Steroids ?

[J4CKO]

Not for one minute at 46 considering them, just interested on folks opinions and experiences ? I find it an interesting area but I dont really know much about it.

How much faster does muscle build compared to without ? twice, three times or more ?

Does it enhance just the building of muscle or does it help your training ?

There was a young guy at the gym I used to go to (Proper bodybuilding Gym in Sale, Manchester), he trained pretty hard but went from skinny lad to borderline monster in just over a year, we made some gains my mate and I, but this guy made astounding progress, we were early twenties, he was a bit younger, genetics, effort or was he "on the gear" ? we did spot him in the car park looking a bit furtive with one of the proper old monsters so may have been a deal happening.

How do people use it, to get started and make a base, see progress then revert or do they just use it on and off permanently ?

Can it be safe ? what are the side effects ? is it as popular now, I was thinking all the reality TV with buff lads may have caused a surge in use ?

What are the side effects ? there seems to be a lot of internet wisdom about "Roid rage" and staff which I guess is probably either nonsense or overstated.

[J4CKO]

Thankyou4calling said:

Steroids.

I should write a book on them.

I would rather use the term "Performance enhancers" which covers a much wider area of substances you might use to improve performance or physique of which steroids or anabolics are one group.

In my experience they are over rated, there is a massive placebo effect. A guy, usually young and impressionable pays out for his gear and is told it'll make him more aggressive, able to train harder, recover faster and use heavier weights.

So he takes the gear and starts to train harder, never misses a session, pushes to failure. Sure enough he gets stronger so he can lift more and train harder, he works to exhaustion so he rests better, stops partying so he sleeps better. Starts to look better so he eats better and so it goes on.

The single biggest factor in growing muscle is genetics, same as in any sport. It's 90% nature and 10% nurture. No amount of training, steroids, diet etc is going to make you look like a decent bodybuilder or run like Usain Bolt unless you are born with the genetics.

It's a medical fact that they artificially enhance but the mind, the belief plays a massive part.

If you look at top sprinters there are definitely some using and some not using but the margins are minute.

So they make a difference but your average gym user is not gonna be stepping on the Olympia stage.

Edited by Thankyou4calling on Thursday 24th August 14:36

That's a really interesting viewpoint and make sense, like it mentally triggers a "I am serious BodyBuilder" switch and that gives more momentum to the training.

Also, the genetic thing, are some people just unable to gain mass and some grow like mad ?

[J4CKO]

RTB said:

Anabolic steroids and hormones such as testosterone and HGH certainly work but only for those who are reaching their maximum in terms of training intensity, recovery and diet. To the average bloke doing a few hours a week they'll do very little to build muscle. In fact taking hormones like testosterone and HGH is more likely to result in increased amounts of adipose tissue rather than muscle.

If you train properly 6 hours a day, have the perfect diet to support muscle growth and have reached your capacity to recover then steroids/hormones would be the next step. If you're a podgy 40 year old doing 5x5 3 times a week they're just going to make your tits bigger

I am more the latter but just interested, not planning on taking them.

Does anyone train six hours a day, surely that would be counterproductive ?

[J4CKO]

PBDirector said:

this is one of those topics that will cause people who know very little to argue about minutea and those that have something interesting to say to give up and not bother. It's a shame.

Yeah, its the roid rage

[J4CKO]

popeyewhite said:

chris watton said:

I guess steroids unlocks a whole new world of potential - but with a price, even if doing things by the book.

Proof does not exist that when taken responsibly steroids are bad for you. The problem is just that steroids bring with them a whole host of other issues. If you're strong you'll be fine, if you have anything other than a completely stable personality and A1 health you might want to not bother.

Like Nitrous on an engine I guess, a bit will help, then we want more and keep battering it until boom, or if its not right in some way it breaks straight away.

[J4CKO]

watwenwong said:

BarryGibb said:

Surely change in jaw shape is down to training hard, getting plenty of rest and eating your greens? How else would some rugby players have such a change in facial shape when they are tested so regularly?

HGH causes bone growth, not steroids. Not sure if it's tested for, likely not, but a lot of rugby players have huge hands, foreheads and jaws because of this.

I expect the other jaw line squaring off in the other posters mention is due to lower body fat, rather than bone growth.

I used to train, years ago at a place in Sale near Manchester, generally men, and generally all massive but there were two women, one was older and a bit rough looking but obviously in great shape, the other was a small, petite blond, very cute, quite curvy, sort of reminded me, for those over 40, of Lucy Ewing from the tv program "Dallas", over time she went from cute to kind of manly, her jaw went from feminine to very masculine, she wasnt one for tight gear but she lost her shape and went manly there as well, saw it over the two years, sometimes didnt see her for a ages and was always a shock to see how much she had changed, I thought it was a shame but she obviously wanted to be different and wasnt bothered one iota what I thought, which is fair enough.

Fairly certain she was taking something, so striking the transformation, fairly certain looking back that a lot in there were, never been to a gym since with so many massive guys, the general kind of gyms (David Lloyd, Energie, Total Fitness) rarely have anyone like that, quite intimidating at first but generally very nice, but also lavishly flatulent, never encountered anywhere that constantly smelt of farts like that place

My wife said to me the other day I look different since I have been training, mainly as weight has come off but she said I looked more angular in the face, I reckon its down to all the grimacing from lifting weights, so I suppose its a side benefit.

Edited by J4CKO on Saturday 26th August 13:02

[J4CKO]

Wobbegong said:

helix402 said:

Look, they work really well:



Some negative side effects are possible.

Pretty sure I remember him using synthol as well?

Sad to hear he has died, but not surprised

Is Synthol basically injecting Mineral Oil to make you look bigger, there was a thing that did the rounds of some guy in Brazil that didnt really train but injected that and looked massive but in a really, really weird way.

[J4CKO]

Wobbegong said:

Seems quite popular in certain parts of the world. I've seen a lot in the Middle East

Its a very distinct look, I think its one of those things that may fool people, but its a bit like having an MR2 "Ferrari", anyone who has a clue will most likely spot it, I guess it could be used to enhance someone who is already trained to address some deficiency but as the basis for an entire physique it really looks odd.

Is it permanent or does it eventually wear off ?