Anabolic steroids have
been an integral part of the bodybuilding community. Many critics associate
anabolic steroids to an addictive drug. While that might be true to some extent
because the instant muscle growth triggered by steroids can be addictive.
However, the misuse of anabolic steroids has opened a Pandora’s box for those
who are training hard for years and building an honest, professional lives as a
bodybuilder.
There are many bodybuilders who have built their careers on
natural diet and natural hard work. They invested many years of their lives to
finally earn a place for themselves in the professional ring. It might look
easy from the outside that all that bodybuilders do is exercise and eat lots of
protein, but its rather a bit too complicated.
Before we get into that, let us make one thing clear that there
are two types of bodybuilders, one who are aware of their body and have a coach
to guide them through what they need to do to achieve certain goals. Such
bodybuilders are disciplined, consistent and fully committed towards their
goals. Whereas the second type of bodybuilders is the young and amateur lot who
do not know what they are doing and all they try to do is follow through with
other people’s advice, word-by-word, and expect exactly the same results.
When in fact every individual is different when it comes to
bodybuilding. These are the type of bodybuilders who end up abusing anabolic
steroids because they have no direction of their own and they start relying on
them to achieve the results they want.
It is extremely important to have some sort of direction to
follow through because in this particular community, there are many so-called
experts who are going to help you or advice you on what is best for you when in
fact, only you know what is best for you.
Bodybuilders only require a personalized plan and a direction to
follow in order to progress, it is the unsolicited advice that ruins the
progress and detracts the athlete. So, consider hiring a professional coach or
an expert with whom you can commit full time and only deem them worthy of
advice.
Many professionals have ruined their careers because of focusing
on too many goals at once and listening to too many experts at once.
We got a chance to sit down with a professional bodybuilder who
has given years of his life into bodybuilding and had a lot to say about how he
started his career and how he got into taking anabolic steroids, HGH’s and fat burners. We
cannot mention their name due to privacy concerns, however, their regrets and
experiences will have a lot for you to learn from and avoid repeating the
mistakes of others, especially, if your goal is to build a professional career
in bodybuilding.
We asked him a few questions and he answer them in the simplest
language so that if any beginner level bodybuilder is reading it, he/she will
also be able to understand it without being confused about anything.
I started my bodybuilding career right after high school. I
wanted to go to college but somehow, I found myself going to the gym and in no
time i developed a habit for strength training and bodybuilding. Going to gym
was like being home for me. I have spent my days and nights there, training,
socializing, learning and just finding comfort in training and observe how my
body can modify and expand its limitations in regards to the strength and
power. As for the journey, it has been something I am proud of and I accept all
the mistakes I made for they have been great lessons for me because without
them, I would not have been where I am today, you get me? So, to say, it has been a fruitful and
empowering journey.
I would not lie, I have taken fair share of anabolic steroids, HGH’s and peptides and fat burners many
times during my early training phases. It is not a secret that today all
bodybuilders use anabolic steroids to improve their performance and accelerate
their growth. These steroids actually work and play an important part in our
routine. But there is always a proper way to start the steroid cycle. If you
are not careful about how to use steroids then they can back fire and make you
lose all your progress. That is why after making my fair share of mistakes, I
finally managed to surround myself with the best coaches and experts in town
and started my steroid cycle. During that properly administered steroid cycle,
I experience significant muscle growth and overall bodily strength that helped
my performance. And that is the time when I competed in a bodybuilding
competition where I managed to rank at 4th position and became a
pro-level athlete. It was my first success as a professional athlete and my
first professional appearance in the bodybuilding world, yet, I am only proud
of that first one because at that moment I felt that my years’ worth of efforts
finally bears fruit. After that, all other achievements and ranks becomes just
another ladder to step up.
