N=1 After 40

Completed experiment ยท August 31 to October 18, 2026

Anavar

I used Anavar, also known as oxandrolone, to help retain strength and training performance during a cut. I consider that retention a win while losing 8.4 lb and remaining in what I estimate was a very large calorie deficit. Personal experiment record, not medical advice, prescribing, sourcing guidance, or an instruction to copy.

Outcome: Helpful. Strength retention during the cut was the useful result for me. The first week brought a surge of power; afterward, I no longer felt a distinct effect. Bloodwork follow-up remains scheduled for October 29.

My Experiment

What I wanted from it

The goal was to preserve muscle and maintain strength and training performance while cutting. I was not measuring success only by whether every lift increased. Keeping substantial strength while losing weight was useful in its own right. A possible change in fat mass was a secondary question.

Calories and the deficit

On August 31, my intake was 2,100 calories per day. During the experiment, I raised it to 2,700 calories per day. My weight-loss calculation still put me in a very large deficit. That context is why I regard strength retention as a positive result, even though the training record does not show a broad increase across lifts.

What I felt

In the first week, I felt a surge of new power. Afterward, I did not feel anything distinct from Anavar. The initial sensation and the later training results are separate observations; the absence of that feeling was not how I judged strength retention.

Course record

The experiment ran from August 31 through October 18, 2026, with October 19 the first day off. The original ledger listed 25 mg; later intake records most often show 30 mg on logged days. It was not a fixed 25 mg course.

Expected Versus Observed

The expected benefit and the actual result

Anavar's anabolic rationale points toward muscle and strength support. Human studies have reported lean-mass and strength gains, while the known trade-offs include lower HDL and possible LDL and liver-enzyme increases. My goal during this deficit was strength retention, which I regard as the helpful result.

Outcome Expected from Anavar My result and interpretation
Strength and performance Anabolic effects can increase strength over weeks. During a cut, retaining performance is a useful practical goal. Some lifts improved or held steady, while others declined; the median change was -6.0%. This was retention through a deficit rather than broad strength gain, and I count it as helpful.
Muscle preservation Increased lean mass in human trials supports the rationale for muscle preservation during a cut. The useful result I could track was retained lifting performance. The available course endpoints do not quantify how much muscle was preserved or gained.
Fat and scale weight Trials have reported fat reduction, but scale weight also reflects lean tissue and water. A specific amount of weight loss is not a reliable Anavar benchmark. Weight fell 8.4 lb while intake rose from 2,100 to 2,700 calories/day. That records progress through the cut; it does not identify an Anavar-specific amount of fat loss.
Felt effect The clinical benchmarks are changes over weeks, rather than a sustained day-to-day sensation of power. I felt a surge of new power in the first week, then no distinct effect. The fading sensation and the performance outcome are separate observations.
HDL cholesterol A decrease is a recognized lipid effect of oral anabolic steroids. HDL fell from 55 to 46 mg/dL, a 16.4% decrease. This matched the expected adverse direction.
LDL cholesterol and ApoB LDL can rise during oxandrolone treatment. Lower ApoB is not an expected benefit of Anavar. LDL fell from 44 to 40 mg/dL and ApoB from 56 to 48 mg/dL. These favorable directions differed from the potential LDL worsening. They occurred with ezetimibe, Cardarine and the surrounding lipid-support routine.
AST, ALT and CK Elevations are reported with oxandrolone. Weightlifting can also raise all three, so a rise is not a specific measure of liver injury or anabolic benefit. AST rose from 64 to 102 U/L, ALT from 32 to 61 and CK from 1,496 to 1,775. Recent lifting provides muscle context, while the ALT and mild direct-bilirubin elevation remain part of the follow-up.
Red cells and hematocrit Anabolic steroids can increase red-cell production; labeling calls for hemoglobin and hematocrit monitoring for polycythemia. RBC, hemoglobin and hematocrit fell within their reference ranges. The potential red-cell rise was not seen in this comparison; that does not measure Anavar's effectiveness.

The clearest departure from the potential adverse pattern was improved LDL and ApoB despite lower HDL. That is the net lipid result during the combined regimen. The September comparison was already during the course, and the October sample was the first day off. The research below provides the basis for the expected effects.

Weight and Strength

Weight loss during the course

Scale weight fell from 211.1 lb on August 31 to 202.6 lb on October 18, a loss of 8.4 lb or 4.0%. There were measurements on 43 of the 49 course days, and the fitted trend was about 1.0 lb lost per week. These measurements track total weight; they do not separate fat, muscle, glycogen and water.

