Pro Bodybuilding and Steroids

G87 · March 26, 2009, 7:28am

Got sick and tired of Amit’s thread being dragged into off-topic for 2/3 pages. Some of you (you know who you are) need to know when to stop talking. Hint: it’s when you’re only opening your (hypothetical) mouth to hear your own voice.

Having said that, I guess people have a lot to say about the topic, as well as people getting harassed about AS use on this website.

I can’t help but wonder, is it really that big of a deal, or just an excuse for people to whine and act butt-hurt? If you look good - bodybuilder good - how can you NOT expect to get asked about steroid use? I’m fucking SMALL, and I get asked about steroid use. Is it so hard to ignore stupid questions from people, regardless of whether they stem from ignorance or ill will?

Also, can you REALLY not get sponsorship if you discuss AAS use on a bodybuilding website? There’s a couple of competitive guys here who post in the AAS forum… On the other hand, some people on the BB’ing forum don’t post pics PERIOD, face blur or no.

So, if there’s anything left to say on the topic, please post here instead of Amit’s thread.

G

Goodfellow · March 26, 2009, 1:17pm

IMO, getting asked if you take steroids is a compliment, especially if you don’t.

I’m not sure how people feel if they actually do take steroids and get asked. Or if you just get asked routinely in general.

I don’t know why people jump all over someone when they ask about AAS use, or if someone is natural or not.

It is a big deal, it’s a big of an component in your physique as diet or training would be. I don’t know why people try to make it seem like an everyday supplement.

I personally can’t see how people get offended when they get asked about their steroid use.

waylanderxx · March 26, 2009, 1:51pm

I will address the sponsorship thing since I was the one who made the comment about it in the first place.

If you do not have much “hype” about yourself and you discuss, in depth, your AAS use it’s probably not a problem.

However, think if Brandon Curry, a former member here, gave out all his cycle details and what not prior to him doing great in competition and being picked up by BSN.

Since he has become famous, those details of him admitting to the usage of AAS would have gotten around and may have caused him to not be sponsored.

Supplement companies sponsor these people because the general population assumes they just need to take whatever product is being endorsed by the BBer and they will achieve that physique.

I think in most cases discussing it won’t matter, but it is safer to err on the side of caution with these things. I already gave an example of a fitness model losing a sponsorship for admitting to AAS use so it is possible.

I appreciate everything Priz does for this site, hes the man. He used to be very open about things, but now that he in the running for a pro card and he is very discreet. A smart choice.

I use to be open about things too on here, but at the urging of several members I respect I have removed photos and if I post pics it’s face blurred. You can never be too careful IMO

The_Mighty_Stu · March 26, 2009, 2:14pm

I think it’s the media’s peception of steroids that would explain why some people react negatively when asked. Most people regard steroids as an ‘easy’ way to achieve something without any real work. Obviously the intelligent trainers on here know differently, but really, most of the public are pretty uninformed, and righteously adamant about their opinions.

I know I’ve voiced my opinions before, but in my mind, if you do or don’t, it’s your choice. Neither one means you dont work hard. There a tons of juiced up guys at my gym, and I gotta say that it’s a huge compliment how many of them are coming to see me compete in a ‘natural’ show (where even the winners will look tiny compared to these beasts).

Why? because even though they make use of AAS and I don’t, we both appreciate how much work and dedication goes into the training and nutrition. It’s just a different playing field.

As far as being asked if you use gear simply because you look good,… well, sadly most people who haven’t achieved any results must feel better about themselves if they believe that it’s the only reason you look better than they do. One of the ‘trainers’ at my gym looks like complete crap… Big Paunch, fat ass (which he covers with a sweatshirt the way chicks do on the cardio machines -lol), and small arms which he insists of showing off with sleeveless underarmor shirts every day.

Anyway, he’s been trying to convince any who will listen to him that I must be on steroids. I’m fairly certain no one believes him (especially considering how small I’m looking these days), but it just goes to show (and I’ve said this to him) that he must really know nothing about proper training or nutrition if he truly believes that it requires steroids to be lean at 175 lbs -lol.

S

FatPat · March 26, 2009, 2:20pm

I was just watching Bigger, Stronger, Faster on you tube. Very interesting but not suprising.

It’s a complex issue, what I got out of it was that you’d have to be incredibly naive to think it is not part of all sports worldwide but as long as you don’t talk about it out loud then it’s ok.

