I am a teenager who has been bodybuilding for maybe one year. I want some extra cash for college(WVU) and was thinking about donating plasma aside from my part time job. Does anyone know how much this would affect my workouts and muscle growth. Also how long do you think it would take to recover from donating plasma considering they put the blood taken back in your body after the plasma is taken out. Any help is appreciated.
I’m afraid I can’t tell you how it would affect your training, but I can share my experiences.
I sold plasma twice a week, every week for around six months when I first moved out on my own. Because, as you already pointed out, they return the blood (mixed with saline) back into your body, you recover quick enough to be able to donate twice every seven days. From what I remember, there weren’t too many warnings about strenuous activities, but I can honestly say that none of the people I shared the plasma bank with were any kind of bodybuilders. All I know is I would stay up all night to make sure I’d arrive at the bank by six (to beat the crowds - seriously), spend the hour or so donating, return home, drink beer or vodka until noon, smoke a couple packs of cigarettes, and not get any sleep until I got home from work that night. This, of course, was back in the day before I became committed to lifting and improving my general well-being.
Basically, I’m saying I treated myself like shit back when I was donating and made it through okay, so if you have your sleep and diet in order, and maybe donate on non-lifting days, I would think you’d be fine.
But, of course, make sure to consult the nurses down at the bank.
Sorry for rambling on.
I’ve been thinking of donating plasma to make some extra cash now that I am on my own. But in all honesty, I have no clue how to find a place that actually purchases it. Any ideas??
Thnx leon79 for your info.
Neya I usually see ads in the local newspaper for Plasma donations.
I donated palsma for a couple of years, and trained the whole time. I would just make sure you schedule the days you donate to coincide with your off days in the gym. In other words don’t train the same day you donate.
wow that seems weird that you guys donate blood for money! Sell blood I guess.
Anyone got any advice on donating about a pint of whole blood and training? I do it a few times a year (our national blood service limits the number of donations a donor can make) and I always suck at recovery I tire about 10 times as fast post-donation.
I guess its pretty much in line with this post - any tips on speeding up recovery?
If it helps, I find the best cure is to have training buddies who shout extra-loud at you while your lifting 
We’re not donating blood. They put all the RBC’s and stuff back in. They take out the plasma - the liquid part of the blood.
When you have two hungry kids, and a crappy job, you’ll do just about anything.
Al168,
I don’t know about other areas of the country, but around here, they don’t pay for blood. Plasma is the only thing you can donate for money. While it takes much longer to give than blood, it takes less of a physical toll on your system.
All I can think of is that maybe you’d be slightly tired when you go in but guess what stop being a wuss and get in there ya pansy