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Anavar (Oxandrolone) – Medical Facts, Dosages and Cycles

READERS - This article was originally published in 2013 and has been updated in 2015, 2017 and now 2020, check the Twitter section for updates.

Anavar (Oxandrolone) was originally created by a Doctor Raphael Pappo under the trademarked name Oxandrin, who worked for Searle laboratories. He created Anavar around 1964 for the treatment of multiple disease including muscle wasting.  At that point, anabolic steroids were almost unheard of on the market, and he was part of the founders of the 1st few oral steroids to hit the bodybuilding scene.  Later on, Searle was purchased by Pfizer and anavar was discontinued.

When the AIDS epidemic began in the early 80’s, it was Anavar and Anadrol (Oxymetholone) that were prescriptions of choice when dealing with muscle wasting issues.  Why? Well, Anavar produces lean gains with very little water retention, while it also increases strength, this really helped those receiving this drug.

Anavar really started to catch on big time with bodybuilders, athletes and recreational steroid users when the publication “Muscle Media 2000” (the first national magazine to talk openly about steroids) gave Anavar the highest rating in regard to benefit to risk ratio. The magazine made the point that Anavar gave incredible benefits for its very low toxicity and this “fringe” drug suddenly became the most coveted of all steroids.

Table of Contents

Chemical Structure


The official molecular structure of Anavar is  5-alpha-androstan-2-oxa-17 alpha-methyl-17 beta-ol-3-one.  When developing the formula, Raphael Pappo synthesized the drug deriving its molecular structure from dihydrotestosterone. The key difference is that an oxygen atom replaces the methylation and 2 carbon in the 17 position.  Basically, Oxandrolone was intended to be a gentler Dianabol – more anabolic and less androgenic, thus eliminating many of the harsh side effects. This was accomplished by substituting oxygen for the other elements ordinarily present in dihydrotestosterone.  Through this process, Pappo succeeded in creating a steroid that has one of the lowest rates of androgenicity among synthetic steroids.

Profile


Anavar is an intriguing drug on so many levels.  It seems to defy the definition and limitations of oral steroids.  You have read about its “clean gains” and relative safety.  Curiously, it's so safe that unlike other steroids, which were used for malnutrition and anemia, Anavar was originally prescribed mainly for burn victims. In a randomized, double-blind study, patients with 40% total body surface area burns were selected to receive standard burn care plus oxandrolone, or without oxandrolone.  Oxandrolone was used to help regain weight lost after surgery, severe trauma, or chronic infections.  Those treated with oxandrolone showed quickened healing, improved body composition, preserved muscle mass and reduced catabolism and consequently lessened hospital stay time. No wonder it was of interest to bodybuilders! (Click Here to Listen to our Podcast episode discussing Anavar)

Some people may think Anavar is a bit overrated because you don’t “blow up” from water retention like you would on Dianabol or Anadrol or Testosterone.  But no one can deny that the muscle is quality and long lasting. More than that, there is a fat burning benefit that's always discussed on the forums.

Many claim that anavar helps burn fat.  Any steroid will build muscle and burn fat.  Since you need to train and have your diet in check for best results, there’s a tendency to look leaner.  But with Anavar, the muscles seem more defined because of its inability to hold water.  Nevertheless, there have been studies that have shown Anavar to significantly reduce visceral fat in the stomach area with just moderate exercise. And the subjects kept the fat off after discontinuing usage.


All in all, Anavar is a “boutique” steroid. It's high quality and relatively safe if used properly.  It can be used to kick start a cycle and it works well as a “finisher” to add extra polish to the physique before a competition or photo shoot.  Just remember, you still need to do an effective Post Cycle Therapy (PCT) and take the proper supplements to assure safety along the way.

Applications, Dosage and Uses


Anavar is available only in oral form; though, some guys choose to crush the tablets and mix it with a fluid which is not recommended, partly for purity sake and the fact that it will degrade in a fluid base.  The broscience use of taking it with Grapefruit juice may have some merit since grapefruit juice can increase the effects of many medications.  Grapefruit juice can cause issues with P-glycoprotein and organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs), increasing bio-availability of many drugs.   Ironically, this is the reason grapefruit juice is not recommended with any medicines or drugs.   However, in our case, we have our reasons for wanting something to work even better.

