Pro Bodybuilding and Steroids

Obviously it’s not intended as a compliment. I don’t even think that’s what Goodfellow meant. But the more you achieve in life, the more jealousy and adversity you will have to face. Deal with it, and don’t let it get to you. That’s what I think.

Rant:

People can make excuses for the dumbest types of shit. “I eat chocolates and drink sweet tea when I study because the brain needs sweet stuff to function.” “Low-carb dieting isn’t for me, I’d feel like shit.” “Wow man, you really take this thing seriously.”

Well, fuck that. People can belittle my accomplishments and make excuses for their own impotence as much as they like, but I know in my heart of hearts who the champ is. Any and all hate is a watermark of my achievement.

Obviously, this is for the “hater” type. Other people just view many things - including bodybuilding - with a huge deal of preconceived notions and emotions. i.e. Ignorant.

They’ll ask you if you take steroids with a shade of fear in their eyes. You are, after all, different. A crazed, iron-toting animal. A barely contained beast, ready to explode in a roid-induced evening of rape, harassing harmless strangers, and other horseplay. No doubt, your dick has shrunk to microscopic proportions from one protein shake too many.

To them, you’re too far gone; a lost soul. Well, to me, they’re a lost cause. Not that I can’t get along with these people just fine, mind you… I just make it clear I don’t use steroids and keep it moving. Prejudice is prejudice, and usually deeply ingrained. Why focus on something you disagree on?

/rant.

Ok people associate working out in general with steroids,my grilfriend,her friends and even my physical education teacher asked me if i was up to any hormones(it was spread a word that i was taking steroids when i first started to workout).and when people see me even with a facial creme(for my acne) they say :doping?

I am small as fuck,rly small not even 15.5 inches arms etc,but people know that i workout and to a ectomorph average-Joe ,I look big.
so its not they intend to offend you sometimes …but imagine if these people that say i take steroids saw professor X.They’d think he is a steroid freak(while he has worked his ass off)They think that muscle cannot be build without steroids.

They’re minds don’t comprehend the power of will ,training and sound nutrition.AT my gym they even think that by taking Whey they’ll be BIG in a month and associate whey with deadly side-effects…

I had an ex GF who had never dated any who worked out seriously before. All her friends would make comments about how ridiculous I looked (their BFs all looked like crap -always seems to be the case). My GF really did think I was huge… then she met my old friend John, who was a national level BBers (280 offseason at 5’10). It put everything into a much better perspective -lol

S

I really can’t think of a situation in which the steroid question isn’t a slur. I have only been asked about steroids twice in my life, and each case was annoying, albeit comical. One guy saw me swallowing BCAA capsules and leapt to the “obvious” conclusion.

You’d be surprised by the number of people who are unaware of the fact that anabolic steroids are controlled substances in a lot of places, and that they are not so affordable.

It’s a shock to these same people how much a little more dedication and a lot less ignorance can do for them and their bodies.

When someone accuses a lifter of using steroids it is not meant as a compliment. But that doesn’t mean the lifter can’t take it as a compliment. Obviously your physique stands out enough to warrant the attention. I just try to dismiss their ignorance and take it as meaning I’m doing something right. No point getting all upset about it.

[quote]Unaware wrote:
When someone accuses a lifter of using steroids it is not meant as a compliment. But that doesn’t mean the lifter can’t take it as a compliment. Obviously your physique stands out enough to warrant the attention. I just try to dismiss their ignorance and take it as meaning I’m doing something right. No point getting all upset about it. [/quote]

Yea

good post

[quote]Professor X wrote:
Goodfellow wrote:
IMO, getting asked if you take steroids is a compliment, especially if you don’t.

People often think that when they aren’t that big yet. When you get those types of responses daily and several times a day, it quickly becomes an insult to some degree because they are implying that you didn’t work hard for you have gained.
[/quote]

Yes this is how I feel anymore. I dont cycle no need at this point in my training. I have nothing against it just not part of my routine now. I work around a bunch of fat outa shape guys that like to make themselves feel better by assuming my progress is soley steroid based. Not real funny anymore. I train my ass off for every ounce of added size.

