[Ronn]

If you are not intending to compete professionally (i.e. the potential risks of AAS use are outweighed by the sponsorship monies you believe you can earn--whether in PL or BB), then I agree with baddog--start when you’ve reached you're genetic limits.

However, I find the idea that someone could reach this state in their mid 20's fairly difficult to believe. I'm a naturally small person by genetics, but I've been lifting very consistently since I was 17 (never more than a few months off). And I was making new PR well into my mid 30's. I’m not a big guy, the kind of person who seems to grow by merely looking at weight—I’m exactly the opposite—yet I still had not reached the end of the genetic line until about 38. I suppose it's possible to hit you limit at 25--I've just never experienced or seen that for myself. I started using when I was 42, when it had been clear for a few years that I was not progressing anymore, and admittedly part of my reasons for using have to do with what we might call "age management."

Some might stand amazed at how many of us are willing to dramatically alter the profile of out endocrine system without a PhD in the subject—we’ll call someone to fix our furnace but well happily be our own endocrinologist. We’re and odd bunch, that’s for sure. And honestly, I'm not sure a 22 year old whose desire for a physical aesthetic so easily outweighs his understanding of the potential risks is in the right place to make those decisions.

So I say, unless you’re trying to be a pro—wait till your mid 30’s (or in my case, when a low 400’s dead lift had been it for the last 4 years).

Ronn