Doping and Steroids

On my page True Natural Bodybuilding I explained which bodybuilders are using which doping products for which purposes. Here I discuss a few other aspects of the most popular performance enhancing drugs used by bodybuilders. To be honest, since I have never used any doping products myself, I am certainly not an expert in this field. Therefore, if you want to know more factual information on any specific drug, I recommend you to search the internet, starting with wikipedia.org.

Testosterone and Anabolic Steroids

Testosterone (the male sex hormone) and anabolic steroids (synthetic variants of testosterone) are by far the most popular drugs among bodybuilders. That is mainly because they are extremely effective in promoting muscle growth, because they are rather easy to get, not very expensive, and relatively safe (although they may have serious side effects, it is unlikely that any of them will kill you in the short term).

To obtain the desired results, bodybuilders usually use very big quantities of several different kinds of anabolic steroids at the same time. Most bodybuilders use about 10 to 100 times the therapeutically recommended dose or normal male physiological testosterone level, and use 2 to 4 different anabolic steroids together.

A talented bodybuilder can gain between 10 and 30 pounds (5-15 kg) of body weight and very impressive strength gains in a single 2-month cycle with anabolic steroids. The steroids can make the athlete's total blood volume increase by up to 20%, which results in a permanent muscle-pump look, with sometimes impressive vascularity. The calories that the athlete burns per day, can double during a cycle, which makes it much easier for them to lose excess body fat. Also the strength gains are sometimes impressive.

Some frequent side effects of testosterone and anabolic steroids are: elevated blood pressure, increase in bad cholesterol, severe acne, baldness, structural changes in the heart, liver and kidney damage, development of female breast tissue, sexual dysfunction, infertility, shrinking testicles, prostate enlargement, aggression and depression, masculinization in women, increase of body hair, and in extreme cases congestive heart failure, heart attacks, sudden cardiac death, and liver, prostate or kidney cancer.

Human Growth Hormone (HGH)

The use of human growth hormone can give an extra boost in muscle growth on top of the gains made by anabolic steroids. While anabolic steroids make existing muscle cells grow in size, growth hormone can increases muscle mass through actual creation of new muscle cells. Since bodybuilders have started using growth hormone in the early 1990's, top bodybuilders have gained on average about 20 lbs (10 kg) in lean muscle mass. Because of its high price, growth hormone is mainly used by competitive athletes. So far, there is no effective method to test whether an athlete uses growth hormone or not.

Some possible side effects of using growth hormones are: thickening of the bones of the jaw, fingers and toes, joint pain, nerve compression symptoms, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes, reduced sexual function, and cancer.

Growth hormone also stimulates the growth of all internal organs except the brain. This is why most Mr. Olympia contenders since the early 90's have a bloated midsection and look like if they are 6 months pregnant. Also listen to this very interesting interview with the legendary Serge Nubret about how the use of doping has impacted modern bodybuilding.

Insulin and Insulin-Like Growth Factors

Around the mid 1990's, bodybuilders started to combine growth hormone with insulin and insulin-like growth factors (IGFs) in order to reach new levels of muscle size and density. My guess is that these drugs are worth another 10 to 16 lbs (5 - 8 kg) of lean muscle mass. Inappropriate use of insulin is very dangerous and can lead to diabetes, permanent insulin resistance, and sudden insulin shock, which may result in a coma or even death. The risks of using IGFs are not well known yet, but cancer and diabetes are frequently mentioned. So far, there exists no effective method to test whether an athlete has used insulin and IGFs or not.

Fat Burning Drugs

Thyroid hormones (T3 and T4), clenbuterol, ephedrine and diuretics are also very popular among bodybuilders, mainly to reduce excess body fat to levels below 3% at contest time, and to get that dry appearance of paper-thin skin sucked tightly to the muscle. Especially diuretics are very dangerous because they can cause severe dehydration, sometimes resulting in sudden death. Another dangerous fat burning drug sometimes used by bodybuilders is DNP (2,4-dinitrophenol).

