>So, because steroid users can exercise heavily every day, and make outrageous gains that means they're pulling heavy weights pretty quickly, or ridiculous rep counts, they say they're working harder.
I hear this option often enough but could anyone point out what those supposed outrageous gains are? IMO Bodybuilding (like many physical sports) in general self-selects for the physically 'gifted' person - good bone structure, proportions, muscle insertions, etc. e.g. You're pretty much stuck with a certain ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch fibers (I know, its a simplification), you can train with steroids all you want, but you ain't running 100m in under 10 seconds.
I'd like to see what is the currently accepted science on what an average Joe would stand to gain from taking steroids.
* Steroids allow you to put on muscle way, way quicker than your natural limits allow. It means you can achieve your physical goals much more quickly (ie. movie stars like Hugh Jackman or Chris Evans who get massive for a role in 3 months are all on the juice)
* They allow you to exceed your genetic limits. A natural human being just shouldn't be able to reach Arnies peak size/muscle. Just not possible. Sure you get 250lb guys, but they should be fairly fat too.
* Steroids and other PEDs mean you recover from workouts quicker, so you can train more. So if you're an MMA star, which is physically demanding AND highly technical, you can be in the gym 6 days out of 7 going hard at it.
That's a simplistic run down. The main benefit for athletes is being able to train hard every day, and being big AND ripped.
For an average Joe, I think it allows you to achieve your goals with significantly less effort and investment. E.g. if you want to get a ripped, muscled body, you'll get that with steroids in a few months vs. maybe 1-2 years without. If you hit the gym 3 times a week, you'll quickly pull ahead of guys doing the same routines without juice. If you're 40 and want to put on significant muscle, it's near impossible without roids.
Incidentally, the Tim Ferriss blog has a long post talking about MMA star Georges St Pierre and how he put on 12lbs of muscle in 6 weeks with his diet. It's physically impossible to do that without juice.
I hear this option often enough but could anyone point out what those supposed outrageous gains are? IMO Bodybuilding (like many physical sports) in general self-selects for the physically 'gifted' person - good bone structure, proportions, muscle insertions, etc. e.g. You're pretty much stuck with a certain ratio of fast twitch to slow twitch fibers (I know, its a simplification), you can train with steroids all you want, but you ain't running 100m in under 10 seconds.
I'd like to see what is the currently accepted science on what an average Joe would stand to gain from taking steroids.