How many friends / acquaintances have you seen negatively affected by BB?

[Howard]

Ive known two guys.
One was actually pretty good in the NPC in his early 20's, then BOOM polumboism set in and had nothing to fall back on.never recovered.

another aquaintence was THE man in the local gym. Thought he was "going to make it" never did. Havent seen him in a while, but last I heard, he sat at home all day on various BB boards and talked about how bitchin he was  

I have known plenty of guys that had a negative life experience from being in hardcore bodybuilding.
Looking back I think most of them were dysfuctional people. I suspect that ANY activity that consumed thier time and stressed them would screw 'em up.
Bodybuilding is custom made for those who are looking for a life direction. You can easily become self absorbed with your body, meet those like you, take various drugs and even dress/act in a certain way. Shoot, you can even get a career as a pro going , if you work hard and do the right things.

[CalvinH]

0....booze and drugs on the other hand....

[oldtimer1]

This subculture of a sport is made for insecure young men.  I was there during the hey day of the late 70's and early 80's.  I have known many guys that have thrown away careers chasing the syringe life style.  I was in college with so many guys that never went anywhere because their priority was the next injection and scoring the next vial.  These guys had their "fame" for their juicing years. Many bought their junk from the trunk of their dealer in the gym parking lot. He sold everything from coke to any bodybuilding drug you wanted. The stuff added up to a lot of bucks. Many spent their whole check from bouncing and other non careers jobs on the stuff.

In the end due to health, finances, or arrest they were losers with nothing but pictures of their buff days. Most threw away trying to make anything of themselves financially because looking good was the priority. I know guys that even said bodybuilding without the drug assist is a waste of time. When I run into these guys now they look like they never lifted or worked out a day in their life. They are fond of pulling out pictures when they are physically right in front of me. The heart, kidney and prostate problems point to steroid use as one of the risk factors.

In the end this is what I've learned. Lift naturally for physique, fitness and health. Starting with your late teens and early 20's you should be putting all of your energy into making something of yourself so you can support a family in a decent life style. In the end that fantastic steroid body will be a faded picture of a memory. Lift naturally and you will be an athlete and not a cartoon of what an athlete looks like in a comic book.

[Thespritz0]

This subculture of a sport is made for insecure young men.  I was there during the hey day of the late 70's and early 80's.  I have known many guys that have thrown away careers chasing the syringe life style.  I was in college with so many guys that never went anywhere because their priority was the next injection and scoring the next vial.  These guys had their "fame" for their juicing years. Many bought their junk from the trunk of their dealer in the gym parking lot. He sold everything from coke to any bodybuilding drug you wanted. The stuff added up to a lot of bucks. Many spent their whole check from bouncing and other non careers jobs on the stuff.

In the end due to health, finances, or arrest they were losers with nothing but pictures of their buff days. Most threw away trying to make anything of themselves financially because looking good was the priority. I know guys that even said bodybuilding without the drug assist is a waste of time. When I run into these guys now they look like they never lifted or worked out a day in their life. They are fond of pulling out pictures when they are physically right in front of me. The heart, kidney and prostate problems point to steroid use as one of the risk factors.

In the end this is what I've learned. Lift naturally for physique, fitness and health. Starting with your late teens and early 20's you should be putting all of your energy into making something of yourself so you can support a family in a decent life style. In the end that fantastic steroid body will be a faded picture of a memory. Lift naturally and you will be an athlete and not a cartoon of what an athlete looks like in a comic book.

^^
Possibly the best posting I've seen on GB, ever!

[Man of Steel]

The majority of guys have a few obsession years in the gym...."I'll never stop training like this - this will never end!!"  Several years down the road it's all over when the bliss of the early 20s ends and real life comes into play. 

The majority I've seen briefly train naturally in the beginning and shortly thereafter lust for "insta-muscles" and start using.  Again, the realities of life hit later on, they run out of cash to maintain their addiction and never train again cause "what's the point of training without gear?"  Seen it time and time again.

 

[Frank Clairmonte]

they started stealing my equipona

[BILL ANVIL]

The vast majority of them, simply because they're brains are too small to grasp reality. They are also too stubborn and stupid to admit they are wasting their time. Denial.

[Hulkotron]

This thread is probably going to be x-ed by tonight but I'm curious to know...

Me indirectly, at least 20 people planned on "making a career out of it" and  lost it all; be financial (supplement "store", "turning" "pro") or legal (busted for stupidity) or worse health, for, well the obvious reasons.

Discuss this non lucrative madness.

Did any of them have to resort to doing unspeakable things for money?

