What are your thoughts on natural bodybuilding?
Replies
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In general (not specific to particular competitions), I think the use of drug enhancers for muscle/body building is cheating. How can you take pride in the results when you haven't achieved them solely through personal effort and hard work?I worked with a woman who was into competitive body building for a while and was using steroids. The effect on her personality was not pleasant, ten of her direct reports quit within a year because she was so difficult to deal with. And it was all for nought, she didn't win anything. Her competitors obviously had access to better drugs than she did.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I didn't say that they didn't work for their muscle, I said that their results aren't solely due to physical effort. The drugs are called enhancers for a reason.
I'm a natural. Have been my whole life. I never took PED's because I didn't want to depend on them the rest of my life. But I wish I had bigger hamstrings and rounder shoulders. PED's could change that for me. I'm just not interested in wanting those changes that bad. But I can tell you that there are lots of guys I know who train really hard on PED's and look great, and others that don't train hard and I look better than them.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Admittedly a lot of my bias against them comes not only from my experience with my unpleasantly enhanced coworker, but also from the usual sort of sensationalist YouTube stuff posted by users who may be an atypical extreme. I did know one young guy who had been using steroids for quite a while and died of cancer in his early 40s. I hope it wasn't in any way connected to the steroids.
It would definitely be helpful if there was a magical "something" that would counteract the loss of natural hormones that I have at my age and roll back my physical clock to a point in time where attempting to build muscle was a lot easier but a) I wouldn't have the faintest idea what I was doing and b) I probably wouldn't like the side effects. So it's a No for me.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
1 -
In general (not specific to particular competitions), I think the use of drug enhancers for muscle/body building is cheating. How can you take pride in the results when you haven't achieved them solely through personal effort and hard work?I worked with a woman who was into competitive body building for a while and was using steroids. The effect on her personality was not pleasant, ten of her direct reports quit within a year because she was so difficult to deal with. And it was all for nought, she didn't win anything. Her competitors obviously had access to better drugs than she did.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I didn't say that they didn't work for their muscle, I said that their results aren't solely due to physical effort. The drugs are called enhancers for a reason.
I'm a natural. Have been my whole life. I never took PED's because I didn't want to depend on them the rest of my life. But I wish I had bigger hamstrings and rounder shoulders. PED's could change that for me. I'm just not interested in wanting those changes that bad. But I can tell you that there are lots of guys I know who train really hard on PED's and look great, and others that don't train hard and I look better than them.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Admittedly a lot of my bias against them comes not only from my experience with my unpleasantly enhanced coworker, but also from the usual sort of sensationalist YouTube stuff posted by users who may be an atypical extreme. I did know one young guy who had been using steroids for quite a while and died of cancer in his early 40s. I hope it wasn't in any way connected to the steroids.
It would definitely be helpful if there was a magical "something" that would counteract the loss of natural hormones that I have at my age and roll back my physical clock to a point in time where attempting to build muscle was a lot easier but a) I wouldn't have the faintest idea what I was doing and b) I probably wouldn't like the side effects. So it's a No for me.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
My biggest issue is enhanced fitness personalities promoting products to teenagers as if that's what's responsible for their physique. I remember buying Celltech when I was 17 because of the before and after pic on the back.
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IronIsMyTherapy wrote: »In general (not specific to particular competitions), I think the use of drug enhancers for muscle/body building is cheating. How can you take pride in the results when you haven't achieved them solely through personal effort and hard work?I worked with a woman who was into competitive body building for a while and was using steroids. The effect on her personality was not pleasant, ten of her direct reports quit within a year because she was so difficult to deal with. And it was all for nought, she didn't win anything. Her competitors obviously had access to better drugs than she did.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I didn't say that they didn't work for their muscle, I said that their results aren't solely due to physical effort. The drugs are called enhancers for a reason.
I'm a natural. Have been my whole life. I never took PED's because I didn't want to depend on them the rest of my life. But I wish I had bigger hamstrings and rounder shoulders. PED's could change that for me. I'm just not interested in wanting those changes that bad. But I can tell you that there are lots of guys I know who train really hard on PED's and look great, and others that don't train hard and I look better than them.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Admittedly a lot of my bias against them comes not only from my experience with my unpleasantly enhanced coworker, but also from the usual sort of sensationalist YouTube stuff posted by users who may be an atypical extreme. I did know one young guy who had been using steroids for quite a while and died of cancer in his early 40s. I hope it wasn't in any way connected to the steroids.
