Bodybuilding & Society

I get the steriod comment a lot, but i think it is because i am in nursing and the only other guys in the course are about 120 lbs at 6 feet. i weight 223 (as of this morning) at 5 11. i usually just laugh off their steriod comments. however these are people i know, the people that don’t know me and say i take juice gets on my nerves - because “they don’t know me!”

The one that gets me the most is when they say that i am going to hurt my kidneys and liver from taking sooo much protien per day. the irony of this is that they have all taken a physiology course and should understand how these things work. Also when i take my multi vits, EFA and BCAA in class someone always says something about juice.

I have to say that bodybuilding or work with the iron got me self-confident and it also make me laugh about what other people say. A lot of people don`t know enough about the whole material. Only when you get the infos you can judge right.

And thats the problem in our society. Most of the people arent interested in the material of building the body or getting more athletic. They don`t try hard to understand what is all behind the thing.

Certainly it feels good when friends who dont see you for a long time are surprised about what you achieve, but they arent the problem because they don`t get you in the steroid corner, normally not :).

To get it to the end…i dont give anything about people who dont know what i do :slight_smile:

Its all rationalization. People KNOW they dont have what it takes, so they accuse of things to make themselves feel better. Make a ton of money? You must be a crook. Have a hot wife? Must be rich. Have a good body? Must use roids and spend ALL DAY in the gym.

The reality is most people have NO IDEA what it takes. There are some people out there who happen to have a good body and do nothing, that is not most of us. I immediately respect people who are bigger(much bigger) than me because I know what they have done… The hours, the food, the lifestlye.

People comment on my muscles all the time, and I am not even that impressive. I think as I get bigger little by little people who start being less and less nice about it. Steroid accusations are only a few pounds away…

I’ve gotten my share of what are you on comments. I merely brush them off because its none of their fucking business what I’m taking. I should tell em, “I’m taking 2cc’s of hardwork and dedication you fat piece of shit.” What really worries me is that these inquiring people are often poorly educated on gear and they think that people that do use gear are second only to sociopathic crackheads.

personally im starting to get irritated by the comments and im thinking one day im just going to snap and go off on some fat ass trying to mock me because i dont want to look like jabba the hut’s asscrack or some fucking skinny prick that looks like theyve been on a heroin binge and doesnt want to get “bulky”.

like why does every single thing you say to me have to related to lifting weights? wtf? are you like secretly envious so thats all you talk about or what? one of my managers is a younger guy and i swear every fucking thing out of his mouth to me is related to bodybuilding.

hell do that gay ass arms out thing, or a terrible schwarzenegger impression. then he said some shit about how i dont eat “normal” food. im like wtf is normal food? you tryin to say im not normal? sometimes i wanna bug out like SHUT, THE, FUCK, UP. you go to the gym the same amount as me but people can only notice one of us ever picked up a weight.

next time someone says something to me about steroids im gonna say, nah, i dont do that shit, i just fuck OC’s once in a while and take rolls (ecstasy).

[quote]Joe Joseph wrote:
Are these people for real with the protein?
I understand someone who is totally seltered seeing you eating pills, but protein powders? Jesus christ man! Are they that thick?
If my friends thought protein powders were illegal anabolics then i would have to get some new friends!!

:wink:

Joe[/quote]

I had a kid at my school say I got big because I took powdered steriods. Those are the dumbasses at my school. Apparently steriods come in all forms now-a-days.

[quote]starowitz32 wrote:
Joe Joseph wrote:
Are these people for real with the protein?
I understand someone who is totally seltered seeing you eating pills, but protein powders? Jesus christ man! Are they that thick?
If my friends thought protein powders were illegal anabolics then i would have to get some new friends!!

:wink:

Joe

I had a kid at my school say I got big because I took powdered steriods. Those are the dumbasses at my school. Apparently steriods come in all forms now-a-days.[/quote]

and theyre water soluble, and say Whey Protein on the front. i imagine how people in other activities/sports feel. i can just imagine that ignorance about EVERYTHING isnt limited to bodybuilding and ive probaly said something equally stupid to “protein = steroids” to like a balet dancer or something lol.

A couple interesting observations.

No one has yet accused me of using steroids. I think this has less to do with the education of my circle of friends and more to do with the level of integrity they believe I hold.

I remember smuggling protein shakes in my backpack back in high school because I was afraid someone would see me downing one and automatically assume I was on 'roids. I was really leery of downing BCAA’s during workouts for the same reason (I downed them in the locker room before and after- pretty much the same thing). I guess you can say for most of my life I’ve been almost apologetic of and for my lifting.

I kept on with it though, and if there’s one thing I’ve noticed it’s that most of my progress occured after I unashamedly put this part of my life first in terms of priority. I stopped pussyfooting around and letting my friends talk me into eating out and drinking. I planned my days to make sure I got 8 hours of sleep at night. And the funny thing is that the people that matter don’t mind my changes. And I stopped giving a damn about the rest.

