19NorFan
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- Sep 16, 2022
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Intro & Overview
Earlier this month, I concluded my 6 week post contest rebound phase. I use shorter cycles as an opportunity to test out new compounds or new combinations. This time around it was YK-11 and Trestolone Acetate, also known as MENT.
For the duration of the 6 weeks, I injected, daily:
70mg NPP
10-25mg MENT
25mg Injectable YK-11
5mg Test Prop (for estrogen, injected 10mg EOD)
(770-875mg per week total)
6iu HGH
This post will serve as more of a review, rather than a deep dive into the background and pharmacology of each compound, since we have limited clinical information about either of these two.
Trestolone Acetate - Background and My Experience
Trestolone Acetate/MENT is a 19-nor derivative, similar to nandrolone, but unique in the sense that it converts to methyl estradiol and is resistant to 5-alpha reduction. This means that you need to account for methylestradiol activity, in addition to your bioidentical E2. Resistance to 5-alpha reduction means that the compound will retain its intrinsic anabolic potency in tissues where testosterone (for example) would undergo significant changes, in its conversion to DHT. MENT is also thought to have stronger androgen receptor activity and greater anabolic potency than nandrolone. Originally, it was designed as a male contraceptive and later studied for androgen replacement. It has been shown highly effective at reducing male fertility, although it made for a poor choice for androgen replacement. Methyl estradiol is not a replacement for bioidentical estradiol and subjects using MENT for androgen replacement developed a reduction in lumbar bone mineral density, based on a 2003 human clinical trial. For this reason, MENT should be used with a testosterone base.
My starting dose of MENT was right at 25mg/day. Immediately, within 2 days, you start to feel everything fill out more. It is worth noting that I'm on 490mg of NPP as well, however, the addition of the MENT adds a level of fullness and hardness that NPP alone cannot produce. MENT is by far the most water retentive and nutrient retentive compound I've used. It fills you out even faster than superdrol, although it's much more wet than superdrol. The pumps are absolutely insane, especially if you time the YK-11 before the workout. I would even get a pump in my jaw from chewing. Is this useful? The pump is useful to an extent but there were times when it would get in the way of the workout, as it would reduce ROM. Or you train traps and the pump goes into your neck so you can't really turn your head and that would go on for like an hour.
MENT is sometimes compared to NPP and other drugs. I would call it tren-lite. If you were to cross tren e and nandrolone decanoate, you'd get MENT. It provides much of the fullness of tren and softness of nandrolone. That said, after about a week, the RAAS activation went too far and I had to drop the dose to 10mg/day and eventually settled on 15mg/day. MENT, NPP and HGH all independently increase water retention on their own. Combined, it can push water retention to a level where blood pressure becomes elevated and just sleeping or laying on your back is uncomfortable. The edema on the last day of 25mg/day was quite unbearable and it just feels like you're suffocating. However, within about a day or two of dropping the dose, the water came off. If you plan to use MENT, I'd stick to trestolone acetate over enanthate, for more convenient and faster dosing adjustments.
My feedback moving forward based on this experience: I would probably stick to using MENT in a cutting phase, rather than a bulking phase. Blood pressure and water retention are already a challenge with higher doses of HGH and base androgens, so adding MENT into the mix can make the cycle unmanageable over 16+ weeks. Additionally, I would pair it with dryer compounds. For example, in a cutting phase - 350mg Test E, 500mg Mast E, 175mg MENT per week. With this cycle, the Masteron could mitigate some of the water retention, while MENT provides some of the fullness that Mast alone cannot provide. Overall, I would use it again in the future. For this particular cycle, the MENT came from @US-pharmacies, if anyone is looking for a forum sponsor source.
YK-11 - Background and My Experience
YK-11 is a synthetic steroidal compound commonly classified as a SARM, although its steroidal structure (it is also a 19-nor derivative) distinguishes it from conventional nonsteroidal SARMs. It acts as a partial agonist of the androgen receptor and is particularly interesting because of its potential influence on the myostatin regulatory pathway. A 2013 Japanese study demonstrated that YK-11 increased follistatin expression in mouse muscle cells. Follistatin is a protein that can inhibit myostatin, which ordinarily acts as a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. This has led to YK-11 being marketed as a myostatin inhibitor, although direct myostatin inhibition and increased muscle growth have never been demonstrated in humans. Unlike MENT, which underwent human clinical trials, YK-11 remains largely experimental, with most of its proposed anabolic mechanisms supported by laboratory and animal research. Its pharmacokinetics, effective human dosages and long term safety profile remain poorly understood, particularly when administered through injection.