The standard effective dosage is 25 to 50 mgs a day for men and  5 to 20 mgs for women.

For men, I suggest splitting dosages into AM (½ dose) and pre-workout (½ dose).  For women, a preworkout 1/2 dose and postworkout ½ dose is best.

Cycles


As with most oral steroids, Anavar is best stacked with at least one injectable.   Just Anavar and testosterone work very, very, well.  After the cycle, it is recommended to use HCGenerate with a perfect PCT to solidify the gains made and to retain the muscle mass from a Test-Anavar cycle.

Anavar Testosterone Cycle (Male)

Week Anavar TestosteroneCypionate Cardarine(GW501516) Aromasin N2Guard
1 50mgs/ED 400mgs/wk 20mgs/ED 10mgs/ED 7caps/ED
2 50mgs/ED 400mgs/wk 20mgs/ED 10mgs/ED 7caps/ED
3 50mgs/ED 400mgs/wk 20mgs/ED 10mgs/ED 7caps/ED
4 50mgs/ED 400mgs/wk 20mgs/ED 10mgs/ED 7caps/ED
5 50mgs/ED 400mgs/wk 20mgs/ED 10mgs/ED 7caps/ED
6 50mgs/ED 400mgs/wk 20mgs/ED 10mgs/ED 7caps/ED
7 50mgs/ED 400mgs/wk 20mgs/ED 10mgs/ED 7caps/ED
8 50mgs/ED 400mgs/wk 20mgs/ED 10mgs/ED 7caps/ED
Cycle notes:* ED = every day* Wk = every week* mgs = milligrams* caps = capsules

Another effective method of cycling Anavar is with another oral and/or sarms.  A combination of Anavar, Winstrol, and cardarine (GW-501516), will yield a guaranteed shredded physique with very little side effects.  It's perfect for those who don't want to add injectables to their cycle; after all, who wants to be a pin-cushion right.

Anavar and Winstrol Cycle (Male)

Week Anavar Winstrol Cardarine(GW) N2Slin N2Guard
1 50mgs/ED 50mgs/ED 20mgs/ED 4tabs/ED 7caps/ED
2 50mgs/ED 50mgs/ED 20mgs/ED 4tabs/ED 7caps/ED
3 50mgs/ED 50mgs/ED 20mgs/ED 4tabs/ED 7caps/ED
4 50mgs/ED 50mgs/ED 20mgs/ED 4tabs/ED 7caps/ED
5 50mgs/ED 50mgs/ED 20mgs/ED 4tabs/ED 7caps/ED
6 50mgs/ED 50mgs/ED 20mgs/ED 4tabs/ED 7caps/ED
Cycle notes:* tabs = tablets* N2Slin should be used before a meal and before training with a protein shake.

Half Life


Anavar has a half-life of only 10 hours, and it’s estimated it’s only actually effective for 5 hours, so multiple dosing is recommended.  25 mg in the morning and 25 mg before training is best.

Detection Time


While there is some ongoing debate about the detection time of Anavar, from my research it's about 3 weeks.  Thus, I would plan on a rough 4 week detection time just to be safe.

Side Effects


One of the reasons for the reputation of being so safe is that Anavar is also known to not be as liver toxic, compared to other orals.  Oddly enough, it was actually prescribed for people with liver damage and alcoholic hepatitis! Studies have shown that a daily dose of 20 mg oxandrolone used in the course of 6 weeks had only a negligible impact on the increase of liver enzymes and oxandrolone decreased hepatic acute phase protein concentration whereas it increased constitutive hepatic protein concentration. This indicates an improved hepatic homeostasis and protein production by the liver. Liver size and weight were not significantly different between controls and oxandrolone patients, which indicates that oxandrolone did not cause hepatomegaly (swelling of liver).  Furthermore, it appears that oxandrolone did not cause any major hepatic damage.  In short, Anavar is not damaging to your liver at the smaller dose ranges.