What I hate about steroids and what has me debating if I should take them or not is fuckheads who say you only look that way because you cycled. Which is true when your on cycle but c’mon. I have a friend who did a cycle of test years back and now is a skinny twig but still genetically has nice looking arms and people say the only reason he has cool arms is because he juiced which is bullshit…

Makes me want to not even do it because all my physique achievements people will just say I took steroids… Messed up man…

Not necessarily in order of importance:

  1. People who do this are accusing you of illegal activity. Whether you are in fact engaging in said illegal activity or not is your business; being accused of it, if not, is an insult; and if so, is still inappropriate without proof, which the accusers don’t bother with.

Why shouldn’t people ask you if you committed a crime to be able to buy your new car?

  1. As already mentioned, the average person imagines that steroids substitute for natural ability and hard work. In their feeble minds, for example your average college ball player could equal A-Rod if they “cheated” and used steroids, and A-Rod would be nothing without steroids.

Whereas in fact of course, A-Rod without steroids would be better than 99.9999% of individuals at baseball. The difference is a few added RBI and homers per year; a few feet added distance per hit.

And quite possibility the ability to play all or nearly all the scheduled games for the year, despite the brutal schedule with very little breaks, instead of spending substantial time on the DL. He still has to swing the bat at the right place at the exact right time, which is the hard part. He still has to do everything just right to field the way he does. Steroids have absolutely nothing to do with either of these.

In bodybuilding, the difference is greater, but the fact is the great ones in bodybuilding would, without steroids, still be far superior to average individuals with steroids.

So in the mind of the average person making this accusation, whether correct or not, he is demeaning the actual accomplishment. So it is an insult, by intent. In his own mind he is saying, “I don’t think work or ability had anything at all significant to do with your results.”

Why not say to a doctor, “I think you got into med school on Affirmative Action” and then claim there was no intent to insult?

Even if in fact – and no one will ever know – that he got in that way, the fact is if he graduated and then earned his license, he earned what he has accomplished and remarks like that are just pure crap, and insulting.

While I’m not saying it’s the exact same thing (obviously there are non-parallel respects) most bodybuilders who have used steroids have also earned what they have accomplished. But the person making such statements assumes not. That is the respect that I find parallel.

[quote]LilDaDDyDreW wrote:
LiveFromThe781 wrote:
im 6 ft 210 and i get asked if i take steroids on a daily basis

part of the reason probaly has to do with the fact i have acne even on my arms so everyones first line of thought is acne+working out = steroids

i used to be bashful about it at first but it got so persistent that its just bothersome now.

and if theyre just busting my chops i dont get why they think its funny. i dont go around saying fat people have diabeties or mock people consistently for something. should i go around accusing every skinny person of having AIDS?

Not to mention you took Havoc which might have given you that extra hardness in your look for people to ask.

What I hate about steroids and what has me debating if I should take them or not is fuckheads who say you only look that way because you cycled. Which is true when your on cycle but c’mon. I have a friend who did a cycle of test years back and now is a skinny twig but still genetically has nice looking arms and people say the only reason he has cool arms is because he juiced which is bullshit… Makes me want to not even do it because all my physique achievements people will just say I took steroids… Messed up man…[/quote]

havoc is pretty mild, both in positive and negative APPEARANCE effects. i gained some weight with it but it wasnt much, nothing too noticeable.

but this stuff was going on before i took Havoc and kept going on afterwards. MOST people i know only kid about me taking steroids and just want to do it to bust my chops. but id be naive to think that there arent people who are serious when they say it.

worst time was when i had this thing called Moloskus Contagiosm (sp) and i had all these warts on my left arm. it last about 6 months or a year in varying degrees of intensity but its like oh look that kids on steroids because he has some nasty shit on his arm, its like when youre bigger than average any problem you have is automatically linked to your size.

at the end of the day is doesnt matter to me though, i dont care what people think about what i do or dont do, fuck em. i always tell em, if i was on steroids id be A LOT bigger. when im 250 you can say im using, until then, stfu.