[Howard]

This subculture of a sport is made for insecure young men.  I was there during the hey day of the late 70's and early 80's.  I have known many guys that have thrown away careers chasing the syringe life style.  I was in college with so many guys that never went anywhere because their priority was the next injection and scoring the next vial.  These guys had their "fame" for their juicing years. Many bought their junk from the trunk of their dealer in the gym parking lot. He sold everything from coke to any bodybuilding drug you wanted. The stuff added up to a lot of bucks. Many spent their whole check from bouncing and other non careers jobs on the stuff.

In the end due to health, finances, or arrest they were losers with nothing but pictures of their buff days. Most threw away trying to make anything of themselves financially because looking good was the priority. I know guys that even said bodybuilding without the drug assist is a waste of time. When I run into these guys now they look like they never lifted or worked out a day in their life. They are fond of pulling out pictures when they are physically right in front of me. The heart, kidney and prostate problems point to steroid use as one of the risk factors.

In the end this is what I've learned. Lift naturally for physique, fitness and health. Starting with your late teens and early 20's you should be putting all of your energy into making something of yourself so you can support a family in a decent life style. In the end that fantastic steroid body will be a faded picture of a memory. Lift naturally and you will be an athlete and not a cartoon of what an athlete looks like in a comic book.

Great post and I will openly admit, I did a lot of that stuff for a few years in my 20's after the marine corps and before I went back to school.
Yup, from 1983-1986, I was a diehard musclehead. I bought my roids from the local gym dealer and even got some decca and syringes from the trunk of his car parked behind the gym LOL. I even worked as a bouncer and didn't even have a checking account or credit card, etc.
I had a lot of fun during those days but packed it in for a return to school and a real career. Here I am , 25 yrs later, glad I got out after a few laughs and no regrets.

[Howard]

The majority of guys have a few obsession years in the gym...."I'll never stop training like this - this will never end!!"  Several years down the road it's all over when the bliss of the early 20s ends and real life comes into play. 

The majority I've seen briefly train naturally in the beginning and shortly thereafter lust for "insta-muscles" and start using.  Again, the realities of life hit later on, they run out of cash to maintain their addiction and never train again cause "what's the point of training without gear?"  Seen it time and time again.

 

Once I gave  up on the delusion of a pro BB career and steroids, I realy started to enjoy training a lot more.
Now 25 yrs later and age 53 I am still training and enjoying the gym and even my fellow knuckleheads at getbig

[Natural Man]

The majority of guys have a few obsession years in the gym...."I'll never stop training like this - this will never end!!"  Several years down the road it's all over when the bliss of the early 20s ends and real life comes into play.  


  

= when natural testosterone production in the body gets lower...

Once I gave  up on the delusion of a pro BB career and steroids, I realy started to enjoy training a lot more.
Now 25 yrs later and age 53 I am still training and enjoying the gym and even my fellow knuckleheads at getbig

and you re still doing drugs..oh excuse me, HRT, for "medical" reasons 

Gee i wonder how men were able to be functionnal men once they hit their 40s without drugs in the past...

[oldtimer1]

Great post and I will openly admit, I did a lot of that stuff for a few years in my 20's after the marine corps and before I went back to school.
Yup, from 1983-1986, I was a diehard musclehead. I bought my roids from the local gym dealer and even got some decca and syringes from the trunk of his car parked behind the gym LOL. I even worked as a bouncer and didn't even have a checking account or credit card, etc.
I had a lot of fun during those days but packed it in for a return to school and a real career. Here I am , 25 yrs later, glad I got out after a few laughs and no regrets.

Glad you made it out. Very few did. It seemed bodybuilding was at the biggest height of popularity back then in the late 70's and early 80's. It was an exciting time to be a bodybuilder. Now it seems dead. Even contests held in high schools would sell out. Now you can't even find a contest on TV.

Remember back then how rare it was to see a girl in the gym? Now the gyms have more women than men.

[da_vinci]

Gee i wonder how men were able to be functionnal men once they hit their 40s without drugs in the past...

Gee...I wonder how many males lived past 40yo like 150 years ago..................... ........................ ..............D'OH!

