Bodybuilding Area Tips

A nice survey done on 100 bodybuilders attending four gyms were asked using an anonymous self administered questionnaire.
Results-Anabolic steroid doses ranged from 250 to 3200 mg per week and users combined different drugs to achieve these
doses. Injectable and oral preparations were used in cycles lasting four to 12 weeks. Eighty six per cent of users admitted
to the regular use of drugs other than steroids for various reasons, including additional anabolic effects, the minimization of steroid related side effects, and
withdrawal symptoms.

Top steroids used
1. Nandrolone decanoate (Deca-Durabolin) Testosterone cypionate
2. Stanozolol (Winstrol) Testosterone propionate (Virormone)
3. Methandrostenolone (Dianabol) Testosterone blend (Sustanon 250)
4. Methenolone (Primobolan) Testosterone heptylate (Theramex)
5. Trenbolone (Parabolan) Testosterone enanthate (Testaviron)
6. Oxandrolone (Anavar) Testosterone undecanoate (Andriol)
7. Oxymetholone (Anapolon)
8. Drostanolone (Masteron)
9. Boldenone (Equipoise)

drugs other than anabolic steroids used by athletes

Clenbutarol 70 %
Ephedrine 57%
Human chorionic gonadotrophin 49%
Tamoxifen 45%
Growth hormone 12%
Diuretics 22%
Nalbuphine (Nubain) 6%
Insulin 2%
Thyroid hormone 2%
Aminoglutethimide (Orimeten) 3%
Esiclene 5%
None 14%

side effects associated with steroid use

Acne 54%
Gynaecomastia 34%
Striae 34%
Testicular atrophy 40%
None 12%

Age distribution of steroid users

16-19 10%
20-24 27%
25-29 36%
30-34 14%
35-39 10%
40+ 3%
Total 100%

Duration of steroid use

Year
< 1 21%
1-2 13%
2-3 26%
3-4 15%
4-5 10%
> 5 15%
Total 100%

The lowest recorded weekly dose was 250 mg and the highest was 3200 mg. The duration of steroid administration (steroid cycle) was reported as follows: 4-6 weeks (28%), 8-10 weeks (39%),12 weeks (33%). Forty eight per cent of the sample stated that their annual steroid use was less than six months, while the other 52% used steroids for more than six months each year. Three athletes admitted continuous steroid use
for 52 weeks of the year.

The most popular agents were intramuscular nandrolone decanoate (84%), testosterone esters (75%), and oral methandrostenolone (68%). Eighty five per cent used both parenteral and oral preparations, 1 1% used solely injectable preparations, and 4% used tablets only. Most self administered intramuscular injections were sited in the gluteal region, but the thigh and deltoid were also used.

Scientific studies have attributed gains in muscle size and strength to anabolic steroids, provided they are
used in conjunction with an appropriate training programme and a high protein diet. Even in the absence of such clinical data, 50 years of steroid use by athletes would imply a positive benefit. The anabolic action of these drugs is
mediated in two ways. An anticatabolic effect is achieved by minimising the catabolic action of corticosteroids released during stress (athletic activity). The second action is the maintenance of positive nitrogen balance by improving utilization of ingested protein. Anabolic steroids also have motivating effects, inducing a state of euphoria and diminished fatigue, thereby enhancing training capabilities.

Illicit drug use by the athletes in this study was
not confined to anabolic steroids, and 86% admitted using other drugs for different reasons. Non-steroid agents with anabolic properties include clenbutarol, growth hormone, and insulin. Clenbutarol is a 3, receptor agonist used by 70% of this group for its ability to stimulate protein deposition in skeletal muscle (so called “repartitioning agent”), and also for its thermogenic properties, which increase energy expenditure, thereby reducing body fat.Growth hormone is taken by a smaller number of steroid users (12%), probably because of its high black market price. Insulin, for example
1-2 units with meals, was also being used by two competitors for a supposed anabolic effect. It appears that the athletes in this sample used steroids as their primary anabolic agent, with clenbutarol, growth hormone, or insulin being used as secondary anabolic drugs. Ephedrine is a 12 receptor agonist used medically as a bronchodilator and vasoconstrictor sympathomimetic during anaesthesia. Fifty seven per cent of the athletes in this sample used ephedrine as a stimulant to aid athletic performance, and also as a thermogenic fat reducing agent.

Anticatabolic agents are also used to provide anabolic-like effects. Aminoglutethimide (Orimeten), used by 3% of the sample, is a steroid antagonist which preferentially blocks corticosteroid pathways, shifting the testosterone to cortisol ratio in favour of anabolism. The parenteral analgesic nalbuphine (Nubain) was used by 6% to relieve musculoskeletal pain and for a proposed “stress reducing” anticatabolic action. Additional drugs are used before bodybuilding competitions to enhance skeletal muscle visibility. L-thyroxine (for example, 200 ,ug daily) may be used in the four to six weeks leading up to a contest to reduce the amount of subcutaneous body fat.

I hope you found this informative

          

Results of several recent studies show that high-protein, low-carbohydrate weight loss diets indeed have their benefits. The American Heart Association would like you to believe these diets carry a degree of risk.

Simply stated, there is no scientific evidence whatsoever that high-protein intake has adverse effects, there are no data in the scientific literature demonstrating that healthy individuals are at risk by the increased demands of protein consumed in quantities 2–3 times above the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA). In contrast with the earlier hypothesis that high-protein intake promotes osteoporosis, some epidemiological studies found a positive association between protein intake and bone mineral density. Further, recent studies suggest, at least in the short term, that RDA for protein (0.8 g/kg) does not support normal calcium homeostasis. Lastly, a negative correlation has been shown between protein intake and systolic and diastolic blood pressures in several epidemiological surveys. In conclusion, there is little if any scientific evidence supporting above mentioned statement. Certainly, such public warnings should be based on a thorough analysis of the scientific literature, not unsubstantiated fears and misrepresentations. For healthy individuals, the risks are minimal and must be balanced against the real and established risk of continued obesity.

According to the AHA Nutrition Committee, “Some popular high-protein/low-carbohydrate diets limit carbohydrates to 10 to 20 g/d, which is one fifth of the minimum 100 g/day that is necessary to prevent loss of lean muscle tissue.” Clearly, this is an incorrect statement since catabolism of lean body mass is reduced by ketones, which probably explains the preservation of lean tissue observed during very-low-carbohydrate diets.

