Lets talk about estrogen, its potential role in building muscle and burning fat.

[Biggerp73]

So this is something I've been wondering about lately. Usually guys prefer aromatizing/estrogenic compounds when putting on muscle, and non-aromatizing compounds when burning fat/cutting. Now, what role does estrogen actually play in these processes? I remember reading somewhere that low estrogen could potentially make gaining muscle more difficult, perhaps in regards it's effect of GH/IGF-1? If I recall correctly someone had said that nolvadex impaired the anabolic effects of GH usage for this reason. On the flip-side, many say estrogen not only causes bloating (which wouldn't be ideal when looking for a shredded appearance), but actually inhibits fat loss to some degree. Now I have also heard that estrogen actually does play a role in lipolysis (burning fat), so I am wondering if perhaps *some* estrogen might be beneficial, not during the last couple weeks before a show when drying out, but during the majority of the cutting phase when fat is being burnt. Likewise, I question whether estrogen itself has any real anabolic activity, and whether non-aromatizing compounds can be used just as effectively as aromatizing compounds for gaining muscle (and whether there is any truth to the idea that some level of estrogen is necessary for exogenous GH to produce it's full anabolic effects). What do you guys say.