Halodrol, aka Chlorodehydromethylandrostenediol (CDMA) or 4-chloro-17α-methylandrost-1,4-diene-3β,17β-diol (let’s keep it simple and stick to calling it Halodrol!) is a prohormone that began life with a popularity surge in the mid-noughties. Legislation has put an end to many prohormones’ availability, nowadays. This includes Halodrol in its original form. However, there are some alternatives and variations that are workable and easy to find: Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals’ Halodrol 30 is amongst the best that money can buy.
Halodrol: what is it?
Let’s run through what the product is, first. It was one of the most potent prohormones around and was immediately swept up into the bodybuilding and strength training mainstream. Due to chemical similarities, Halodrol should deliver gains comparable to Turinabol: this has been backed up by a lot of user feedback.
Halodrol has an impressive anabolic to androgenic ratio of 74:28; because of this, you can expect to experience a significant boost to hypertrophy and strength, whilst keeping fat levels low.
An 8-week cycle can see you putting on around 5kg (10-15lbs) of pure muscle. This will be accompanied by a either a plateau or, most likely, a drop in body fat levels and water retention. Engineered by Rich Gaspari himself, this really is a world-class supplement!
This impressive anabolic to androgenic ratio also means that there is very little by way of oestrogenic or suppressive side effects. It is so heavily weighted toward anabolic purposes- hypertrophy and strength gains, essentially- over androgenic purposes, that its adverse effects on male sexual characteristics are almost non-existent. Having run this compound myself a couple of times, I can testify to this: a decent PCT and a rest from cycling for a couple of months combined with Halodrol’s mild effects to prevent any suppression, and to ensure that I kept my gains.
Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals have tweaked and repurposed Halodrol 50 into their new product, Halodrol 30, and to all intents and purposes, it’s indistinguishable from the original.
Benefits of the new formula:
- Hypertrophy: muscular size and strength will be greatly boosted
- Great vascularity and muscular pumps
- Increased testosterone levels
- A completely legal (yet potent!) version of the outlawed classic.
How does it work?
Who should take it?
Halodrol’s mild side effects make it perfect for those who are relatively new to prohormones. This doesn’t mean that seasoned veterans won’t benefit (as I said above, I’ve used it to great effect to boost my lifts and add several lbs of lean muscle over the course of a cycle- see below), but I would highly encourage less experienced users to try it out. Use it with a decent cycle support, train hard and eat clean: the results will speak for themselves.
The new formula
Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals know how to put a good formula together. When prohormones first went big, before the process of legislating them out of existence began, they were one of the big players. With their new Halodrol, based on the original that they specialised in, they have brought the formula up to the old game’s level: they claim that it is as potent as the original.
And they would know.
It is the collection of key ingredients and compounds in Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals’ Halodrol that make it such a popular, powerful prohormone. But what is in this new formula?
1-Androsterone
First and foremost, it delivers 1-Androsterone. Also known as 1-DHEA, 1-Andro is a compound that I’ve written about a lot, as it is so ubiquitous in modern prohormones. It is legal, safe, and brings fantastic results for anybody wanting to pack on lean mass. 1-Andro converts into 1-Testosterone in the body, which is the point: 1-Testosterone is seven times more anabolic than regular testosterone. In addition, 1-Andro will not convert into oestrogen; it will give none of the usual feared side effects like gynecomastia, water retention, liver stress, etc.
4-Androsterone
As well as 1-Androsterone, Halodrol also delivers 4-Androsterone, another fairly ubiquitous compound often found in these kinds of products. It converts into testosterone, 4-AD, similarly to 1-Andro, further boosting your body’s testosterone levels so that you will feel an increased aggression, drive, and ability to train beyond your usual scope.
With both of these prohormones, protein synthesis will improve, so that you will build muscle much faster and more efficiently. Muscle mass and strength will increase, as mentioned above, and your energy levels both inside and outside the gym will spike, giving you a greater ability to train and recover.
Androsterone and androstenolone acetate
Androsterone is next on the list, followed by androstenolone acetate (DHEA.) Androsterone is converted into DHT, which will help you with strength gains, muscle growth, increased lipolysis and energy and drive. It will also help in reducing oestrogen side effects like gynecomastia and water retention. Meanwhile, androstenolone acetate is an ester of androstenolone, another relatively common prohormone used for increasing hypertrophy. This also converts into 1-Testosterone, supplementing what you get from the 1-Andro, and further increases the rate of your body’s protein synthesis.
Rhaponticum Carthamoides Extract
Finally, we come to a herbal extract that really makes Halodrol unique. This is Rhaponticum Carthamoides, an herb long used in Russian medicine and supplementation. Its uses include strengthening physical performance and improving libido and sexual performance. Rhaponticum Carthamoides extract is also naturally anabolic, and is an adaptogen which triggers further protein synthesis. It helps to stabilise glycogen levels and aids in vascularity, meaning more blood, and thus more oxygen and nutrients, to your muscles.
I wanted to go into these ingredients in some detail mostly to bring home the multi-layered nature of Halodrol: every ingredient builds on every other, and each one lines up perfectly to maximise testosterone levels and improve protein synthesis. You can tell that an awful lot of thought went into developing this formula: hats off to Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals for this.
My experience
I took the recommended dosage of one tablet a half hour before training, making sure that I had an empty stomach as often as possible when I did so. On my recovery days, I took one tablet an hour or so before lunch, to make sure that I had an empty stomach.
Other than adding in the Halodrol and a cycle support, I changed nothing about my regular supplement regime, or my diet and training plan.
For my cycle, I bought two boxes of Halodrol to run an 8-week cycle. At the beginning of my cycle, I weighed 94kg (approx. 207lbs) at about 14% body fat. At the end of a heavy lifting cycle, I weighed 97kg (approx. 213lbs) at a similar body fat level. That’s an increase of about 6lbs in just 8 weeks, without any appreciable change to my body fat. In addition, my main compound lifts (low bar squat, deadlift, over head press and bench press) all went up by a good few lbs each.
With a good quality PCT and a continuation of my heavy lifting program, these lean gains remained after my cycle was complete. With numbers like these, it’s really easy to see why Halodrol is so popular.
As a brief note, I would like to reiterate that I always recommend taking a cycle support when taking any kind of prohormone, no matter how safe or mild they claim their side effects are. You will be able to optimise liver function and prevent the toxicity that can sometimes occur with prohormone use. Although not all prohormones cause liver stress- and Halodrol is designed to nullify any such negative side effects- your body will still need and benefit from support to remain at peak health and function. I like Blackstone Labs’ cycle supports, though realistically any good quality one will do you well.
Similarly, I recommend PCT for anybody taking prohormones. I ran a four-week PCT after taking Halodrol and the results were great. Hormone production returned to normal. My gains remained and there were no negative health consequences: I would be very happy running future cycles in this manner, with full confidence that my health will remain in peak condition.