Oddly, the AHA Nutrition Committee ignores the fact that energy restriction increases protein requirements. It has been know for about a half century that inadequate energy intake leads to increased protein needs, presumably because some of the protein normally used to synthesize both functional (enzymatic) and structural (tissue) protein is utilized for energy under these conditions.

Thus, when trying to lose weight, it is important to keep protein levels moderately high. The reduction in calories needed to lose weight should be at the expense of saturated fats and carbohydrates, not protein.

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never train legs with Bartman

TOP 10 BART-ISM’S OF BODYBUILDING
Lessons from the Dark (and Ugly) Side of Weight Training

Foreword: When I first met the Bartman in 2003, he immediate came off as an arrogant and unintelligent loudmouth who got away with talking cock because he looked like a rejected offspring of The Hulk (apparently he wasn’t green enough). Then, he trained, humiliated and imposed physical torture on a poor obese kid whose biggest mistake was to pay for it. That obese kid was me. 18 months, 12 kgs of new lean mass (all natural mind you), and 23% loss of bodyfat (to a mere 7.5%) later, you can’t help but admire the bloke who showed you the way to a physique you never thought you could have in this lifetime. I hit the learning curve faster than an oil tanker crashing into a logging truck; and yes, the learning was literally that painful. Above all else, I eventually saw past Bartman’s bike-riding babe-banging trash-talking and uber-macho façade and found one of the most inspirational, intelligent and loyal friends a person could ever ask for. I would like to share some of those lessons I learnt with all y’all in this article, or at least the top 10 that is worth mentioning (the guy sure rambles a lot!) Let’s count backwards then:

10. Bartman says, “Let the mirror be your guide” – Measuring Your Progress

Throw away your tapes, your scales and those weird contraptions called calipers! Well, in truth, I say that for effect; those measuring instruments are best if used sparingly. Weighing yourself everyday will just put you in the looney bin because water weight can fluctuate up to 2 kgs within a matter of hours depending on the time of day and the food you eat. Measuring your biceps daily is also an exercise in futility cuz muscle just don’t grow that fast, and so is measuring bodyfat. For all these measurements, pick one day each week (for example, every Sunday) and the same time (for example, 9:00 am upon waking and after taking your morning dump) to chart your progress on paper. Other than that, use the mirror as your guide. Are your delts developing symmetrically with your chest? Are you noticing more definition and vascularity with each passing day? Are your quads big enough? These are the right questions to help you steer the course of your training, NOT “Umm, why did I weigh 2 kgs heavier now at 7 p.m. than in the morning? Holy shit! I’m getting fat, SOMEBODY HELP!!”

9. Bartman says, “Take a week off; you’ve earned it!” (aka , “I better not see your ugly ass in here next week”) – The Importance of Rest

Anybody who has had the pleasure, ahem, I meant displeasure, of training legs with Bart will know that it is a fate worse than being stoned to death. To hear him tell you any of those aforementioned sentences after 12 or so weeks of hardcore training will sound sweeter than a symphony of seven angels going into orgasm! Adequate rest is as important as weight training itself as it allows your muscles to repair and grow in order to accommodate future demands. In terms of giving your body a solid break, as a beginner’s rule of thumb, a week off after every 8 weeks of training will recharge your batteries (by fully restoring muscle glycogen) and prevent CNS (Central Nervous System) burnout. It also allows your tendons and joints, both crucial tissue matrices that many people fail to prioritize, to recuperate from the workload and stress that has been placed on it. Did you know, it takes up to 8 or 9 weeks for muscle/tendon collagen (the stuff that attaches the muscle to the bone) to repair itself? Failure to allow collagen to rebuild itself completely may result in injuries like tendonitis, tendinosis or fibrosis. Is one week of complete rest too much to ask for? That was a rhetorical question, you idiot.

8. Bartman says, “Less is More” – The Perils of Overtraining

Bartman proposes weight training the same way he has sex: Get in, be quick, and then get the hell out! Except here, instead of two minutes, we’re talking keeping your workouts between 45 to 60 minutes. Many studies conducted on athletic males have shown that a man’s testosterone level peaks roughly 40-45 minutes into his workout and stays elevated till about 60 minutes, at which point it begins a steep decline and the body ramps up hormones like cortisol (a catabolic muscle wasting hormone) because it starts going into a form of starvation mode. That is just one of the perils of overtraining, not to mention insomnia (hence, impaired rest), excessive CNS burnout and unwarranted stress on the ligaments and joints.

Avoiding overtraining also means that you do not work out the same muscle group if it has not fully recovered from a previous workout. In terms of resting between working the same muscle group, if you are intense enough, training once a week is ideal, given that various studies have demonstrated muscle fibers can take anywhere from 7-9 days to fully recover from weight training. Also, if you are sick, there is no point forcing yourself to train for the sake of completing your set amount of workouts per week: that is potentially the worst form of overtraining you can commit, right at the get go! In my own words, “A missed workout is unfortunate; a forced workout is detrimental.”

7. Bartman says, “If you take steroids, you’ll be a walking billboard for it!” (aka, “I’m up to my eyeballs in it!”) – Starting Out On The Juice

This is kind of a sensitive topic; but in the spirit on honesty, and the fact that this forum is literally screaming ”Steroids!!!”, let’s strip away all pretenses, along with your girlfriend’s lingerie. I once told Bart I wanted to be big but not Bart-Big and he had the laugh of his life. Now I know why: You are never as big as you want to be. If you want to use gear but “don’t want people to find out about it”, you are eventually fooling yourself. People are not as stupid as you think; eventually they will catch on, especially when they notice your bench presses jump up over 50 lbs within 2 weeks (if you’re “secretly” guzzling D-bols of course).

Your body produces only so much free testosterone, which, amongst all else, is the androgenic anabolic hormone that maintains your muscle mass. Therefore, there is a natural lean mass limit that you will reach after you have trained long and hard enough, which varies from individual to individual. After that point, if you are serious about bodybuilding, your only recourse will be to artificially boost your hormones with exogenous steroids (testosterone and its various derivatives) to attain that herculean physique you so desire. However, this is not a decision to be taken lightly. Taken too early (late teens/early twenties), steroids can permanently fuse your growth plates, thereby preventing you from getting taller, or permanently impair your HPTA (Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Testicular-Axis) and hence your ability to naturally produce testosterone while lowering your sperm count. Taken at ridiculous doses or too long a period, steroids can shut your HPTA down for a long time and some side effects can include gynecomastia, or “bitch tits”, and muscle cell receptor saturation, where the gear just doesn’t work anymore (our bodies are designed to adapt to anything). Hence, one must recognize the importance of cycling and subsequently the need for a Post Cycle Therapy (PCT) to help bring back your testes online and keep as much gains from the cycle as possible.

