Steroids, Stimulants and Diuretics = Bodybuilding

Steroids are the real workhorses in bodybuilding

Bodybuilding isn’t a display of discipline in the gym, or superior work ethic, or good program design, or superior genetics. It’s mostly a display of access to and willingness to take drugs of all kinds.

To get anywhere in bodybuilding some combination of the following types of drugs will commonly be used.

Testosterone and its derivatives (both oral and injectable)

Diuretics (both oral and injectable)

Insulin

Growth Hormone

Stimulants (ranging from ephedrine, to thyroid hormone and even cocaine)

Given this background of drug use there is little practical advice you can take from bodybuilding circles that will apply to your training and fitness goals.

And don’t kid yourself, many ‘fitness models’ are also using some combination of these drugs as well.

Bodybuilders represent the most exrteme case and most people don’t want to go as far as they do. However they represent what is possible and thus present a choice of what people could have if they wanted it.

A continuum of potential body shape and size is created. The far left is defined by no workouts and no attention to calorie intake (average couch potato), the far right is defined by massive drug use and rigorous attention to diet detail (high level bodybuilder)

The rest of us are somewhere between these two extremes. All you have to do is choose how far along the spectrum you want to go to get the look you are after.

John

Posted by johnbarban in steroids
Tags: bodybuilding, diuretics, steroids, stimulants |16 Comments

16 Responses to “Steroids, Stimulants and Diuretics = Bodybuilding”

  1. Jason Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 11:17 am

    I’m glad somebody tells the truth!

    I’ve seen a lot of gynecomastia on bodybuilding stages.

    What % of drug-use would you guess is also apparent among “natural” bodybuilders?

    And, similar to the adonis index, would you say there is a “hercules” index based on the typical proportions (or lean weight vs. height) of drug-using bodybuilders?

  2. johnbarban Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 11:49 am

    Jason,

    I would guess the ‘natural’ shows still have a very high proportion of guys that use drugs but I can’t guess at a percentage. I judged a natural show and there were competitors in that show that I knew for sure were on drugs.

    As for the hercules index…that is an interesting idea…I’ll bet there is a common ratio of shoulder to waist that most pro bodybuilders end up at that is simply an inflated version of the Adonis Index numbers. Very interesting thought, it will be difficult to get measurements from any pro’s to put some numbers to this though.

    JB

  3. Jason Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 11:55 am

    John,

    I was recently at a bodybuilding show where Jay Cutler was the guest poser, and at a height of 5’7″ (at most), I was reminded of how ABSURDLY huge he is. And even in guest posing shape, he is much leaner than many of the guys in my gym who “eat to get big”. Just shows what drugs really do.

    JT

  4. Josh B Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 12:04 pm

    I used a prohormone (not a steroid per se, but a legal one) about a year ago when I was training for a powerlifting meet. I told my trainer/coach that I was worried about getting disqualified since the WABDL in Texas is a drug free group and they do drug testing. He told me not to worry, that if they decided to do tests at least half of the lifters would piss dirty. And the rules are that if you ask for a lifter to be tested, you have to get tested also. So on one will call you out because chances are they’re on something too. I was pretty shocked, but it goes to show that there are a lot of juicers even in the ‘natural’ shows/events. Even when they do tests during/before the events, the competitors can still juice up until a few weeks before the event and give their test levels a chance to normalize. So I really don’t think there is such a thing as a 100% natural bodybuilding or even powerlifting event. Or if there are, they are very rare.

  5. Alex P. Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 3:52 pm

    I remember a bodybuilder saying somewhere that, all other things being equal, the one who comes closest to a lethal overdose on diuretics before the show wins.

  6. Jason Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 3:59 pm

    Is it possible to get diuretic-like dryness once someone is as low in body fat as they can get; or is that like asking can you get steroid-like gains without steroids?

  7. johnbarban Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 4:14 pm

    Jason,

    Diuretic like dryness seems to only be possible with diuretics…That kind of goes without saying I guess. I suppose you could try to sweat it out and stop drinking water but I’m not sure the effect is exactly the same.

    JB

  8. Cooper Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 6:15 pm

    Have you seen the documentary “Bigger, Stronger, Faster”? I thought it was very well done and under-rated. You really see the psychological consequences of the desire to just get bigger without defining an end point.

    For anyone who’s seen it, I read that the brother “Mad Dog” killed himself a couple of months after the documentary came out. You could tell by watching the documentary he was troubled.

  9. Josh Eflin Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 7:57 pm

    I have a drug related question

    Ok so, say a person who never works out and has a relatively low amount of muscle mass for their height (because he doesn’t work out) decides to start taking some testosterone. He takes it, gets bigger, and reaches his golden adonis ratio without ever lifting a weigh and without going past his genetic limits …. since he has not gone past his genetic potential.. would he keep the muscle mass that he gained even though he didn’t work for it or would it still go back to what it was before?

    It was just something I’ve been curious about ever since you said, a person who has maxed out his genetic potential will shrink back to that.

  10. Don Smith Says:
    May 10th, 2010 at 11:01 pm

    John, I have been reading your blog for awhile and have a couple questions. Firstly, at 6’1 171 pounds I am ‘light’ but should I disregard weight in an effort to get an even lower body fat via calorie reduction. I have a hint of man boobs and not great ab definition. Is this bodyfat or training related (more ab work, more incline chest work)?