I agree with the general theme of the thread so far, in that the steroid comment is meant to undercut someone by saying whatever was accomplished is solely due to steroids. It might have a bit to do with the fact that most people do not know how to build muscle, period.

Look at how many people in your gym, hell, even on this site, that lift for years, and their physique doesn’t change any appreciable amount. Then show them one of us, who has “figured out” how to gain size, they wonder how did HE do it?

They don’t want to blame themselves for not knowing how to train, and train hard, and eat, and do everything else necessary, they say “oh, well he’s juicing, thats why he gains muscle and I don’t.”.

just for perspective, i remember one of the first days i ever worked out in a gym away from home.

there were some big dudes there. i saw one kid who was bout my age but the dude was big and strong and i thought “damn that kid looks like he could do a contest, he must be on steroids”

i didnt say it to him, but i thought it.

well a year or so passed and turns out im now actually either the same size as he is now or bigger, pretty sure my legs are 10x > than his from what i can remember

anyway, point is that its not so far fetched to think that way when you dont see that many big people in real life and i thought that being a guy who read T-Nation so imagine what someone who’s idea of buff is Brad Pitt or worse yet, Barak Obama thinks.

the more you see of something the more desensitized you get therefore the less you see of something the more astonishing it is
when you see it.

i shit you not, people were saying i was jacked when i was 170 - on a daily basis. the average person is THAT out of shape.

Dude the Havoc was a joke that’s why I changed my post… What type of shit would it be to say oohH Live people are only asking you if you take steroids cause you were on Havoc, attributing your success to Havoc…

Your not looking on point because you work out 5x a week and eat 4,000+ calories NOOOOO your looking on point because you took a bottle of Havoc… Same as steroids and it’s GAY AS HELL and make’s me want to stay natural.

BUT then at the end of the day you gotta realize it’s you vs. you and who gives a shit about what the squinks at the gym whisper, I know I don’t. If your succeeding the squinks will whisper regardless if your on something or not… FUCK THEM.

The only time ive been asked, was when i trained at a gym where it was the norm. I was asked simply because it was a barbell club with people happy to share info. Aside from the fact i was the smallest guy there and even chided for it. These guys saw steroids as normal…which was new to me and a rare thing apparently. which was a world away from my previous gym coming from a performance sports steroids will destroy you and your career enviroment.

The current gym i train at has a “only you know if you do or dont take anything and it does’nt matter what you say” because people will always doubt you when you exsist outside their norms. The guys there run with a dont ask dont care mantra.

Getting back to the pros - didn’t Cutler talk about steroids in the extras of bigger stronger faster? Why did nothing happen to him, then? And, once again, do pros REALLY not post on these forums because they get asked about steroid usage? I find that a little too rich to believe, to be honest.

[quote]LilDaDDyDreW wrote:
Dude the Havoc was a joke that’s why I changed my post… What type of shit would it be to say oohH Live people are only asking you if you take steroids cause you were on Havoc, attributing your success to Havoc…

Your not looking on point because you work out 5x a week and eat 4,000+ calories NOOOOO your looking on point because you took a bottle of Havoc… Same as steroids and it’s GAY AS HELL and make’s me want to stay natural.

BUT then at the end of the day you gotta realize it’s you vs. you and who gives a shit about what the squinks at the gym whisper, I know I don’t. If your succeeding the squinks will whisper regardless if your on something or not… FUCK THEM.[/quote]

youd be suprised about the little things mean to some people

after i posted my deadlift numbers in a seperate thread (2 weeks AFTER my cycle had ended) someone said the only reason i could put up those numbers was cause i was taking Havoc

simeotaneously everyone was saying i didnt even know what i was doing w/ Havoc thats why i wasnt gaining anything

i just think its hilarious how those two things can be said about me at the exact same time which just lead me further to believe that most people on this site just have it out for me.