6. Bartman says, “I can kill you with pussy weights” (aka “Leave your ego at home”) – Perfecting Form and Focus

Bart once placed a measly 6 plates (120 kgs) on the leg press and said that’s what we would be pressing. “Isn’t that kinda light?” said I, and he was quick to add, “Wait till we’re done.” Three sets of 10 mega-slow reps later, each twenty-second (10 seconds eccentric, 10 concentric), and I was pleading for death (mercy is not one of Bart’s strong suits). It was the most painful thing I have had to endure; tears literally came out of my eyes. Moral of the story is: Don’t train with Bart, EVER! Seriously, the point here is that you don’t need to lift heavy to impress the ladies; they may look once but will forget you exist the very next minute. Just take the weights down and focus on really working the intended muscle with strict form and controlled movements that will negate momentum and excess involvement of the peripheral muscles. Needless to say, after that leg workout, Bart had fun laughing his bubble butt off watching me waddling down the stairs like a lame duck, and smiled with satisfaction when I still couldn’t walk without limping three days later. Just goes to show that even moderate weight high volume workouts have their place in building your dream physique.

5. Bartman says ,”10,9,9,9,8,7,7,6,5,4,3,3,3,2,2,2,2,1” – Shock of the Unexpected

Hmmm, is it really a set of 10 reps if you end up doing 20? Unless Bart is being an asshole or he simply can’t count (a scary possibility really). Yes, we’ve stressed the importance of NOT overtraining, but in the context of that one hour you have, going all out is fair game! Your body is a stubborn and lazy piece of machinery – it simply won’t budge unless you bitch slap it into changing its set point… and then it’ll just adapt again until you have to slap it around some more. Muscle is the most costly thing for the body to build and maintain; as the bodybuilding wisdom dictates, “a pound of muscle burns four times the calories as a pound of fat”. Hence, muscle is physiologically treated as a luxury needed only when external stimuli prove too much for the current musculature to handle. This is where forced reps, drop sets, eccentric reps or compound sets come into play. They help throw a wrench into the system, shocking it out of its complacency, thereby allowing you to break out of your plateau or that tedious rut you’ve found yourself in. You ought to incorporate these various tools in your exercise sessions at least every other workout in order to keep your muscles guessing and growing.

4. Bartman says, “You squat like a girl!” (aka “Your mother squats more than that”) – Aggression and Motivation

Bartman simply loves publicly emasculating you; he gets off on it – it makes him feel like the Big Man on Campus. You hate his guts for it and it makes you want to cut off his balls and feed them to a school of hungry piranhas… and that’s precisely why the trash talking works! Aggression is key. It is easy to fall into a rut and go through the motions when you’re working out alone with nobody to egg you on or spot you. This is why having a training buddy can make all the difference. Both of you are constantly trying to outdo one another; and if someone is stronger, then one is trying to catch up while the other tries to up the par. It’s a beautiful concept really, using the male propensity for competition as a motivational tool. Furthermore, knowing there’s someone to spot you and help rack the weight should you reach failure gives you a mental edge to push the envelope. Besides, being humiliated by your buddy in public is no fun. Just ask Proman, who is sporting pink lacey panties as we speak, but only because he got me to break my bench press record by challenging me, albeit online.

3. Bartman says, “You are what you eat” (aka, “If you cheat on my diet, I’ll come to know about it”, aka, “You wanna BE BIG? EAT BIG!”) – Diet is Everything

The first time I ever went on a cutting diet under Bart’s guidance, he had me on restricted carbs. Now being an obese carboholic, that constituted extreme torture; but as I started seeing the results day by day, I kept with the program… until one night, six weeks in, when I had insatiable sugar pangs. I binged hungrily on NINE candy bars in 15 minutes, drooling like a prisoner on parole getting his first lap dance at a strip club after ten years. Unlike the analogy though, I felt sick (and guilty) afterwards. Two days later, Bart takes a look at me, pinches my love handles, does his two fingered bloat test (ask him if you wanna know this neat little trick) and says, “you’ve been naughty.” I admitted my transgressions and his idea of appreciating the honesty was completely eliminating carbs from my diet down to a bare minimum. Needless to say, it was a cruel punishment that was also a blessing, because it eventually got me down to a mere 7.5% bodyfat, something I had never achieved before. Towards the last few weeks, salt was eliminated, so were protein shakes and a whole range of other foods. I was left with a bland and tasteless diet of grilled meats, nuts and veggies. But man, did it show in the mirror: I looked like my diet, lean and mean.

On a side note, no matter how much caloric deficit you wish to create, eating at least 6 meals a day will ensure a constant stream of nutrients while minimizing muscle catabolism and maximizing fat metabolism, seeing as you negate your body’s need for fat storage. Furthermore, whole foods are always a superior choice to protein shakes, since they elicit a thermogenic effect via increasing your body temperature ever so slightly. Also, the nutrients are absorbed more sustainably throughout the day. Bart proved it by the diet he prescribed me, consisting of nothing but stuff you could buy at the local supermarket. So please throw away your fancy Hydroxycuts and NO2 haemodilators if you think they can help you circumvent a strict diet; Pish posh!

2. Bartman says, “It ain’t a leg workout till you puke” – Intensity

Like I said before; unless you are a masochist, you do not want to be caught dead in a leg workout with the Bartman! Heavy ass squats followed by 100 rep leg presses, then some walking lunges, a couple of knee breaking leg extensions and some more light ass-to-the-grass squats thrown in for good measure; by then, you’re ready to puke out all your meals from the previous week! Well, I exaggerate; but it goes to show the true meaning of intensity. Pain is but your brain’s interpretation of signals sent to it by the nerve endings in your muscles, period. Pain is good in that if someone lit a match under your ass, you’d want to know about it. In bodybuilding, however, given that it is the “right” kind of pain (not followed by a ripping or cracking sound, in which case, “Oops!” would be the right response), you have to learn to push past it. Surpassing that threshold mentally is the key to truly unlocking your strength- this is intensity. No matter whether you go light weight high volume or heavy weight low volume, if your muscles aren’t begging for mercy within the hour, you’re not training intensely enough. PERIOD. Note: This, however, is no excuse for sacrificing good form and controlled movement.