    Thanks.

  11. johnbarban Says:
    May 11th, 2010 at 8:55 am

    Josh,

    I don’t think it’s possible to drug your way up to your golden adonis index ratio without doing at least some training. Steroids without any exercise will cause you to gain some muscle mass for sure, but I’m not sure it will cause you to gain enough to be at a golden ratio (it would be an interesting experiment though)…BUT for arguments sake lets just say it did, once you stop taking the drugs you would lose the gains the drugs caused and go back to your pre-drug size.

    So you could almost look at training and drugs both as a transient stimulus of muscle growth. Just like you need to train every week on a regular basis to keep your muscle mass up you would need to continue using drugs every week to keep whatever gains the drugs alone could produce…in both cases the stimulus has to be constant as your genetic baseline is already set and from what we know it cannot be changed…therefore once the stimulus is gone (training or drugs) you will eventually just go back to your genetic baseline.

    JB

  12. johnbarban Says:
    May 11th, 2010 at 8:58 am

    Don,

    You say you are ‘light’…compared to what? I wouldn’t worry too much about body weight. If you want more definition then you gotta work on reducing bodyfat with some degree of calorie restriction and probably some increase in activity/movement. There really isn’t much else to it. Most guys have a really hard time accepting how light they really need to be when they’re becoming very lean (because it shows us how much fat we were carrying around thinking it was muscle)

    JB

  13. Jason Says:
    May 12th, 2010 at 3:52 pm

    John,
    I have a book from the 90′s called ‘Sliced’ that gives very good descriptions of the various stages of muscularity.

    Do you think this describes a diuretic-induced state? (I know it’s long):

    Shredded
    The highest condition of muscularity you can attain is Shredded. Less than 1 percent of all bodybuilders ever achieve the Shredded state.

    It is characterized by an absolute zero appearance of water and fat, which makes the possessor of this state look as though he or she has no skin covering the muscles. This state is the zenith of cosmetic levels and is truly freaky to behold. Cross-striations show up in strange and unheard-of locations when one is Shredded.

    I (Negrita) can vividly recall a competitors’ meeting at the 1986 Canadian Nationals, when a woman named Donna Flamont was seated beside me. Donna was chewing gum, and her jaw muscles were deeply cross-striated and dancing wildly like rows of piano keys. Every square inch of her was like that. Even her middle thigh, the rectus femoris, was radically cross-striated. Donna literally did not have to flex her muscles in order to show those hundred thousand striations across every muscle fiber. (By the way, Donna Flamont won so convicingly that it was actually hilarious when other women stood next to her onstage.)

    Here’s what to expect if you want the ultimate degree of muscular definition:

    When viewed from 30 feet away in the outdoor sunlight, the Shredded physique will not look much different from a Sliced one. However, when seen from 6 feet away, it will absolutely stun you visually! Your eyes will keep darting all over the body because it is so totally mesmerizing to look at. Seriously, it will appear freaky from 6 feet away. For some people, such a body will be too much to like right away; others will be visually G-forced but completely appreciate it anyway.

    Believe us, being Shredded creates strong reactions from the bodybuilding population. As for the general public, they may lose their breakfasts. It is simply beyond their wildest imagination.

    The state of being Shredded can only be held for hours at a time. since so many biochemical processes have to maximized to create this effect, it is very easy for the body to start changing one thing, and then the whole picture reverts to Sliced. Bodybuilders who are Sliced can be photographed the next day and still hold that condition. Shredded types should be photographed immediately.

    Shredded bodybuilders look like rakes in clothes. When they take their clothes off at a weigh-in, however, all the other bodybuilders get the immediate urgo to go home.

    If a Shredded bodybuilder stands beside a Cut one, the Cut person will look like a Full House. The state of being Shredded is the instant eliminator of nyone wishing to stand beside a Shredded bodybuilder. It is the ultimate giant-killer state.

    When a Shredded bodybuilder makes the slightest physical movement, everything flexes and striates. Even eating an apple seems to take on an out-of-this-world look of importance and purpose.

    The Shredded state gives its possessor a unique advantage. It is excellent for hiding the structural faults of the development. Because the observer’s eyes are kept so busy, it is much harder to view the symmetry objectively.

    Each muscle group appears as though it is sitting right off the bone for you to grab.

    You can usually see the insertion points of the lower jaw mandible, the veins are hanging out big-time, and even the muscles of the feet are clearly prominent and separated.

    Fluorescent light does nothing to weaken the visual picture of a Shredded physique.

    Members of the opposite sex will probably wonder whether they should feed you. If they do, you will instantly drop to a Sliced condition, and then you can give the situation a more interesting ending.

    The muscular measurements of a Shredded bodybuilder will be much smaller than what you imagine. However, once that person stands under the bright lights on stage, he or she will appear enormous.

  14. H.Ghpills Says:
    May 31st, 2010 at 3:08 am

    One should really avoid the use of different kinds of steroids for body building because it causes different kinds of side effects.

  15. Jerald Neeper Says:
    June 6th, 2010 at 4:29 am

    Found your site on google today and really liked it… I bookmarked it and will be back to check it out some more later…

  16. Bodybuilder Says:
    April 21st, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    WONDERFUL Post.thanks for share..more wait ..

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