What was a typical cycle for Arnold and people in his era?

[Mad-scientist]

What do you guys think the cycles Arnold and people from his era use to run look like? I want to get a physique like the guys from Arnolds era because I like the look and think it's healthier. Basically I'm just trying to get a somewhat classic looking physique. I'm just curious what you guys think those cycles use to look like they would run. I realize they have world class genetics and that most likely I could never attain anything close to their physique  but it would still be cool to hear what you think those guys use to take and how much.

[herraisland]

What do you guys think the cycles Arnold and people from his era use to run look like? I want to get a physique like the guys from Arnolds era because I like the look and think it's healthier. Basically I'm just trying to get a somewhat classic looking physique. I'm just curious what you guys think those cycles use to look like they would run. I realize they have world class genetics and that most likely I could never attain anything close to their physique  but it would still be cool to hear what you think those guys use to take and how much.

Deca, dbol and primo i would think that would be popular in that era

[Mad-scientist]

Did they have access to testosterone back then? Also how the hell did arnold get so lean do you think he was using some sort of fat burner like t3 or maybe even some form of speed. Also I wonder how these guys felt they must have had low testosterone most the time if they had no PCT and no TRT.

[Bulgarian_enforcer]

Did they have access to testosterone back then? Also how the hell did arnold get so lean do you think he was using some sort of fat burner like t3 or maybe even some form of speed. Also I wonder how these guys felt they must have had low testosterone most the time if they had no PCT and no TRT.

IMO Arnold had access to whatever he wanted if it was invented at that time. He is ex nazi going captain america - promoting the american dream. he should have been funded very well.

[plebian]

Did they have access to testosterone back then? Also how the hell did arnold get so lean do you think he was using some sort of fat burner like t3 or maybe even some form of speed. Also I wonder how these guys felt they must have had low testosterone most the time if they had no PCT and no TRT.

testosterone was around of course, nobody used it because of the side effects. Apparently millennial bodybuilders just love acne, hair loss, bloat and gyno.

plenty of sources from people around and competing during that era have stated over and over that the main drugs of choice were deca and dbol. Anavar was also common. Very few people used testosterone. Dr Robert Kerr (allegedly also Arnold's doctor for a time or so the rumor goes) stated in his book as much, and he only ever prescribed testosterone to someone who was adamant about putting on scale weight as fast as possible, usually people like footballers.

how did he get so lean? the same way everyone did and does: reduce calories. It works, shocking i know. Works even better when you're running boatloads of deca. You'll notice over time that the gym rats that go and on about using DNP and clen and shit like that never actually get truly lean, just temporarily less chubby before they balloon back up again. DNP is fucking trash.

As for rumors about primobolan, I never understood this one. To the best of my knowledge, primobolan was, and is, primarily a drug that was marketed in europe, not the US. You dont see many people from that era talking about it, and Kerr only briefly mentions it under the miscellaneous drugs section of his book, reiterating what i just wrote about it here, that it was a drug primarily circulating european markets not US ones, and that he saw no reason for anyone to go out of their way to get it when deca did the exact same stuff much more cheaply.

so what we know of the golden era for sure:
deca
dbol
anavar

stuff that was around and used but probably not that popular:
anadrol
winny
methandriol
maxibolin

also contrary to popular belief, GH was around then, it was called Somatotropic hormone or "STH" back then. Harvested from rhesus monkeys or human cadavers as the synthetic version hadn't yet been developed. Expensive, and not widely available. Probably not in use until very late 70s, but thats just a guess on my part. Someone on the internet who allegedly spoke to Casey Viator relayed that Viator said they were using Crescormin (in the same post he also claims Mike Mentzer would use as much as 2.5 grams of deca every week) , sounds plausible, but i also take it with a grain of salt since anybody can fucking write anything on the internet, and they frequently do, forums attract bullshit artists like lights attract insects.

[dj181]

Deca and dbol

Winny and primo were also used

Mentzer supposedly ran 400 deca every 10 days and 25 mg of dbol per day

[PHINFAN]

testosterone was around of course, nobody used it because of the side effects. Apparently millennial bodybuilders just love acne, hair loss, bloat and gyno.

plenty of sources from people around and competing during that era have stated over and over that the main drugs of choice were deca and dbol. Anavar was also common. Very few people used testosterone. Dr Robert Kerr (allegedly also Arnold's doctor for a time or so the rumor goes) stated in his book as much, and he only ever prescribed testosterone to someone who was adamant about putting on scale weight as fast as possible, usually people like footballers.

how did he get so lean? the same way everyone did and does: reduce calories. It works, shocking i know. Works even better when you're running boatloads of deca. You'll notice over time that the gym rats that go and on about using DNP and clen and shit like that never actually get truly lean, just temporarily less chubby before they balloon back up again. DNP is fucking trash.