When I started my first steroid cycle, I had no direction
whether how to do it and why do it. I was just doing it because everyone at the
gym was doing it. I tried to follow other athlete’s strategies, took advices
from people who had no experience or knowledge and many were not even pro-level
bodybuilders yet they had a lot to say about how to take steroids and where I
could find them on sale. I think they were only trying to sell their products
to me because they were earning commission on them. They were cheap steroids
and that’s what really triggered me to try steroids. I was only 4 months into
my training and I started my first steroid cycle. I had no idea how to manage
my training sessions and how to maintain my diet plan based on the goals. I
only thought I need to grow muscles, so I did a lot of strength training,
consumed a lot of proteins and on top of that I was on steroids. Later, after
my steroid cycle, I ended up growing in size and I had no strength to work out
for weeks. I had no idea what was happening and day by day I was falling into
depression. At that point, I knew I was not doing something right but I also
had no idea what must be causing it. So, I went online and looked up for my
symptoms on a bodybuilding community blog and that’s where I found out about Post cycle therapy drugs. No one
at the gym mentioned those drugs and I felt as if my conditions were a result
of not following through with PCT drugs. At this
point I had realized that I know nothing and that taking steroids is not as
easy as other athletes make it sound like. So, I decided to talk to a
professional and hire a coach if I am really going to continue bodybuilding.
No. I have never thought about quitting. I knew that my body
enjoyed training and I loved seeing how my body progressed over the year so,
quitting was never on the table. I have made many mistakes, we all are humans
after all and we are bound to make mistakes. So, instead of making those
mistakes our quitting triggers, lets embrace a habit to learn from our mistakes
and if a mistake is repeated, it is no longer a mistake, it is a choice.
Every athlete takes steroids, even I do, but there is always a
proper way to go around it without abusing them. Abusing anabolic steroids has
been something the community is still struggling with. Now, we have diuretics
and insulin as well which is claiming the lives of young athletes. The reality
is that, we cannot rid ourselves of the bad apples in the basket because those,
who are abusing these drugs are arrogant athletes who think they know better
and have zero patience. That’s why they stack themselves up with steroids to
gain all the muscles and strength that their body is supposed to develop after
years of training. Steroids will not accelerate the body to fast forward,
rather it will try to work with what is already present and if you do not have
a good lean physique and if you haven’t put yourself through years of training,
your body will not give you the results you are seeking and you will end up
putting your life at risk. So, if they want to ruin their lives, good for them,
if they do not want to ruin their lives, again, good for them. No one in the
bodybuilding community respects that athlete who abuses drugs for unrealistic
expectations and expects he/she will become a pro in their early training
phase. I became a pro almost after 10 years, so, he/she ends up trashing the
bodybuilding community in front of the world if they end up dying because of
those drugs, it badly reflects upon our years of training.
Not really, I have had a coach for years who has guided me well
enough and not once, except for my first steroid cycle, did I regret taking
steroids. I have relied mostly on myself and my training with a custom diet
plan to develop my muscles, increase my strength and achieve 10% body fat.
When you are a bodybuilder, your personal life is your
professional life. Bodybuilding is itself a whole lifestyle and that’s why I am
still single. It is hard to commit to anyone else when you are committed to
bodybuilding. However, I do recommend to give yourself a break every once in a
while, go out with friends, meet new people because it is important to have
something in life other than just bodybuilding so that when you retire at some
point, you will have something of your own.
I am still trying to compete for Mr. Olympia and just after that
I might stop. I may go through a couple of cycles as a part of my preparation
but my coach knows better and I rely on him to guide me properly. My coach has
been great, I am so happy to be able to use steroids in the most effective way
possible and I am confident that I will be achieving the results that I will be
expecting. My coach does all the calculations regarding what my body needs and
what I need to do as part of my training to achieve the optimum results. And as
long as my coach is with me, I will be taking steroids for as long as I wish.
But I know in a few years I plan to retire and that’s when I will stop thinking
about steroids. I’ll take a half-year long trip to South-East Asia and might as
well stay there if I like it.
The experiences shared by the athlete above, gives us an insight
into how the bodybuilding community thinks. They believe that steroids, whether
injectable or oral steroids, all can
work to provide them the results they need on the condition that their body is
used to of training and that they have whole lifestyle customized to their
training requirements. Many have made mistakes but those who learn from them,
have found their path towards success. Therefore, every bodybuilder should work
with a coach or an expert to help and guide them.