The Truth About Bodybuilding Contest Preparation by Jerry Brainum 6/20

 

Anyone who has ever attended a seminar given by elite champion bodybuilders knows that they never reveal the truth about how they really prepared for a contest. They will instead go over the usual things, such as how they trained their chest or arms, what type of diet they used without going into much detail, and so on. The truth is, however, that no two contest prep programs are alike and the differences stem from individual needs. For example, some bodybuilders use far more anabolic drugs, such as anabolic steroids and growth hormone, than others. A few, such as Lee Priest, claim to use minimal amounts of anabolic drugs yet show the same level of development as others. One problem with anabolic drug cycles is that none of them are based on any science whatsoever. Instead, most are copycat programs obtained by listening to what other bodybuilders allegedly used. For others, drug information and how to use them comes from various Internet sources. This is easily the worst source of information. Most of these who dispense various drug stacks hide behind fake screen names, so you don't know their true level of expertise or even what they look like. These guys could well be fat guys sitting in front of a computer in their mother's basement.

Other sources of information, such as bodybuilding magazines, provide virtually nothing. In recent years because of the decline in print publications, bodybuilding magazine article quality has significantly worsened. Those that continue to write for such magazines are paid almost nothing and in many cases are paid nothing. The quality of their work and the information they provide reflect both their level of knowledge as well as their expertise. Numerous YouTube videos also extol various drug regimes, but again these are based on nothing and most often dispense dangerous and inaccurate information. One example of this was a young man who attracted a following of several hundred thousand. His big thing was his position that the anabolic steroid Deca-Durabolin, which is an injected steroid, is perfectly safe in any dose and does not cause side effects. He suggested injecting thousands of milligrams of the drug each week. That such information is dangerous should be obvious to anyone, yet countless men followed this misguided advice. Many of them likely experienced serious medical problems because of their espousal of such dumb advice.

Some believe that the possible dangers of anabolic steroid usage have been overstated. The truth is that like any other drug, whether serious side effects occur when using anabolic steroids depends on time and dosage. The longer you stay on the drugs and the more that you use, the greater the risk of side effects. But no level of anabolic steroid usage can be considered completely safe due to factors such as genetic predispositions. Steroids can turn on previously benign processes in the body that can turn deadly serious. I've seen a few . . .