English Arabic Chinese (Simplified) Chinese (Traditional) Esperanto French German Hindi Latvian Luxembourgish Malayalam Maltese Norwegian Portuguese Russian Spanish Tajik

The Bodybuilding Professor

Bryan Haycock MSc

Bryan haycock is an exercise physiologist, university instructor, writer, and consultant for the bodybuilding industry.

Print Share this

Clenbuterol Or Cytomel?

I was thinking of using clenbuterol or Cytomel. I’m leaning towards the clen. What do you think would be best?

WARNING: The following is meant for entertainment purposes only and is not meant to constitute medical advice.

First of all, slow down a little bit. If this is your first show, you may not need to jump into anything like Clenbuterol or Cytomel (T3). Get your training and diet in order first and see what happens. Now, if you insist on using something, I wouldn't use Clen, especially when Ephedrine HCL is still available, albeit in very low-dose tabs.

The main problem with clen is that it’s a very specific beta-agonist and causes receptor downregulation within three weeks. From the sound of it, you’re going to be dieting longer than three weeks. Ephedrine HCL (with an appropriate amount of caffeine) is a far better choice for the long haul.

The main advantages of using a non-selective beta-agonist such as ephedrine are (1) that it has beneficial effects on thyroxine deiodinase activity (i.e., it increases the T3/T4 ratio), (2) that it activates beta-3 receptors as well (yes, we do have some), and (3) its tendency not to cause extreme desensitization of beta-2 receptors. All of this lends to the fact that ephedrine’s thermogenic effects are enhanced after chronic treatment, in contrast to clen, which loses effectiveness over time.

As for Cytomel, you shouldn’t use T3 except in replacement dosages. When you cut your calories and/or increase your cardio, you’re going to experience a reduction in active T3. As this happens, it’s possible to derive benefit from supplemental doses of T3. Basically, you’re able to continue to drop fat at more or less the same rate as you did at the beginning of the diet if you can maintain thyroid levels in the high normal range. You run a risk, however, of eating up a lot of muscle mass with Cytomel. Ephedrine, on the other hand, actually helps preserve muscle mass while dieting. Cytomel can also give give you gyno if you aren't using an antiestrogen, as T3 can boost aromatase activity.

Read more from Bryan Haycock.