1. Bartman says, “There is no such thing as I Can’t” – Mind Over Matter

And now to the most important (drum rolls please) Bartism of all. If you see the Bartman load 4 plates a side on the squat bar and you gasp in horror saying, “I can’t possibly do that!”, you’re bound to hear him utter these inelegant yet profound words of wisdom. When you lift the weight with your traps and don’t have a choice but to get that goddam bar off again after 10 reps; YOU’RE GONNA DO IT! Bart just stands there shouting obscenities at you and will not lift a finger to help until you’re literally half a second away from crashing to the floor, at which point he shouts, “C’mon! This is the most important rep; feel the burn!!” Once again, that’s his crude way of emphasizing the importance of the Mind Muscle Connection (MMC). It’s not enough to lift heavy, but the focus on the muscle and presence of mind needs to be there to feel each and every designated muscle fiber destroy itself. Looking at the bigger picture, on the other hand, “Mind Over Matter” also is a close cousin of “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” If you wanna get massive; and you want it badly enough: You will find a way, no matter how busy your schedule is, to eat those 7 depressing meals a day and bust your ass off at the gym whenever your schedule permits. Also, if you want to lift insane amounts of weight, go for it! Keep incrementally upping your lifts without fearing the weights, because you’ve already doomed yourself to guaranteed failure if you do!

Cheers,

www.bodybuildingarea.com

          

Before wasting your money on a pile of bodybuilding supplements you really need to work out what you are hoping to achieve. Don’t lose sight of the fact that sound nutrition forms the basis of any muscle building program and no amount of supplementation with the latest and greatest products will make up for bad eating habits. The bottom line is, bodybuilding supplements should be used IN ADDITION to regular food, not INSTEAD OF it.
Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s go on to think about what supplements could be of use and this is something that can easily be determined by your physical and performance goals. Don’t make the mistake of copying your training partners or thinking all the garbage spouted in magazine ads. Decide first what you would like to achieve and then choose the supplements that will help you reach your goals.
To help you make an in the know choice, the a large amount of popular and useful bodybuilding supplements available today are listed below, broadly divided to two goal-related categories.
Determined to build muscle? This cannot be obtained without dedication, sheer hard work and sound nutrition. With a solid foundation in place you can assistance the process along with supplements like creatine, whey protein, prohormones, testosterone boosters and amino acids.
Need to squander fat? There is no point in constructing awesome muscles if they’re covered by layers of fat. Once again, the key to success is hard work but you can boost fat loss by using products from supplement categories that add fat burners, stimulant-free products, appetite suppressants and carb blockers.
Many more supplements are available to support your bodybuilding endeavors. These include energy boosters and products aimed at enhancing the condition of your mind and body. As we progress through this series of articles we’ll look at each of these in turn.
In the meantime you can find out a good amount by visiting the web site listed below.

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This article is very dear to me. I’ve taken it upon myself to reinstate Milk as the greatest supplement ever. Lately milk often gets a bad wrap among bodybuilders for several reasons… none of which I fully understand. Some claim they get fat, others claim it is too expensive () and still others complain of gastro-intestinal disorders. But in my eyes anyone who is not lactose intolerant is selling his gains short if he is not supplementing with milk and a lot of it. I always drank milk, I like it, but I never fully realized its potential as a supplement until I started using it as the cornerstone of my diet and started growing beyond measure. I made the greatest gains of my life on milk, an unrivaled 35 pounds in ten months. If you were to ask me now what I thought was the supplement that gives you the best value for money, I’d say milk. Going back to the 1940’s, you’ll find that our heroes of yore such as Clancy Ross and John Grimek accredited much of their gains to milk. Clancy Ross even went as far as saying it was the best thing ever to get big. Many of us long for a return to healthy, natural bodybuilding, so why not start by consuming the same things they did?

You can get it at any store, it’s reasonably cheap to use because it’s 90 percent water, it easily replaces all the fattening cokes and sprites you gulp down, or the flat tasteless water you drink to try and meet you hydration demand. You can drink it in the morning, use it in your cereal, use it to water down your soup, but just as easily at night because it isn’t heavy on the stomach and has a beneficial effect on your sleeping pattern.

Drinking anywhere from 1 to 2 gallons a day, depending on how much working out I have to do and taking my protein cycle into account, I use milk mainly for the protein content. A liter of milk (just under 1/3 of a gallon) contains 32 grams of protein coming from two main sources: casein and whey. These are without a doubt the two best proteins available, and in combination with egg protein, supply a complete amino acid spectrum. I don’t have to sell bodybuilders on the benefits of whey I suppose. It’s the most bio-available protein in the world. It’s fast acting and supplies the aminos of the greatest importance to bodybuilders in large amounts. Casein on the other hand is a slower acting protein that contains other essential aminos that provide the base of your body’s Amino Acid Pool. By having a mix of the two, the casein influences the whey to act slower and so doing stay active in the body longer and increasing the possibility of absorbing more of it. And because of the aminos present in casein, there is more of a chance that the whey will be stored in muscle-tissue.

If you calculate that 20 percent of milk protein is whey, then drinking 2 gallons supplies me with 30 grams of whey, which is how much most companies recommend you use post-workout. Now most bodybuilders get more protein from different sources, including powders, but getting in an extra serving free seems like a good deal. The total protein in 2 gallons is enough to cover the need of protein of any bodybuilder under 210 pounds. I like to be on the safe side and consume at least 30 to 50 percent more, but still, I couldn’t go that high without milk.

Ask any nutrition expert, the best diet for bulking up is 50 percent carbs, 35 percent protein and 15 percent fats. Match that up with the content of semi-skimmed milk and you’ll find that milk is the perfect nutrition. It could be the cheapest MRP there is. Per liter you get 440 calories, just below what most MRP’s supply, giving you 48 grams of carbs, 32 grams of protein and 15 percent fats. Need more proof? What are most kids raised on in the early years of their life? Milk. You start out at a meager 8 pounds, and soon you grow out to a healthy toddler. If only you could keep growing like that, huh? Then why turn your back on the thing that did it? Cow’s milk you say? Have you seen the size of the bovine stock? Those things are huge. Cows aren’t entirely unlike bodybuilders, they used to be an example of health and then they started using steroids to get bigger. For a growing athlete, taking in as many calories as possible is essential, but you have to watch what you eat to. My milk intake supplies 1300 to 2600 calories a day, from one of the cleanest and purest sources left in a world of pre-packaging, diseases and genetically engineered food. That’s anywhere from 60 to 90 percent of my calorie intake depending on the phase I’m in.