Throughout the 6 weeks, I used 25mg/day. On a few occasions, I used 50mg and 75mg pre-workout for a few days at a time. The first thing that stands out about YK-11 is that it works immediately. You can inject it 1 hour pre-workout and within about 15 minutes, you feel it mentally. It provides a slight euphoria and sense of drive, similar to any DHT based oral. In the gym, it provides a noticeable performance boost. If you have a 15-20 set workout for example, you're still pushing just as hard on sets 17-20 as you did the first few. You just don't have as much fall off in strength from set to set with YK-11 and that's where it shines. Visually, it provides a more grainy and striated look, especially at those higher dosages.
The few downsides that come with YK-11 is the joint achiness at those higher doses. I probably would not push the dose beyond 25mg/day due to the potential risk of an injury. We don't know the mechanism through which the joint pain occurs with YK-11; if it is the same as Winstrol, then your risk for injury is high, especially in the offseason when you train harder. So it might make your joints hurt beyond 25mg/day. The other downside is that the compound does not carry into the next day. With anadrol for example, you're still pretty full for a few days after cessation of use. 1-2 anadrol today can still be felt by days 2-4. With YK-11, it's very much a intra-day compound, meaning whatever you get from it today will fall off by the evening and next day. Now if it does have myostatin inhibiting properties, then that's a separate matter but this has yet to be established.
Feedback on using it moving forward: If you are looking for a same day performance booster that won't keep you wired for hours into the evening or following day, then YK-11 may be the steroid for you. Or if you just want a good pump and look for a day or two, it can be used acutely. But beyond that, it doesn't provide much beyond any other injectable. For me personally, I will probably pass on using YK-11 in the future. From a risk: reward perspective, it just doesn't carry enough reward considering its limited safety profile.
Summary
Overall, both compounds delivered noticeable effects. MENT was the more impressive of the two in terms of muscular fullness, hardness and overall anabolic feel, although the accompanying water retention and edema made it difficult to manage at higher doses, particularly alongside NPP and HGH. YK-11, on the other hand, stood out primarily for its acute effects on training performance, muscular endurance and appearance, but offered little in the way of sustained long term benefits. Its tendency to cause joint discomfort at higher doses, combined with the lack of meaningful human safety data, makes it difficult to justify continued use. If I were to revisit either compound, it would be MENT. Ultimately, these are subjective observations from a multi compound post contest rebound and neither compound's individual contribution can be established with certainty. MENT is one I would consider revisiting, while YK-11 is one I am comfortable leaving behind.
Earlier this month, I concluded my 6 week post contest rebound phase. I use shorter cycles as an opportunity to test out new compounds or new combinations. This time around it was YK-11 and Trestolone Acetate, also known as MENT.
For the duration of the 6 weeks, I injected, daily:
70mg NPP
10-25mg MENT
25mg Injectable YK-11
5mg Test Prop (for estrogen, injected 10mg EOD)
(770-875mg per week total)
6iu HGH
This post will serve as more of a review, rather than a deep dive into the background and pharmacology of each compound, since we have limited clinical information about either of these two.
Trestolone Acetate - Background and My Experience
Trestolone Acetate/MENT is a 19-nor derivative, similar to nandrolone, but unique in the sense that it converts to methyl estradiol and is resistant to 5-alpha reduction. This means that you need to account for methylestradiol activity, in addition to your bioidentical E2. Resistance to 5-alpha reduction means that the compound will retain its intrinsic anabolic potency in tissues where testosterone (for example) would undergo significant changes, in its conversion to DHT. MENT is also thought to have stronger androgen receptor activity and greater anabolic potency than nandrolone. Originally, it was designed as a male contraceptive and later studied for androgen replacement. It has been shown highly effective at reducing male fertility, although it made for a poor choice for androgen replacement. Methyl estradiol is not a replacement for bioidentical estradiol and subjects using MENT for androgen replacement developed a reduction in lumbar bone mineral density, based on a 2003 human clinical trial. For this reason, MENT should be used with a testosterone base.
My starting dose of MENT was right at 25mg/day. Immediately, within 2 days, you start to feel everything fill out more. It is worth noting that I'm on 490mg of NPP as well, however, the addition of the MENT adds a level of fullness and hardness that NPP alone cannot produce. MENT is by far the most water retentive and nutrient retentive compound I've used. It fills you out even faster than superdrol, although it's much more wet than superdrol. The pumps are absolutely insane, especially if you time the YK-11 before the workout. I would even get a pump in my jaw from chewing. Is this useful? The pump is useful to an extent but there were times when it would get in the way of the workout, as it would reduce ROM. Or you train traps and the pump goes into your neck so you can't really turn your head and that would go on for like an hour.
