Dear Lyle,
I read your DNP experiences from MFW. I started doing some research and I have come to the conclusion that DNP is not something I want to mess with.
I have almost the exact same lean body mass as you so this is not a flame, but why have you not increased you LBM to burn more fat and lower your bodyfat percentage. I think I would be happy at the 6-7% bodyfat you have achieved and not be any bigger than I am, BUT IF 10-20 LBS OF LEAN BODY MASS WOULD HELP ME REACH 6-7% BODYFAT. I WOULD BE OK WITH THE ADDED SIZE (AND MAYBE HAPPY ABOUT IT).
Why did you choose to use DNP instead of a steroid cycle?
PS. I understood how a personal issue could trigger you to try something, but it would trigger me to try AS not DNP. Wouldn’t you consider a mild to moderate steroid cycle safer than DNP?
I still remember something I read about 6-8 months ago. “Why would you take all of these supplements (HMB at the time, but androstene / norandrostene / DNP now) that no one knows the long term effects, when you can take anabolic steroids and be well aware of the short and long term effects.
Tom
The answer to your basic question (why did I choose to use DNP instead of adding more lean body mass or using anabolic steroids) has several answers.
The first is a personal one. I was always a fat little kid. Raised by fat parents, no activity, shitty diet, etc, etc. When I got into high school, we had mandatory athletics and I started to get into shape. Thought “Hey, this is kind of cool, I’m not a fat ass anymore.” That led me to college to get a degree in Exercise Physiology. But despite everything I had done up to that point, I could never quite get as lean as I liked. In college I competed in cycling and in-line skating and was probably training 15-20 hours per week consistently. Yet I could never get leaner than about 15% bodfyat (too many carbs in hindsight). Then I found the Bodyopus diet.
And finally got below 10% for the first time in my life (even if I did make a LOT of screwups to get there). At that time in my life, I was much more concerned with being lean than anything else. In which case, DNP made more sense.
The second reason is an intellectual one. I am curious by nature. I like to read about stuff but that can never take the place of experiencing it. I have little tolerance for individuals who draw judgement on ANYTHING without ever trying it. DNP sounded like a fascinating substance but I wanted to experience it first hand. So I did. I’m not sure I’d ever use it again. To be honest, I would be interested in doing a cycle of AS. But I would only do it under the watchful supervision of an MD who would do the blood work for me and make sure the stuff was real. Very few MD’s would be willing to let me experiment with myself like that for such a superfluous reason (i.e. my own curiosity). Just realize that my goals for doing an AS cycle would have less to do with getting bigger or stronger as it would first hand experience. I hope at some point to work with elite athletes at some level. It’s a real fact of life that AS is a part of high level sport. I don’t want to be a dumb-ass coach who quotes the status-quo for AS “They’ll kill you boy, just eat meat.” without knowing first hand.
The third reason is a legal one. I can’t get sent to jail, have all my toys taken away from me, and become some guy’s girlfriend for the posession of DNP. Yeah, it would be illegal if I set up a fake company to get some but that’s not where I obtained it. The posession of AS (right or not) is punishable to the extent I described above. Yeah it’s been a while since I’ve gotten laid but I’m not into guys. By the same token, I have no way to know whether any AS I did get were real or not. I wasn’t connected to the underground in Nashville though I would probably have more luck where I’m living now.
I would imagine that similar reasons would apply to individuals who choose to go the supplement route rather than just get AS. AS are hard to find (well, real ones) and the potential penalties if you get busted are extremely high.
Oh yeah, I would probably agree that AS are relatively safer than DNP. DNP is one of those substances that you only get one screwup with. Someone who has a ‘more is better’ attitude (i.e. most bodybuilders) would get themselves into trouble because the lethal dose of DNP is only about three times the effective dose. But I am one to do major research into something before I use it. I knew the lethal dose of DNP, I knew the effective dose.
For someone who didn’t know what they were doing (or simply didn’t care), DNP would be incredibly dangerous. But maybe that’s not a bad thing. Thinning the herd, you know?
Oh yeah, one last thing. You ask why I didn’t focus on adding LBM to lose fat? While I agree in general with that strategy (boosting LBM to raise metabolic rate), I haven’t seen that automatically result in fat loss except in beginners, not without a diet. As I have discussed above, my goal at the time I used DNP was to get leaner, sub 10% bodyfat (though DNP wasn’t explicitly part of that goal).
That allowed me, over the last two years (during which time I have alternated periods of massing and dieting) to go from about 150 and ~8% bodyfat (138 lbs of LBM, where you are now) to 180 and about ~10% bodyfat (162 lbs of LBM). by leaning out first, I had ‘room to grow’ without letting my bodyfat get too high that I’d have to diet forever to get back to single digits. My goal for end year is 190 at 10% bodyfat (171 lbs LBM).
About the author
Lyle McDonald+ is the author of the Ketogenic Diet as well as the Rapid Fat Loss Handbook and the Guide to Flexible Dieting. He has been interested in all aspects of human performance physiology since becoming involved in competitive sports as a teenager. Pursuing a degree in Physiological Sciences from UCLA, he has devoted nearly 20 years of his life to studying human physiology and the science, art and practice of human performance, muscle gain, fat loss and body recomposition.