This article was written by T-mag contributor Markus Fitzgerald. We asked Bill Roberts to fill in the technical details and provide additional information.

Last year, I decided to use steroids. It wasn’t an easy decision or one I took lightly, but after ten years of natural training I felt I’d hit a wall and was ready to push myself past my genetic limitations. I’d done well as a "natural," adding about forty pounds of muscle since I first began lifting.

I didn’t have any urge to look like a professional bodybuilder and I still don’t. I started out pretty tall and skinny and just wanted to break the 200 pound barrier. I wasn’t greedy and had no urge to blow up forty pounds in just a few weeks only to lose most of it after the cycle. I also wanted to keep safety in mind. I have an important job, two kids, and plenty of responsibilities. I’m not some 19-year-old punk that must get big now to make up for his sagging ego.

My study of steroids actually began a couple of years ago. I guess I knew one day I’d give them a shot. I began hearing a lot of talk about something called "Finasol," invented by Bill Roberts. This is a combination of two products — the legal 4-AD supplement Biotest Androsol, and Finaplix pellets, which are cattle implants that contain a real steroid.

I chose to bust my steroid cherry on Finasol for several reasons. First, no needles. I’m not needle phobic, but using a needle-free protocol solves a lot of problems. I don’t have to mess with finding and buying needles and syringes and I don’t have to hassle with storing or disposing them. Plus, there’s no worry about infections or botched injections.

Second, with trenbolone acetate (often abbreviated as TA or "tren"), the steroid in Finaplix, there are no risks of gyno or "bitch tits." I was ready to deal with some temporary acne, but $6000 gyno surgery? No way!

Third, Finasol is almost legal. Actually, using trenbolone on yourself isn’t legal at all. However, it’s legal to buy in the form of Finaplix, which is good enough. (More on this later.) I wasn’t ready to start doing business with drug dealers or ready to "make a run for the border," so Finasol was the way to go for me.

Below I’ll outline what all happened during my first foray into the world of steroids, but first, a little science lesson.

Finaplix: What is it and how do I get my paws on it?

Finaplix-H is a growth-producing cattle implant. That right, we’re talking about little yellow pellets about the size of Tiny Tarts candy or Tic-Tacs that ranchers shoot into the ears of feedlot heifers to beef them up a little before slaughter. Luckily, humans don’t load up implant guns and use it in this manner, although I’m sure a few numbskulls have tried it.

Finaplix-H (or Component T-H, which is the same stuff) contains trenbolone acetate, a pretty darned good steroid that’s very potent but doesn’t convert to estrogen or DHT. There’s no risk of gyno, but it does have a few side effects, as do all steroids. Namely, it can exacerbate hair loss, cause acne, and may cause some aggression, at least in those already prone to these things. There’s no real danger of liver or kidney problems, either. Yes, some sources of steroid info say that trenbolone is tough in the kidneys, but most of the T-mag experts in this area say that this is a myth. Just drink plenty of water.

Finaplix comes in little plastic containers designed to be fed through an implant gun. Each container contains ten rows of ten pellets, totaling 100 pellets per cart. Each little yellow pellet contains 20mg of TA, so a whole cartridge contains 2000mg of the good stuff. For you mathematically impaired folks out there, that’s two whopping grams of gear. Since each little cart should run you only about $37 bucks, that’s some darned cheap ‘roids.

Finaplix pellets are sold through veterinary supply houses and farm and ranch stores. Back in the day before everyone and his mother had an Internet connection, bodybuilders would pretend to be cattle ranchers and go in and buy this stuff. These days, all you have to do is type "Finaplix" into a search engine and you’ll find plenty of places willing to sell it to you.

Legal Stuff

Is it really legal to buy over the Internet like that? Yep, it sure is. There’s nothing illegal about buying Finaplix. In fact, I ordered mine with a credit card using my real name. You must know, however, that it’s illegal to use on yourself or any other human. The nice thing is, by the time you’re actually breaking the law, you’re in your own bathroom. So who’s gonna know, right?

