November 11, 2011
Ben Greenfield pumping his fist as he wins another Half-Ironman.
At the recent ITU Long Course World Championships, I took an amateur division gold medal for Team USA.
Within just 2 days, I was accused by multiple Facebook messages and e-mails of using “performance enhancing drugs”. That's really not the first time this has happened (perhaps it's because I used to be an all-natural bodybuilder?).
And then, earlier this morning as I was tooling around the kitchen, I listened to the most recent Everyman Endurance podcast interview with “Doper Next Door” author Andrew Tillin.
In that interview, Andrew talks about the effects of his massive testosterone dosing, including:
-beating other triathletes and cyclists who used to beat him…
-waking up the day after hard workouts and races, and being immediately ready to go hard again…
-being extremely horny and constantly full of sexual drive…
-having a high amount of aggressive, competitive drive…
-being able to easily put on muscle…
-training very little, but getting a ton of results from minimal training…
–and pretty much everything that I personally feel on a daily basis.
As I stood there listening, I had the stark realization that it probably is evident that I must be taking performance enhancing drugs.
So I'm going to come right out and say it:
I admit to using performance enhancing drugs.
There.
I said it.
In just a second, I'm going to tell you exactly what I've been taking, and at what doses.
But before I do, let me be clear about one thing. Although in the past year, I have tripled my testosterone levels (since finding out they were low in this podcast interview with Dr. Cohen)…
…I have never taken testosterone pills, patches, injections or creams – or ever gone near the stuff…
…I've also never blood doped, taken human growth hormone, used clenbuterol, or ever tried or gone near any of that stuff, or anything else that is an illegal performance enhancing drug…
So that being said, at the risk of giving all my competitors a stark advantage once they read this post, I'm going to now give away my exact performance enhancing drug use profile:
-Triglyceride based fish oil caps (like SuperEssentials) at 4-6 capsules per day, to increase levels of anti-inflammatory fatty acids. I like to also add in 1 tablespoon per day cod liver oil for extra Vitamin D & A.
-4000-6000IU Vitamin D per day (stacked with this with fish oil), as a steroid and hormone precursor.
-4 Recoverease after easy workouts, and 6-8 after very difficult workouts (or races), for accelerating muscle repair. Capraflex is also a good alternative for this.
-250mg Natural Calm magnesium 30-60 minutes before bed, for enhancing sleep quality and testosterone.
-8-10 sprays Topical Magnesium sprayed on any area of body that is sore or stiff post-workout, and also sprayed on quads, calves and shoulders pre-race.
-5 Master Amino Pattern (MAP) before easy workouts and 10 before very difficult workouts (or races), to limit lean muscle damage.
-Adaptogenic herb for balancing testosterone:cortisol ratios and also for stress management (I personally do TianChi, taken on an empty stomach mid morning or mid afternoon).
-3-6 Caprobiotics and CapraColostrum per day for digestive health and immune system support (proper hormone production is intimately tied to gut health).
–MillenniumSports Somnidren GH or Hammer REM caps for better sleep – either of these 30-60 minutes before bed (you make many of your hormones while you sleep).
-2-4 ProstElan per day for decreasing testosterone conversion to estrogens and enhancing sexual performance.
-I didn't use this, but if you need to “jump start” the process with an herbal derivative, I recommend “Renew Male“.
In addition to the protocol above, I also sleep 8 hours a night, eat a diet that is very high in fat and low in processed or refined carbohydrate, and avoid excessive aerobic exercise.
There, I feel much better now after admitting my performance enhancing drug use.
What about you? Are you performing physically, mentally and sexually below your potential?
Not me. I've personally chosen better living through smart science.
I will now sit patiently and wait for the WTC, ITU, and any other governing triathlon body to disqualify me from races and strip me of my shiny medals.
And those of you who have been accusing me of drug use can now stop. I plead guilty.
If you have questions, comments or feedback, leave them below.
Loved the article. In more recent podcasts you mentioned D-Aspartic acid and Myomin to help testosterone. How do they fit in to this protocol?
I read the list of all this crap and just laugh. Good gracious. I guess to each his own.
There's no audio when you go to the supplements page…. am I supposed to click something?
Our supplements page has changed around so much that we took down the audio! What questions did you have though, John?
Thanks ben for all the great advice and honesty you’ve shared with us. Your always right on the money with your suggestions and how to guides. You practice what you preach. That’s alot more than some of these clowns can say. Keep it up taz.
Ben, do you not take Colostrum anymore?
