Pictures vs. Reality

A great deal of the authors and almost all the males in the pictures of the articles are obviously on steroids.  

Yet all the articles seems to assume steroids are not necesary to gain that amount of muscle the articles promote.

Or am I wrong. Does the average beginner (I’m a beginner, but I know the basics of human physique) think it it’s possible and therefore it is good motivation - atleast for a couple of years. Personally it makes me question quite a few of the articles. Are they based on research subjects who are clean or on steroids?

And it’s nagging me that T-Nation is selling this mirage. Makes me think they are more about the money than the knowledge. To me it comes close to a lie when products from this site are sold in connection with articles that has pictures with people on roids.

And please dont start saying I cant tell if they are on drugs and its just because I’m a small nerd with no self esteem.

They are just an interesting look at what’s possible.

I don’t really care if they’re juicing or not, it doesn’t effect me or my goals.

Those images are there for motivation. Who cares if they are on roids or not? Striving for a goal is the best way to attain anything. I’d rather shoot for the moon, and even if I miss, at least I’ll land in the stars… so to speak.

Furthermore, no one from Biotest (to my knowledge) has ever even remotely suggested that taking their products will give you the same results as anabolic steroids.

After a quick look through the products in the Biotest store, I could only find one article that had an image of a pro-bodybuilder in it. Carbolin 19 has pictures of Arnold and Zane - but they are there to illustrate a point, not endorse a product.

One thing I always liked about Biotest is that they do NOT use pro-bodybuilders to endorse their products.

If it bothers you, then juice up. Problem solved, tiny man.

Very very good solid physiques have been built naturally. Look up bodybuilders like Layne Norton, Jim Cordova and John Harris (to name a few). These guys have built very impressive builds with no assistance. Using steriods is a choice, but don’t let those who choose to use make you feel that progress (great progress too) isn’t possible with out them.

This site is here to sell Biotest supplements. That’s what pays the bills.

There is a lot of good information here in the articles and on the forums.

That T-Nation chooses to feature roided people on their site is their choice. Whether or not that is an indication of their integrity is a choice you’ll have to make for yourself.

You cant tell if they are on drugs and you must be a small nerd with no self esteem.

Why do you care? Lift and meet your goals. And those “roided freaks” still have to work pretty hard. It’s not a matter of injected yourself with test and watching yourself “get swole” in a manner of minutes.

[quote]Aceo wrote:
A great deal of the authors and almost all the males in the pictures of the articles are obviously on steroids.

Yet all the articles seems to assume steroids are not necesary to gain that amount of muscle the articles promote.

Or am I wrong. Does the average beginner (I’m a beginner, but I know the basics of human physique) think it it’s possible and therefore it is good motivation - atleast for a couple of years. Personally it makes me question quite a few of the articles. Are they based on research subjects who are clean or on steroids?

And it’s nagging me that T-Nation is selling this mirage. Makes me think they are more about the money than the knowledge. To me it comes close to a lie when products from this site are sold in connection with articles that has pictures with people on roids.

And please dont start saying I cant tell if they are on drugs and its just because I’m a small nerd with no self esteem.[/quote]

If you think that the information here is of questionable validity due to steroid use, there is not much you are going to get out of site, because you won’t believe enough in the information to actually play it out.

I will say that the principles of gaining strength are the same whether one uses steroids or not. You must lift heavy things fairly often. The main difference between steroid users and “clean” lifters is recovery capacity. Muscle is built out of the gym not in it. A steroid user, as I understand it, recovers faster than his drug-free counterpart and so can train more frequently and consequently gains strength faster.

Steroids don’t make you strong. Lifting and recovering makes you strong. Steroids aid the process of recovery.

That said, there are some programs you should not undertake simply because the volume or intensity is too great for a drug-free lifter to recover from in time to train that way again very soon. You have to feel out what works for you; the correct poundages, sets and reps, the proper exercise frequency and proper recovery measures for you at your current level. A steroid user has exactly the same challenges - simply at a different level.

Hope that helps.

[quote]Aceo wrote:
A great deal of the authors and almost all the males in the pictures of the articles are obviously on steroids.

Yet all the articles seems to assume steroids are not necesary to gain that amount of muscle the articles promote.

Or am I wrong. Does the average beginner (I’m a beginner, but I know the basics of human physique) think it it’s possible and therefore it is good motivation - atleast for a couple of years. Personally it makes me question quite a few of the articles. Are they based on research subjects who are clean or on steroids?
[/quote]

…Most of the authors who post on the site are not on steroids, some may have tried them, but for the most part they are clean. Its probably the exception to the rule. Most of their knowledge comes from well-designed, scientific studies with control groups all the necessary things for them to be credible.

