Dave’s 5 Point Thursday – 17/10/2019
Hello everyone. Welcome to another edition of Dave’s 5 point Thursday. Let’s get right into it!
What are my athletes asking me about this week?
I have received a number of emails from elite level athletes regarding beating a drug test. Firstly, can I just say that I’m honoured to be working with you people. Secondly, as much as you can trust me with your identity, there is no need to tell me who you are. It’s best to remain anonymous in the case your email security is compromised one day. I will treat you all much the same. I am currently writing an article that will dive deep into the world of drug testing and exactly how you can beat any anti-doping organisation. Whether that be VADA, WADA, USADA? I can show you all how to beat it. At first, I did not want to release this kind of information, but I have come to the realisation that the general public needs to know what is really going on. I have a hint.
“Animal sterol replaces plant sterol.”
If anyone can explain to me how to beat a specific WADA test with that hint in mind, you’re going to receive a personal message from me with a very special gift coupon.
What are my athletes doing to monitor their recoverability?
One of the best and worst behaviours about elite level athletes is that they have the will to push their bodies to the limit. As much as that personality trait is necessary to get to the top, it can also be a hindrance if an athlete does not know when it’s time to rest and recover. The Oura Ring 2 is (to my knowledge) the only device that measures HRV while you sleep on a millisecond by millisecond timeline. The Oura Ring 2 also has published research papers to provide the evidence that their device isn’t just another gimmick. Knowing your HRV is an evidence based metric that in short can tell you if you’re ready to push hard today or back off. In my experience, elite level athletes want to push hard everyday no matter how they feel. Sometimes, we need a coach or piece of technology to tell us that it’s beneficial for us to take a day off. At the end of the day, we are after optimal sports performance, not psychological relief. I know how hard it is to take a day off, but sometimes you have to.
What is the performance enhancement drug of the week?
Sleep. Say what? Yep, sleep. I cannot tell you how many emails I get that outline to me an athlete isn’t getting the results they want from their recent drug stack. Upon further investigation, it’s alarming how many athletes are not prioritising sleep hygiene. Make no mistake about it. If you do not sleep long enough and sleep well enough, you’re not going to be a champion. However, how long and how well you sleep is a personalised answer. The Oura Ring 2 will also keep track of this too. And no, I do not have any financial interests in the Oura Ring 2 or its company. Feel free to hit me up with some benefits if you’re reading this but Oura! Do you have issues with sleep? Feel free to email us. It may be time to release my post it notes on how to get a good nights sleep (when you’re all jacked up on performance enhancing drugs).
What are my athletes doing to monitor their heart health on high doses of anabolic steroids?
Last week, I again linked my article on when and what bio-markers to check if you’re using performance enhancing drugs. Sometimes, these general guidelines are not sufficient to predict our health if we are particularly heavy or chronic users. For elite level athletes who require high doses of PED for long periods of time, it may be worth checking a few other bio-markers. If you’re using a lot for a long time, may I suggest checking these bio-markers:
– Homocysteine
– High Sensitive CRP
– Lipoprotein (a)
– CAC scan
I’ll be writing about these more in depth next week, but if anyone can tell me what these bio-markers mean in the context of monitoring health as a PED user, then you too will receive a special discount code from me. I must forewarn you all, these discount coupons will not be handed out easily. I am passionate about the truth, so you need to be on the money to save the money.
What did my athletes learn this week?
Human Growth Hormone is barely anabolic on its own. Say what again? Yep, that’s right. Human Growth Hormone on its own is not bang for your buck at all if you’re in search for more size. Human Growth Hormone is mostly a “preparatory” hormone that primes blank cells to become skeletal muscle cells in the right environment. What is the right environment then? Well, firstly, Human Growth Hormone releases sugars and fats in to the blood stream to allow for more available energy. With that said, we don’t want to be in a hypo-caloric or energy demanding state when we dose GH for optimal gains. This is why I suggest dosing GH before bed, when we are at rest and calories for the day have been consumed. Once GH has increased the available energy into the blood and these blank cells have been primed to be muscle cells, GH then causes something pretty unique in the liver whereby insulin, estrogen, androgens and about two other handfuls of growth factors are interpreted for an overall IGF-1 score. It is this IGF-1 score that does most of the actual muscle building stuff post GH dosing. Notice some of the mentioned hormones at play though prior to the IGF-1 release. Androgens (anabolic steroids), estrogen (anabolic steroids) and insulin. If you want a big whack of IGF-1, you can’t just use HGH. And if you think IGF-1 is the only answer, then you need to re-read what I just wrote because GH prepares those cells for the growth that IGF-1 (as a result of the GH dosing and the synergy between those other mentioned growth factors) works on afterwards. If you can agree that there is a synergy required for magic, then you’ll also be displeased to also learn that IGF-1 levels can take several weeks after beginning HGH to “build reserves” that are available 24/7 for growth. At the beginning of HGH use, IGF-1 may only be available for minutes, even seconds. Using HGH really is something you want to be able to afford to use long term. The good news is, some GH is better than no GH. Even as little as 2 iu per day will produce noticeable effects in muscle size after long term use in the presence of anabolic steroids—and preferably insulin too. The more you use, the bigger you get. It’s just that simple. However, after 10 iu per day, the side effects and financial burden usually provide an overall diminishing of returns for most. The sweet spot is usually between 4-8 iu per day for most users, depending on goals.
