Before starting injectable steroids, do you need to take an oral supplement like “Dali Bu” or “Teli Bu” to “kick-start” the process? This question came up during a conversation with a friend, and upon reflection, I realized there might be others with the same concern—or perhaps someone has even suggested to you, the viewer, that you should pick up an extra bottle of “Dali Bu” or “Teli Bu” before beginning your injection regimen. So, is this “kick-start” really necessary? In today’s video, Brother Tian will share his thoughts on the matter. So, let me first take a wild guess at the reasons behind this “pre-loading” approach. First, is it the fear that the body won’t be able to handle a sudden increase in drug dosage? Second, is it to bridge the gap while the concentration of the injectable drug in the bloodstream hasn’t yet reached its peak? Third… could there really be other reasons I haven’t considered yet?
With these questions in mind, let’s begin today’s video.
First, I planned to consult the literature to see if there were any studies supporting the argument that oral medication should be started one month in advance, but unfortunately, I found none.
However, I’ve seen some sources claim that the concept of starting with oral medication was first proposed in Mike Hart’s book *The Steroid Beginner’s Guide*. The book explains that due to their release profiles, injectable steroids often fail to provide users with a satisfying experience right from the start. Additionally, because it takes time to build up sufficient blood levels, athletic performance early in the cycle won’t make users feel like superhumans. Therefore, oral steroids—which have shorter half-lives and take effect more quickly—should be incorporated at the beginning of the cycle to kickstart the entire process. This aligns perfectly with my initial assumption, but upon closer reflection, when I first started an injectable cycle, I didn’t feel anything in the early stages. To make me feel like a superhero, I was told to take oral steroids—and then I did feel like a superhero. But if I’m already a superhero, why do I even need the injectables?
I couldn’t figure it out, so I went looking for the book. I searched for two whole days but couldn’t find it, so this argument doesn’t hold water for me.
Secondly, if you’re using long-acting injectable drugs, blood concentrations typically begin to rise and reach their peak within two to four weeks. If you’re supposed to start oral supplementation a month before the “C,” by the time you’re ready to use the injections, there’s a two- to four-week gap—can your so-called “pre-C” oral preparation really make up for that?
In reality, a truly normal muscle-building or fat-loss plan usually combines both injectables and oral supplements—or it can even work without oral supplements at all. Long-acting injectables take time to take effect—their peak concentration is usually reached after two weeks—while oral medications act more quickly, often taking effect on the same day. The purpose of a steroid “kickstart” is to provide a noticeable growth experience right at the beginning of the cycle. However, an oral kickstart generally shifts growth that would normally occur later in the cycle to the early stages, which can lead to poor results in the middle and late stages. Therefore, it’s best to take both injections and oral supplements together from the start. While the injections haven’t fully kicked in yet, the oral supplements will help you achieve an unprecedented level of performance. Then, in the later stages—around the fourth week—when the oral supplements hit a plateau, the effects of the injections will also kick in. This combination represents a reasonable and scientifically sound timing strategy.
That’s why, when some salespeople pitch you on the idea of a “kickstart,” they’ll tell you to buy another bottle of oral supplements. The way they frame this “kickstart” makes it sound like the “Power Booster” you’re holding has turned into 98-octane gasoline. You might think, “Yeah, I’ve already bought the car—I need to start it up! I can’t start it without fuel!” They’re just trying to sell you a few extra bottles of oral medication by having you start with it right from the beginning.
So there’s no such thing as a mandatory “kickstart” phase. It’s just that many people with only a superficial understanding of steroids have mythologized and exaggerated their effects.