Clenbuterol (Clen) – 5 Things you wish you knew before using

That last bit of fat that your body desperately clings on to like a survival mechanism is more difficult to lose than the first 10 or 20 pounds.

And believe it or not, it’s one of the most frustrating situations to be in.

You’ve dieted all year, counting calories, watching your macros and you have managed to lose a truckload of weight.

But the last layer of fat around the trunk doesn’t seem to budge no matter what you do.

And then someone, your trainer or your coach or your best friend advises you to try Clenbuterol.

Only, you have no idea what it is or how it works. You look up on Google and you find that it’s advertised as a fat burner and there are people who sing praises for its effectiveness.

So you hop on. But a week later, you are jittery as hell, your heart’s pounding fast, you are unable to sleep and are getting anxiety attacks in the middle of the night.

Welcome to the Clen experience.

If that sums up what you went through, then you aren’t alone. Each day, many men and women around the world try Clenbuterol hoping that it will be the magic pill that they sought for weight loss.

And they end up quitting midway through their cycles with a very bad experiences. Some are lucky enough to get away with it. Others do irreparable damage to their bodies.

If you have been contemplating using Clenbuterol, then here are five things that you should know before you pop that innocuous-looking pill.

#1 – Clenbuterol is a very powerful sympathomimetic drug

Sympathomimetic drugs are stimulants that are used to stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, primarily for therapeutic uses and sometimes for recreational purposes.

In this case, Clenbuterol is used as a decongestant and a bronchodilator in many countries for treating asthma.

But in the United States, its only used as a veterinary grade drug. It’s illegal to use on humans.

In bodybuilding, it is abused as a fat burner due to its properties to repartition body fat.

What most people do not know is that Clenbuterol belongs to the same category of drugs as Methamphetamine and Cocaine.

#2 – Clenbuterol will only be effective if you are very lean

Clenbuterol is not the magic solution that will help you shed your weight even if you lead a sedentary lifestyle and gorge on junk food.

It is only effective in people who are very lean to begin with.

Let’s say that you have dialed down your diet to perfection and have managed to cut your body fat percentage to 15. Clenbuterol may possibly help you get down to 10% or less. But you’d still have to watch what you eat and use it responsibly.

If you are at 25-30% of body fat, then the only thing you will get by using Clen is nasty side effects.

So do not even consider it. Instead, fix your diet, start lifting weights, do cardio or HIIT twice or thrice a week and then, you can think about adding Clenbuterol to the mix.

That too, if you are willing to overlook some of the side effects that are guaranteed with Clen.

#3 – Clenbuterol will make you jittery and wired

As Clenbuterol starts to stimulate the beta2-adrenergic receptors in your body, it will trigger a series of events that are commonly called ‘Jitters’. Your heart rate amplifies, you experience muscle tremors involuntarily, you feel anxious and on the edge.

Clenbuterol has a long half-life of up to 39 hours. So you will continue to experience this for hours after you take a dose.

In fact, the effects of the drug can be felt for weeks after you discontinue your Clenbuterol cycle.

Some people experience severe insomnia while they are on Clen. Others find the side effects so annoying that they quit after a week or two.

That’s the smart thing to do. If your body is showing telltale signs that something’s not working right, it’s best to listen to it.

#4 – Start with a very low dose of Clen and increase until you reach a tolerable dose

Despite all that you’ve read, if you have your heart set on using Clenbuterol, then the least you can do is use it in the right way that maximizes results while minimizing sides.

Clenbuterol is most commonly available in the tablet form with 20mcg pills being the standard dose. There are injections, pumps and syrups too these days. But stick to the pills. They are the most tested form of the drug.

You can start with 20mcg/day, gradually increasing it every couple of days until you hit 80-100mcg/day or whatever is your tolerable limit.

Continue at this dose for two weeks and then take two weeks off to minimize side effects as well as increase the effectiveness of the drug.

So the dosage would be 20mcg on Monday & Tuesday, 40mcg on Wednesday & Thursday, 60 on Friday & Saturday, 80 on Monday and Tuesday, 100 on Wednesday and Thursday, 120 on Friday and Saturday. At any point during this, if you feel that the sides are getting too difficult to manage, discontinue the usage.

Clenbuterol is mildly anabolic/anti-catabolic. But this effect of the drug starts to wear off in the third week of your cycle. Hence, it makes more sense to use it for two weeks at a time.

The thermogenic properties of Clen will taper off by the time you reach 6-weeks. At this point, the body adjusts to the drug and your temperature returns to normal.

Follow the two weeks on, two weeks off dosing protocol for not more than 12-weeks and you should be able to get good results with minimal side effects.

#5 – Be aware of the side effects

Clenbuterol increases your basal metabolic rate by up to 10%. And it is a given that there will be side effects.

However, some of them are mild and can be tolerated in most people. Others can be debilitating, like extremely painful headaches and severe muscle cramps.

The muscle cramps can be negated to an extent by drinking lots of water during the cycle.

For the headaches, most users just pop a couple of Paracetamol (Tylenol).

The jitters are unavoidable and are most severe during the first two to three days of using the drug. Once you get through the first few days, the body adjusts to the drug and the jitters should reduce as well.

Like we said earlier, if at any point, you feel that it’s unmanageable, just discontinue usage.