What’s interesting about a lot of the “pre-steroid” era bodybuilders and sportspeople is the strong “anti-steroid” stance many of them adopted once these substances exploded onto the scene.
With some even going as far as to claim a hearty diet would produce results equal to or greater than anabolic steroids (for example, Vince Gironda allegedly once said that eating three dozen eggs per day was as potent as taking dianabol).
Obviously, this is not the case. Definitely not now with modern “medicine” and probably not back then either.
And you don’t need studies or science or any of that to tell you as much.
Anyone who has ever felt the sting of busting their backside for months, years on end, only to have some fatarse turn up, start pumping themselves full of stedz and now “fat jabs” as well then rocket past you in strength, muscularity, and leanness.
Reminds me of a thread I saw on Reddit last week.
A (formerly) fat guy posted a suite of “before and after” shots. His results were very impressive, doubly so when you take into account the timescale (about 6 months to go from hamplanet to someone who, minus the loose skin, wouldn’t look out of place in a men’s physique lineup).
However…
He revealed he’d abused a cocktail of TRT and, if I remember rightly, ozempic to get there. The former, he claimed, to return his testosterone to the “natural levels” of a 21 year old (despite being 40-something) and the latter to suppress his appetite for obscene quantities of terrible foods.
The best part was, he resolutely believed the drugs had almost nothing to do with his success.
How so?
He “trains reeeeaaallllly hard”; lifting weights four times per week and taking a daily walk – as if that’s something special when it is actually barely above the absolute minimum everyone ought to do for health and longevity if nothing else.
Reading this back, I am aware I am coming across as somewhat bitter and jealous.
It’s certainly one way to interpret what I’m saying.
Although a better way would be to see how I’m saying Mr “Transformation” and others like him have not “transformed” at all.
For sure, they look very different. Nice abs, big muscles, strong lifts; all that good stuff. But, deep down, nothing has changed.
They’re still living lifestyles incompatible with being able to build muscle and strength (late nights, high stress, mostly sedentary outside of training, etc.), following weird training regimes, and rocking an awful relationship with food.
“Foolish builders” one and all, setting their homes upon foundations of sand. And when the rain falls, the rivers rise, the wind blows, and the supply of drugs stops, it all falls over in a snotty heap.
Lots of reasons why people do this, even though it’s self-evidently a bad idea.
One of them being it’s far easier than metaphorically seeking out a foundation of rock.
I.e. doing the “inner work” required to truly accept (not just pay lip service to) the idea that not only will it take many, many years to even approach a body you are happy with, but it’s also likely you are fundamentally incapable of getting all of the results you want due to factors outside of your control.
Somewhat related: If high-minded musings on the intangible concepts that hold a lot of sway over how successful you are in your quest to get strong and in shape interests you, see my book:
“Strongosophy”
Unlike a lot of my books, it’s very inexpensive.
But it contains a bunch of info that I once sold for a pretty penny as part of a (now discontinued) fat loss programme.
The book has no reviews as of this writing because my following is tiny, so I understand if you’d prefer not to risk a fiver on purchasing a book you may not like.
But if you do purchase it, it would help me greatly if you would spend a minute or two to leave an honest review when you’re done (good, bad, or indifferent – all have their uses).
You can get either the e-version or paperback from Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Strongosophy-Phil-Tyreman-ebook/dp/B0FNBGGDHZ
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman