# Do you think celebrities use steroids to get in shape for movie roles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-celebrities-use-steroids-to-get-in-shape-for-movie-roles/754589 "2016-05-12T02:57:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-celebrities-use-steroids-to-get-in-shape-for-movie-roles/754589/61 "2016-05-16T13:44:21Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > I have no doubt that any number of actors use drugs to maintain their physiques, but in Hollywood movies, these days, at least some of what you’re seeing is CGI. Agreed. I came out of Deadpool thinking that while RR shows quite a bit of skin, in most scenes he looks like a normal human being (well, his body I mean, I’m not talking about Deadpool’s mind). But there is one scene where he looks like his muscle’s edges could cut laser beams; in every other one, he looks yummy but not sharp enough to scare light. I assumed CGI touch-up, it’s not as if there wasn’t a computers budget! ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-celebrities-use-steroids-to-get-in-shape-for-movie-roles/754589/62 "2016-05-16T19:18:29Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Ha! I knew my hunch had legs! > > From the link > > The article emphasizes that Henry Cavill trained naturally to play Superman, but it says that Tyler Perry and 50 Cent allegedly ordered performance-enhancing drugs from doctors and pharmacists who were targeted in a New York criminal probe. And it drops a juicy anecdote without naming names…Hugh Jackman, perhaps? The comments suggest Gerard Butler (who I am also in love with). ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-celebrities-use-steroids-to-get-in-shape-for-movie-roles/754589/63 "2016-06-05T18:41:28Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > I’m not disputing much of what’s been said here, but it’s also true that there are guys who are just blessed when it comes to genetics, and really can make amazing transformations in a short time. > > Back in the late 40’s, before steroids, Steve Reeves would make the other bodybuilders frustrated by how quickly he could go from out-of-shape to Mr. Universe, training several hours a day. Yes, bulk up and trim down was a common technique, even then, but he amazed even other Mr. Universe winners with what he could do in a couple months. > > And I witnessed an amazing transformation first-hand with a guy in my basic training unit at Ft. Lewis, back in the 70’s. He was a poor, skinny kid from the ghetto, who apparently had never had enough to eat at home. I’d guess he put on about 20 pounds of solid muscle in eight weeks, just from running, pushups, pullups, and eating all he wanted. With all the attention the death of Ali is getting, it occurs to me that he’s a perfect example of what I was referring to. Look at the [iconic photo](http://static.boxrec.com/thumb/c/c4/Ali-Liston_II.jpg/450px-Ali-Liston_II.jpg) of him standing over Liston. AFAIK he never touched a weight; he just did roadwork, hit the heavy and light bag, and sparred. He may also have done some bodyweight exercises, but he never lifted weights the way even junior high kids do today. A few months on a serious bodybuilding program would have turned him into a monster. And if the reports can be believed, [Herschel Walker](http://theathleticbuild.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/163215_493254688228_61345743228_6180677_5490445_n_large.jpg) also never touched a weight, and he WAS a monster. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-celebrities-use-steroids-to-get-in-shape-for-movie-roles/754589/64 "2016-06-05T19:09:48Z")
> [@ivylass](#): > > Re: Overtraining…I know you must give your body a rest while strength training. IIRC, strength training involves making microscopic tears in your muscles. Resting gives them time to heal, which makes them bigger/stronger. I’ve heard multiple times you must give yourself at least 24 hours rest. Absolutely. When I worked out, I’d do 7 days a week because I loved it, but I’d focus on upper body/core one day and lower body the next. My big issues with it were the need to watch your diet like a hawk and the massive food intake. I spent more time preparing food than I did actually working out. (Constant body aches were only a minor annoyance.) ---
**Author:** ![Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Enter\_the\_Flagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enter_the_Flagon)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-celebrities-use-steroids-to-get-in-shape-for-movie-roles/754589/65 "2016-06-05T22:00:50Z")
> [@TonySinclair](#): > > Back in the late 40’s, before steroids, Steve Reeves would make the other bodybuilders frustrated by how quickly he could go from out-of-shape to Mr. Universe, training several hours a day. Yes, bulk up and trim down was a common technique, even then, but he amazed even other Mr. Universe winners with what he could do in a couple months. > > And I witnessed an amazing transformation first-hand with a guy in my basic training unit at Ft. Lewis, back in the 70’s. He was a poor, skinny kid from the ghetto, who apparently had never had enough to eat at home. I’d guess he put on about 20 pounds of solid muscle in eight weeks, just from running, pushups, pullups, and eating all he wanted. Steve Reeves may have been using Testosterone Proprionate, a drug which predates his bodybuilding career, and was reputedly mentioned in a bodybuilding magazine as early as 1938. I was also one of those guys who was considered genetically gifted because of the “amazing” gains I made in my first 9 months of lifting. But eventually those gains leveled off until I hit a plateau, and then another, beyond which every pound of muscle I gained was accompanied by a pound of fat. And while I had no trouble regaining my former shape in a hurry, at my best I never looked as good as Steve Reeves. Still I think it’s possible that Reeves was a (perhaps the last great) natural bodybuilder - I guess there’s no way to know. > [@](#): > > And if the reports can be believed, Herschel Walker also never touched a weight, and he WAS a monster. Herschel was trained by the great powerlifter Terry Todd, who apparently had Herschel doing a custom program that did not include weights, but did include heavy resistance training. Whether or not Herschel is a genetic freak, Terry Todd inarguably knows a great deal about steroids and their effects on the body, and we can’t assume that Walker was clean based only on his lack of weight training. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-celebrities-use-steroids-to-get-in-shape-for-movie-roles/754589/66 "2016-06-06T02:20:37Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Its called Synthol. While what you say seems possible, it seems unlikely due to the health risks involved with such injections. I’ve never thought that actors were really big on health risks–at least, early on when they’re trying to make it big. Changing your weight as drastically as some do isn’t healthy either. And there’s a huge history of eating disorders. Don’t know if they do, but nice to know it could be possible. I thought maybe there just wasn’t a way to make it look real. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-think-celebrities-use-steroids-to-get-in-shape-for-movie-roles/754589.md?page=3)