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Doping does work. There are reasons athletes do it and take enormous risk with their careers and health. I remember a long article in Outside magazine where th

Doping does work. There are reasons athletes do it and take enormous risk with their careers and health. I remember a long article in Outside magazine where the journalist doped with EPO and HGH to compete in amateur cycling at a level he found to be surprising: https://www.outsideonline.com/1924306/drug-test https://www.outsideonline.com/1924306/drug-test Using the word "cheating" is too simplistic of a dismissal for doping, I think.

maxxxxx 9y ago
Doping really, really, really works! Once I did a lot of weight lifting. I gained weight from 65 kg to 75 kg but then hit a wall. Whatever I did I couldn't get above 75. There were several guys like me but all of a sudden some gained weight again. Not just a little, but 10 kg in 8 weeks. I asked them what's going on and they all told me they got steroids from Poland. The progress was amazing. Since then I am pretty sure that all top athletes take something. The advantage is just too much.
- cc81 9y ago
  A lot of that was water. Of course AAS has a ton of potential and can put help you put on muscle like no other but there are so many lifters who go on a cycle put on 10 kg then when they go off they lose 6 of those kilos fast; get unmotivated because their natural testosterone is pretty low (even with pct) and then half ass their diet and training for a while and then they are almost back where they started. But with potentially less hair on their head, gyno and acne scars if they are prone to it. Of course that is not true for all but when evaluating always ask someone a couple of months after the cycle and not during it because at that time they are kings.
- lossolo 9y ago
  100% of people that want to start in Mr Olympia takes steroids, not 99% or 70% but 100%.
  - parthdesai 9y ago
    Not just Olympia but majority of "natural" fitness models you find on instagram are on steroids as well. It's just impossible to look like that year round naturally.
  - maxxxxx 9y ago
    Personally I think you can extend this to (almost or all?) any sport.
maxerickson 9y ago
Interesting article, even if it is a bit silly to say you would use testosterone but not steroids.
sushisource 9y ago
Fascinating article. I've always wondered about the proportionality of increase with drugs like this, and he makes it sound quite a bit more dramatic than I imagined. I pretty frequently place in the top 5% in amateur mid-distance running, like 10k or half marathon. Sounds like if I was on the juice I could easily be in the running for podium finishes. Not that I would, but, geez.
- nradov 9y ago
  I suspect that some of the amateur runners on the podium at the larger local races are geared. No way to prove it though. There's no prize money and no drug testing. People will do crazy stuff just for pride.
- bo1024 9y ago
  From what I've heard, it sounds like a lot of the benefits are in recovery, i.e. the drugs don't make you faster, but they allow you to train harder and still recover/improve which is what makes you faster. (I would guess maybe EPO is an exception...) So if you're not already training hard enough that you struggle to recover, I wonder if they'd really make a difference beyond placebo.
vlasev 9y ago
It IS a big risk career-wise, but from reading things people in-the-know say, it seems that if you have a knowledgeable person administering the PEDs, it's a relatively low-risk endeavor health-wise.
- nradov 9y ago
  Low risk in the short term. Who knows what effects will show up 30 years later?
  - crispyambulance 9y ago
    Yes, also, one of the ways that PED's work is that they allow athletes to step up their training volume and intensity. This accelerates additional wear and tear on the body beyond what one would see with "non-superhuman" levels of training.
  - adrianN 9y ago
    Testosterone replacement is a fairly common treatment for older men. It seems that the main downside (at least at an advanced age) is an increased risk of cardiovascular problems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_replacement_therapy#Adverse_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_replacement_therapy#A...

maxxxxx 9y ago

Doping really, really, really works! Once I did a lot of weight lifting. I gained weight from 65 kg to 75 kg but then hit a wall. Whatever I did I couldn't get above 75. There were several guys like me but all of a sudden some gained weight again. Not just a little, but 10 kg in 8 weeks. I asked them what's going on and they all told me they got steroids from Poland. The progress was amazing. Since then I am pretty sure that all top athletes take something. The advantage is just too much.

cc81 9y ago
A lot of that was water. Of course AAS has a ton of potential and can put help you put on muscle like no other but there are so many lifters who go on a cycle put on 10 kg then when they go off they lose 6 of those kilos fast; get unmotivated because their natural testosterone is pretty low (even with pct) and then half ass their diet and training for a while and then they are almost back where they started. But with potentially less hair on their head, gyno and acne scars if they are prone to it. Of course that is not true for all but when evaluating always ask someone a couple of months after the cycle and not during it because at that time they are kings.
lossolo 9y ago
100% of people that want to start in Mr Olympia takes steroids, not 99% or 70% but 100%.
- parthdesai 9y ago
  Not just Olympia but majority of "natural" fitness models you find on instagram are on steroids as well. It's just impossible to look like that year round naturally.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  Personally I think you can extend this to (almost or all?) any sport.

maxerickson 9y ago

Interesting article, even if it is a bit silly to say you would use testosterone but not steroids.

sushisource 9y ago

Fascinating article. I've always wondered about the proportionality of increase with drugs like this, and he makes it sound quite a bit more dramatic than I imagined. I pretty frequently place in the top 5% in amateur mid-distance running, like 10k or half marathon. Sounds like if I was on the juice I could easily be in the running for podium finishes. Not that I would, but, geez.

nradov 9y ago
I suspect that some of the amateur runners on the podium at the larger local races are geared. No way to prove it though. There's no prize money and no drug testing. People will do crazy stuff just for pride.
bo1024 9y ago
From what I've heard, it sounds like a lot of the benefits are in recovery, i.e. the drugs don't make you faster, but they allow you to train harder and still recover/improve which is what makes you faster. (I would guess maybe EPO is an exception...) So if you're not already training hard enough that you struggle to recover, I wonder if they'd really make a difference beyond placebo.

vlasev 9y ago

It IS a big risk career-wise, but from reading things people in-the-know say, it seems that if you have a knowledgeable person administering the PEDs, it's a relatively low-risk endeavor health-wise.

nradov 9y ago
Low risk in the short term. Who knows what effects will show up 30 years later?
- crispyambulance 9y ago
  Yes, also, one of the ways that PED's work is that they allow athletes to step up their training volume and intensity. This accelerates additional wear and tear on the body beyond what one would see with "non-superhuman" levels of training.
- adrianN 9y ago
  Testosterone replacement is a fairly common treatment for older men. It seems that the main downside (at least at an advanced age) is an increased risk of cardiovascular problems: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_replacement_therapy#Adverse_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Androgen_replacement_therapy#A...