No, I only took that before a few hot races this year. Took 2-4 capsules for about 5 days before the hot races, to decrease gut permeability in the heat. Used http://www.pacificfit.net/supplements.php#capraco…
As one of only a handful of Americans that can podium overall in a big race he is subject to drug testing which many even age group winners who might be doping are not. I truly believe Ben would not risk basically his entire life around taking a little extra. He used to take stuff like DHEA which is now banned and I think maybe glycerol (illegal as a masking agent now) but discontinued after they were listed even though u can go to GNC and pick up DHEA and have an illegal PED in your hand and there are some AGs doping without realizing it. Some supplements are PEDs people and depending on testing and amounts some are illegal. Like Ben neglected caffiene which is oddly illegal in an amount that would actually hurt performance. Many things Ben take falls into this category.
I didn't used to take DHEA or glycerol. Not sure where you heard that.
I thought you previously recommend taking Cordygen vo2 only a couple of weeks before a race. Do you recommend taking it daily now?
Yes, it has some good side benefits for immune system and sexual performance.
I would have more respect for you as athlete if you yold me you eat well, take a multi vitamin and work out hard. Geez, how does the average athlete even go about knowing or afford this kind of nutrition program?? Who are you trying to help by publishing this and why? I could see it would be to clear yourself of any allegations of doping but it truly comes as close to cheating without really cheating,
I'm trying to help anybody who wants to get the same effects of doping without doping.
"Geez, how does the average athlete even go about knowing or afford this kind of nutrition program?"
Knowing: you just read the post
Affording: all a matter of priorities. I'm not saying you need to buy all this and use it. But if it's this or testosterone, then this would be a better choice in most cases for your health and longevity
You have mention ZMA before, how come not now?
Because I've been doing OK with the magnesium. But ZMA would be a fine alternative to that.
Ben has done an awesome job of combining science and personal experience to build his success! An important point that can be lost in the totality of Ben's comprehensive program and supplement list is that the core of Ben's success is built upon a solid low-glycemic diet, frequent HIIT and base supplement intake such as (micronutrients, vitamin D, essential fatty acids and essential amino acids) that were determine to be needed by lab assessments. The additional products he is taking while are essentially experimental add-ons to the base products determined by science to be critical. The nutrition program that Ben utilized such as the Bioletic's Core 4 Nutrition program combines proven effective nutritional formula along with individual lab assessments to determine your individual effective dosing and individual nutritional needs. Check it out at www.bioletics.com/core4 or feel free to contact me directly at [email protected]
Ben
When you are taking Master Amino Pattern does that eliminate the need for whey protein/carb recovery drinks after intense workouts? Thanks!
Chris
Hey Chris:
A formula such as MAP is much more rapidly absorbed and utilized by the body than whey protein. Whey and other proteins are best used as food and use formulas such as MAP or Bioletics Essential Amino Acid powder to maintain and restore plasma amino acid levels. You can take either with some simple carbs after a work out or alone and take the carbs with food-based protein later on.
Ben, i can see some differences from your Holistic Fueling book. Would you recommend changing anything from that plan in order to consider the supplements you mention on your post?
Thanks!
Other than Holistic Fueling (which is now available at http://www.pacificfit.net/books-dvds.php by the way), just add in the stuff above, and then if you want to lose weight, try the first 4 weeks of http://www.revdiet.com
Thanks Ben. Doing a quick math, adding this to the Holistic Fueling will take more than $450/month. If you were to "cut" some of these supplements off (either hollistic fueling or the ones on this post), which ones you will give lower priority?
Bare minimum would be magnesium, fish oil, Vitamin D and greens. Highly recommend you listen to audio on top of page at http://www.pacificfit.net
Any idea on what the retail cost on all the supplements would be?
There are some discount codes for the athletes I coach, and also a bunch of discount codes in the http://www.triathlondominator.com program, but you're looking at significantly less than testosterone. In the range of $300/month.
Ben if talking T numbers how much do you think taking all these supplements raises you T?
It depends how high your testosterone is going in, how much sleep you have, how much sex you have, etc. Etc. There are so many variables. But in most cases, if you do things right, you can see a boost of 200 to 400 points.
Testosterone cost $19.99 for 10ml at 200mg a ml from a doctor. Black market would be $40-$50 for 10ml of 300mg a ml. Everyone is different and not everyone who follows your $450 a month supplement schedule will see a doubling of their free test.
Enjoyed this Ben, you're not only buff and fast, you're funny. Thanks for listening to the Doper interview. A few questions for you:
–Do you think that the typical time-pressed, work-and-kids triathlete squeezes in enough training/rest/TLC?
–Might such a person, who perhaps still doesn't want to lose a step (or stroke), consider a syringe-based shortcut?
What's your Rx for encouraging people, who can't keep up with you either on or off the race course, to avoid the 'roids etc? I'd like you to add your two cents to my cautionary tale.
Hi Andrew, I'm looking forward to reading your book now. You sound buff, fast, and apparently the whole world knows exactly how you wake up too. ;)
Anyways:
"–Do you think that the typical time-pressed, work-and-kids triathlete squeezes in enough training/rest/TLC?"