[da_vinci]

I don't know any, even tho' I now many bodybuilders, some've been at it for 20+years.. Maybe because most of them did this to a certain level, not trying to become a pro (international titles were enough for some).. I actually know a few very good examples. Guys, who've been on gear for a few decades str8, they are 45+ currently, all look terrific, way younger than most fellas of their age, healthy and going strong (main characteristic that all of them share is - no narcotics, no alcohol, no smoking or other harmful recreational acitivity). They may not reach 70, but hell, when I know what kind of life they lived (a very fun and full of great experiences..) - it's certainly worth to "pay the price".
 On the other hand - if someone is doing bodybuilding for a title, they are doing it for wrong reasons.. they won't last long, they'll loose the track most of the time. Bodybuilding should be about longevity, about vitality, a state of mind of a constant improvement, a strive for a "perfection", kind of a philosophy.. and it really boils down to a basic evolutionary stuff afterall.. to keep one as fit and as competitive physically for as long as possible. Bodybuilding is a transcedent acitivity, when humans transcend their biological limits and go "beyond", it's quite fascinating actually.
 To chase titles or pro cards may be a very futile activity tho'.. But still - for each his own.. Not like all bussinessman succeed, not like all family mans are successfull with their families, not like all politicians are good at what they do, etc, etc.. Afterall - there are far worse activities that people indulge in, compared to bodybuilding..
 The funny thing is - these fellas I know, who stayed in bb'ing and kept doing what they were doing.. when they meet their peers from the days of youth, it doesn't matter how successfull these are in other fields of life.. when they meet them - they act like they "don't recognize", as they all look like shit and are waaay more downhill physically than these who kept lifting and............. injecting, ironically.

[oldtimer1]

I don't know any, even tho' I now many bodybuilders, some've been at it for 20+years.. Maybe because most of them did this to a certain level, not trying to become a pro (international titles were enough for some).. I actually know a few very good examples. Guys, who've been on gear for a few decades str8, they are 45+ currently, all look terrific, way younger than most fellas of their age, healthy and going strong (main characteristic that all of them share is - no narcotics, no alcohol, no smoking or other harmful recreational acitivity). They may not reach 70, but hell, when I know what kind of life they lived (a very fun and full of great experiences..) - it's certainly worth to "pay the price".
 On the other hand - if someone is doing bodybuilding for a title, they are doing it for wrong reasons.. they won't last long, they'll loose the track most of the time. Bodybuilding should be about longevity, about vitality, a state of mind of a constant improvement, a strive for a "perfection", kind of a philosophy.. and it really boils down to a basic evolutionary stuff afterall.. to keep one as fit and as competitive physically for as long as possible. Bodybuilding is a transcedent acitivity, when humans transcend their biological limits and go "beyond", it's quite fascinating actually.
 To chase titles or pro cards may be a very futile activity tho'.. But still - for each his own.. Not like all bussinessman succeed, not like all family mans are successfull with their families, not like all politicians are good at what they do, etc, etc.. Afterall - there are far worse activities that people indulge in, compared to bodybuilding..
 The funny thing is - these fellas I know, who stayed in bb'ing and kept doing what they were doing.. when they meet their peers from the days of youth, it doesn't matter how successfull these are in other fields of life.. when they meet them - they act like they "don't recognize", as they all look like shit and are waaay more downhill physically than these who kept lifting and............. injecting, ironically.

You remind me of the guy that says, "I have been smoking since I was 15 and now I'm 50 healthy as a horse." Do some seem to escape the risk somewhat? I would say yes.  It's a serious risk to health just like steroids can be. I have known guys that have cycled on and off for decades. They sure like crap off cycle. They also seem to need higher dosages as they go on too. Health and being in shape is more than cosmetics. If you have  great muscles but your heart muscle is weaker than a chubby soccer mom you're not in shape.  One other point about steroids. Is it me or does it seem to age the face? How many steroid guys have the face of an man 10 to 20 years older than what they are? A measure of a man is more than the size of their bicep.

[sync pulse]

You remind me of the guy that says, "I have been smoking since I was 15 and now I'm 50 healthy as a horse." Do some seem to escape the risk somewhat? I would say yes.  It's a serious risk to health just like steroids can be. I have known guys that have cycled on and off for decades. They sure like crap off cycle. They also seem to need higher dosages as they go on too. Health and being in shape is more than cosmetics. If you have  great muscles but your heart muscle is weaker than a chubby soccer mom you're not in shape.  One other point about steroids. Is it me or does it seem to age the face? How many steroid guys have the face of an man 10 to 20 years older than what they are? A measure of a man is more than the size of their bicep.

The key is access to knowledgable sports doctors who optimize your doses and cycles without "making the glass overflow" and give you nothing but side effects...The criminalizing of medically supervised sport cycles have made it impossible for doctors to help weight trainees without endangering their licenses...and the battle cry has become "up the dose" rather than "optimum dose while controling sides."

[Marty Champions]

=

Gee i wonder how men were able to be functionnal men once they hit their 40s without drugs in the past...

they maybe tried crazy falconi diets like vegetarianism

[Big Chiro Flex]

A guy in Toledo sold his car to buy GH for the Nationals.