Good topic.

This has to be the worst, Im at work today and i was on T-Nation and this girl whos in high school saw TESTOSTERONE and went omg why do you take steriods. She still thinks i do even after i told her shes dum

This is a really good topic.

I get a kick out of the looks I get when I am sipping on my peri workout Surge with added BCAAs and creatine. It is a nice cloudy pink liquid, If I see them looking at me, I make sure to make a horrendous face and make it look like I am choking the shit down.

Like Otep, I have made the most progress in the last year and a half, ever since I really made training a true priority. Most of my friends are active/fit to some degree and don’t have a problem with my personal choices.

Some, are even into it with me, right beside me in the gym. These are your true friends. The ones that didn’t support me or kept trying to derail me, well they aren’t my friends anymore. Life is about choices, some are just easier in retrospect.

As for steroid comments, I get a couple, but anyone who has talked training with me knows that I am against the current state of bodybuilding. They know I am a natural bodybuilder seeking the golden age physiques of Zane and Arnold.

[quote]Otep wrote:
A couple interesting observations.

No one has yet accused me of using steroids. I think this has less to do with the education of my circle of friends and more to do with the level of integrity they believe I hold.

I remember smuggling protein shakes in my backpack back in high school because I was afraid someone would see me downing one and automatically assume I was on 'roids. I was really leery of downing BCAA’s during workouts for the same reason (I downed them in the locker room before and after- pretty much the same thing). I guess you can say for most of my life I’ve been almost apologetic of and for my lifting.

I kept on with it though, and if there’s one thing I’ve noticed it’s that most of my progress occured after I unashamedly put this part of my life first in terms of priority. I stopped pussyfooting around and letting my friends talk me into eating out and drinking. I planned my days to make sure I got 8 hours of sleep at night. And the funny thing is that the people that matter don’t mind my changes. And I stopped giving a damn about the rest.

Good topic.[/quote]

youve never been accused of taking roids? you may wanna hit the weights harder bruh. seriously.

as for protein/bcaa’s/creatine i used to down that shit in the locker room, id pop a couple BCAA pills then shove a scoop of micronized creatine in my mouth. i have no problem doing any of that shit at work either, i walk around the floor w/ powerbars or gallons of milk. its probaly the same reason anything heavy needs to be picked up im the first one paged.

people talk shit about it but no one whos more jacked than me or bigger than me has ever made a negative comment. i tell the big guy’s at my gym about what i take PWO (1/4th gal of milk +powerbar) and they think its awesome. thats what matters to me. let the fucking ugly ass nasty people talk their shit, but the big good looking ones are the first to commend me for my efforts.

ive said this to people at my work before since theyre sooooooo full of knowledge (but are fat) : ill take advice from someone when theyre bigger than me -until someone bigger than me says what im doing is wrong i dont care what anyone else has to say. so far no one bigger than me has ever said a negative thing about how i eat or train its only people that look worse than me. (i kind of like that ring that goes with “worse”)

[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:

People comment on my muscles all the time, and I am not even that impressive. I think as I get bigger little by little people who start being less and less nice about it. Steroid accusations are only a few pounds away…[/quote]

i was at the gym talking to this guy who was a pro wrestler, probaly from the 80’s because of his short-in-the-back mullet and oversized shirt torn off at the waist. anyway, last time we were at the gym together steroids got brought up, it was part of an example i used earlier in this thread somewhere (maybe original post) and he asked me again if people think i took steroids. i told him yes, but theyre all idiots who think that i do because im not even big (5 seconds later a big guy walks in).

at the same time theres some thing about Clemens on the news and we started talking about how the media is taking this shit too far and its making it look bad on anyone who goes to a gym besides Planet Fitness. then we talked about the wrestler Chris Benoit and how it really fucked things up and he told me that the guy was just always messed up. for some reason it really resinated with me when he said “youre damned if you do and youre damned if you dont”

i guess in relation to your post that i quoted its true, the bigger you get the more people think it.

i wonder though, how many of you are taller guys? i dont know why i think this but it seems when a taller guy (upwards of 5’10) starts to be noticeably big it draws a lot more attention than from shorter guys who may in actuality have a better raito of inches to muscle. just something ive been thinking about recently.

At first, I had friends asking why I was taking weight gainer. I said, “to get bigger.” Again, they ask why? and I reply, “to be stronger.”

Later on, people would jokingly ask if I worked out. I would say, “Oh yea, here and there,” for a laugh.

I’ve gotten the steroid comment only a handful of times – especially after the baseball Mitchel report came out. I just go along with it…“Yup, for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner!”

