Steroids posses both anabolic and androgenic effects. When we look at a steroids profile we want the anabolic rating to be high and the androgenic rating as low as possible. Anabolism is the propagation of muscle tissues through protein synthesis and the stimulation of bone marrow which in turns causes the propagation of bone density. In other words, it's a fancy word for saying cell growth. On the other side of the scale we have the androgenic rating, which identifies the male like effects, such as facial/body hair growth, deepening of the voice and male pattern baldness. These side effects are better known as virilization. So as you can imagine this isn't what we are looking for as bodybuilders. All steroids are derivatives or synthetic versions of testosterone. That makes testosterone the original steroid, as does the fact that Testosterone is the male hormone that is responsible for the propagation of muscle cell growth. With that being said, steroids also posses an anabolic to androgenic ratio rating, and their ratings are all based off Testosterone; whose anabolic/androgenic ratio is; 100/100. Testosterone itself regardless of the ester doesn't alter from this rating, nor does the ester affect the rating of any other exogenous steroids independent anabolic/androgenic rating. The ester itself doesn't effect the purpose or potency of a compound. The only affects the ester posses is the time it takes for the body to metabolize it. For example, a Propionate ester would be utilized quicker in the body then say a Cypionate ester. Getting back to the subject, originally steroids were invented for medical therapeutic purposes, with the ideal of increasing anabolism and decreasing any androgenic effects originally. However over time this was decided on the purpose of the steroid during it's development. For example, if someone was suffering from H.I.V/A.I.D.S the creation of a compound possessing a higher anabolic effect would prove beneficial, to combat the catabolism brought on the disease. On the other hand, say a child was born with a predisposed condition that prevents the onset of puberty. Then a steroid possessing a higher androgenic rate would prove itself more beneficial, forcing the onset of puberty. When it comes to Testosterones it's therapeutic rating is rather low compared to other steroid like Nandrolone. Testosterone poses a therapeutic rating on 1, and this rating holds the same principal as Testosterone's A/A ratio rating. Being that Testosterone isn't as powerful as other steroids at producing anabolism, it is often stack with other AAS that posses a higher anabolic rating. This is one of the deciding factors on creating a cycle; The collective anabolic/androgenic cycle rating. In a future article I will elaborate more on "determining the varying factors in building a productive AAS cycle." Some people choose just to use a maintenance dosage of Testosterone while using higher dosages of more effective anabolic compounds such as Trenbolone or Nandrolone. The idea behind building a productive stack is to produce the highest anabolic rating while keeping the androgenic levels as lows as possible. This inturn will make the steroids more beneficial and decrease the unwanted side effects. The only way to run a cycle is healthy and productively. Once you've crossed the risk to ratio reward, you are hurting yourself. "You never know how important good health is, until you no longer have it." I hope the information above has been informative and a productive moment of your day. Utilize it to your benefit and pass the knowledge on so we can learn and grow. On a side note, there has only been one steroid produced with the intent of performance enhancements, and that is Danabol. (For more information on Danabol, I've written an article link as followed...http://www.eroids.com/forum/steroids-qa/anabolic-steroids/danabol-for-no......)

Below I have listed the current popular steroids used today and their anabolic/androgenic rating:

Testosterone (All Esters): 100/100
Nandrolone (All Esters): 125/37
Trenbolone (All Esters): 500/500
Primobolan (All Esters): 88/44
Parabolan 500/500
Masteron: 62/25
Equipoise: 100/50
Anavar: 630/24
Anadrol: 320/45
Danabol: 90/40
Halotest 1,900/850