Calcium

What are the three most important minerals to a an athlete? Iron, Zinc and you guessed it, Calcium. That’s the point of a sports nutritionist. Ask the body and it will say calcium, calcium and calcium. This is clear from the amount of calcium we need as opposed to other minerals and the priority it gets within our systems. If you ingest Calcium and Zinc and Iron (and I’ve seen one company dumb enough to combine them in one pill), the body will prioritize the calcium over the other two. Which is why sports nutritionists and most smart supplement companies advise athletes to take Iron and Zinc at a time when there is little or no calcium in the stomach. This goes for the Zinc containing supplement ZMA as well.

Calcium is known best of all as a promoter of healthy and strong bones. But it plays a critical role in performance as well. Too little calcium and you can’t relax your muscles. Bad relaxation, makes for less potential energy and so on and ultimately for less than satisfactory contraction. Bad contraction equals bad workouts and no growth. Get the picture? By improving relaxation you avoid cramping, injury and twitching. Calcium is also very important in fat metabolization, so no cigar for the people who claim milk is fattening. It makes for less fat storage and better use of present macronutrients in the blood. Using the recommended FDA dosage has shown to decrease body-fat significantly in obese people. It’s no secret that the RDV (recommended daily values) were established back in the 60’s and 70’s for a 2000 calorie diet. I don’t know many bodybuilders that grow on a 2000 calorie diet. As a matter of fact I know very few who go below that when dieting. Also the amounts are outdated, so instead of the recommended 1000 mg you should be closer to 2000-2500 grams of calcium daily. Milk can help you get a large part of that. And it’s safe to use on a diet too, because of the high calcium content and the not so fattening simple sugar lactose that makes up the carbohydrate portion of milk. And last but not least calcium lowers the blood pressure, may reduce stress and definitely improves the quality of sleep. If that doesn’t sell you on milk, I don’t know what will. But there is more…

Lactoferrin

It’s a small peptide present in milk protein that is very expensive to filtrate and incredibly expensive if you plan to take in a certain amount of it. It’s not at all a prominent part of milk, but as I’m fond of saying: every little bit helps. Its importance in immunity is clear, as it is highly present in mother’s milk. I’m not going to expand too much on this subject as there are plenty of studies available on lactoferrin, and it’s definitely not the most important fraction of milk, but I will say that it plays a key role in digestive functioning, immunity and in reducing cancer-risk. It’s also disinfecting within the body and known as one of the greatest anti-oxidants since MSM.

Vitamin D

There is milk available with Vitamin D. Not many people know the relevance of Vitamin D and even less people supplement it, but Vitamin D is a classified steroid-hormone. The most versatile except for cholesterol. Vitamin D is mainly derived from radiation, such as sunlight. So if you are a beach bum chances are you don’t need extra, but if you live in an area that gets pretty heavy winters, getting a little extra in this period may be wise. Nowadays the FDA recommends milk be enriched with Vitamin D to prevent bone diseases, but it’s a highly anabolic hormone that may be of greater benefit than you think. The basic recommendation is 400 International Units, but as with Vitamin E, getting 800 or so makes more sense.

Well I don’t think I need to say anymore do I? Trying to get as much milk as possible is good. Liquid protein if you will that allows you to sip in a few grams at any time during the day. For those of you who can bear it, drink it at room temperature, it’s an excellent way of enabling yourself to chug down more of it easier. It doesn’t keep as long, but even then it’ll keep for three days after being opened and by then you should have chugged down three to six times that. If you are not fond of drinking milk but want part of the benefits, I think taking in a glass or three before bed will go a long way. If you want to be economic about your nutrition, milk should be your first priority. It will save a few bucks that could be used on other supplements or a weekend trip with your wife or girlfriend if you find they suffer under your hectic training regimen.

How to take in more milk:

1. Drink it whenever you feel like it
2. Take it with your cereal
3. Mix all your protein, MRP’s or weight gainers in milk
4. If you water down soup use milk
5. Cookies and chocolate increase desire for milk

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The View From Within - Problems with the Perception of Strength Sports.

As athletes we tend to look at ourselves as being “different”. We are proud of the discipline that we put in to the Iron sports, whether it be weightlifting, powerlifting, strongman or bodybuilding, and rightly so. We know all too well the years of effort required simply to get to a point where our peers will say “Yeah, he’s a strong guy”. And as you know, the props from other lifters are the closest most of us get to public reward. There is little money in the world of Irondom, even at the loftiest heights of world level.

In an interview world champion bodybuilder Dorian “the Shadow” Yates stated that he made around 1 Million dollars a year during his Mr Olympia reign, that’s including all contracts, endorsements, personal appearance income, income from writing, personal training etc. That is no mean feat, but in the same time frame Michael Jordan was estimated to make up to 56 Million dollars a year. That’s not to say that Michael does not deserve such reward, he does, but does he work any harder than The Shadow? Hell No!

It all boils down to public interest, which in turn dictates marketability. There is HUGE public interest in MJ even now in the twilight of his career. At his peak in the nineties he was everywhere in the media, flashing the trademark smile and telling the kids to “Just Do It”. Well kids, if your going to “Do It”, do it in boxing, do it in golf, do it in soccer, do it in American football…but don’t do it in the Iron game unless you fancy holding down another job while you do because you are highly unlikely to make an income solely as a competitive athlete.

Some examples…. Gary Franks, he of the 2500lb total in powerlifting, works full time as a strength and conditioning coach. His close competitor Ed Coan owns and operates Quads Gym, offering personal training services etc. In bodybuilding the former Mr Olympia worked full time as a police officer until he had won the title (the highest award in the sport) several times before he felt secure enough to quit his job. Can you envisage many times winner of golf’s US Open Tiger Woods working full time as a beat cop in order to make enough money to be financially secure? I thought not. It just doesn’t work in your mind because you look at a figure such as Tiger and you think “But he deserves it”. Doesn’t the Iron game deserve it?

Maybe, but maybe not.

Lets take a look at the public opinion of these athletes, the sports themselves and why the public interest in strength is not high enough to financially compensate the athletes. After that I will put forward a few suggestions as to how we can best improve the public perception of strength sports.