Most of the authors who write intelligent articles will even tear apart research studies based on them being flawed. Most also train themselves, or train large number of people as a way of making their living. They really have seen it all when it comes to things strength/conditioning/nutrition/etc.

i.e. http://ericcressey.blogspot.com/2008/07/poor-research-drives-me-nuts.html

Good go away. Please just leave and ignore all the articles about nutrition, successful program design, human anatomy and how the body is designed to move a load, how to avoid injury, TC’s articles on the spirit of man and whatever else, new lifts or neglected lifts, what supplements actually work and why they work, how to increase athletic performance, and go buy some supplements that don’t work from another company that also uses images of steroid users to promote their useless product that is pretty much solely designed to get money from people who don’t know any better.

[quote]
And please dont start saying I cant tell if they are on drugs and its just because I’m a small nerd with no self esteem.[/quote]

No. You just sound like an idiot. You also are making excuses and ignoring a lot of free knowledge available to you without having to buy a thing first.

Its kinda like you’re saying I’m going to avoid food and squats and lifting all together because some professional bodybuilder was doing it, but his results were obviously due to steroids.

[quote]LiftSmart wrote:
it doesn’t effect me or my goals.[/quote]

exactly. and even if they were in it for the money, i’ve learned enough from this site that i owe them

[quote]Vicomte wrote:
If it bothers you, then juice up. Problem solved, tiny man.[/quote]

You’re 150 lbs. at 5’10" and calling someone else tiny?

I’m sure the vast majority of people who take up some form of strength training don’t have any intentions of looking like a professional bodybuilder anyhow. As I read in a recent article most people just want to “look good naked”. You sure don’t need steroids to do that.

“Go away” is not a fair answer and use the parts you find fits you is also a little questionable since it clashes with me not knowing which parts are based on steroid users experience and which are based on clean experinces.

The person who said he could’t find any juiced individuals in the store section of the site: I think it is wrong to distinguish between that and the articles. This site sells a dream or way of life and should be seen as a whole in my opinion.

And the person who argues that steriods only help to recover. Tomato tomato - please stay on subject :slight_smile:

In my country even pro hormones are regarded as illegal and I must admit I dont know how they are looked upon in the states. Maybe they can make a big difference?

The persons who are suggested by Elusive to be clean bodybuilder. I dont believe them. I would like to see an article on human physique where the author investigates how much muscle it is possible to gain with perfect nutrition and how much muscle it is possible to maintain. I think many will be dissapointed if this article is strictly scientific.

I want to question the integrity of the site and in doing so I also wanted to hear how my fellow beginners regarded the way information is being presented.

I will continue to read here since I find the articles interesting and entertaining. But every now and then it irritates me how much of the presented knowledge is not questioned.

[quote]TornadoTommy wrote:
Vicomte wrote:
If it bothers you, then juice up. Problem solved, tiny man.

You’re 150 lbs. at 5’10" and calling someone else tiny?[/quote]

WIN

[quote]Aceo wrote:
“Go away” is not a fair answer and use the parts you find fits you is also a little questionable since it clashes with me not knowing which parts are based on steroid users experience and which are based on clean experinces.

The person who said he could’t find any juiced individuals in the store section of the site: I think it is wrong to distinguish between that and the articles. This site sells a dream or way of life and should be seen as a whole in my opinion.

And the person who argues that steriods only help to recover. Tomato tomato - please stay on subject :slight_smile:

In my country even pro hormones are regarded as illegal and I must admit I dont know how they are looked upon in the states. Maybe they can make a big difference?

The persons who are suggested by Elusive to be clean bodybuilder. I dont believe them. I would like to see an article on human physique where the author investigates how much muscle it is possible to gain with perfect nutrition and how much muscle it is possible to maintain. I think many will be dissapointed if this article is strictly scientific.

I want to question the integrity of the site and in doing so I also wanted to hear how my fellow beginners regarded the way information is being presented.

I will continue to read here since I find the articles interesting and entertaining. But every now and then it irritates me how much of the presented knowledge is not questioned.[/quote]

How bout you spend some time in the weightroom before telling me what’s possible, k bud?

Are you joking, just about anyone with 1000+posts questions, and argues with and against the authors frequently. You have 4 posts. Don’t act like you know what’s going on.

It does seem like a lot of people attack my integrity rather than my arguments. That is not very helpful to a discussion. Please try to stay on subject.

[quote]Aceo wrote:
It does seem like a lot of people attack my integrity rather than my arguments. That is not very helpful to a discussion. Please try to stay on subject.[/quote]

I understand what you mean and i somewhat agree.
What really bothers me is when they do blatant advertising of their biosurge whatever products.

"Dips are very important to building aesthetically pleasing shoulders.

enter picture of biosomething"

However the pictures are just pictures. I barely look at them but with a name like Testosterone Nation, it’s only normal they decide to put up “motivational” pictures of guys with huge bulging muscles and veins popping out of their teeth.

Magnus Samuelson claims to be steroid free.

I have no proof but for what it’s worth he seems like he has integrity and doesn’t come off as a liar.