[quote]Wayland wrote:

The current gym i train at has a “only you know if you do or dont take anything and it does’nt matter what you say” because people will always doubt you when you exsist outside their norms. The guys there run with a dont ask dont care mantra. [/quote]

there was this guy at one of the gyms i used to train at. he was an ex wrestler, heard a rumor that this other guy used to make his own steroids and just give em to that guy for free to test em out

annnnnnyway, one day he said something that really sunk in with me, its something you’ve heard a million times before but the context he used it in or something i cant explain just really made me get it that time. there was someone on TV getting accused of steroids and he just told me “youre damned if you do and youre damned if you dont” and it just made sense like whether or not you actually use people will still think you do.

i also interperted it another way like, if you do use steroids everyone will try to outcast you (who isnt a competitive athelete in some respect) and if you dont you’ll never be at the highest bracket of whatever it is you do so you have a choice to make, do i want to risk the social stigma and other consequences or do i want to give it all ive got and become the best, regardless of anything else?

[quote]LiveFromThe781 wrote:
LilDaDDyDreW wrote:
Dude the Havoc was a joke that’s why I changed my post… What type of shit would it be to say oohH Live people are only asking you if you take steroids cause you were on Havoc, attributing your success to Havoc…

Your not looking on point because you work out 5x a week and eat 4,000+ calories NOOOOO your looking on point because you took a bottle of Havoc… Same as steroids and it’s GAY AS HELL and make’s me want to stay natural.

BUT then at the end of the day you gotta realize it’s you vs. you and who gives a shit about what the squinks at the gym whisper, I know I don’t. If your succeeding the squinks will whisper regardless if your on something or not… FUCK THEM.

youd be suprised about the little things mean to some people

after i posted my deadlift numbers in a seperate thread (2 weeks AFTER my cycle had ended) someone said the only reason i could put up those numbers was cause i was taking Havoc

simeotaneously everyone was saying i didnt even know what i was doing w/ Havoc thats why i wasnt gaining anything

i just think its hilarious how those two things can be said about me at the exact same time which just lead me further to believe that most people on this site just have it out for me.
[/quote]

Any steroid will make you stronger, regardless of food intake (assuming you are eating enough to at least maintain weight). Of course this strength will fade a few months after the steroid clears. Some people even get stronger during the middle of PCT (unknown reasons).

Most steroids will not add a significant amount of lean body mass in 4 weeks unless caloric intake is drastically higher than maintenance levels.

It’s annoying to hear you comment about how you get accused of steroid use because of the way you look. YOU HAVE USED STEROIDS. Your body’s natural T production was shutdown therefore the steroid was active in your body. There is no grey area here, you either have used or haven’t. And when someone asks you if you look the way you do because of steroids the only correct answer is “yes, some of my progress is due to AAS”, not saying that someone should ever feel compelled to tell the truth to people who don’t derserve it. Even if 99% of your gains came before the use of steroids it would still be an insult to a lifetime natural for you to claim that steroids had no influence on your physique.

[quote]G87 wrote:
Getting back to the pros - didn’t Cutler talk about steroids in the extras of bigger stronger faster? Why did nothing happen to him, then? And, once again, do pros REALLY not post on these forums because they get asked about steroid usage? I find that a little too rich to believe, to be honest.[/quote]

Jay really never admitted to it directly though:

More reason to stay natural. I’ll be able to look these people in the eye and say “No, I’ve never used” even if they don’t believe me, I’ll know what I’ve done and be satisfied. Most pros that have used steroids probably would have had physiques that I would look up to now even if they didn’t use anyways. Just my opinion.