February 16, 2001
Issue # 34

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE ANABOLIC
by Bryan K. Taunton

President: STA-FIT, Inc
Scientifically, Technologically Advanced Fitness

A question that has or will come to most every lifters mind at some point in time is whether or not to use anabolic steroids.  We’ve all seen the results of using such products.  Most everyone reading this article at some point in time has watched as someone in the gym increases his/her totals by two, three, or perhaps even four hundred or more pounds in a year.  Perhaps that someone was even you.  Perhaps it is something you are considering.  In this article let’s take a look at what you will be facing as you decide to do or not to do androgenic/anabolic steroids (AAS) and its possible effects/ramifications on your life.  

The Good:  Oh the angelic good in sport, those who are the purest.  Indeed society has come to label those who are the sport’s purest to be good and those who make use of various drugs and sometimes various OTC supplements as evil.  Thus the choice becomes a moral dilemma.   Purests (the good) would say any chemical which gives an individual an advantage or increase poundage’s would be evil.  “Drug Free” competitions continue to pop up everywhere.  Meets are promoted as being “Drug Free” in an attempt to drive away the evil plague of anabolic steroids.  Does it work?  I suppose to some degree.  If you as an individual knowing you are not drug free go into a meet competing against others who are drug free and win then yes, you should be labeled evil.  The main problem is the vast majority of meets, while promoting their Drug Freeness, rarely perform random testing.  Many AAS users know this and compete anyway.  This is most likely the reason overall totals continue to rise dramatically in “Drug Free” organizations that don’t perform routine testing.  It’s expensive to test for these chemicals, anabolic steroid users know this and some don’t mind cheating to win.  Yes, I did say cheating.  If you go into a meet that is promoting itself as Drug Free and you use AAS, whether any others there are using such products are competing or not, you are cheating.  So the first question you must ask yourself should you decide to use AAS is, “Will I be honorable about it?”  Does the importance of winning a trophy, beating the total of a “Drug Free” athlete, or setting a new record become so important in your life that you will risk being caught and ruining your reputation?

Sport purests are devoutly opposed to the use of anabolic substances.  Some are motivated by the fact that they have remained drug free and do not want to compete against or see their records broken by someone using anabolic steroids.  Others are motivated from past experience with AAS and don’t view their experience as a healthy one.  Both groups view you Joe Blow the steroid user as evil, a problem, and sore spot for fair play in sport.  Should you decide to use AAS, how will you deal with the finger pointing, allegations, and back room chatter that will most surely come your way?  What will you say when asked a direct question about your use of these drugs?  Are you prepared to lie?  Perhaps the simplest thing might be to simply remain or join in with the politically correct good.  I personally have no qualms pointing my finger at a man that is competing in a “Drug Free” competition and labeling him a cheater and a liar.  Is it possible to be “Good” and use AAS?  If in answering that you say yes and you mean to be inherently good then you must choose to enter only non-drug tested events, never lie, and obtain your AAS in a legal manner.  Remember this may make you feel morally good, but as far as society in general is concerned you are evil.  Therefore you might choose to be careful in whom you confide.

One more thing, you will have a hard time competing and being “Good” period, due to the fact that every lifting organization has some form of bi-law regulating against the use of anabolic steroids.  I put part of the blame on lifting organizations for this.  If you write the use of AAS out of a given organization then there must be frequent random testing.  How do you go about this?  That would be another article, perhaps, written some other time by someone else, as it stands I don’t have the solution.  The point is, as long as there is no random testing then men/women will continue to lie and get away with it thereby punishing the purest athlete.  One way is to create an organization that does not force its members to lie but simply doesn’t apply the use of AAS to its bi-laws.  As it stands, if an anabolic lifter chooses to compete, he must lie when filling out his membership application.  Perhaps a “Don’t ask, don’t tell”, policy should be instated instead.  So to be inherently good, you must never compete or choose to tell at least one lie when filling out your membership application.

