There's a good article on steroids in the winter 07 edition of Fitness&Physique magazine stating the legal and physical ramifications of using or selling steroids.ITS NOT WORTH YOUR HEALTH OR FREEDOM.The only way to truly understand your physique is through trial and error,appreciate the journey by doing it naturally.Theres truly no short cut to mastery.

I agree, the so called "short cuts" (steroids and the like) actually can become long-term problems. Be tough, be a man, or a woman, and work hard at it, make the gains, feel and be great, and you will be thrilled in the end that you did.

:ditto:

Lift

I never fully understood what steriods do to you're body. Do they make it so you can lift longer and more weight? do they force muscle growth? What effects do they have on the body?
Either way they will do more harm than good. plus it's cheating!

ALP5050 wrote:
They will do all of the above and more.

Some of my good friends are competitive bodybuilders who use steroids. I have respect for them as I know how they eat and train. However this is not the case for all that use. Some have no idea about training and nutrition.

I do it the natural way, but try not to judge others on the other side. Each to their own.

The link pasted below leads to a good thread in which another member (B&N) and I discussed this topic. You may find it helpful.

http://www.liftforlife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=78

Lift

Basically, steroids artificially inflate your muscles and it doesnt matter how you train either.

Flip thru the training pages of the pros in any issue of Flex. Most of them have VERY abbreviated workouts in them because theyve learned that all they need to do is stimulate the muscle and the drugs will do the rest.

I know several competitive bodybuilders and if I trained like they do Id weigh about 140.

Thats also the reason that they deflate like a popped balloon within 2 weeks of coming off.

MacLeod wrote:
That's what I was thinking before I read you're last sentence. If you spent all that time "bulking" up using steriods and doing little lifting, wouldn't you have to be on steriods forever to stay muscular?

If that's true that should be a good enough reason for anyone to never use steriods. Do honest work yourself and be able to keep you're muscles!

I think some of you may have the wrong idea about how steroids actually work. I don't think you can just take steroids and become an IFBB pro... those guys work their ass off the same as you and I.

However, I'm a natural bodybuilder. I don't need to keep reminding myself why I don't take steroids and that steroids are bad, my mind has been made up for awhile now. I don't need to bash enhanced bodybuilders because they are doing their own thing. It makes us look weak when we bash "those other guys".

Let's talk and promote natural bodybuilding.

JBMuscle;7021 wrote:
I agree that theyre still working their asses off, but its not the same as us. the steroids are doing all the work for them and everything they do works. They still have to shape it and such but they dont have to sweat blood and scratch and claw for every little gain like we do. I mean how many times do you read about a certain pro casually putting on 30 pounds of muscle for a show? It would take us YEARS to do that after several periods of trial and error and we still might not do it yet they can do it in between contests at will.

So while youre right that they do work hard and Im not taking anything away from them, but bodybuilders who juice have it much easier than we do as the juice builds all the muscle.

This topic brings with it mixed feelings i see.I want to clarify that the reason i mentioned that the article was in the magazine was for those who may have not known much about steroids and wanted some clarity on it.Im not bashing the pros at all, i can respect that they have set a goal for themselves and achieved it the best way they see fit. I have even attended a IFBB sanctioned show The GNC Show Of Strength in 2002 where Victor martinez edged out Dareem Charles.I also went to the expowhere i met alot of ifbb competitors like Vince Taylor,Shawn ray,Ahmad Haidar,Lee Priest,just to name a few.Before i started training and eating healthier i followed pro bb from ronnies first win in 98 and i still watch the olympia every year to date.So i am in no way bashing the pros at all i prefer natural bb because it bets suits my needs.

Just for clarification:

I know I for sure am not knocking anyone here. I was joking when I said (above) "be tough, be a man, or a woman, etc." But I do know that without the steroids we do have to work very hard to get gains even close to what others get who do take steroids. I am opposed to the negative side of what drugs (legal and otherwise) can do to a person long term so I am more likely to discourage their use than encourage it. I am sure that those people who use steroids and bodybuild work very hard. I just want to see everyone healthier and living quality lives longer.

I hope that clarifies things from me a bit.