Brutal...were they Kigs?

[da_vinci]

You remind me of the guy that says, "I have been smoking since I was 15 and now I'm 50 healthy as a horse." Do some seem to escape the risk somewhat? I would say yes.  It's a serious risk to health just like steroids can be. I have known guys that have cycled on and off for decades. They sure like crap off cycle. They also seem to need higher dosages as they go on too. Health and being in shape is more than cosmetics. If you have  great muscles but your heart muscle is weaker than a chubby soccer mom you're not in shape.  One other point about steroids. Is it me or does it seem to age the face? How many steroid guys have the face of an man 10 to 20 years older than what they are? A measure of a man is more than the size of their bicep.

I know what you mean, but I emphasized that these guys lived a VERY clean life, aside from steroids. And believe it or not - the doses never went to a crazy level (even now, and they still are jacked and turn heads). God response? Maybe.. One of them recently tried gh for the first time in their bb'ing career (at 45), damn - a difference it made is incredible.. Fella is looking his best once again (the "best" of his "only aas" state). Face wise - very good too (I think harsh androgens in high doses may do that.. But it has a lot to do with ones genetics too.. Look at D.Henry.. he is a freak, obviously on boatloads of tren, etc.. and has a baby skin.. So..). Genetics play a big role in it, obviously. Some (like these guys I know) get sides very rarely or none at all (they haven't had acne, gyno, even limp dick was an issue on a very rare occasions, from what I know..) while other just look at a vial and get various kind of sides. I wish I could show pics, but I respect other peoples privacy..

[canyon]

Far better is it to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure...then to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat...Teddy Roosevelt

Reminds me of most of the twinks on here who bash competitive BB.

[wild willie]

Far better is it to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure...then to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat...Teddy Roosevelt

Reminds me of most of the twinks on here who bash competitive BB.

Excellent post!!!!

[quadzilla456]

This subculture of a sport is made for insecure young men.  I was there during the hey day of the late 70's and early 80's.  I have known many guys that have thrown away careers chasing the syringe life style.  I was in college with so many guys that never went anywhere because their priority was the next injection and scoring the next vial.  These guys had their "fame" for their juicing years. Many bought their junk from the trunk of their dealer in the gym parking lot. He sold everything from coke to any bodybuilding drug you wanted. The stuff added up to a lot of bucks. Many spent their whole check from bouncing and other non careers jobs on the stuff.

In the end due to health, finances, or arrest they were losers with nothing but pictures of their buff days. Most threw away trying to make anything of themselves financially because looking good was the priority. I know guys that even said bodybuilding without the drug assist is a waste of time. When I run into these guys now they look like they never lifted or worked out a day in their life. They are fond of pulling out pictures when they are physically right in front of me. The heart, kidney and prostate problems point to steroid use as one of the risk factors.

In the end this is what I've learned. Lift naturally for physique, fitness and health. Starting with your late teens and early 20's you should be putting all of your energy into making something of yourself so you can support a family in a decent life style. In the end that fantastic steroid body will be a faded picture of a memory. Lift naturally and you will be an athlete and not a cartoon of what an athlete looks like in a comic book.

Good post. Young BB's get caught up in the improvements they make and think just one more cycle and I will really reach my potential. But only the top 1% make it.

[oldtimer1]

Far better is it to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure...then to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat...Teddy Roosevelt

Reminds me of most of the twinks on here who bash competitive BB.

I don't think Teddy Roosevelt was talking about bodybuilding. It's all in the definition of triumphs. Is having a good career, family, decent house and a good physique a triumph? In order to achieve these things you are going through trials of both defeat and victory. Is it a triumph to have a temporary amazing drug physique that will disappear quickly without drugs?

[DroppingPlates]

In many cases bodybuilding attracts unstable minds, but don't blame bodybuilding for this, blame their parents instead.

[Rome]

A friend had some drugs delivered to his sister's job. Cops were watching this guy and SHE was arrested because the delivery was in her name. The charges were dropped but she lost a good paying job and it tore the family apart. His sister didn't speak to him for YEARS. The family was completely out of the loop (they were immigrants) and had no idea he was juicing.

Had another friend(well, acquaintance) that was predisposed to heart disease and had it exacerbated by high amounts of ephedrine and diuretics. He left the "lifestyle"  and is fine now.

 A co worker \friend who almost qualified for the nationals nearly blacked out completely right at his desk. No one but me knew he was taking insulin and GH. I got him some grape juice and he came around before too many people knew about it. We just told the boss he was light headed and needed to go home. Got a few more anecdotes but that may give away my secret identity!