SSP 148. The Steroid Years

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♦︎ The Steroid Years ♦︎

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Scott shares the inside scoop on his own history with steroids, what really goes on behind the scenes with steroids in the bodybuilding world, and why he left it all behind.

His recent retrospective posted on his Facebook sites chronicles his journey from completely natural to what he terms “hard core” steroid use.

A brief history

• In 1986, the steroid scene was far different than it is today. The doses then were much smaller. Scott shares some examples.

• In 1987 when Scott won the Great Lakes championship, steroids were more out in the open. People became interested in how the drugs actually worked.

• Scott educated himself on the drugs, and outside sources came to recognize him as an expert on the subject.

• Steroids have anabolic and androgenic properties. Some have more anabolic effect, while others produce more androgenic effects.

• By 1988, he was visibly thicker.

• His “hard core” years began in the 90s. At his last photo shoot [as a bodybuilder], he was extremely lean and vascular, but thick at 260 lbs.

Signs and side effects

• There are visible, tell-tale physical signs of steroid use.

• The body holds onto fluids, so the face gets puffy. There is tremendous lean weight gain.

• [Cystic] acne, hair loss and gynecomastia are just three of the side effects.

• Some bodies respond more favorably to steroids, results as well as side effects.

The ugly side

• Another reason Scott exited the business was that the drugs surpassed training as the way to excel.

• Steroids are taken by men and women. Scott thinks women take more today than he did back in the “day”.

• Counterfeit and adulterated drugs have been used without the users’ knowledge. The real drug was replaced or cut with other substances like WD40.

• Super-physiological dosages require other drugs be taken to compensate for the side effects.

• The cottage steroid industry is almost like multi-level marketing, where a steroid-taking competitor resells steroids to their own clients.

• The abuse of steroids—as well as other drugs—in the bodybuilding world was what drove Scott out of the sport.

• Health scares Scott’s witnessed from steroid use: death, heart attack, cancer, sepsis, abscesses, near-amputations, and others.

• Scott doesn’t like to call bodybuilding a sport anymore. He viewed bodybuilding as movable sculpture and got out of it when it ceased to be that to him.

A Note about TRT

• Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) and steroid use are completely different. TRT doses are much smaller, intended to make up the difference between what the body under-produces and a healthy level.

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Training Resources

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The Hardgainer Solution Course

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