That seems to be the bottom line, whether you’re Carl Lewis, Brandon Curry or a high school student using Tren to get himself in line for a scholarship.

Professor_X · March 26, 2009, 2:32pm

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

[/quote]

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.

It is the same as telling someone like Mad Titan who used to come to this site that his development is ALL genetics…as if he didn’t train his ass of to get into that condition.

Most people are NOT using that as a compliment. They are using it to say you only look a certain way because you are doing something they think is “wrong” or that you simply had it easier than them in some way.

If you just heard someone imply that for the first time, you may just think it is a compliment. You would also be dead wrong unless someone truly meant it that way.

Clifford · March 26, 2009, 2:58pm

[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.

It is the same as telling someone like Mad Titan who used to come to this site that his development is ALL genetics…as if he didn’t train his ass of to get into that condition.

Most people are NOT using that as a compliment. They are using it to say you only look a certain way because you are doing something they think is “wrong” or that you simply had it easier than them in some way.

If you just heard someone imply that for the first time, you may just think it is a compliment. You would also be dead wrong unless someone truly meant it that way.[/quote]

So true when i was in high school senior year they used to joke like that all the time. even though i was only like 200 lbs at 5,7.

I could have taken it as a compliment, but honestly they wouldn’t know their ass from their elbows when it came to steroids. i knew though that it was just ignorance and they were implying that someone couldn’t be 200 lbs without being fat or being or steroids.

honestly there was only a hand full of kids over 200 lbs in high school, most of them were either like 6,4 or obese. so i suppose i could understand where there coming from having never been inside a gym. which means they rarely if ever have seen a large muscular person of regular height.

BONEZ217 · March 26, 2009, 3:06pm

Getting asked if you use steroids is never a compliment.

It’s not like people going around saying “Oh wow you must eat a ton and lift like a beast”… It’s always “Wow are you taking steroids??” People who ask the question have it in their head that since they themselves ‘eat a ton and lift like a beast’(but if you compared the diet and lifting habits of the two there’d surely be a difference) that the only thing setting them apart from the bigger guy is steroids. That’s a little wordy but I think the point is clear.

The only way I can see ‘the steroid question’ as a compliment is if the person asking is much bigger and leaner then the person being accused (for lack of a better term). And lets be honest, how often does that actually happen…

EDIT
If the person happens to say “You must really eat a lot and train hard” (w/e) it is likely that the person is not as ignorant to the ins and outs of bodybuilding. This lack of ignorance would prevent most of those people from asking the steroid question in the first place.

BradTGIF · March 26, 2009, 3:04pm

[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.

It is the same as telling someone like Mad Titan who used to come to this site that his development is ALL genetics…as if he didn’t train his ass of to get into that condition.

Most people are NOT using that as a compliment. They are using it to say you only look a certain way because you are doing something they think is “wrong” or that you simply had it easier than them in some way.

If you just heard someone imply that for the first time, you may just think it is a compliment. You would also be dead wrong unless someone truly meant it that way.[/quote]

I think it’s situational. If someone in a store or at work or in line at a theater asks, it feels more complimentary. The layman doesn’t know about diet and workouts, but he/she is flooded with the term “steroids” in association with performance/body enhancement.

If someone asks at the gym, it feels like he’s hating. The whole “I could be that big if I took what you took” sort of thing.

Marlind · March 26, 2009, 3:07pm

My parents are both doctors and I have been educated that steroids aren’t bad and they don’t kill people.My dad has explained in detail what they do and how etc.But the general population even some fuckers at the gym think that if they took steroids the’d be like ronnie coleman in less then a month and they think that those huge guys don’t workout as hard as they do…WTF ,I know taht I destroyed amit’s thread but I hadn’t seen the (he is comepetig for the pro’s)…

LiveFromThe781 · March 26, 2009, 3:06pm

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?

LiveFromThe781 · March 26, 2009, 3:09pm

[quote]BONEZ217 wrote:

The only way I can see ‘the steroid question’ as a compliment is if the person asking is much bigger and leaner then the person being accused (for lack of a better term). And lets be honest, how often does that actually happen…

[/quote]

haha so true, cause the people who really are on steroids and not the “WOW THIS DBOL IS REALLY KICKIN IN” guys know you arent taking steroids cause youd be about 25 pounds heavier if you did.

