So from what I’ve read, donating plasma seems like a good idea.
Pros:
Saves lives.
Can make you about 200+ extra bucks a month for donating twicw a week.
Cons:
Potentially reduced immune system.
Potentially saps proteins that could be used for gains.
Scars from repeated vein puncture.
Any thoughts on the effects this could have on one’s workouts or any experiences doing it?
To my knowledge there are not any studies on bodybuilding and plasma donation. In my personal experience if you donate you probably have ~24-36 hours afterwords that you are going to feel weak. Even if you plan it so that you have the next day off training, I still struggled to perform and make gains when I donated.
I’ve donated plasma for a couple of years now. When I first started it was just a once a week thing (still is), but the purpose was that I was just donating plasma. After donating for like a year, they notified me that I had a match for their program, where they essentially extract an antibody from the plasma that is used to save babies when the fetus and mother have conflicting RH status (at least that’s my understanding of it).
I’ve never noticed decreased strength, although one time I neglected to re-hydrate after a donation, and the next day I had that hungover, dried out feeling, bit of a headache, etc. When I properly hydrate myself I don’t notice any negative effects, but I also time my donation so that I don’t have anything relevant the next day, eg training, exams, etc.
I did this for a bit a few years back. I only donated like 15-20 times but can still see the scars from injection. In contrast, I have no visible scars from TRT yet. Could have just been a larger than normal(whatever that is for plasma) gage needle or the inexperienced staff. Never had an issue with strength or endurance.
I’ve not had any problems, personally. About a year ago I was donating twice a week, lifting, and playing rugby. I’d sometimes donate a few hours before rugby practice. The first week wasn’t fantastic but after that I got used to it and didn’t notice any performance decrease. That said, I’m also quite young (19), so that may have been why.
They said I had shitty veins so they had to reject me, really needed that money.