It would definitely be helpful if there was a magical "something" that would counteract the loss of natural hormones that I have at my age and roll back my physical clock to a point in time where attempting to build muscle was a lot easier but a) I wouldn't have the faintest idea what I was doing and b) I probably wouldn't like the side effects. So it's a No for me.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
My biggest issue is enhanced fitness personalities promoting products to teenagers as if that's what's responsible for their physique. I remember buying Celltech when I was 17 because of the before and after pic on the back.
I bought the original celltech, burned like drinking battery acid 😂😂4 -
IronIsMyTherapy wrote: »In general (not specific to particular competitions), I think the use of drug enhancers for muscle/body building is cheating. How can you take pride in the results when you haven't achieved them solely through personal effort and hard work?I worked with a woman who was into competitive body building for a while and was using steroids. The effect on her personality was not pleasant, ten of her direct reports quit within a year because she was so difficult to deal with. And it was all for nought, she didn't win anything. Her competitors obviously had access to better drugs than she did.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I didn't say that they didn't work for their muscle, I said that their results aren't solely due to physical effort. The drugs are called enhancers for a reason.
I'm a natural. Have been my whole life. I never took PED's because I didn't want to depend on them the rest of my life. But I wish I had bigger hamstrings and rounder shoulders. PED's could change that for me. I'm just not interested in wanting those changes that bad. But I can tell you that there are lots of guys I know who train really hard on PED's and look great, and others that don't train hard and I look better than them.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Admittedly a lot of my bias against them comes not only from my experience with my unpleasantly enhanced coworker, but also from the usual sort of sensationalist YouTube stuff posted by users who may be an atypical extreme. I did know one young guy who had been using steroids for quite a while and died of cancer in his early 40s. I hope it wasn't in any way connected to the steroids.
It would definitely be helpful if there was a magical "something" that would counteract the loss of natural hormones that I have at my age and roll back my physical clock to a point in time where attempting to build muscle was a lot easier but a) I wouldn't have the faintest idea what I was doing and b) I probably wouldn't like the side effects. So it's a No for me.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
My biggest issue is enhanced fitness personalities promoting products to teenagers as if that's what's responsible for their physique. I remember buying Celltech when I was 17 because of the before and after pic on the back.
I bought the original celltech, burned like drinking battery acid 😂😂
Oh, SO bad. I ain't fussy about supplement taste but that stuff was horrible.
2 -
In general (not specific to particular competitions), I think the use of drug enhancers for muscle/body building is cheating. How can you take pride in the results when you haven't achieved them solely through personal effort and hard work?I worked with a woman who was into competitive body building for a while and was using steroids. The effect on her personality was not pleasant, ten of her direct reports quit within a year because she was so difficult to deal with. And it was all for nought, she didn't win anything. Her competitors obviously had access to better drugs than she did.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I didn't say that they didn't work for their muscle, I said that their results aren't solely due to physical effort. The drugs are called enhancers for a reason.
I'm a natural. Have been my whole life. I never took PED's because I didn't want to depend on them the rest of my life. But I wish I had bigger hamstrings and rounder shoulders. PED's could change that for me. I'm just not interested in wanting those changes that bad. But I can tell you that there are lots of guys I know who train really hard on PED's and look great, and others that don't train hard and I look better than them.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Admittedly a lot of my bias against them comes not only from my experience with my unpleasantly enhanced coworker, but also from the usual sort of sensationalist YouTube stuff posted by users who may be an atypical extreme. I did know one young guy who had been using steroids for quite a while and died of cancer in his early 40s. I hope it wasn't in any way connected to the steroids.