Now that I’m on a co-rec intramural softball team, every time I go up to bat the girls make some comment about my muscles. On Friday, I went up to bat – they said something about my muscle – so I proceeded to flex and squeeze every muscle in my body. Judging by the tones in their voices, they were a little shocked…probably from the flexed glutes. Anyway, the point is that I crushed the ball for the hardest, fastest line drive I’ve ever hit in my life and scored a home run. Thats functional muscle IMO.

Even when flirting, they bring up the muscles. In a coy, playful voice I tell her, “Hey Mel, I’m getting tired of your attitude.” She says, “Hey just because you have big muscles doesn’t mean you can bully me!”

But most of all, nothing can really compare to the instant respect from guys. They look at me with envy and admiration even though I’m not that big. This has really boosted my leadership ability, which is very important to me.

If I could sum up weightlifting in one word with regard to society, it would be: Empowering.

I actually enjoy the what are you on comments. Today I saw someone I hadnt seen in a while and they asked if I was juicin. I replied “No, but thank you for the compliment”. I guess when they really start rolling in they will get old.

[quote]anthropocentric wrote:
At first, I had friends asking why I was taking weight gainer. I said, “to get bigger.” Again, they ask why? and I reply, “to be stronger.”

Later on, people would jokingly ask if I worked out. I would say, “Oh yea, here and there,” for a laugh.

I’ve gotten the steroid comment only a handful of times – especially after the baseball Mitchel report came out. I just go along with it…“Yup, for breakfast, lunch, AND dinner!”

Now that I’m on a co-rec intramural softball team, every time I go up to bat the girls make some comment about my muscles. On Friday, I went up to bat – they said something about my muscle – so I proceeded to flex and squeeze every muscle in my body. Judging by the tones in their voices, they were a little shocked…probably from the flexed glutes. Anyway, the point is that I crushed the ball for the hardest, fastest line drive I’ve ever hit in my life and scored a home run. Thats functional muscle IMO.

Even when flirting, they bring up the muscles. In a coy, playful voice I tell her, “Hey Mel, I’m getting tired of your attitude.” She says, “Hey just because you have big muscles doesn’t mean you can bully me!”

But most of all, nothing can really compare to the instant respect from guys. They look at me with envy and admiration even though I’m not that big. This has really boosted my leadership ability, which is very important to me.

If I could sum up weightlifting in one word with regard to society, it would be: Empowering.[/quote]

Weightlifting embodies the word “empowering”. I’ve gained 70 lbs rather rapidly (within 8 months, going from 180 to 250), and to most peoples’ surprise, 50 of it is muscle. That really threw up a lot of steroid comments and accusations. I like the fact that they think I am big, but I do not like how they think I’m on steroids.

Today really surprised me. I was going to breakfast and I see 3 of my friends (and some guy I didn’t know) walk in, so I sat with them for breakfast. At the end of breakfast, I introduce myself to the guy I didn’t know and he says “I know who you are. They tell me about your crazy bodybuilding antics and habits.”

It turns out my friends tell stories about me to other people. People are always asking me when I’m going to start cutting and telling me they can’t wait for next summer to see me. I don’t think that the things I do to become bigger are that strange and “out there”, but apparently society does.

I like when people call me Sir. I am only 25 lol. I get that all the time. Excuse me sir. I am sorry sir. Please don’t steal my girlfriend sir. Yes you can have my hamburger sir. It cracks me up.

I am not that big yet, but I fill up an XL t shirt and I have to buy Husky pants because of my ginormous legs. Why are your shins so scared up? How do I get my neck to look like that? How do you get all that muscle around your knee? Do any of these sound familiar?

I recently ran into an ex GF I haven’t seen in a few years. When we dated I was a soft 175. I am now a lean 225. Her jaw hit the fucking floor. Momments like that make all the pain, force feeding, and hard work worth it.

I get most of the steroid comments from my students. I just tell them that I’m afraid of needles and on a teacher salary, I can’t afford steroids.

The only real downfall I can think of is that I get asked a ton now to help friends move furniture and the janitors ask me to help them them move odd objects.

[quote]dharmabum31 wrote:
I read a post in a thread recently that mentioned that when most people see a beautiful and successful woman, they assume she slept her way to the top, ruling out hard work and intelligence. I think the same principle is involved here. When I started lifting and my weight skyrocketed, I would occasionally get those comments- are you taking something?!

I think it is something that will always happen, even outside the realm of bodybuilding. People are envious and make excuses for themselves; they don’t want to admit they don’t have the drive and discipline to follow the same path.

I still get a little frustrated by the comments like that, but I try to take it like you, as a compliment. I mean, we must be doing something right, right?!

Maybe that’s a little soft: who cares what other people think. You could probably squash them. [/quote]

QFT

Someone asked me if I was on steroids and I told them “Oh yeah, me and Barry Bonds shoot up together”