Half-Life, and what it is

[bebaumax]

It appears there is some major confusion as to what a "half-life" is. Half-life does not mean "dead-life". It is not the total amount of time a product is in your system. It is not the complete cycled period of any measurement. Half-life is:
The amount of time it takes for HALF of any given substance to be broken down and no longer effective.

For clarification, let me give an example. Assume that you are taking everyone's favorite 40mg/day of Dbol. Now, I'm not going into the potential benefits of every 4 hours, all at once, 1 before bed, 3 before workouts, etc. What I'm going to look at here is what's in you day-to-day, you can customize this toward your own cycle. Assume 40mg/day, three times a day, 10mg in the morning, 20mg hour before workout, 10mg before bed.

If we can all agree the half-life of dbol is 4 hours, then this example works well (and is generally how I plan dbol). For a list of half-lives, posted by another member, check out: http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=67221&highlight=propionate+half+life

Now, let me show you a chart that should hopefully clear up for you what you have in your body based on 6AM: 10mg / 2PM: 20mg / 10PM: 10mg. That's 40mg/day. Realize, this is what's IN you, not what's ACTIVE in you. It takes a while for the steroid to have an effect (generally between 1 and 2 hours). That's why I assume ~2PM for the 20mg, based on a 4PM workout, you should be about peaked.

If I were a cool Elite member, I'd know how to post this chart directly into this message, alas, I am not. I'll give it a try. So, what I'm going to do is post the chart and link it here.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bebaumax/Dbol Halflife Chart.jpg

You can find the data used to build this chart here:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/bebaumax/Dbol Half-Life Data list.xls

What the data is showing is the buildup and eventual leveling off of the dbol in your system. Now, the longer you have this relatively steady level of dbol in you, the stronger you'll get. What I don't want to see anymore is someone exclaiming, "It only has a half-life of FOUR hours, it'll be out of your system by tomorrow!!!" That, is far from correct, but I see it every time I read posts on this (or any other) board. I hope this helps to clear up some of the midunderstandings of the term half-life.

-B

 

[bebaumax]

Chart fixed. Sorry.
-B

 

[Dr.M]

For those who didn't pay attention in chemistry...

 

[Little Monster]

Doesn't a substance stay in your body for 5 half-lives? I think that would leave it at about 3.125% of the dose. But at what percentage does the level become insignificant and low enough to begin clomid therapy? Also, does the length of time the substance is in the body change with the amount of the substance, or does everything always breakdown at it's half-life rate?

 

[drveejay11]

nice post

 

[bebaumax]

Doesn't a substance stay in your body for 5 half-lives? I think that would leave it at about 3.125% of the dose. But at what percentage does the level become insignificant and low enough to begin clomid therapy? Also, does the length of time the substance is in the body change with the amount of the substance, or does everything always breakdown at it's half-life rate?

Monster, one step at a time here.

"Doesn't a substance stay in your body for 5 half-lives? "
If you had 1000mg of test in you, after 5 half-lives you'd have 31.25mg of test left (assuming nothing was added). If you had 10mg of dbol in you, 5 half-lives would yield .3125mg. As you can see, the test is still detectable as well as active (although in a small amount). The dbol is essentially gone. "How long" depends on "How much". There is no special, fixed number.

"But at what percentage does the level become insignificant and low enough to begin clomid therapy?"
This depends on the compound. Test <25mg is probably safe to consider done. Dbol <1mg is probably done, as well. Clomid therapy, etc., doesn't really need to be timed around the half-life so specifically. General rules of them work. Post your cycle, and the vets here will critique/help you out with therapy timing. If you really want to be technical about it, break down a substance's half-life to where you know it's out of your system, and start it then.

"Also, does the length of time the substance is in the body change with the amount of the substance, or does everything always breakdown at it's half-life rate?"
Good question. All half-lives are not created equal. However, with the purpose of person-consumed (injected/ingested) substances of any kind in mind, the half-life is already assumed that the sustance is in your body (or someone's) and being broken down at that rate. What I'm saying is, the half-life of test in a ampule is pretty damn close to nothing. The half-life sitting in the sun is going to be something, but not as high as the half-life as if it is being metabolized by your body. Basically, half-lives are the time it takes for your BODY to break down half the substance.
-B