Starting with the negative side here’s my “top four” reasons why the public interest in strength athletes and bodybuilders is so small. It’s mostly down to people perceptions of strength; call them misconceptions if you will. The first is the worst.

They use drugs.

No ifs, no buts, no maybes. Strength athletes use drugs. The drug free strength athlete is the exception to the rule. Now some readers are going to be aggrieved at me for saying this but I agree wholeheartedly. Of course I realise that at grass roots level most athletes are drug free but take a look around! The top-level strength game is a drug culture first and foremost nowadays. Put ten strength athletes or bodybuilders in a room and dollars to donuts the conversation will turn to drug use. Look at forums on the net. Almost every forum has a section devoted to discussions on drug use, and in most cases this is the forum with the greatest traffic. Why is that?

Well to be blunt it is because most of the athletes realise that if they ever wish to rise to the top of their sport they are going to have to do what the guys at the top already are doing… use drugs. And so, to use a terrible pun, the cycle goes on. What can the strength world do to combat this public perception? Well, nothing. That’s right, absolutely nothing. We are fighting a losing battle on this front, the genie is out of the bottle and we can’t put it back in. As far as the public is concerned not EVERY athlete who is demonstrably strong MUST be using anabolic drugs. The problem is that the manner in which this strength is displayed will determine the public’s response. Grow a suit of muscles and you are “on drugs”. Lift a heavy barbell from the floor and you are “on drugs”. Run 100 metres in 9 seconds you are “an incredible athlete”. Run 40 yards in 4.3 seconds at a bodyweight of 310lbs to sack the quarterback and you are “a force of nature”. You see what I mean? We all know the linebacker could be on, the sprinter could be on, even the freaking distance runner could be on, but to the public until you have them pick up a barbell or stand around in their Speedos comparing muscles there is a good chance they are clean.

This even extends to strongman. As unbelievable as it may seem to our American readers, over here in the UK at least top level Strongmen are generally seen as drug free. Hilarious I know but that is the public perception. You know why that is the public perception? Because they don’t lift barbells often on TV and they don’t stand around in tiny little grape smuggler pants comparing muscles… therefore they probably don’t use drugs.

Hell at a strongman show I recently attended the compere actually said in to the microphone “ This is real muscle your seeing here…not fake bodybuilder muscles…you know I recently say a Bodybuilder hanging around outside a garage, he was looking for an oil change…just a little in joke for you guys there…hehe”. Hardly anyone in the crowd caught the Synthol reference but I did and sure I laughed but at the same time the athletes he was intoning as whiter than white included some of the top strongmen in the world. You telling me they are clean?? Well the crowd here was willing to believe it. Have a Strongman drop 40lbs of fat and stand on stage in his Speedos though and suddenly he’s a drug user.

Well, in summary, we the athletes know many of the top athletes in many sports are on something but in the eye of the public drugs, and especially steroids, will be forever linked to bodybuilding. So, if you are a bodybuilder and want to be perceived as being clean (whether you actually are or not) then keep covered up, keep a little fat, and keep off stage. Which, in a round about way brings me to point 2 in our public perception run-down.

Bodybuilding is a “homosexual” sport.

You heard me right. “There’s something funny with those bodybuilders Cleetus, somethun just aint right with them boys..they sure is pretty though”. The view from the inside is that bodybuilders are a pretty hardcore crowd, but from the outside they are a preening, squawking bunch of peacocks who are obsessed with their own physical appearance, and indeed that of each other.

How many other sporting subcultures spend the majority of time discussing what each other’s almost nude bodies look like? Exactly…none!

We all know there is a strong homosexual current flowing through the seedier side of bodybuilding (Chris Duffy’s porn career springs to mind), but it is simply swept under the carpet. Nobody wants to talk about and no wonder. Like it or not most people are homophobic, whether bodybuilders or not, and resent the implication that something they are involved in something that might be even the tiniest little bit “gay”.

Well boys and girls I’ve got news for you. As soon as you call yourself a bodybuilder you are under suspicion in the eyes of the public. So, what can you do about it?

Well, first off all don’t compete until you compete. What does that mean? It means keep your clothes on in public. It means don’t shave your body. It means you don’t need a tan in the off-season. It means the mirror with your reflection in it is NOT a work of art. It means that when your “buddy” flexes for you and you say “looking good big guy”… well, you get it. The general public sees the overt masculinity of some bodybuilders as a show. Every guy who isn’t happy with his own appearance wants to believe that that vascular monster they just saw walking through the mall in tiny little shorts and no top is a bit of a fruit. What we are talking about here is blending in - not easy when you’re hyooooge BUT it can ALWAYS be done.

It’s a sad thing, but hey, it’s also somewhat true - tone it down and there’s no negative attention. Wear normal, classy clothes. Let your arms hang at your sides for christ sakes. Leave your inch-thick-gold-rope-chain-hanging-over-a-ra-top outfit in the cupboard marked “90’s!” and move on.

The next point in our appraisal of the view from outside is less seedy, but perhaps more important.

They can’t relate.

How many times have you been asked what you can lift by a member of the public? Usually if they know anything about lifting they will ask what you bench. If not, they’ll just ask, “What kind of weight can you lift?” Ask them “What lift?” and their eyes glaze over and they look kind of stunned. “There’s more than one lift…oh”. Anyway, regardless of what you can lift it is meaningless to most people. They can’t relate to weight.

Almost inevitably here in the UK when I am asked this question I have to put the answer in to a measure we use called a “stone”. A stone is 14 lbs and people here typically weigh themselves in stones, so a 140lb guy weighs “Ten stones”. If you bench 420 that is meaningless. If you say it in stones they now have something they can relate to. “I lift 420lbs, that’s around 30 stones” So now our ten stone Fred has something to go on. “Holy sh*t” says Fred, “That’s 3 times my weight…wow”. Can you guess the next question? That’s right. “Do you use Steroids?” Urrgghhhh!

The final reason for a lack of acceptance of strength ties in closely with the inability of the public to relate. It is simply the question “Why?” Ask yourself now “Why do I build my body?” or “Why do I want to lift big weights?” Neither task has any real value outside of itself that is immediately recognisable, as my buddy always says “hey man that’s what car jacks are for” In response we have to assume that most people lift for reasons that are not directly attributable to lifting itself. Many other sports are pretty darned pointless outside of themselves, but hardly anyone thinks to ask Maurice Greene why he wants to run so fast in the first place.