I assume this is sort of like buying bongs and pot smoking supplies. It’s not illegal to buy a "water pipe" or rolling papers for use with your favorite "tobacco," but it is illegal to put marijuana in them and smoke it.

The worst thing that can happen to you is that the supply house will ask you for proof that you own cattle. The usual thing is to ask for feed bill receipts. If they ask for this, then cancel your order and move on to another place. No big deal. No sweat. No jack-booted thugs at your door.

How to Use it

There are several ways to use Finaplix, but the most effective methods require a little work. Without boring you to death with the details, the oral and intranasal methods pretty much suck. Don’t bother with either. There are two accepted ways to use Finaplix — injecting it and applying it topically.

Conversion and Injection: By far the most effective method of using Fina is injection. Injection is the only method that will get you 100% utilization of the product. Aside from having to buy darts (syringes with needles), this method also gives you the most bang for your buck.

If you go the injection route, you’ll also need to buy one of those conversion kits floating around the internet. An "aromatherapy" kit (wink wink) will work too. These are used to make it sterile and remove most of the glues and binders from the product. Then you just buy syringes (also available online and legal to buy in most states), learn to safely inject and start poking away.

Topical: There are several ways to use Fina transdermally, or through the skin: mixed with Androsol or Nandrosol, mixed with plain 99% isopropyl alcohol (not that watered down stuff), or mixed with DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) which is a legal product sold as a solvent that acts as a "carrier."

Which is better? Well, all the topical methods are less than half as effective as injection. However, the best method out of the topicals is to mix Fina with Androsol. Most importantly, you get the "stack" effect of both compounds, trenbolone and 4-AD. With plain alcohol, you only get the Fina, of course, and the same is true with DMSO. (By the way, even if you choose to use the less effective plain alcohol recipe, you’ll still need to get your hands on an Androsol sprayer, which is already properly metered and provides the perfect dosing and spray pattern.)

More importantly, the Androsol method gives a sustained delivery where DMSO gives a large amount in a very short time, which is not ideal. Of all the topical methods, the Androsol/Fina stack is far superior.

Topical Recipes

Two names always come up when you talk about Finasol: Bill Roberts, who invented it, and Brock Strasser, who popularized it. Both experts have their own recipes. Here they are:

Brock’s Recipe: Acquire two bottles of Androsol and two bottles of Nandrosol (the 19-nor version of Androsol). Then go online and order four cartons of Fina. This will give you enough gear for a six to eight week cycle. Brock estimates that most people will put on 10 to 25 pounds if they eat and train properly. (That means lots of protein, 1.5 to 2.0 grams per pound of bodyweight, and lots of free weights.)

Step One: Crush up the pellets in each carton of Fina into a fine powder. Do this one carton at a time. A mortar and pestle will come in handy here or you can use the ol’ coffee cup and tea spoon method.

Step Two: Place one carton of powdered Fina (two grams) directly into a bottle of Androsol. Then grind up another carton and repeat until all four bottles (two Androsol and two Nandrosol) have a carton of Fina dumped into them.

Step Three: Put the cap back on the bottles and let them sit in your closet for three to seven days. You might see a little bit of crap on the bottom of the bottles but this won't do anything other than perhaps clog the sprayer. You can filter it out with a coffee filter if you like.

Step Four: Spray on 10ml (70 sprays) of the Androsol concoction (500mg of 4-AD plus 83mg of trenbolone acetate) in the morning when you first get up. Then, before you work out in the afternoon (or before 5PM if you don't work out in the afternoon), spray on 10ml (70 sprays) of the Nandrosol (500mg of 19nor-4-AD + 83mg of trenbolone acetate).

Bill’s Recipe: Bill believes that Brock’s method applies too thin a film and won’t last long enough. He suggests you make it 25mg/mL. That means you put three cartons of Fina per bottle of Androsol or Nandrosol.

Crush the pellets as thoroughly as possible in the bottom of a container that you can screw a top onto. Add in half the bottle of topical (Androsol or Nandrosol) and shake, let sit until it has settled into a clear solution.

