(11) EFFECTS OF PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENT DRUG PRACTICES ON BODY COMPOSITION AND BLOOD BIOMARKERS DURING CONTEST PREPARATION OF A BODYBUILDER: A CASE STUDY

Purpose: Bodybuilders often incorporate a combination of hypocaloric diets, sports supplements, resistance training, aerobic exercise, and performance enhancement drugs (PEDs) to prepare for competition. The effects of these practices on body composition and blood biomarkers during this time are seldom reported for enhanced competitors. The purpose of this case study is to identify the drug use practices, body composition changes, and blood biomarkers of a high level 41 year old male bodybuilder undergoing a 105 day contest preparation. Methods: The participant self-reported information related to his PED practices as he prepared for the competition from fifteen weeks prior to the competition through eight weeks post-competition. Additionally, he provided blood work to analyze changes in blood biomarkers eighteen, ten, and one week prior to competition and eight weeks post-competition. Lastly, the competitor came to the lab to assess blood pressure, heart rate, height, weight, and body composition via DEXA fifteen, eight, and one week(s) prior to competition as well as eight weeks post-competition. Results: In this 105 day contest preparation period, the bodybuilder transformed from 85.7 kg at 14.9% body fat with 12.8 kg of fat mass (FM) and 72.9 kg of FFM at 15 weeks pre-competition down to 77.3 kg at 4.3% body fat with 3.3 kg of FM and 74.0 kg of FFM one week out from competition. Body weight and body fat percentages after 8 weeks pre-competition and 8 weeks post competition were 80.1.6 kg at 8.7% and 82.4 kg at 10.1%, respectively. Drugs uses included testosterone cypionate, testosterone propionate, nandrolone decanoate, metenolone enanthate, drostanolone proprionate, trenbolone hexahydrobenzylcarbonate, oxandrolone, clenbuterol, liothyronine, growth hormone, anastrozole, and telmisartan. Highest weekly combined anabolic steroid dosages peaked at ~2000 mg/week. Table 1 summarizes the blood biomarkers that were out of normal ranges for his age group during the contest preparation and post-competition periods. Conclusions: The participant gained FFM and decreased FM in a 105 day period following a hypocaloric diet, resistance training/aerobic training 6 days per week, and stacking several PEDs. Blood biomarkers including blood lipids, liver enzymes, testosterone, estradiol, hemoglobin, and hematocrit were negatively altered during contest preparation, but most returned back to baseline once PED intake was lowered. Practical Applications: Practitioners should be aware that it is possible to gain FFM while simultaneously losing FM despite following a hypocaloric diet. Part of this may be explained by the PEDs used as part of the process. PED abuse led to acute negative alterations of various blood biomarkers, but most returned back to baseline after lowering the PED dosage. Acknowledgements: None