To Use or Not to Use

Although the non-therapeutic use of the above discussed drugs is illegal, I guess it's up to each individual to decide whether he wants to use them or not; and whether he wants to go through life as a bodybuilder, a natural bodybuilder or a true natural bodybuilder. However, before making the big step, please consider the following disadvantages of being a drug user:

Non-therapeutic use of these drugs is illegal in most countries.
If you are a competitive athlete you are cheating and may test positive.
You will experience side effects and may be taking serious health risks (see above). You should be taking additional drugs to prevent or treat the side effects.
Drug use may be addictive. You may lose your motivation to train without them.
You may have to spend lots of money. Some drugs are very expensive.
You give the sport a bad image. Bodybuilding is already very strongly associated with drug use.
You will have to lie to everybody about your drug use. Will you tell it to your girlfriend or wife? What if she finds out?
Most women don't like doped bodybuilders. They find a Mr. Olympia type of physique, or anything close to that, very unattractive.
You might have to buy your drugs on the black market or the internet, and end up with fake or even dangerous stuff.
You cannot really be proud of your results as most of them exist because of the drugs, not because of good genetics, proper diet, and hard training.
How far will you go? Which and how much drugs will you use? How much money will you spend on them? Will you stop when you get female breasts, lose your hair, get severe acne and become impotent, or will you continue till you get serious heart disease, diabetis or even cancer?
When you stop using the drugs, you will lose a big part of your muscles.
Is it really worth all the trouble?

How to Recognize a Steroid User

Whenever I see a big muscular guy in the gym, I always ask myself the question whether he would be a true natural bodybuilder or not. Unfortunately you often cannot answer that question with 100% certainty. It is especially difficult to say, if they haven't been using drugs for a longer period of time. However, if they are in the middle of a heavy steroid cycle, a trained eye can often clearly see it from their appearance. Usually they gain lots of muscle mass in only a few weeks. They look like if all their muscles are permanently pumped up, even when they are not lifting weights. Their muscles really jump out, look hard, full, and often vascular. Their metabolism is up to twice as high as normal (often above 5,000 calories per day).

Unfortunately there exists no test that can determine a bodybuilder's detailed drug use in the far past, and doping test results are very easy to manipulate. Therefore, if you really want to know whether a bodybuilder is true natural, or which drugs he has been using to build his physique, you will have to ask him. The standard answer to this question is, however, always "No, I have never used any drugs". However, if you get to know the guy better, develop some friendship, give him some complements on his physique, and especially if he thinks that you are a drug user yourself or interested in becoming one, he might well loosen up and start telling you at least part of his true story.

There are, however, two simple and quite innocent questions that can help you in many cases figure out whether a guy has ever been on steroids or not:

Did you ever compete in bodybuilding contests or do you have plans to do so?
What is your highest daily calorie intake when you are in good shape?

Remember, about 99% of all competitive bodybuilders use anabolic steroids, certainly the heavy guys. Also remember that a heavy anabolic steroid cycle can double the daily amount of calories burned. If you are still not sure, grab the guy's balls. If they are the size of a peanut, you can be sure that he is on steroids. If there are no balls at all, you're dealing with a female bodybuilder. ;-)

What Do I Think about Bodybuilders Who Use Drugs?

I love to watch the top professional bodybuilders. I love to watch contest and training videos. I have been at the Mr. Olympia contest in 1997, the Musclemania Wold Championships in 2007, and I am dreaming to go once to the Arnold Classic. I love to work out in gyms where there are many big, muscular, strong man training in the hard core fashion, because it creates a motivating atmosphere. Several of my friends are doped bodybuilders. I respect everybody's choice to be a true natural bodybuilder or not.

What I don't like is all the hypocrisy and lies about drug use. However, I understand that most bodybuilders don't want to admit their drug use because it is illegal after all, and it's not really cool to admit that most of your muscles are the result of drugs rather than good genetics, proper diet and hard training. Ronnie Coleman at least is an honest guy. He always says to the public, after he wins a contest, that he could never have done it without the help of GOD (Gallons of Drugs). ;-)

One of the main reasons why I have made this website, however, is to convince people that bodybuilding does not by definition implies drug use, and that it is definitely possible to build quite an impressive physique without any drugs at all. Personally I have added more than 50 lbs (23 kg) of lean muscle to my frame by true natural bodybuilding, which I think is definitely worth the effort.

In Memory of Dead Bodybuilders

In memory of the Mr. Olympia competitors who died an early death:

Conclusion

Although the modern doping products are very powerful in promoting muscle growth and body fat reduction, better think twice before starting to use them and inform yourself very well about their side effects and health risks. A must-see for everybody who considers starting with anabolic steroids is the documentary on steroids produced by Nat. Geogr. Chan. One of the best books with practical information on anabolic steroids is Anabolics by William Llewellyn.

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