The Bad:  If being a part of the “Good” is not important to you then can you deal with the morality of AS use?  Society, would say that if you use AAS then you are morally corrupt or even criminal because not only do you seek an unfair advantage but, you are a dope fiend.  You actually stick needles in your body!  Can you talk to your children with a clear conscious about their prospective drug use, while all the time your swapping cash for Ziploc baggies of anabolic steroids in a dark corner of the gym parking lot?  Can you sit in Church on Sunday morning and listen to your pastor speak without conviction?  If your spouse is not understanding, will you lead a secret life, hide your stash, secretly injecting yourself, and all the while looking your spouse in the eye betraying their trust?   Will you lie to your friends or training partner, or is it your intentions to confide in them all the while drawing them closer into temptation of the same?  Are you prepared to deal with possible prosecution by state and federal laws governing the use of such black market AAS?  Are you prepared to be booted from your lifting organization should you be tested and caught?  What will criminal prosecution or expulsion from a lifting organization do to your professional career?   Are you aware of the inherent and possible health risk involved in self-medicating oneself with such powerful chemicals?  Are you willing to risk side effects, possible permanent damage, or even death?  Have you consulted a physician, performed research, and educated yourself in the use of AAS or are you simply following the advice of your buddy the dealer?  Are the AAS you have real or are you injecting vegetable oil, risking an abscess, which, if serious, can or may require surgery removing tissue and even muscle?  If you were to have a problem, how would you go about explaining it to those around you who trusted you as a son/daughter, father/mother, spouse, or friend?  How will you justify your actions?  Are you prepared to risk losing your hard earned money when your source doesn’t come through or the product is not legit?  How will you deal with the emotional stress of coming off each consecutive anabolic cycle?

Pretty disheartening when you look at it in those terms, isn’t it?  Should you decide to use AAS these are just a few of the questions you must face.  Whether you like it or not, you will be labeled.  You will be considered a liar and a cheater by most individuals and subject yourself to much scrutiny.  Due to the bad publicity anabolic steroid users have a problem finding a place in society.  This is due mainly because those who have used AAS have used them out of place.  Year after year athletes are penalized or punished by the IOC for the use of AAS, as well they should be.  The Olympics are a drug free sport, while admitting I believe they carry some things too far, they do have plainly written rules to follow.  Should an athlete choose to compete in such an organization then he/she must also choose to obey the rules or suffer the consequences.  These are some of the reasons anabolic steroid users are seen as liars, cheaters, and most often frowned upon.  These are the questions that you the prospective steroid user must consider.  Is the inherent risk worth it?

The Anabolic:  Ah yes, the user.  What now?  Once the decision to use AAS has been made, what is next?  Will you seek out an organization that doesn’t persecute users?  Will you get your product legally or illegally?  Should you decide, after much consideration and study, that you want to take your body to new heights and push past your genetic potential then at least seek out a legal source so as to avoid criminal prosecution.  Please, adopt a stronger moral code, which says I will not compete against non-users.  If you choose to compete than at least be man enough to go head to head against an opponent who is on the same playing field.  No one is disputing that by using AAS you will become a better, stronger, and more capable athlete.  Be aware of the possible ramifications of the sudden increase in strength to your body.  Understand that, ONCE YOU CROSS THE LINE INTO ANABOLIC TRAINING, LIFTING WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN!  Sure, I’ve known some who’ve used AAS early in their career and then chose not to use them any longer, but even they will tell you that the temptation to use them again can be almost irresistible at times.

Addiction to anabolic steroids should be a realistic concern.  It’s not a physical addiction but a psychological addiction, differing from that to narcotics or similar drugs.  The addiction would lie mainly in mankind’s competitive spirit.  Once an individual knows and feels the effects and possibilities, the drive to improve upon ones best effort may become too great to overcome temptation.  Most users who use AAS once in their life will never stop at one cycle and will most likely continue to build with future cycles, wondering just how far they can push their bodies.  Mankind’s competitive nature, drive to win, and to be the best is a powerful motivator.

Does the use of AAS make you a bad person? Societal values and moral codes not withstanding, of course not.  I’ve met many who have shared their use of AAS in great detail with me.  I’ve watched them grow as individuals professionally, competitively, spiritually, and mentally.  AAS in and of themselves do not make the user bad/ evil wrong doers, as long as rules are not broken.  Should you decide to go Anabolic, take the time to educate yourself before doing so.

A personal note: My personal thoughts on the matter of anabolic steroids do not apply in this article.  For the sake of fair play, I should hope that you would make certain considerations should you decide to or are currently using performance enhancing drugs.  It’s not my place or any others to sit in judgment of your decisions, as long as rules are obeyed, no one should have the right to judge you on your own moral choices on this earth.  In conclusion let me say, this article was not written to encourage, approve of, condemn, or classify as evil the use of anabolic steroids or the user.  It was written to bring to the forefront the challenges one must face in coming to a decision to use them and remind you of the possible sacrifices you must pay.  Does the use of such products and the small victories (meaning local meets and recognition) for the most part, that most users will experience out weigh the dangers or risk involved?  That is a question left for you the reader to decide.  In the end it is your decision and yours alone.  You alone have to look at yourself in the mirror.  You alone know your innermost thoughts.  Can you tolerate the possible risk, persecution, ridicule, and remarks?  You decide. 

  BACK TO CURRENT ISSUE