In addition, Anavar had little to no effect on blood pressure, unlike many other anabolic-androgenic steroids (AAS). Still, you can’t think this drug is completely safe.  Anavar is still modified 17 alpha alkylated, which simply put, means that it prevents the liver from breaking down the active ingredients, and it is THAT which causes a strain to the liver if used in too high a dosage and for too long.  The definition of too long is 12-14 weeks, while the definition of high dosages is much harder (more subjective).  Anything over 150mgs/day is pure abuse.

One thing to keep in mind, much of Anavar's “mildness” is also based on early research where the dosing was between 2 and 15 mg. The original Searle Anavar was a 2.5 tablet to be used twice a day for therapeutic use. Sure, at that dosage side effects would be negligible, but what self-prescribing juicehead is going to take 5 milligrams a day? – Mostly guys take around 50mg with other steroids stacked.

Another possible negative side effect of Anavar is its effect on lipid values.  LDL goes up after just 2 weeks of 50 mg a day – the standard dosage.   And keep in mind, nobody uses Anavar alone, it must always be stacked with another drug for best effect.  Anavar will not aromatize; therefore, it won’t convert to estrogen so an aromatase inhibitor (like Aromasin) is not necessary.

Interesting to note, the effects on lipids can be mitigated by including N2GUARD along with your cycle of Anavar to maintain healthy HDL cholesterol levels.

Results


Anavar is hardly the “free ride” it’s made out to be. So why is it so popular?  Because it’s freakin’ AWESOME!!!  Anavar produces the ultimate appearance most people want. You get lean, hard muscle with vascularity, no bloat, tight skin and you get it VERY quickly.  Results can be seen in a matter of days.  This brings up another point. Whenever anyone says that a steroid takes months to “kick in” that means they probably don’t know what they’re doing in regard to their training. Oral steroids work IMMEDIATELY (within the first week or two).  Of course, you’re not going to transform your body overnight.  However, if you’re in shape and you're training hard, eating right, supplementing correctly and you start using Anavar, you will most definitely notice an improvement in muscularity by the end of the week. It’s that powerful.

Trade Names


Anavar is no longer manufactured by legitimate pharmacies, so no matter what anyone tells you about this or that brand being “pharm grade”, all anavar is being manufactured by underground labs and the typical dosage is 20 mgs a pill – far greater than the original intended dosing.  Then again, how can you ever be sure what the exact dosage is?  Different underground labs may use their own title for the drug, but most simply call it, not by its chemical name “Oxandrolone”, but by the original brand name of “Anavar.”

  • Oxandrolon
  • Oxanabol
  • Anvar-10
  • Oxanabol
  • Glonavar

Women


Since Anavar is so low in androgenic ratio, it’s a favorite among women. Females can obtain super human muscularity without the worry about excess hair, deepening of the voice, or the clitoral enlargement that comes from most other steroids.  Another appealing aspect of Anavar for women is the (somewhat empirical) evidence that it helps in the decrease of bodyfat, especially in the abdominal region.

Anavar Cycle for Women

Week Anavar Cardarine (GW) N2Guard
1 2.5mgs/ED 5mgs/ED 2caps/ED
2 2.5mgs/ED 7.5mgs/ED 2caps/ED
3 5mgs/ED 10mgs/ED 2caps/ED
4 5mgs/ED 15mgs/ED 2caps/ED
5 7.5mgs/ED 15mgs/ED 2caps/ED
6 10mgs/ED 15mgs/ED 2caps/ED

Videos


Anavar Profile and How it works Video

Pictures


oxandrolone oxanabol bd

Oxanabol (NEW) British Dragon

Razak Oxanex 10 anavar

Razak Oxanex

balkan pharmaceuticals anavar

Balkan Pharmaceuticals Anavar

anavar10 iroids Golden Star

Anavar 10 Golden Star Pharmaceuticals

oxanabol anavar alpha pharma

Oxanabol Alpha Pharma

Twitter


In this section, we will discuss the social implication of anavar.  what are people saying about it on twitter? positive or negative? We'll find out in this new June 2020 update to this profile. [2020 UPDATE JUNE]

 

References

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Have your say!