I don’t think many of us participate in the iron game for its own sake, when you get down to it most Ironheads really lift simply as a means of self exploration and self fulfilment. If your own experiences of self exploration and fulfilment relate mainly to Hustler magazine then maybe you won’t be following me here, but I and many others lift simply for the intrinsic satisfaction of testing oneself against what is essentially an unending task. Like Sisyphus we roll the stone to the top of the hill again and again and watch it roll right back down again every time, but in doing so we learn more about ourselves and our mental strength in one workout than most people do in a lifetime. The discipline and rigour demanded by the Iron game can be applied any where in life at any time and that is its true value.

The satisfaction of constantly striving to improve our performance is intrinsic, so when you ask me “Why?” I can say quite honestly that the feeling of surpassing your perceived limitations and advancing yourself that most people experience a few times in a lifetime is for me and countless other citizens of Irondom a daily experience and THAT is why I do it. You can’t argue with that.

How can we increase the ability of the public to relate to our sports? Simple, we encourage them to participate. I’m not saying that people need to compete to relate, but lets face it, the more people we can get in to the gym working out and watching their diet the better the public will relate to the more extreme aspects of the sports that some of us represent. In short, we need to open up the brotherhood of Iron to one and all.

If we are to do this we need to negate the effects of the current view of our sports by taking some of the actions I described above. Cover up in public, don’t show off, don’t dress like a clown and act like a bully - be diligent and disciplined while remaining approachable.

Basically we each must make a great effort to lead a life that people can aspire to, not look down upon. If we can each do this, then we will see a rise in the acceptance of strength sports and bodybuilding by the public, a consequent increase in low level participation in strength sport offshoots like general fitness weight training, and hence a greater understanding again of our lifestyles.

As you can see it is circular. Every good example we can each make counts towards a greater acceptance. Every person we can encourage to work out in some form is a small step towards the universal acceptance of strength sports and bodybuilding. We might never lay the negative aspects of our sports entirely to rest but we must do everything we can on an individual level to show the real nature of Irondom. The discipline, the fraternity, the knowledge, all the good stuff we of Iron know and love is alien to most people. Do a little today to bring some of it in to someone’s life in a positive manner and maybe one day Powerlifting meets will be sponsored by Frosties and all the kids will want to “Just Do It” like that Mr Olympia guy. Well…we can dream, right?

          

Here’s a real short version: Not the DEA, AMA, NJEM, ACS, AHA, US Army…not one organization…recommended that AAS be controlled. In fact, they all recommended that the remain over the counter, or “legend” drugs at most. That’s from the folks in the know.

There has never been a SINGLE death attributable to AAS.

The US ARMY has studied this since the 40’s and has found only 7 cases where AAS might have been a secondary cause, and not a SINGLE case where there were a primary cause.

Non C-17 (injectables for the most part) are NOT toxic, at nearly ANY LEVEL. Testosterone is naturally occurring, and hence is not toxic to your system without levels approaching 5000mg per week. 5 to 10 per day would be typical and even the biggest of juiceheads rarely does more than 2000mg, and most folks do around 700mg a week.

C17 modded orals can be hepa-toxic at high levels, but, not as much as common pain relievers. Apples to apples.

Roid rage is media fluff. In fact, any geriatric physician can tell you that androgens are mood elevating. Most users would tell you the same thing. The “roid rage” thing was invented as court defense for dumbasses.

Steroids are those hormones soluble in fats. Women use estrogen for decades to their benefit.

Your natural testosterone starts declining around 28. As an important part of anti-aging AAS therapy should begin about that time. It will prevent you from several forms of cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis, preserve your lean muscle, heighten your sexual function, lower your BP, lower your cholesterol, and protect your heart, as well as elevate your mood.

Study after study after study has been done on this and while steroids will always lower cholesterol (it’s part of how they work), mortality among heavy steroid users is always less, than a sedentary population. UNT recently did just such a study. What they found is that the heavy users actually have a LOWER mortality than regular people. Suprised? I’m not. It only makes sense that maintaining a healthy lifestyle along the hormones to back it up would lead to lower morality.

The protocol of choice for the sickest of the sick, is an will likely remain to be for some time yet, AAS. Burns, diabetes, HIV, and most forms of cancer.

Studies have recently been done that show cholesterol isn’t as good an indicator of mortality as visceral vs. non-visceral fat. Considering that several BILLION dollars are being made annually on anti-cholesterol pills (HIGHLY hepa-toxic).

Any negative effects (low sperm count, HPTA suppression) are transitory. (Male birth control)

My doctor is a good one, and said nothing destroys your liver and muscle faster than statins (anti-cholesterol pill), and, in fact, threw them in the trash.

Anti-aging is fast becoming a huge business with grossly over inflated prices. E.g., androgel for $299.00 a month with less raw material than just a couple of shots.

As someone who has been lifting weights for 20 years, and been an elite athlete almost all of my adult life, I’d highly recommend a fair look at these powerful technologies. Like a good running shoe, a light bike, a sleek suit, stimulants, whatever the technology might be, technology plays a part across the board in sports; has for centuries; will be continue to do use. Whatever technology being used, be it the light bike, or androgens, may suit the sport.

I’d advise googling on anti-aging. You don’t have to be miserable, weak, or non-virile. Most anti-aging right now is high profit, and some doctors are intimidated to giving to low doses.

I’ve spent hours talking with both geriatric and non-geriatric doctors about the real benefits of AAS.

When I was kid, AAS were over the counter. We grow up with them. Somewhere along the line a misinformation campaign, somewhat like “Reefer Madness” got underway.

The wide range of benefits certainly outweighs the risks, and especially for anyone over 30.

Technology has always been, and will always be, a part of sport.

There have been a number of studies done about the typical user: late 20’s on up, white, above average income, very health conscious is the typical profile.

Here’s another study that has been done for decades. 35% of all people, irregardless of how irrational something is, will believe whatever they are told, even though the empirical evidence present otherwise.

There’s big money keeping folks unhealthy. There’s big money in keeping anti-aging “exclusive”. It’s not about health. It’s about money.

With regard to estrogen levels getting to high, there’s a 3 whole groups of anti-e’s that solve the problem in nothing flat.

In fact, I was reading that the latest science on prostate cancer is that although testosterone has to be present, high ESTROGEN levels seems to be more of an indicator for prostate cancer. It’s when the ratio of test / est gets to where the est is to high that the incidence of prostate cancers goes up. It was some fairly reliable source, but, I’m forgetting where I read it.