It would definitely be helpful if there was a magical "something" that would counteract the loss of natural hormones that I have at my age and roll back my physical clock to a point in time where attempting to build muscle was a lot easier but a) I wouldn't have the faintest idea what I was doing and b) I probably wouldn't like the side effects. So it's a No for me.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Ai’s are generally only used in the last few weeks before competition. The more estrogen in the body the better it will grow so taking an Ai In the off season is counter productive. Top amateur and pro’s will use insulin to help growth But also helps the pancreas which will be under a lot of stress to produce enough insulin when consuming upwards of 1000g of carbs per day. Hcg should be used on cycle, hmg usually off cycle1 -
IronIsMyTherapy wrote: »In general (not specific to particular competitions), I think the use of drug enhancers for muscle/body building is cheating. How can you take pride in the results when you haven't achieved them solely through personal effort and hard work?I worked with a woman who was into competitive body building for a while and was using steroids. The effect on her personality was not pleasant, ten of her direct reports quit within a year because she was so difficult to deal with. And it was all for nought, she didn't win anything. Her competitors obviously had access to better drugs than she did.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I didn't say that they didn't work for their muscle, I said that their results aren't solely due to physical effort. The drugs are called enhancers for a reason.
I'm a natural. Have been my whole life. I never took PED's because I didn't want to depend on them the rest of my life. But I wish I had bigger hamstrings and rounder shoulders. PED's could change that for me. I'm just not interested in wanting those changes that bad. But I can tell you that there are lots of guys I know who train really hard on PED's and look great, and others that don't train hard and I look better than them.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Admittedly a lot of my bias against them comes not only from my experience with my unpleasantly enhanced coworker, but also from the usual sort of sensationalist YouTube stuff posted by users who may be an atypical extreme. I did know one young guy who had been using steroids for quite a while and died of cancer in his early 40s. I hope it wasn't in any way connected to the steroids.
It would definitely be helpful if there was a magical "something" that would counteract the loss of natural hormones that I have at my age and roll back my physical clock to a point in time where attempting to build muscle was a lot easier but a) I wouldn't have the faintest idea what I was doing and b) I probably wouldn't like the side effects. So it's a No for me.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
My biggest issue is enhanced fitness personalities promoting products to teenagers as if that's what's responsible for their physique. I remember buying Celltech when I was 17 because of the before and after pic on the back.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
4 -
In general (not specific to particular competitions), I think the use of drug enhancers for muscle/body building is cheating. How can you take pride in the results when you haven't achieved them solely through personal effort and hard work?I worked with a woman who was into competitive body building for a while and was using steroids. The effect on her personality was not pleasant, ten of her direct reports quit within a year because she was so difficult to deal with. And it was all for nought, she didn't win anything. Her competitors obviously had access to better drugs than she did.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I didn't say that they didn't work for their muscle, I said that their results aren't solely due to physical effort. The drugs are called enhancers for a reason.
I'm a natural. Have been my whole life. I never took PED's because I didn't want to depend on them the rest of my life. But I wish I had bigger hamstrings and rounder shoulders. PED's could change that for me. I'm just not interested in wanting those changes that bad. But I can tell you that there are lots of guys I know who train really hard on PED's and look great, and others that don't train hard and I look better than them.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Admittedly a lot of my bias against them comes not only from my experience with my unpleasantly enhanced coworker, but also from the usual sort of sensationalist YouTube stuff posted by users who may be an atypical extreme. I did know one young guy who had been using steroids for quite a while and died of cancer in his early 40s. I hope it wasn't in any way connected to the steroids.
It would definitely be helpful if there was a magical "something" that would counteract the loss of natural hormones that I have at my age and roll back my physical clock to a point in time where attempting to build muscle was a lot easier but a) I wouldn't have the faintest idea what I was doing and b) I probably wouldn't like the side effects. So it's a No for me.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Ai’s are generally only used in the last few weeks before competition. The more estrogen in the body the better it will grow so taking an Ai In the off season is counter productive. Top amateur and pro’s will use insulin to help growth But also helps the pancreas which will be under a lot of stress to produce enough insulin when consuming upwards of 1000g of carbs per day. Hcg should be used on cycle, hmg usually off cycle
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Stay natural! Why risk your health taking steroids?3
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1
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IronIsMyTherapy wrote: »Dogmom1978 wrote: »Dogmom1978 wrote: »In general (not specific to particular competitions), I think the use of drug enhancers for muscle/body building is cheating. How can you take pride in the results when you haven't achieved them solely through personal effort and hard work?
I worked with a woman who was into competitive body building for a while and was using steroids. The effect on her personality was not pleasant, ten of her direct reports quit within a year because she was so difficult to deal with. And it was all for nought, she didn't win anything. Her competitors obviously had access to better drugs than she did.
