Van AD is a recovering Alcoholic, he mentioned that in an article in MD.That maybe the reason why he cut back his anabolic useage.That also maybe why his body didnt look as good come show time.He trained and did as much cardio as he did when he used more anabolics.Which inturn overtrained his body so it released cortisol.
What I really think happened, he got into a major arguement with his wife, gf, ex-wife or a family member, and he got really mad or upset.It created so much stress and adrenaline that his body just smoothed out.
This happened to me once.I was doing a show in Florida, I prepared for the show for 6 months.I dieted 12 weeks.I was all natural at the time.The promoter Lou Zwick, who a total jerk screwed over all his athletes.
The prejudging was supposed to be Friday at 4pm, but he didnt sell enough tickets, so he changed prejudging to Saturday at 6 pm, but didnt tell anybody.He said he called all the athletes which was bullshit, because nobody but his star athletes said they got a call.So everybody but a few guys were off.I was so stressed and pissed my body just smoothed out.I timed everything so I would peak for Friday night, only to find out the show was changed last minute.I still managed to place 4th in Muscle Mania but I was definatly off.So was most of the guys in the show.The only thing that helped me was putting Preperation H and putting on sweats and posing in a sauna.