Just as “Reefer Madness” was bullshit, so is much of the current AAS misinformation campaign.

          

One of the best bodybuilding tips of all time is to avoid over training or excessive training. Excessive would generally be anything longer than one hour. Simple consistency of attending the gym 3 or 4 times a week and working out at a moderate to difficult pace would be enough to make nice gains. If one is working himself to the point that injuries are common then the entire process will be self defeating. Clearly, this is the best of all body building tips.

Another critical body building tip is that not only must one work hard one must also work smart!. If a person works himself too hard in the gym, the body simple will not grow muscle. In fact, the body might reject the additional stress. Clearly, this is not what you want. So it would be wise to avoid such excessive training.

To improve your physique you will have a number of different body building techniques to choose from including

Negatives
Pyramids and Drop sets
Giant steps as well as twenty-ones
Partial reps and
Even forced reps.

Know your requirements

You need to choose the body building technique that best suits your needs and you may even need to consider using constant tension without actually attaining a locking point which is a body building technique that is very effective in many an exercise.

In addition, it is also important to make full contraction along with full range of stretch exercises that will require you to perform each rep of each exercise at the fullest range of motion.

Technique - Giant step

In this technique known as giant step you will need to work on single muscle groups. This means performing three different exercises while laying emphasis on a particular muscle and though it may be used on each muscle in the body, when exercising the back you will need to be more selective and careful.

Drop sets

Drop sets are ideal for rounding off your workout on certain muscles and which will cause you to feel pumped up especially in your muscles and which will also drain off all of your remaining energy from your muscles.

Twenty-ones

Twenty-ones is another bodybuilding technique in which each and every area of your muscle is worked rather than any one range, and you should also think constantly about maintaining tension at the time when you increase tension on your muscle while performing your reps.

Super sets

In this technique you will exercise certain range of muscles which will totally exhaust your muscle fibers and which will also work on two separate muscle groups.

What is the simplest bodybuilding technique?

The simplest technique that you can use is to slow down your reps and repeating them in a slow manner makes the reps more effective since it improves the form and will also provide a fillip to development of muscles.

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You can go to any website on steroids and they will inform you on what side effects you may possible get from using, the list is quite horrendous, from mild to very severe, I do however have to question a few, my favorite being getting HIV by needle sharing, yes it’s true if I was to share a HIV infected needle then I would most probably infect myself too, but the people who write these comments have no real grasp on reality, do they believe we all get together for a shoot up party? “Hey bro what do you have, pass it over here”. What are they saying anyone using needles might share them with others, in that case why not heed the same warning for diabetics, are they forgetting that doctors prescribe steroids to their patients to cure their ailment, its not just bodybuilders who use this stuff, but I’m dame sure the warning is directed towards us. Why isn’t it printed on the insert? The only time I read this advice is from some retard making their point by scaremongering.

All drugs have side effects, a study done by Dr. Bruce H. Pomeranz, the University of Toronto neurophysiologist confirms over a 106,000 people died from properly prescribed medicine each year, heart medications and blood thinners were on the top of the list, the most common cause of death- liver or kidney failure and heart rhythm problems, steroids didn’t even make the list.

I have been using for 15 years the worst I ever got from it was acne, twice a year I go for a complete medical check up, full blood works, heart stress test and x-rays, nothing, there has never been anything wrong, maybe its luck but I like to think that it’s was by being smart, smart enough to use it the right way. Anything you abuse will have a negative effect, it doesn’t even have to be a drugs, what ever happened to common sense.

The media loves this stuff, anything to sensationalize their story. I remember reading a story in the paper, head lines “bodybuilder on steroids dies” in the first paragraph it told what he was using at the time of his death, second told you how he died driving car at high speed into a tree, so what really killed him. The media give the impression that there’s something inevitably perilous about taking anabolics.

What the hell is roid rage? Scientists are nearly unanimous that excessive testosterone causes aggression in humans. Diagnosing such behavior in athletes is especially tricky. There’s a certain degree of aggression that’s not only acceptable but necessary in competitive sports. What’s perhaps just the intensity that’s common to many athletes gets perceived as steroid-linked outbursts.

Doctors are unanimous that anabolic steroids increase the risk of heart disease, and of liver, kidney, prostate and testicular cancer, in my opinion that’s false; steroids can be used with a reasonable measure of safety, steroids are used in medicine all the time, not just by bodybuilders. Anabolics was first used for medical purposes not to enhance muscles. The most common fears, that anabolics cause liver cancer, however most guys opt for injectables, which have chemical structures that aren’t noxious to the liver. Orals it’s C-17 alkylated steroids are perhaps detrimental to liver function. But the evidence is equivocal at best. A 1990 study of all existing medical literature found but three cases of steroid-associated liver tumors. Of those three cases, one subject had been taking outrageously large doses of C-17 oral anabolics without cessation for five years. Fears about steroid use also include other cancers, heart enlargement, increased blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, and musculoskeletal injuries. Upon closer examination, these too turn out to be overblown. Reports associating heart enlargement, or cardiomegaly, with steroid use often ignore the role of natural, nonthreatening enlargement brought on by prolonged physical exertion. No studies of any kind link the use of anabolics to testicular cancer. Any experts will tell you that anabolic steroids interferes with proper hepatic (liver) function and causes thickening of the heart muscle. However, a 1999 study at the University of North Texas found that it’s not steroid use that causes these medical phenomena; rather, it’s intense resistance training. Weight-lifting causes tissue damage, and, at high extremes, can elevate liver counts and thicken the left ventricular wall of the heart. Both disorders were observed in high-intensity weightlifters irrespective of steroid use. The researchers concluded that previous studies had “misled the medical community” into embellishing the side effects of use.

In 1990 Anabolic Steroids Control Act, reclassified steroids as Schedule III controlled substances, placing them on legal par with barbiturates and narcotics. Once steroids became contraband, many guys turned to the black market, this is where the real problem started most anabolics were spiked or cut with an unknown oil. Doctors were prohibited to prescribe steroids thus were not able to provide steroid users with responsible, professionally informed oversight. They couldn’t even give it to you to recover from injuries. Unite the lack of medical supervision with the mind-set of the garden-variety steroid user, and you have a potentially dangerous situation.

My question is can steroids be used for muscle building safely? I think yes but it should be under the strict direction of a physician and administered only after a thorough physical examination, and it would need to be taken at reasonable and responsible dosages.

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