Even if you take steroids, you have to put in the work. It's not magic.
It’s a lot less work; so I would also consider it cheating. Steroids also have a lot of potential health side effects, so don’t seem worth the risks associated.
It's not a lot less work.
Yes, it IS a lot less work. That’s why some people choose to use steroids as they want the short cut. If you had to do just as much work, no one would spend the money on them or risk their health... 🙄
No, it's not less work. It enhances the results of people with an existing extraordinary work ethic. I know a lot of guys on stuff that look average because their work ethic is average. No, I'm not natural but it's not uncommon for me to puke mid workout, I've passed out, I've burst blood vessels in my eyes deadlifting and I've been like that since before I went to the dark side. I'll say it again; stick a needle in the butt of a guy that puts in average effort, you won't notice a thing. It's not a shortcut, it's a road to a physical place you can't get to naturally IF YOU WORK EXTREMELY HARD. That's kinda like saying running a marathon is a shortcut to walking a half marathon because you got there quicker. And cheating? What did I win? Who did I screw over, who's the victim? By that logic, makeup is cheating.
It’s more like saying riding a bike is a shortcut to running a marathon. The victim is everyone who doesn’t want to break laws and abuse their body in order to be competitive. I get you, you and the other bike riders are pedaling super hard, in fact pedaling maybe even harder than the runners. But by your own admission, you are going faster than anyone could by running.
It’s a funny sort of sport that has a “no cheating” division and a “wink wink” division. I guess that’s at least an improvement over having everyone together so nattys have no chance.2 -
Far too many people think they know what they are on about here but actually have zero idea. People genuinely believe dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman and Jay cutler did less work to win olympia? And yet they are potentially the highest working athletes with or without peds.
No issues with natural bodybuilding but anyone with any knowledge know once you gir your biological limit you need an extra source of T to grow, so essentially all the athletes did was work there *kitten* off to get there( for many of us we will never get there) then work even harder while on peds to make it effective2 -
I thought Steve Reeve was the epitome of body building during his era. I don't know if his on any steriods or supplements, but his physique was so intense.1
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@Daisy_Girl2019
I agree, Steve Reeves was a genetic freak
I think if he did take any drugs it was nothing like what is taken now.0 -
I’m sorry, but it IS less work. That’s why people take them. To get the results with less effort. As to experience, my husband used to be on them and I made him stop because of health reasons. Yes, he still worked out A LOT, but he built muscle at a rate that wasn’t possible without steroids. He worked hard, but he has to work HARDER without the steroids.
Also, I’m entitled to an opinion where yes, I think anyone using them IS NOT working as hard as someone who isn’t taking a short cut.2 -
Natural bodybuilding is like natural sports: it's boring. Modern day physical sports wouldn't be nearly as entertaining without steroids and people need to get over that it's somehow cheating. It makes people perform better which means it's more entertaining. If anything I wish it was normalized so the health of the athletes could be more closely monitored. They are going to use regardless of whether it's allowed so it's better to keep them as safe as possible with this in mind. It's naive to think the majority of athletes at a world class level aren't using some kind of PED. Whether that's steroids or blood doping or any number of other things athletes use to gain a competitive advantage. It's such a joke how many people are using steroids and straight up lying to the general public becaus they have to. It sets completely unrealistic expectations about what can be achieved naturally for the vast majority of people the longer we just pretend it isn't happening0
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I think there is a big difference in taking steroids in a commercially viable sport such as professional football to build size and strength as well as shorten recuperation time and a novice who wants to body-build to develop muscles and symmetry and also wants to be healthy. That was the nature of the question. I do think to project an image of size and strength and then die prematurely due to bad health is sad.0
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I dunno I don't really care if people take steroids as long as they are old enough to understand the risk. And as far as the health dangers go it really depends on what you use, how much you use, and what, if any, pre existing medical conditions you have. Now obviously there is even more nuance when you start talking about the effects of nutrition on our overall health in conjunction with steroids. At the end of the day plenty of bodybuilders that blasted tons of gear live to their 60s 70s and 80s while obesity and it's related illnesses take the lives of people much younger than this constantly. If you want to go on a health people mission let's start with the obesity epidemic and then maybe change the conversation to casual steroid users1
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