Pour off the clear part (not the powder) into another container. Add in half the remaining amount of topical, shake, let settle until the solution is clear, and then add this in to the solution you’ve already prepared. Repeat one more time with the remaining quarter bottle of topical. Let the final mixture sit until clear, then pour the clear part into the original Androsol or Nandrosol bottle (leaving behind any small amount of powder that may have settled to the bottom.)

Apply 2 mL, or 14 sprays, preferably four times per day, of this 4-AD/Fina mixture. The reason for the four sprayings per day is that the duration of action is shorter than with 4-AD. With the four applications, you’re applying 56 sprays per day.

Now, you want 140 total sprays per day from Androsol or Nandrosol. 56 of them will come from your Finasol mixture as noted above. That means you need a regular bottle of Androsol or Nandrosol without any TA mixed in. From this plain bottle, you want to get 84 additional sprays per day. The best way to do that is to divide it into two applications of 42 sprays twice per day. Try not to overlap these with the areas you sprayed with Finasol.

You could do this for a two week cycle or a six to eight week cycle.

The Fun Begins

I decided to stack Fina with Androsol and Nandrosol, as per Brock Strasser’s recipe. (I’m sure Bill’s is awesome too, but I didn’t learn about it until after I’d already started on Brock’s.) I had tried one cycle of Androsol before and had put on six pounds, but I wanted to try it with a stack. But first, I had to get the good stuff.

I began by searching for "Finaplix" and "trenbolone acetate" with the Yahoo! search engine. One place I found located in Omaha sold it for $29.80 per cart. That was pretty cheap compared to a few other vet supply houses, so I ordered up two carts over the Internet using my Discover card.

About a week later, I received a form letter in the mail that basically asked for feed bill receipts. I was pretty pissed off as the web site and the paper catalog I got from this company didn’t mention needing proof of cattle ownership. I sent them an e-mail and politely cancelled my order. To this day, I’ve never heard back from them.

The second place I tried was an agro-business. Again, I ordered two carts, which were a little more expensive than the first place at $37.50 apiece, plus shipping. In about three or four days, I got a package in my mailbox containing the goods. They came discreetly packed with one of those artificial ice packs, but constant refrigeration isn’t all that necessary except for long term storage. (The pellets will slowly turn brown if not refrigerated, but at normal room temperature this takes months.)

By the way, the same place sells Component T-H, which is the same stuff, only it contains 4000mg of TA, instead of 2000mg. It also runs double the price so you’re not getting a bargain.

Cookin’ in the Kitchen, Sorta

I grabbed my two bottles of Nandrosol and two bottles of Androsol and headed to the kitchen. I had four plastic containers of Fina, each containing 100 pellets. Brock’s recipe called for two grams of Fina in each bottle, so that’s 100 pellets or one whole cart per bottle. I didn’t have a mortar and pestle and I didn’t know about Bill’s method at the time, so I just made up my own way to crush the pellets.

By the way, a mortar and pestle is easy to find. You can buy them at culinary shops (where they’re used to grind herbs) as well as pharmacies and believe it or not at "witch supply" shops that deal with the occult. I found a few of these places on the net after typing in "mortar and pestle" in a search engine. The occult places actually have the best prices and you can pick up a nice one for eight bucks. (I just don’t want to know what modern day "witches" do with them. Grinding up eye of newt maybe?)

I used the MacGyver method instead. First, I used my Swiss army knife to cut off the little plastic strip that held the pellets in. This was kind of tricky on the first cart, but finally I figured out how to get the little strip of plastic completely off. Important tip: Do this one cart at a time. If you open up all your carts and pile up your pellets, then you’ll have to count out pellets. I did this once and it was a pain. You can also use the little plastic protector to shield all the columns but one, then pour out one column at a time.

I dumped all 100 pellets into a sandwich bag (red and blue make green!) and covered them with a dish towel. Then I took a hammer and crushed them up. (The towel kept the baggie from tearing.) If I do this again, though, I’ll just buy a mortar and pestle! I ended up with four baggies of powdered cow pellets. This isn’t the best way to do it since I probably lost a little TA in the process. Bill’s method is better in this regard. (Hindsight 20/20 and all that.)

