People aren’t fooling anyone who is in the know. There are no training secrets, routines or luck that comes into making drastic gains quickly. Anyone that says so is lying to you. People in the know, know it’s the drug that you are on making those gains, not your training and diet.
It pisses me off to see a guy get 10 years of training results in 1 year when I have to work so hard for years to make a third of his gains. It is cheating the time and effort it takes to earn real results. I have no respect for people who submit to drug use to produce results. They are in training for egotistical purposes only and have no desire for good health.
Steroids first started to become noticed in the early to mid-1950’s after the Helsinki Olympics. They were originally created to increase aggression and strength levels in the Nazi forces to enhance their warfighting, but after the war the Soviets discovered the drugs and began applying it to their athletes to improve their competitiveness. It took the US almost a decade to figure out how the Soviet Union could become so dominate in Olympic lifting, track and field and other events hosted at the Olympics seemingly overnight. But once we did, it didn’t take long until they became popular in bodybuilding and the strength sports in the USA and worldwide.
Through most of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s there were plenty of authorities in the field speaking out against the use of steroids. Bob Hoffman and John Grimek had numerous articles published in their magazines “Strength and Health” and “Muscular Development” that spoke of the dangers of drugs. Peary Raders “Iron Man” also had many authorities who were openly condemning steroid use, to include Peary himself! Unfortunately, less and less is being said now of the matter to steer those interested in weight training away from drugs.
Bob has told me many times the 90s and early 2000’s was a resurgent of good training information. There were many great magazines and newsletters available at a time after most of the good information had faded in the mid 80's. “The Steel Tip”, “Hard Training” “Hard Gainer”, “The Dinosaur Files”, "Milo" and “The Iron Master” were packed with great training advice, but many of the authors hardly touched on drugs. They assumed you were training natural, but never took a hard stance. There were really only three people during this time who were strongly against drugs. Bob Whelan, Stuart McRobert and Brooks Kubik. They were main people to carry the torch of the anti-steroid movement throughout the 90's and early to mid 2000s.
For the last 15 years, Bob has been one of the only people to be adamantly against steroid use. It’s too bad most people don’t know about NaturalStrength.com. The most popular weight training websites people visit today are filled with nothing but drug users and BS drug user routines. This is all the masses are ever influenced by, gimmicky training. Be part of the few in the know and read the great training information on this site and truly understand the meaning of drug free training.
The days of “Strength and Health” and “Physical Culture” are long gone. Strength training is now a money-making industry not a health industry. There is no regard for vigor and longevity for many in the field. Most of the guys seen on the front cover of magazines, in the T.V. commercials or big-name websites are using drugs. It is a quick way of making you believe what they are selling will produce those results. It is all a lie. None of their gimmicks or supplements are going to produce the desired results for you, only natural training will.
Dick Conner had a great talk at one of Bob’s Clinics on drug use in powerlifting. When asked about an infamous barbell club that I will not mention, he directs their success solely to the use drugs, gear and perfecting the power lifts technique. That the reason behind the high frequency and volume of the lifts is a learning process to develop perfect technique. High bridging on the bench, rising your chest to the bar, cutting the squat depth short an inch by taking a wide stance and sitting back. None of these techniques are making your stronger, than are decreasing the amount of work you have to do each repetition. Everyone one of their powerlifters takes steroids, it’s a must to train there. No one is shy about it there, but most don’t realize that’s where the huge poundage comes from. The use of drugs and wearing the latest "Gear" plays a dramatic effect on the amount of weight you can move. On Natural Strength Night on Mind Force Radio with Bob, Dick talks about a 350-pound natural bencher just by going on drugs and wearing gear can easily become a 500-pound bencher. That 150 pounds has nothing to do with getting stronger, it is just all just BS. He closes off at the podcast stating all the chains/bands, high volume, percentage training does not make enough difference in training results to matter. It is all just fluff to disguise what is really producing their results.
I don’t care how many championships so and so coach won or successful athletes they produced, if they train with drugs their methods will not work the same with you. Drug training and natural training are two completely separate activities. The drugs allow you to train completely different than if you were not on them. It’s the drugs that causes the body to grow bigger and stronger in these trainees, not the training and recovery. They enhance you genetically, weight training doesn’t do that. Any routine will work if enough drugs are taken. That is why so many drug routines are crap, most drug users never learned how to properly train.
The effects of steroids on your body should be reason enough never to try them It is like playing Russian Roulette with two rounds in the cylinder. There is a good chance they will kill you and a greater chance that regular steroid use will ruin your health. It is not some supplement you will excrete out; you are literally altering your cellular structure as Bradley Steiner puts it on Natural Strength Night. It is a dangerous substance and should never be used except in extreme medical purposes under a qualified medical doctor.
Look at the WWE as just one small example. The WWE has had a major drug problem since its inception. Many of their athletes have tried at one time or used drugs regularly to improve their physique and performance. You can look on google and easily find tons of articles listing all the former stars who have had premature deaths related to drug abuse. Chris Benoit, Macho Man, Eddie Guerrero, Brian Pilman and the Ultimate Warrior are just a few of the names that are sadly on just one of these lists. These drugs can destroy your health and do so quickly. Mood swings, depression, injury to tendons and ligaments, heart disease, and high blood pressure are just a short list of the harmful effect’s steroids can cause. No healthy individual should ever take them.You can maximize your physical potential without subjecting yourself to the dangers of steroids
There are some phenomenal natural lifters who can make lift as much as one on steroids, but they are the exceptions. Men like Marvin Eder and Paul Anderson are the exception to the and vast majority. With a 500 pound bench and 1000 pound squat respectively, these lifters were magnificent and should be remember as such. In the history of the world they are probably the strongest weight lifters ever. Their numbers may seem forgotten because they are dwarfed by huge numbers the drug lifters are putting up today. It's a shame that their incredible feats go unnoticed and they don't get enough praise. I remember an ad in the old "Strength and Health" from Bill Anton called "Bill Anton Big Bench" He was one of the first few men to have a 400 pound bench, and incredible feat at the time that is still deserving of a lot of respect.. People look at a 400 pound bench like it is nothing now because everyone is on drugs. This is a completely fabricated illusion! Not everyone's genetics will allow such progress. Only the few genetically gifted can obtain such lifts naturally, and that is okay.
When you commit to being a natural trainee you refuse to ever try drugs. You are in this to be strong and healthy, not for egotistical purposes. Natural training is about maximizing your physical potential the right way. You don’t listen to the quacks in the field who are involved in the drug scene or illicit drug training. Natural training is a completely different activity than drug training. Drug training works for drug users not natural trainees. All of the golden era bodybuilding splits, secret soviet training, long periodization cycle percentage training can be traced back to drugs and are of no use!
Listen to the few good voices in the field who are natural trainees and commit natural training to their core philosophy. Build your body to be strong and healthy. Maximize your physical potential the right way, without drugs Trust the advice of Bradley Steiner, Bob Whelan, Dick Conner, Stuart McRobert, Brooks Kubik, Jim Duggan and the many great natural lifters before them that preached drug free training. Your body will thank you for it, for years to come.
Editor's Note: Great Article RJ! One of my all-time favorites. This information is rare today and badly needed.