What the lifting record shows

Comparing August 31 to September 17 against October 1 to 18, the median change across 18 matched exercise and equipment series was -6.0% in estimated one-repetition maximum. Four series improved by more than 1%, two stayed within 1%, and twelve declined by more than 1%. Those bands describe the data; they are not a clinical threshold. Selected movement markers are below.

Movement Estimated strength change
Rope triceps extension +10.9%
Barbell curl +7.4%
Hip adductor +6.8%
Leg extension +1.7%
Leg press Unchanged
Seated leg curl -1.2%
Incline barbell bench -7.0%
Close-grip bench -9.8%
Lat pulldown -15.7%

How the comparison was made

The two 18-day windows cover two planned nine-day training rotations each. The calculation uses non-warmup sets of 3 to 15 reps, the best Brzycki estimated maximum in each session, then the median across sessions. Each exercise and equipment series needs at least two sessions in both windows. Existing equipment corrections are applied, and different movements are kept separate.

October 13 to 17 workouts are provisionally excluded for travel; excluding October 10 to 17 instead still gives a lower median. The -6.0% is a median of exercise changes, not a measured loss of whole-body strength or muscle mass.

Why I still count retention as a win

Several movements held up or improved while weight continued to fall. Others declined, especially among the presses and pulls. A September shoulder injury brought changes to form, angles and tempo, and early October included substantial sleep disruption. My positive verdict is about retaining strength through the cut, with those uneven results visible alongside it.

Bloodwork

Earlier course versus first day off

September 16 was already after the August 31 start. It is an earlier-course comparison, not an untreated baseline. October 19 was the first day off, rather than a result after a prolonged washout.

Marker September 16 October 19
ApoB, mg/dL 56 48
LDL cholesterol, mg/dL 44 40
HDL cholesterol, mg/dL 55 46
Triglycerides, mg/dL 40 34
AST, U/L 64 102
ALT, U/L 32 61
CK, U/L 1,496 1,775
GGT, U/L 7 8
Hematocrit, % 47.4 45.8

Lipids in the actual routine

ApoB and LDL fell, while HDL also fell. Ezetimibe, Cardarine, omega-3 and artichoke were part of the surrounding routine. The bergamot-containing Pure Blood product was also used during the course. These are the lipid results during that combined regimen.

Testosterone increased from 210 to 300 mg/week on September 17, nandrolone from 100 to 150 mg/week on September 23, and thyroid treatment changed during the interval. The separate Cardarine lipid experiment and nandrolone Lp(a) record track their respective questions. Lp(a) was not included in this draw.

Muscle and liver associated markers

Both draws followed lifting the previous day. The October draw followed a leg session with 33 weighted working sets; the September draw followed a pull session with 25. That provides a muscle context for the high CK and AST. ALT also rose, and direct bilirubin was mildly high at 0.3 mg/dL, so the pattern does not establish that every elevation came from training.

GGT, ALP, total bilirubin and INR remained within their reported ranges. NAC and TUDCA were logged throughout most of the course, but their presence does not establish liver protection. The October 29 hepatic panel, GGT and CK repeat will show the early direction after stopping Anavar.

Red cells and follow up

RBC count fell from 5.10 to 4.91 million/uL, hemoglobin from 15.8 to 15.3 g/dL, and hematocrit from 47.4% to 45.8%. All remained within their reported ranges. The October 29 follow-up will also revisit lipids and ApoB alongside the planned hormone and Lp(a) testing. The helpful performance verdict does not close that monitoring.

Research Summary

Why muscle retention was the question

Oxandrolone is an oral anabolic androgenic steroid. A randomized 12-week trial in 32 men aged 60 to 87 reported about 5% to 9% strength gains across four tested exercises and a 3.0 kg increase in lean body mass, alongside increased total body water. These results provide an anabolic benchmark, rather than a prediction for my seven-week course, calorie deficit and existing hormone regimen. My practical endpoint was maintaining performance through the cut. Schroeder et al., 2004.

Fat loss and lipid changes can occur together

A related report from the same trial found reductions in total and regional fat while HDL decreased and LDL increased. A favorable body-composition result therefore does not imply favorable lipid changes. My HDL moved in that expected direction, while LDL and ApoB improved during the surrounding regimen. Schroeder et al., 2004, fat and metabolism analysis.

Why lipids and enzymes were monitored

Oxandrolone labeling describes HDL reductions, possible LDL increases and liver-related adverse effects. Separately, weightlifting research documents increases in CK, AST and ALT after exercise. Those findings explain why the performance result, lipids and enzyme trajectory are recorded together.

Sources