I would be very skeptical accepting the claims of bodybuilders from 70’s that they were off steroids off-season and were adding them only when (read, last 2-4 months before) preparing for competition. The way how most of them looked those years off-season tells me a lot. Besides, there is a splendid 3 volume book written by Randy Roach called “Muscle, Smoke and Mirrors” which gave a lot of food for thought on this subject too. For instance, a detailed description of Pete Grymkowski’s anabolic usage off-season and prior to competition and the fact that he was simply following others gives a clear picture of the actual reason behind the enormous strength and size of bodybuilders of that area.
To quote from Volume 2 (pages 259-): "In 1969 Peter Grymkowski entered the AAU Junior Mr. USA and was somewhat perplexed to say the least. There was no confusion over his very low placing, the reasoning was quite evident. To Peter, however, the mystery was why everyone was so huge except for him. Born on March 26, 1946, the 23 year old Rochester native began immediately asking the other athletes the questions he hoped would lead him to find out what he was doing wrong. It was still the era where the first thought that came to a young bodybuilder’s mind was that he wasn’t training enough, but he soon learned that he was and probably more. He found that bodybuilders to be fairly tight lipped regarding their steroid use at that time.
It was actually a weightlifting friend, Nick Castiglia, who told him shortly afterwards that the bodybuilders and lifters were using anabolic steroids in the form of Dianabol… Where many bodybuilders were still denying drug use or conceding to very small dosages n the early 1970s, Pete Grymkowski admitted to taking 2,000 mg of both oral and injectable steroids daily that he would ramp up to peak at an amazing 5,000 mg just days before a contest… By mid-1977, Pete was maintaining a daily dosage of both oral and injectable anabolic steroids at a level of 3,000 mg per day. This itself was quite high and there were most likely others taking this amount.
However, few if any were going where Pete went when he took his dosage up to a whopping 10,000 mg daily three weeks out from a competition where he held it right up to contest day… Along with his 10,000 mg of anabolic sterods, Pete would also use a thyroid preparation for accelerated fat loss. Compounds such as Cytomol and Proloid were used to stimulated thyroid activity and Pete preferred the latter of the two… Pete would also increase dramatically his use of the anti-estrogenic compounds Clomid and Nolvadex when he ramped up his steroid cycle… At a height of 5’10" Pete Grymkowski reached a massively defined weight of 246 lbs when he took the Heavyweight Class of AFAB/IFBB Mr. America on June 18, 1977.
Based on a height and weight ratio Pete was definitely one of the most massive bodybuilders of that era… Pete went onto compete three more times before retiring from competition. He had become a travelling laboratory carrying suitcases full of pharmacological compounds and apparatus to these later events. He would come to the show days before and lock himself in his hotel room where he set up shop. He would emerge at contest time several pounds heavier and shredded. At the 1979 IFBB Pittsburg Grand Prix, Wayne DeMilia got his first real glimpse at top pro bodybuilding. It was only DeMilia’s second year promoting shows and he conceded to being still somewhat naive concerning the extent of drugs in the sport. He had walked into Pete Grymkowski’s hotel room and recalled, “I thought I was back in college in chemistry class”. The book then follows with an interesting story about Don Howorth getting into trouble and entering Vacaville prison in Vacaville, CA, where he was approached by inmates for advice on how to build muscle. Quote: “Don refrained from bullshit and told them what much of the bodybuilding field was doing to optimize size”.
