I have a non-actor steroid question. I knew a guy who was listed as 6’4 and 185 lbs. as a high school Sr. Four years later, he was the starting tackle on the team that won the NCAA D1 football national championship. He was listed as 6’5 and 290 lbs.
Could you gain over a 100 lbs in four years without steroids? I realize that a major college football program is going to have an intense strength program, but a 100 lbs seems a bit unnatural.
Depends. I could get to 290 pounds if I wanted, but a whole lot of it would be fat.
I knew a guy who played defensive line at a major college, and according to him, the whole team was on PED’s. He said that the choice was either to take them or get bumped off the team by somebody who was taking them - they’re that effective. But he said that HGH was much more popular than steroids were.
No way for me to verify what he was saying, but bear in mind that an NFL physician was complaining about rampant steroid use as far back as the early '80’s, and since then, players haven’t gotten any smaller or weaker.
That’s not true.
I’ll look like that (or close) in 6-9 months, and I’m 100% natural, and 56…
No kidding. Sean Connery was considered a “bodybuilder” when he was young. Compare those pictures of him to the way Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson looks today. And I can’t believe someone suggested upthread that The Rock is natural. He’s continued to get bigger into his forties, a time when natural testosterone is declining. No way he’s not juicing.
Well, you know…
It’s not just chemistry that has improved in the last 60 years. The Science of bodybuilding has improved, too, and with the much improved training techniques and better diets, average Joes can become more muscular than bodybuilders of the past.
This doesn’t mean that Hollywood action stars aren’t juicing - they probably are, but all the people who say it’s “impossible” to do something like put on lean muscle naturally past your 40’s are mistaken.
Speaking of only having to look strong, might it be possible to use that filler that some guys do, but make it look real, instead of comical? Even if only to add to the bulk a little bit?
I do know it’s possible to add (apparent) muscle definition with makeup and contouring, as well.
Its called Synthol. While what you say seems possible, it seems unlikely due to the health risks involved with such injections.
Oh, geeze…
Some of the photos of morons who have used that stuff… [shudder].
I can’t stand when those bozos are called “bodybuilders” by the media, and lauded for having “the world’s biggest arms,” etc.
Here’s a study about FFMI which says:
FFMI is a calculation based on your fat free mass and height. Looking at the NFL draft combine, there were 6 linebackers that measured at 6’. Their weight ranged from 226 to 245. Assuming 15% body fat, the lightest of them has a FFMI of 26 while the heaviest is 28.5. Assuming 10%, the lightest is at 27.8 while the heaviest is 30.1. The obvious conclusion here is that they’re basically all on steroids or other PEDs.
Look at it logically. We know that PEDs are very effective. Depending on a lot of factors we are talking about the ability to put on muscle at 2-3x the rate and to top out at a bigger amount of muscle over baseline. For a natural person to make up for that they would have to have a corresponding advantage in genes, routine, diet, or something else. But if that special sauce is anything but genes, the steroid users are going to do the same thing and will still win.
This is either here nor there, but the first active-duty SEAL I ever met was a short, pudgy dude who looked like Rick from Magnum P.I. It was a total fucking bummer.
That happens because the body drops its own production when your test levels are up due to steroids. When you stop using 'roids, they return to normal. No one ever mentions that.
Not really. This is another part of 'roid hysteria - that everyone that looks better than you must be juicing because, darn it, you work out three hours a week and you don’t look like that. The percentage of people using steroids, I last read, was .5 percent of the population, about a million people, spread out across the entire country. Assuming an even distribution at your local gym, you’d be lucky to see one guy at Planet Fitness using steroids. And the truth is, if you’re going to a national chain to workout, you’ve likely never seen someone “roided up” as they prefer hardcore gyms that cater to people who workout at a different level.
It’s likely these actors did a “cycle” of steroids to prepare for a role. It’s unlikely they did so on a treadmill or spin class at Planet Fitness or the like.
While we’re on the subject, roid rage isn’t a real thing either.
That’s not good reasoning because people who don’t lift weights regularly aren’t likely to take steroids. And I do go to a national chain and there are people there that I am 99.99% sure are on steroids because they have ridiculous physiques. Beyond that, most steroid users don’t look like gigantic monstrosities. Taken from this reddit thread (and others) here are a bunch of people who use steroids:
You’re telling me you don’t see people like that at a national chain type gym?
There are drugs (hcg) that prevent testicular atrophy when using steroids.
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.
Well I think it depends. Chris Pratt’s transformations for his rolesare quite striking, however, his basic body type has not changed,.
Bradley Cooper OTH, looked has whole different body type from what he normally looks like..
SO, while I have no way of knowing, I would, if pushed guess that Pratt used the gym and diet, Cooper has an assist from certain… substances.
Incidentally, Hollywood Reporter says that PED use is rampant in Hollywood.
My uncle used to be a paratrooper Lieutenant Colonel. Not a physically imposing kind of guy at all.
But… he does have a sort of tough, resolute feeling about him like you could pull his fingernails off trying to torture him, and he’d just yawn and ask if you’re done yet.
Ha! I knew my hunch had legs!
From the link
[QUOTE=Hollywood Reporter]
…It comes as no surprise that few in the Hollywood spotlight admit to imbibing for fear of stigmatization. Oliver Stone, Nick Nolte and Dixie Carter – who all extol the anti-aging benefits of HGH – are among the exceptions. Charlie Sheen told Sports Illustrated that he took steroids to prep for his role as a pitcher in 1989’s Major League. Mickey Rourke and Arnold Schwarzenegger also have opened up about using PEDs…
…Several talent agents and managers interviewed for this piece chuckle at how steroid and HGH use is the new worst-kept secret in showbiz, the “no duh” cousin of Botox and Restylane, and point to scrawny actors who quickly morphed into he-men for roles. Studios largely have turned a blind eye to the practice, they contend.
In fact, studios might be part of the problem, with their tight schedules and Herculean expectations. An actor typically trains for just one to two months before tackling a body-intensive role, a far cry from the regimen of the professional athletes whose bodies they mirror…
[/QUOTE]
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?
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.