As for rumors about primobolan, I never understood this one. To the best of my knowledge, primobolan was, and is, primarily a drug that was marketed in europe, not the US. You dont see many people from that era talking about it, and Kerr only briefly mentions it under the miscellaneous drugs section of his book, reiterating what i just wrote about it here, that it was a drug primarily circulating european markets not US ones, and that he saw no reason for anyone to go out of their way to get it when deca did the exact same stuff much more cheaply.

so what we know of the golden era for sure:
deca
dbol
anavar

stuff that was around and used but probably not that popular:
anadrol
winny
methandriol
maxibolin

also contrary to popular belief, GH was around then, it was called Somatotropic hormone or "STH" back then. Harvested from rhesus monkeys or human cadavers as the synthetic version hadn't yet been developed. Expensive, and not widely available. Probably not in use until very late 70s, but thats just a guess on my part. Someone on the internet who allegedly spoke to Casey Viator relayed that Viator said they were using Crescormin (in the same post he also claims Mike Mentzer would use as much as 2.5 grams of deca every week) , sounds plausible, but i also take it with a grain of salt since anybody can fucking write anything on the internet, and they frequently do, forums attract bullshit artists like lights attract insects.

Excellent post

[Mayday]

Don't forget to mention with the diet was prescribed amphetamines which were legal at the time and simple to get.

Have seen 1,000cals/day get mentioned from credible people which makes sense when you consider the amphetamines.

[plebian]

Don't forget to mention with the diet was prescribed amphetamines which were legal at the time and simple to get.

Have seen 1,000cals/day get mentioned from credible people which makes sense when you consider the amphetamines.

mentzer certainly abused amphetamines. it may have been responsible for his now infamous spiral into obvious mental disease.

however i'm not sure i would make the connection with widespread amph use just based on low cal diets. I've done a VLCD before, and you actually dont get very hungry and get less hungry as time goes on. Counter intuitive I know, but thats what happens. I actually find the worst diets for hunger pangs is when you only reduce the calories by a modest amount.

[Mayday]

If you used amphetamines its logical you wouldn't be doing a mild calorie deficit but rather, a large deficit because they would crush the hunger. If you would be doing a mild deficit, you wouldn't need amphetamines.

On 750/day i managed 6 weeks with 1 cheat meal a week. It was ok at the start but hunger became crazy to live with during the last 2 weeks. Being active like i was makes hunger worse. You can sit and do nothing and have a much easier time.

[plebian]

If you used amphetamines its logical you wouldn't be doing a mild calorie deficit but rather, a large deficit because they would crush the hunger. If you would be doing a mild deficit, you wouldn't need amphetamines.

On 750/day i managed 6 weeks with 1 cheat meal a week. It was ok at the start but hunger became crazy to live with during the last 2 weeks. Being active like i was makes hunger worse. You can sit and do nothing and have a much easier time.

indeed. When i did a VLCD i was practically having to use sugar free energy drinks all day long because i was so lethargic after the initial 2 weeks, where i felt great.

[kevcat]

Well unlike a lot of pro's today, Arnold and co used to go running, swimming etc as well as watch their diet.
Its pathetic how bodybuilders these days think that walking on a treadmill is 'cardio'. 

[IroNat]

Deca, D-bol, Equipoise, Primobolin, Winstrol, Anavar were typical for that time.

Probably amphetamines for cutting/energy and hunger control.

[Redbull3906]

Test, deca, dbol, winny, primo, eq, anavar, sust, tren, closterbol, halo, cheque drops......you name it, it was available and it was real. aas had the same legal ramifications as antibiotics back then. All the major aas were in there infancy and profitable for the pharm industry. Now it’s all black market UG crap. You have no idea what you are getting anymore. Different discussion for a different day.

   Arnold was a juice head. Rumor has it someone would inject 30 cc per week or some shit into his back (primo) during contest prep. There was an injectable called esiclene (formebolobe) that Arnold would inject directly into his smaller muscle groups that would add the visual effect of shredded vascularity and size to match no other. It only lasted 12 hours. He used boatloads of gh derived from dead cows. He dodged to bullit of getting mad cow disease related syndrome which was awful and fatal. Early in his career synthetic gh became available. As far as getting shredded an old fashioned diet, and t3-t4 was used along with deadly diuretics that killed several bodybuilders while on stage or back stage during a show. Guys did more drugs back then probably than they do today during contest prep. There were probably close to 50 or more aas readily available from the pharmacy (and someone’s trunk straight from a pharmaceutical plant). They were the guini pigs of bodybuilding. I’m not sure about slin back then. I don’t think they figured it out during the 70’s and 80’s era.

  I do thank those iron brothers for sorting thru it all back then. It was mostly mapped out by the 90’s as to what worked and what it did, how it did it. AI was a needed breakthrough. Old school juice is still the bread and butter of today’s muscle industry. Anyone remember the original cybergenics kits? Lol. I wonder if it had any “secret ingedient’’ in it. 😆