anabolics increase erythropoiesis or Erythropoietin “EPO”, which increases the oxygen your blood carries and subsequently improves endurance. EPO doping is most often associated with athletes like Olympians, and cyclists. The difference between using prohormones for mass and strength gains vs. working capacity and endurance differ in many ways, but these are the changes you would want to make when using them for something like Crossfit:
- Lower doses
- Avoid prohormones associated with “cramping”
Now both reasons share some common characteristics. Lower doses help avoid excessive “pump” which can slow down an endurance athlete. And prohormones associated with cramping (methasterone, epistane, etc) tend to either aromatize to a great degree (the anabolic steroid dianabol for example) or as a result increase water retention. None of these effects are particularly useful for improving working capacity. So that leaves us with non-aromatizing prohormones, or what many would call “dry”. With that in mind here’s a list of suggested prohormones, and doses. These may or may not be perfect for each person, but in general should improve Crossfit performance, and tasks similar to Crossfit.
Prohormones for Crossfit
- Furazadrol – 100 to 200 mg’s/day
- Methylclostebol (Mechabol) – 25 to 50mg’s/day
- Epiandrosterone (stanodrol) – 200 to 400 mg’s/day
- Methyldiazirinol (Triumphalis) – 15 to 30 mg’s/day
- Halodrol – 25 to 50 mg’s/day
There are likely a few I’m missing and in general you will notice a theme with the above. The most common complaint with bodybuilders and prohormone use during extended sets (20 + rep sets) are lower back cramps, and shin pump. The most commonly used fix for this issue is taurine intake, which might be important for any person who also uses beta-alanine (beta-alanine depletes skeletal muscle taurine). If you are an endurance or Crossfit athlete with prohormone experience please feel free to post suggestions below.