I carefully put one baggie’s worth (2000mg or 2 grams) into each bottle, so I ended up with two bottles of bionic Androsol and two bottles of bionic Nandrosol. My plan was to use 70 sprays of Androsol in the morning after my shower and 70 sprays of Nandrosol in the evening before my usual 5PM workout. As per Brock’s instructions, I didn’t wash off the first dose. I just put it right on top of the first. My plan was to keep this up until I ran out of bottles. That’s right, I was "on" for about 40 straight days.

Preparation and Results

Before I started, I did a hairline check. I knew I might experience some hair loss, so I wanted to be sure where my hairline was before I started. Actually, according to most experts, if you already have a receding hairline or MPB (male pattern baldness) then yes, certain steroids like trenbolone can make it worse. However, if you’re not already genetically predispositioned to lose hair, then it’s not that much of a worry. And no, finasteride (Propecia or Proscar) won’t help. That only works when using Testosterone.

I also knew Fina could cause acne breakouts, so I sucked up my manly ego and went into the "bath and beauty" section of Wal-Mart. I had bad acne as a teen and still get an occasional zit even though I’m in my late 20s, so I wanted to cover my bases here. Any product with salicylic acid is good. I picked up two items. The first was Body Clear Body Scrub by Neutrogena, an acne formula designed especially for the body, not the face. Then I picked up some Bioré Blemish Bomb. You put this thick gel on your zits at night and it forms a patch over the pimple. In the morning you peel it off. There are some similar products on the market that use cloth patches that I hear are even better.

Lastly, I’d heard mixed opinions about using herbal liver and kidney "protection" products during a steroid cycle. Some experts said to use them, others said they were worthless. Hell, milk thistle (for the liver) and cranberry fruit extract (for the kidneys) is cheap so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to use them. In retrospect, they were probably a waste of money, especially the cranberry fruit extract.

With all my preparations done, all I had to do was wait a few days for the Fina to dissolve. Some people choose not to crush up their pellets and just plop them into the bottle. That’s fine, but I wanted to be sure they dissolved in time. I sat my four bottles of gear up in a cool dark closet for six days.

Each day I went into the closet two or three times and swirled the concoctions around a little. Sometimes I would lovingly fondle the bottles and caress them gently. Once I put them down my pants and did the "forbidden dance" around the spare bedroom…but I digress.

After six days there was a fine layer of junk at the bottom of each bottle. Note that there are mixed opinions about "fillers" and "glues" contained within Fina pellets. Obviously there’s something in there because of all the shit you’ll find at the bottom of your bottles!

I waited until my kids were out of the house, then went into the garage and applied 70 sprays over my entire body, except my face and nads, of course. Actually, the sprayer clogged after 50 sprays. I took it apart and washed it out with hot water. I got a few more sprays before it clogged again. I finally said "screw it" and went and bought coffee filters and a little tiny funnel.

I placed a coffee filter into the funnel over an old empty Androsol bottle and strained it through. I repeated the procedure for all four bottles using a new filter each time, which was pretty time consuming. (Note, you may have to do this more than once per bottle, but once worked for me.) This solved the problem and I never had another clogged sprayer. Of course now I know there’s an easier way to filter out the junk, namely using Bill Robert’s method described above.

It’s important to note that I never really "felt" anything during the whole 40 days. Just like with plain Androsol and Nandrosol, some people do, some don’t. I felt calm and in control, but never really hyped up. You don’t have to "feel it" for it to be working, however. I never felt any aggression either, maybe just a touch of irritability, which may or may not have been caused by the gear.

I did always have great workouts, though. And while my strength increases were obvious, they weren’t astounding. (Some people get huge strength increases with TA.) I seldom perform one rep maxes, but after about twenty days into the cycle, I was easily knocking out ten rep sets of what used to be a tough six or eight reps.

