Behold one answer to a series of questions posed to me by an anonymous “Silver Era Secrets” client.
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“So I thought I’d ask: Is it possible to get the physique of someone like Giant [of Gladiators fame] without resorting to the angry juice? Or is it an unsaid thing that they must have some chemical help? Same with World’s Strongest Men too I guess?”
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And my response:
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Short answer:
No.
Longer and more interesting answer:
He says he doesn’t take them any more, and I’ve no evidence to the contrary. Many people claim that this means he’s now “natural”.
I disagree.
While it’s true that you’ll lose muscle and strength when you stop taking the drugs, we know that some effects are permanent — or at least so long term they might as well be.
The ones most often cited are the negative side effects (breast development in men, growth plate fusion in young people, facial changes in women, etc.) but I’ve long suspected some performance-enhancing effects persist from observing and being acquainted with ex-steroid users over many years. Research is emerging that supports my conclusions and postulates the mechanism by which this happens.
World’s Strongest Man say they drug test their competitors, but it’s an open secret that everyone takes gear.
The reason it’s so “cloak and dagger” and why I have no problem with people not admitting it is that steroids are, in most jurisdictions, illegal drugs.
Moreover, not all countries are as soft touch about it as we are. In the US, for example, distribution or even simple possession of steroids is punishable by serious fines and prison time.
Then there are the implications on sponsorships. Strength sports (and the “sport” of bodybuilding) don’t pay well at all, so the athletes rely on supplement companies, clothing companies, and so on sponsoring them to remain fed and housed. I suspect they would drop them like a hot potato if they admitted to taking gear (doubly so for the up and coming or less successful competitors who lack the star power to ride out a scandal).
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I included hyperlinks to various sources to back up what I said, but I have omitted them here so this email didn’t end up in your spam folder. (If you want to see them, reply and I shall send them over).
What is the lesson?
Simply that it is most unwise to peg your expectations to what fitness personalities in the public eye have achieved because, more often than not, their results are achieved by abusing steroids and/or other performance-enhancing substances.
Moreover, it’s my experience that doing so is at least a contributing cause to a lot of people quitting when they invariably get frustrated when what they achieve through honest hard work doesn’t measure up.
Or they partake of the naughty juice themselves (getting it from Dave Down The Gym or some dodgy online “pharmacy” or else lying to a doctor to get a prescription for Tee Arr Tee), and, in so doing, open themselves to a range of risks – up to and including death.
Neither scenario is ideal, for reasons that, I hope, are obvious.
Anyway.
If you would like to get stronger and more muscular without taking gear, you’d do well to join the chap who sent me the question I used as the basis for this email by purchasing “Silver Era Secrets”.
Below is a page that explains everything. Please read it carefully before committing:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/programme/
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman