Rushall notes, (1997).

The East German procedure apparently was one of taking hard performance-enhancing drugs for a period, and then when competitions approached, the drugs were changed to "softer" and harder-to-detect substances such as esters of testosterone. If the esters were taken in correct amounts, the effect of the hard substances was maintained rather than enhanced, and detection was harder particularly if the testosterone to epitestosterone ratio remained under 6:1, the legal limit of acceptability (although the natural level is usually 1:1). If the 6:1 ratio is exceeded there is absolutely no doubt that drugs have been taken because the ratio is so far beyond a normal range of natural variations.

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