MENT is sometimes compared to NPP and other drugs. I would call it tren-lite. If you were to cross tren e and nandrolone decanoate, you'd get MENT. It provides much of the fullness of tren and softness of nandrolone. That said, after about a week, the RAAS activation went too far and I had to drop the dose to 10mg/day and eventually settled on 15mg/day. MENT, NPP and HGH all independently increase water retention on their own. Combined, it can push water retention to a level where blood pressure becomes elevated and just sleeping or laying on your back is uncomfortable. The edema on the last day of 25mg/day was quite unbearable and it just feels like you're suffocating. However, within about a day or two of dropping the dose, the water came off. If you plan to use MENT, I'd stick to trestolone acetate over enanthate, for more convenient and faster dosing adjustments.
My feedback moving forward based on this experience: I would probably stick to using MENT in a cutting phase, rather than a bulking phase. Blood pressure and water retention are already a challenge with higher doses of HGH and base androgens, so adding MENT into the mix can make the cycle unmanageable over 16+ weeks. Additionally, I would pair it with dryer compounds. For example, in a cutting phase - 350mg Test E, 500mg Mast E, 175mg MENT per week. With this cycle, the Masteron could mitigate some of the water retention, while MENT provides some of the fullness that Mast alone cannot provide. Overall, I would use it again in the future. For this particular cycle, the MENT came from @US-pharmacies, if anyone is looking for a forum sponsor source.
YK-11 - Background and My Experience
YK-11 is a synthetic steroidal compound commonly classified as a SARM, although its steroidal structure (it is also a 19-nor derivative) distinguishes it from conventional nonsteroidal SARMs. It acts as a partial agonist of the androgen receptor and is particularly interesting because of its potential influence on the myostatin regulatory pathway. A 2013 Japanese study demonstrated that YK-11 increased follistatin expression in mouse muscle cells. Follistatin is a protein that can inhibit myostatin, which ordinarily acts as a negative regulator of skeletal muscle growth. This has led to YK-11 being marketed as a myostatin inhibitor, although direct myostatin inhibition and increased muscle growth have never been demonstrated in humans. Unlike MENT, which underwent human clinical trials, YK-11 remains largely experimental, with most of its proposed anabolic mechanisms supported by laboratory and animal research. Its pharmacokinetics, effective human dosages and long term safety profile remain poorly understood, particularly when administered through injection.
Throughout the 6 weeks, I used 25mg/day. On a few occasions, I used 50mg and 75mg pre-workout for a few days at a time. The first thing that stands out about YK-11 is that it works immediately. You can inject it 1 hour pre-workout and within about 15 minutes, you feel it mentally. It provides a slight euphoria and sense of drive, similar to any DHT based oral. In the gym, it provides a noticeable performance boost. If you have a 15-20 set workout for example, you're still pushing just as hard on sets 17-20 as you did the first few. You just don't have as much fall off in strength from set to set with YK-11 and that's where it shines. Visually, it provides a more grainy and striated look, especially at those higher dosages.
The few downsides that come with YK-11 is the joint achiness at those higher doses. I probably would not push the dose beyond 25mg/day due to the potential risk of an injury. We don't know the mechanism through which the joint pain occurs with YK-11; if it is the same as Winstrol, then your risk for injury is high, especially in the offseason when you train harder. So it might make your joints hurt beyond 25mg/day. The other downside is that the compound does not carry into the next day. With anadrol for example, you're still pretty full for a few days after cessation of use. 1-2 anadrol today can still be felt by days 2-4. With YK-11, it's very much a intra-day compound, meaning whatever you get from it today will fall off by the evening and next day. Now if it does have myostatin inhibiting properties, then that's a separate matter but this has yet to be established.
Feedback on using it moving forward: If you are looking for a same day performance booster that won't keep you wired for hours into the evening or following day, then YK-11 may be the steroid for you. Or if you just want a good pump and look for a day or two, it can be used acutely. But beyond that, it doesn't provide much beyond any other injectable. For me personally, I will probably pass on using YK-11 in the future. From a risk: reward perspective, it just doesn't carry enough reward considering its limited safety profile.
Summary
Overall, both compounds delivered noticeable effects. MENT was the more impressive of the two in terms of muscular fullness, hardness and overall anabolic feel, although the accompanying water retention and edema made it difficult to manage at higher doses, particularly alongside NPP and HGH. YK-11, on the other hand, stood out primarily for its acute effects on training performance, muscular endurance and appearance, but offered little in the way of sustained long term benefits. Its tendency to cause joint discomfort at higher doses, combined with the lack of meaningful human safety data, makes it difficult to justify continued use. If I were to revisit either compound, it would be MENT. Ultimately, these are subjective observations from a multi compound post contest rebound and neither compound's individual contribution can be established with certainty. MENT is one I would consider revisiting, while YK-11 is one I am comfortable leaving behind.