RWElder0 · March 26, 2009, 3:13pm

Many people also like to think that they are experts in health and fitness when they know little or nothing. After all, aren’t all people who lift weights just muscle bound, inflexible and stupid. (That last sentence was meant to have a little sarcasm attached.)

Not being able to get yourself in shape or someone else will lead many people to sumise that it is the “magic pill” that they are not taking. It is easier for them to explain it away by saying “steroids” rather than admitting that the process took, education, hard work and time. If you can’t relay your point in less than 15 seconds the general population gets bored. It they have to pay attecntion for longer than it takes to watch 2 1/2 men then that almost feels like work.

When people ask others if they use steriods it is never intended as a compliment. It is someone, usually uneducated about steroids, who is taking a snipe at the indiviual who did the work. The “ethical debate” is not a debate. It is a false framing of the belief that the other guy took a short cut and that while you are physically inferior to that person - you stand on a higher moral footing.

LiveFromThe781 · March 26, 2009, 3:13pm

the thing is that so much of the population is either super thin, or borderline obese that just by being 180 you look jacked compared to everyone else.

its like if you go to Ecuador and are the richest person because you have $1,000 dollars. you arent really rich (on a grander scheme) youre just rich to really poor people

Professor_X · March 26, 2009, 3:24pm

[quote]BradTGIF wrote:
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.

It is the same as telling someone like Mad Titan who used to come to this site that his development is ALL genetics…as if he didn’t train his ass of to get into that condition.

Most people are NOT using that as a compliment. They are using it to say you only look a certain way because you are doing something they think is “wrong” or that you simply had it easier than them in some way.

If you just heard someone imply that for the first time, you may just think it is a compliment. You would also be dead wrong unless someone truly meant it that way.

I think it’s situational. If someone in a store or at work or in line at a theater asks, it feels more complimentary. The layman doesn’t know about diet and workouts, but he/she is flooded with the term “steroids” in association with performance/body enhancement.

If someone asks at the gym, it feels like he’s hating. The whole “I could be that big if I took what you took” sort of thing.

[/quote]

It’s not situational. There isn’t one circumstance I can think of where someone used that as a true compliment.

How the hell is that a compliment anyway?

In ALL cases it is used to imply that what you have achieved came to you easily in some way.

DOHCrazy · March 26, 2009, 3:24pm

I have to agree. I have gained quite a bit in the past year. Over spring break when returning to my hometown, I got all sorts of steroid comments. Im 6’1, ~237, with a higher than good body fat, not big at all.

The compliments all came from uneducated people. The worst were from the friends that I knew worked out, but ate like shit.

When they asked what I took, I told them I started drinking whole milk.

BradTGIF · March 26, 2009, 3:26pm

[quote]Professor X wrote:
BradTGIF wrote:
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.

It is the same as telling someone like Mad Titan who used to come to this site that his development is ALL genetics…as if he didn’t train his ass of to get into that condition.

Most people are NOT using that as a compliment. They are using it to say you only look a certain way because you are doing something they think is “wrong” or that you simply had it easier than them in some way.

If you just heard someone imply that for the first time, you may just think it is a compliment. You would also be dead wrong unless someone truly meant it that way.

I think it’s situational. If someone in a store or at work or in line at a theater asks, it feels more complimentary. The layman doesn’t know about diet and workouts, but he/she is flooded with the term “steroids” in association with performance/body enhancement.

If someone asks at the gym, it feels like he’s hating. The whole “I could be that big if I took what you took” sort of thing.

It’s not situational. There isn’t one circumstance I can think of where someone used that as a true compliment.

How the hell is that a compliment anyway?

In ALL cases it is used to imply that what you have achieved came to you easily in some way.[/quote]

Yeah we’re not going to agree on this, you’re coming from a background where you started out small and worked to impressive size. I came out of the vadge big and have had to work to look like I’m not a complete fat bastard. When someone from the general public sizes me up and recognizes my musculature rather than just being fat, I don’t get offended.

Aggro · March 26, 2009, 3:29pm

[quote]DOHCrazy wrote:

When they asked what I took, I told them I started drinking whole milk.
[/quote]

I tell em I put creatine in my socks every morning.

What is really a shame is that if people would just stfu about it, then they might learn things from guys with really great physiques.

That’s what bothers me the most about, by asking that question, and essentially chasing someone off, I get cheated out of some possible great knowledge that could have maybe helped me in my quest.

Goodfellow · March 26, 2009, 3:33pm