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Written by
Dylan Gemelli is a Certified personal trainer and Coach. He has over 15 years of experience in bodybuilding, fitness, training and coaching. He's worked with multiple movie stars, IFBB pros and fitness celebs on their training and diet. He's helped set up cycles for the greatest in our industry. He holds the following qualifications: NASM Personal Trainer NASM Corrective Exercise Specialist AFAA Group Fitness NASM Fitness Nutrition Specialist NASM Weight Loss Specialist

21 Comments

  1. Avatar photo

    I have a question you show stacking for men but not for women what would be best for anavar an winstrol stacking???

    • Avatar photo

      I’ll have a new article for women, and how to cycle properly, but meanwhile: 2.5-5mgs of anavar per day for anavar and winstrol around 5mgs per day.

  2. Avatar photo

    Would using 30mg of anavar with clen be too low for results?

    • Avatar photo

      That depends on your goals. For women, 30mgs per day is too high, but for men you need around 40-50mgs ED.

  3. Avatar photo

    When using anavar with Test does it affect your Test levels in a blood test?

    • Avatar photo

      Yes, if you stack anavar and testosterone, you’ll have suppression of your natural testosterone levels.

  4. Avatar photo

    I need some help I have 2 options for a cycle, which is better for looking lean :
    1) anavar 40mg with test cyp 400/week
    2) primobolan @ 500/week

    • Avatar photo

      how about 3rd option:

      Anavar 40mgs/ED
      Cardarine 20mgs/ED
      Primobolan 400mgs/week

  5. Avatar photo

    hi

    im running a cycle, dianabol 30mg per day and anavar 50mg per day. is this safe and what pct do i need to use afterwards.

  6. Avatar photo

    Im 22 years old crossfit athlete, looking for improving my strength, im thinking of taking anavar with 10mg dosage per day for 8 weeks, i dont want to gain more than 6 lb, all i want is to improve my strength without affecting my endurance and conditioning performance, and i dont want my body shut down, and my strength performance after the cycle would decrease alot , how long it is stay on the body after the cycle?, i dont want to get positive on drug test.

  7. Avatar photo

    Hello sir. M thinking of taking 50 mg of anavar everyday and stack with primo 25 tablets 50 mg per tab would it be a good stack. And what would pct be. I want to lean out and build around 5 kg of muscle is it possible thanks

  8. Avatar photo

    Hey Albert im 20 years old 212 pounds 5,8 i started lifting in 2011 and got pretty cut was prob 160 pounds back then was never really 6 pack shredded as most my bodyfat goes to my lower stomach and glutes i stopped working our for about a year and a half and started going to the gym again 3 months ago and im looking to get pretty cut nothing crazy just 1 cycle for now and was thinking just anavar but after reading your article you say its not good to take alone. how should i take it if i just want to lose some fat and get pretty cut

  9. Avatar photo

    Plan on starting my first cycle ever, but simple question would you recommend just taking Anavar by itself or would that be a bad idea for my health

  10. Avatar photo

    I’m starting my 1st anavar cycle. Want to know if I can mix it with winstrol and is anything needed as cycle support or SARMS?

    • Avatar photo

      You should stack 20-40 mgs of anavar with 40-50mgs of winstrol, add n2guard 5 caps/ed and cardarine 20mgs/ed.

  11. Avatar photo

    Winstrol and Anavar is a perfect combination.

    • Avatar photo

      Correct, winstrol+anavar+cardarine is great for cutting.

  12. Avatar photo

    Oxandrolone orale detection time in The urine control antidoping? Is 4 weeks?

    • Avatar photo

      detection times vary fr oxandrolone (anavar)…to be safe make it 8 weeks

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