Yes on training. Usually too much to be honest, and most athletes I coach *cut back* on their training when I start coaching them. But no on *active* rest and TLC. Cutting an hour long treadmill slog short by 20 minutes and doing some foam roller, magnesium, bit of stress relieving yoga, and maybe saving a bit of energy for a nice romp in the bedroom would do most triathletes a bit of good.
–"Might such a person, who perhaps still doesn't want to lose a step (or stroke), consider a syringe-based shortcut?"
Sure. That's cool with me. But unless they have a Therapeutic Use Exemption for hypogonadism, they better not be nudging me off a podium, or stealing my check or trophy because they did something illegal.
–"What's your Rx for encouraging people, who can't keep up with you either on or off the race course, to avoid the 'roids etc?"
Read the article and take the stuff I take. Recover properly. Sleep enough. De-stress. Fix relationships. Have sex. Eat good food. Do everything you'd do if you were wanting to have a baby. Sounds weird, but totally true. A good reproductive status means good performance in a sport like this.
Stay away from simple sugars that spike your insulin which suppresses your HGH.
yup, good point Vic. Unless you're exercising.
cool article. even though i’m a woman, i’m low in testosterone and these tips would help me. i am having a hard time figuring out the macronutrient ratios in my diet, though. when you say you eat a high fat diet, approximately what percentage of your diet is fat? do you eat low carb or just low processed carb? i tried eating 50% of my calories in fat a while ago and i felt like it was too much – couldn’t digest it that well. if i could digest it, i’d eat more.
thanks.
Kinda depends, Jackie, but typically about 40-50% fat, although that can drop in favor of carbohydrates during a race week. Just take digestive enzymes if you have trouble with that amount of fat in your diet…or read http://www.lowcarbtriathlete.com to make sure you do it right.
Hey Ben, I was at that race and actually sat behind you in the bar (I'm a big chicken when it comes to meeting celebs) and have always liked your podcast for nothing more than you actually research the supplements you take. It feels like you're pretty open and honest and I never get the feeling you're hiding something. Thanks for the great work, and congrats on a great race!- Earl Barnes #98
Earl, come up and say hi next time! Drinks on me.
Not sure why you would even want to gain attention on something like this. This just gives the audience a reason to debate with you. You have a great reputation and have tons of loyal fans.
As a customer of Ben's, I laughed when I saw the title of Ben's article. I laughed because I knew before reading it that it would cover all the good stuff and nothing illegal. I can see why someone would accuse him of this because have you ever tried to eat and live as healthy as a Ben and his family does! If you do, then you will know how much better you will feel and perform. Thanks for the laugh Ben but sorry to hear you have some haters out there. The only question I had here was do you take both the Millennium Sports Somnidren GH or Hammer REM caps and Natural Calm?
“The only question I had here was do you take both the Millennium Sports Somnidren GH or Hammer REM caps and Natural Calm?”Either/or, but not both.Sent with two thumbs from my iPhone
I'm not sure if it was supposed to be, but this post of Ben's is hilarious. Some people just don't get nutrition. Don't worry about the haters Ben. This is one of your best posts ever. Great!
Was your response to Baxter necessary? I think he was asking a legitimate and reasonable question, but if you think it warrants a snarky response, then I am disappointed in your attitude.
Sorry, I am on and off planes today and writing quickly. I will engage in greater detail in a sec.
Actually sleep is the best way to release the HGH as well as other essential hormones, and quality fat is a critial raw material to make these hormones and etc.
Ben do you cycle these or is this your year round program?
Mostly year round now. When I did take Optimale and Creatine in the past I cycled those, but none of the above need cycling. Less Vitamin D when I'm getting lots of sun exposure too.
Ben,
Will you please define 'excessive aerobic' exercise and expelling why you avoid ti since you are an endurance athlete.
Thanks. I also have been following you at ICI/PRO and ICA.
Also if you have time take a read of my blog from our recent conference.
Chuck
Chuck, check this post out: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2011/07/top-1…
Hi Ben – So all this sounds great but what about those of use who do not have the disposible income to afford all the supplements you take daily. Is there a MUST HAVE or a less exspensive remedy that can help boost testastorone and energy?
Sure. Here it is:
Eat more fat, get more sleep, and exercise less.
In more detail, what I'd recommend is listen to audio at top of page at http://www.pacificfit.net – where I go into greater detail on the "bare minimum". In a nutshell, it's Vitamin D, Fish Oil, Magnesium, and greens (in addition to the adequate fat intake, sleep, exercise bit).
Let me know if that helps!
Enerprime fit in there anywhere?
Gaaah. I knew I forgot something. I take 6 Enerprime in the morning OR 2 scoops of LivingFuel SuperGreens. Occasionally use Mt. Capra Caprgreens instead. Anyways, yes, I use a "greens". You can see any of these at http://www.pacificfit.net
Best post title tease ever Ben.. lol nice work..