Here’s a question I get a lot: “Hey Jack, I’m 22 years old and have been training for 6 months. I’m ready to take my training to the next level. What prohormones should I be taking for maximum gains?”
This is a really important question – mainly because the answer is something other than what the questioner wants to know. What these young men are really asking is this:
Jack, it’s cool if I take prohormones, right??
The problem is that they won’t like my answer which would always be “no”. It’s no because using prohormone supplements when you don’t know what you’re doing is a bad idea.
And if you’re in your early 20’s and sending me emails about prohormone or designer steroid use then you come under this category.
Here are three reasons you shouldn’t use prohormones if you’re in your early 20s
1. Your Hormone System Hasn’t Developed Fully Yet
If you’re a guy, puberty hits at around 12, to 13 years old and lasts for the next five years or so. By around the age of 19 your testosterone levels will have peaked and will remain high until around the age of 40 when they will start to drop off slightly (yes, this is a similification of a lot of science but that’s what we do here.)
If I’m being honest, I first took prohormone supplements in my mid-20s and the effects were ‘meh’. A few years later and a bottle of Methdrol down the hatch and BOOM! – Incredible Bulk time.
If you’re in your early 20’s, it doesn’t make sense to start to add prohormones or designer steroids to your supplement regime as your natural hormones levels are already pretty freaking high.
2. You Haven’t Trained Long Enough to Max Your Natural Potential
This is linked to point 1. If you’re in your early 20’s, you’ve maybe been lifting for three or four years tops. And out of those four years, I guarantee there were two years when you didn’t know what you were doing. So you’ve been seriously training for two years. Max
So why would you want to start adding in assistance like prohormones? Get your diet, training, sleep and rest all dialed in, hit some big numbers (or low bodyfat percentages)as a ‘natural’ before looking for chemical assistance.
I guarantee this isn’t what you want to hear which is why most men in their early 20’s are going to ignore this post. Don’t be one of them.
3. You Probably Can’t Afford it
Here’s what you’re thinking having read point 3:
Jack, you’re way off beam. A bottle of prohormones is like £40.
Technically that’s correct, but if you add in the cost of cycle support and your PCT regime (not to mention the extra food and time cost of additional training), your costs are going to be in the region of £150-£200 for a full course.
If I’m going to do a prohormone cycle properly I’m going to:
- Hit the gym a minimum of 4 times per week, lifting heavy
- Eat a ton of food – carbs, protein
- Sleep as much as possible
- Buy one or two prohormones/designer steroid products
- Buy some cycle support
- Buy a PCT stack.
But when I was in my early 20s, most of my energy was partying, the occasional workout and as little sleep as possible. Try adding prohormones to the bank balance and average lifestyle of a 22 year old and it won’t work out well. At all.
Better to leave it until you’ve got the time and energy (and money) to make it a worthwhile investment in your body.
Be Patient – Good Things Will Come
Why be in such a hurry to get huge or lean? Hopefully you’re in this lifting game for the long run – consistency beats everything over time. Wait a few years until you’ve trained consistently and dialed in your diet. Then you could see if prohormones can help you reach the place you want to be.
Remember though – none of this will make you happy if your heart and soul aren’t right. Prohormones aren’t happiness pills, they’re supplements. The work and satisfaction is down to you.
Jack
P.S. None of this is legal or medical advice. Dumb kids are going to do dumb stuff with their bodies regardless of what I write. Don’t be one of them. And if you plan to be, speak to a doctor first – hopefully you’ll listen to them better than me.