My Ian King-influenced training split looked like this:

Monday: Chest/Back
Tuesday: Legs- Quad Dominant, Calves
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Shoulder/Arms
Friday: Legs- Hip Dominant, Calves

On the weekends, I usually did some extra abs and forearm training. I did one day of cardio per week. Generally speaking, when "on" you should be able to increase the volume of your weight training, doing about 120 sets per week. Since I was "on", I tended to throw in extra sets; that’s about it.

As for diet, I knew I needed to eat and eat a lot. There was no way I was going to "waste" a steroid cycle by eating like a little girl. I basically followed a diet similar to the Pound-A-Week Diet posted at T-mag. I ate 300 to 400 grams of protein per day and tried to get five to seven meals per day. I used Grow! or Advanced Protein mixed with milk a few times a day to add in extra calories and protein.

I had a shake for breakfast, one after training, and one before bed. I ate big and healthy most of time, but I admit I didn’t turn down any lunch invites to my favorite Chinese restaurant either.

The only side effect I noticed for sure was acne on my shoulders. The products mentioned above helped keep it under control, but I did break out on the neck and shoulders and a little on the cheeks. The good news is that these weren’t the big ping-pong ball zits I had in high school. They were more like tiny red dots and you had to get close to see them. Honestly, it didn’t bother me much at all. I just Blemish Bombed them at night and used my body wash stuff when I showered.

I had no hair loss and no noticeable testicular atrophy. Oh, I thought I did at first, though! I panicked a little and began asking my wife if she thought my hair was receding. She didn’t think so. This is a good example of the placebo effect, or more accurately, the Pygmalion effect. I knew I might have these problems, so I got a little overzealous looking for them to occur. Except for the acne, they never did. All I noticed was better workouts, minor acne, and a greatly increased sex drive.

Okay, here’s what you’ve been waiting for. During the cycle I put on about 25 pounds. Since I purposefully overate, about five to seven pounds of that was fat. I went from 195 to 220.

People were freaking out. I was always greeted with comments like, "Holy shit!" and "Dude, you’re lookin’ huge!" whenever I ran into someone I hadn’t seen for a while. All my large shirts began to fit like mediums. Women would suddenly feel the need to put their hands on my shoulder when we talked. Strangers began asking me for training advice in the gym. No one seemed to notice the little bit of fat I’d gained. They were too busy looking at my arms, chest, upper back and shoulders.

After the cycle was over, I began taking eight capsules of Tribex-500 per day and four servings of Methoxy-7. I adopted a slightly modified T-Dawg Diet and lost the extra fat in a few short weeks. Now I’m sitting at 213 pounds with a pretty good set of abs going. I seem to be hanging on to the majority of my muscle gains so far. The Methoxy-7 and Tribex may be helping in that area.

Conclusion

Now, since my Finasol experiment, there have been rumors of people getting gyno using topical Fina. This is odd because neither Androsol nor trenbolone can lead to gyno. So either these reports are false (perhaps yet another case of "psychological gyno"), or there’s something we don’t know about yet.

For example, it's not unusual for steroid metabolism to take place in the skin. And the problems with reported gyno have never occurred with injectable TA combined with 4-AD, but only with transdermal TA. Regardless of the cause, there are enough reports to make Clomid seem like a good idea when using transdermal Fina. If you’re worried about gyno, you could always add 50mg of Clomid per day to your stack and this should take care of any problems, if there are any problems to begin with.

Would I do it again? Heck, I’ve already ordered additional "sols" from Biotest and the Fina from the agro-business. I’ll take several months off, however, before I do it again and will try Bill’s recipe the next go around.

Overall, I’m very satisfied with my first steroid experience. After another cycle or two like this, I’d like to hit around 230 pounds, lean. I don’t care to be one of those 290 pound gorillas, so honestly, I may never use a "real" steroid cycle and bother with needles. I’m satisfied. It’s nice to know that legal supplements and "almost legal" vet products can get me the gains I want without undue health risks.

Finasol is the thing for me. Is it for you? You decide.

Note: Biotest does not condone the use of its products in this manner and suggests you stick to label recommendations for maximal safety.

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