Every year there are, what, thousands and thousands of people starting at the gym?
And every year some of those people will want to look up steroids and other PEDs to get results.
This is gonna be the ultimate discussion (if it takes) to finally settle this.
No judgment, no bias, just facts.
Consider the following.
Our view of a natural human body has been so distorted that many now think peak natural fitness is being scrawny, and you need PEDs to show any muscle.
This leads many people – especially impressionable people, like teens – to seek out PEDs because they are being told this is the only way to progress and it’s not dangerous at all if you take them correctly.
Take them correctly being the keyword. Most doctors will not help you take PEDs (some might), so it turns into self-experimentation that has left many dead and ruined over the years, until we have refined the training regimen enough today to, finally, have a somewhat responsible PED usage.
And now what happens? PEDs have lost some of their “demonic” nature, which is great, but now you have teens on tiktok praising SARMS (which are not studied enough for human consumption) and peddling their supplements to make money. Who else hear has heard the random geared jock sell their whey powder, turkesterone, BCAAs and overpriced routines and promise similar results from these?
Essentially we get to a point where newcomers believe they need PEDs to actually achieve anything. Thus they do not go to the gym. The second group, who doesn’t know about PEDs, thinks they should get incredible results in 6 months to a year. When they don’t get them, they leave dejected.
Especially as teens (16-22) are in their prime physical potential and do not need PEDs to achieve incredible results that will follow them for a lifetime.
We are driving people away from physical fitness.
PEDs work. If they didn’t nobody would take them. They work really well. But they can also destroy you. They change you forever, for better or worse. For example, steroids create more “nodes” in your muscle cells, which direct how much muscle you can build. These nodes stay even after you get off steroids and change your natural ability to create and maintain muscle mass. This is a desired effect of steroids.
There is such a thing as responsible PED usage, but even then we’re not entirely sure how much we can push it. Some people took it completely irresponsibly and ruined their life (in their own words). Others took them responsibly, for example they stopped after 5 years, and are doing great. But how much can you push those five years?
In my opinion, take PEDs if you want. But know what you’re getting yourself into, in and out. You can never know enough. Furthermore, figure out what your goals are. What is the point of achieving in one year what could be achieved in five? You still need to work out five years down the line on PED. You’re gonna look swole faster, sure, but for how many health drawbacks?
In the competitive field the use is different. Everyone takes them and so if you even want to qualify for a competition you have to get on them too.
Essentially, is there a clear benefit to PED usage towards your goal, that could not be achieved without them?
PEDs also change your body and believe me, those in the know will know you take them. Shoulders get super massive and look sharp as a knife. On HGH your organs enlarge (from what I heard) and push out against your belly.
Personally, I don’t even find steroid users attractive. First because it’s clear they’re on steroids (which still requires a lot of work, they still put in the workouts), and second because it’s just too big. It’s like you’re trying to look like a mountain. But that’s just my opinion.
I think what the fitness community as a whole needs is transparency. Be honest if you take PEDs, nobody actually cares. Admit to it. You can do it now.
Stay natty folks
Great topic and you already raised many good points.
I gotta say straight away imo there has been some very positive development over the past 10+ years regarding this topic. Back then literally everyone, even the most monstrous pro-bodybuilders actively claimed natural. Honest discussions and advice were only present in some corners of niche bodybuilding forums. Over the years a lot of people have come forward and pushed the conversation on this. People like Larry Wheels, Greg Doucette and MPMD (whatever else you might think about them) and even Zyzz back then really brought some transparency on this topic. Former pro bodybuilders have also come forward and are now talking pretty openly about it, active pros are starting too (Classic Mr. O Chris Bumstead eg) and at least not claiming natty anymore.
That said, it’s also gotten much worse in other respects. The spread of social media and smartphones has warped people’s perception crazy since they’re bombarded with insane looking PED users all day every day. Physiques and athletics only achievable with PEDs are so common the average person has no fucking clue anymore what a hard working, genetically gifted natural is really capable of. Heck, I don’t even know. As you said, beauty standards due to this are totally out of whack. People start taking drugs due to this, they quit fitness because of it, they develop body dysmorphia, etc etc.
We also have to assume nowadays every pro athlete is on some kind of PED. In some sports - eg US football, bodybuilding, weight- and powerlifting, crossfit - it’s extremely obvious, in others we just have to guess. There’s too much money involved for them not to take stuff. Problem is we just don’t know. Like is Cristiano Ronaldo using? Messi? Nadal? Lebron? Bolt? No idea and no way to tell. If they are, that’s obviously also messing with people’s perception of what’s achievable in terms of performance as a natural. clarence0 has some good videos on PEDs in olympic weightlifting and doping controls in general if you’re interested (also hes funny and a monster).
All of this naturally leads to more and more people using, generally without medical assistance and from dodgy ass sources. Even pros with supervision die frequently (Shawn Rhoden and Cedric McMillan recently), so what damage are people suffering every day from incorrect use, overdosing and shitty gear brewed in some shady bathtub in Poland?
Overall I’d approach this like most other drugs. Yes, they are/can be incredibly harmful, but people take this stuff already anyway. Illegality is only pushing them towards self-harm and criminality and also creates the transparency issues. There’s overall no benefit to them being illegal. People should be able to source them from doctors and should get the care and supervision they need - I just don’t really know how you’d regulate it. They shouldn’t be as easy to get as Ibuprofen, but if you overregulate them you’re not combating the black-market. Also not quite sure how you’d get pro athletes to open up as long as there’s financial benefit to lying about your natty card.
Should anyone take them? I don’t judge anyone who does so to compete at the highest level of a sport. Ronnie Coleman stepping on stage 300lbs with -2% bf, looking like a real life comic book mutant or Eddie Hall deadlifting 500kg or any strongman competing are extremely impressive and deserve all the respect imo no matter what they’re blasting. They’re pushing the boundaries of what’s humanly possible and that’s crazy to witness. Random gym-goers taking is a bit weird, but I still don’t judge. People should just be open about it.
My ultimate goal would be to look like Bruce Lee.
I likely won’t ever use them because it seems like too much work tbh, but I really appreciate this post because I’ve been confused about them for a while. The narratives I was told as a youth were extreme as hell and blatantly nonsense, but you internalize those things. Your dick and balls shrivel up, your muscles are fake, there’s no actual strength, it’s just water/air propping up your biceps, etc. Like I said, complete nonsense shit, but that sort of misinfo can be confusing.
Ha! The dick and ball thing is true if you completely misuse and abuse the dosage. And it never goes away once it starts – testicles will shrink, and you will develop erectile dysfunction potentially for life.
Abuse also leads to “roid rage” that we all know, but that’s again with improper usage. I know people that clearly use and they’ve never acted like that lol.
Otherwise the benefits of steroids specifically are that you have much shorter recovery needs, we’re talking being able to work out the same muscle group every day or maybe even twice a day if you respond well.
This is with proper dosage and regimen. You will also put on so many kilos of muscles in mere months, and be able to develop and maintain more muscle mass than any natural athlete.
I think this is the video that I watched a while back that explained literally everything you need to know about steroids: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjKlCPYqB7w.
However the host completely ignored the most important side effects of all: cardiovascular problems. These were the causes of so many deaths
Steroid use increases the risk of blood clots, strokes, high blood pressure and artery damage, and this seemingly with no specific profile or dosage. We know this because corticosteroids are given to treat inflammation (but it’s not the kind that will give you muscle mass), and there is a correlated higher risk of CV in this population.
