I feel as if I can add some real insight to this discussion…
First off, I want to say that Bill is spot on with everything here.
I’ve taken both Anavar and Carbolin 19 (at different times obviously). I’m a competitive lifter, so I may have different reasons for liking or not liking in this discussion.
My first experience was actually with Carbolin 19. As a competitive lifter, I look for ways to not “loose” training days either by sickness, injury, over-training, etc. I took Carbolin 19 to see if it helped with over-training or allow me to keep “prepping” without loosing any training days. Looking back on it, it did help…I didn’t loose training days and things seemed to go upward in that training period.
I’d say I took it for about 4 months. One thing of note, I never could “feel” anything on it. I didn’t feel more eager to train, didn’t feel any less fatigued, etc, but people did comment like I had lost a few pounds even though I had actually gained a few pounds. The gaining of weight though could have been diet related though.
My first experience with Anavar was at 50mgs on training days. This was a weird one for me. I didn’t “feel” much off this dose, but I was dieting and my numbers didn’t take a dip while dieting which normally happens for me. I would say that it really helped with fat loss, especially in the stomach. So all in all, seemed similar to Carbolin 19 but at a slightly higher level.
After Var experiment one, I decided to try it again, but this time at 100mgs. At 100mgs, I had “felt” more and certainly wanted to eat more. I was doing a modified Carb Nite but at the upper sort of like a bulking version of the Anabolic Diet. This time, I got stronger, added a lot of muscle and lost a lot of fat. It seemed to be visible from day to day the body comp changes.
So back to the comparison is Carbolin 19 like Var? I’d say it’s Var-light if that makes sense. Personally, as Bill noted, 20mgs of Var would be a pointless dose. I’d even say 50mgs of Var is pointless if the goal is to add mass. 50mgs is good for maintaining strength and muscle on a cut. I’d even say 100mgs of Var is pointless is you’re trying to gain mass too, but that’s more personal preference.
That said, I think Carbolin 19 works, I just think the comparison is misleading if you’ve never tried Var. Var works, but it’s subtle. Carbolin 19 works, but it’s even more subtle. It’s something I’d take again, and actually, I was looking to buy some but it was on back-order for so long.
Another thing to think about with Carbolin 19…it must work or else you wouldn’t see it as a stand alone and in arguably the two best Biotest supps if it didn’t work, just food for thought. Just remember to bring your expectations down.