Issue #100

A Female Bodybuilder: Part 1 of a Series by: Lady X

In our modern era of bodybuilding, getting useful and intelligent information regarding anabolic steroids is often as difficult as finding a 1” 25 gauge needle in a haystack. And out of all the “real” articles and interviews we can find regarding steroids, how many of them are about or even mention women? I can count them on one hand and still have a few fingers left to scratch my rear end with.

With that being said, allow me introduce myself. I’ll call myself Lady X. Sorry I cannot use my real name at this time due to my continuing competition goals. It is unfortunate that we are not always able to speak openly about such taboo subjects in our modern, free, democratic society and not be chastised for it by Tom, Dick and Harry.

I started writing this article to simply discuss anabolics and how they affected me. As I began writing I realized that I have to include more than just the taking of drugs as a female bodybuilder. I have included my history of bodybuilding, touching on different subjects as to why I am who I am and how I got here. And maybe there is another woman (or man for that matter… we’re all in this together) out there who needs someone to relate to. So here I am. I hope this helps.

I am a national level female bodybuilder. At 5’1.5” tall (when you’re as short as I am every ½” counts!) I stand tall, thickly muscled and shredded on stage at around 150 lbs. I have quoted my boyfriend on that last sentence. For if I were to describe myself I’d probably say I am short and fat. That’s a body-builder’s mentality for you, always too fat, too small, too this or too that.

I have placed as high as 3rd in the Nationals and 6th in the USA’s as a heavyweight. In the off-season I only top out at around 10 lbs heavier than my competition weight. Although I am big and strong (I regularly squat 315 to 325 lbs for 10 to 12 reps on leg day) I maintain a level of femininity that a lot of female bodybuilders can lose, due to the excessive use of performance enhancing drugs.

So how does a woman maintain her womanly prowess, pack on major muscle, move more weight than most men, keep facial hair at bay, keep her clitoris from growing into what resembles a small penis and a slew of other issues that our male counterparts never have to think about? Read on brothers and sisters...

I started working out like millions of people do each year, to improve my physical appearance and connectively build self-esteem (funny how you would think that improving your appearance would build self-esteem when, in most cases, it actually causes a more critical self-appraisal. As I mentioned earlier, often times a bodybuilder may think he or she is never in as good as condition as they think they should be… but that’s a whole other story).

I started with running, dance, aerobics and jiujitsu. However intense these workouts may have been, they did not give me the harder more defined look I desired. I then started asking guys in the gym about how to get harder, tighter and shapelier when a friend told me about pumping iron.

So my adventure began. Training with weights all natural for just a short time resulted in some changes in my body. One night while walking past a mirror I caught a glimpse of someone I didn’t recognize. I looked closer and to my amazement my body was morphing without my even realizing it. I was becoming more muscular and more masculine in appearance. They were not huge changes but they were enough to cause alarm. My upper chest had gone from flat (I am talking about upper chest not breasts. I was endowed by nature with double D breasts. Steroids changed this, but I will get to that) to having protruding muscles. My shoulders were rounder and my arms were firmer.

Panic ensued. The reality of what I was doing to myself was setting in. Oh my God! I was becoming a man! Well, not really, but it is sure how I felt. I broke down in tears over my transformation. I was leaving the comfort of conformity of a “normal” female’s appearance and sailing into uncharted territory.

Not having any female friends in the same situation to talk to, I looked toward my, then, boyfriend. He was truly a loving man and was generally very supportive of me but he did not understand or appreciate what I was becoming. Frustrated I sought counsel from a male friend at the gym. He sat me down and reassured me that there was nothing wrong with what I was doing, and that I was only becoming more beautiful. However, he did say, at that point, that I had to accept who I was becoming and move forward or stop and revert back to who I was.

Turn back? No way honey child! If you only knew what I went through as a kid, you’d know that I don’t look back. God has blessed me with spirit and strength and I put it to good use. Nothing is ever easy in life… nothing. At times I wanted to quit and return to what is safe, but in the end, I’ve got to be who I’ve got to be.

OK all, I’ve got to end this for now. You see, I’ve got to get my fat ass (ahem… my boyfriend has just seen what I wrote and recommends something more like “get my hearty, firm, beautifully rounded, robust booty”) to the gym. Anyway I have to get ready for the Nationals in November. So talk to you later. And just wait until the next issues in Anabolic Extreme, when I get to the real interesting things like incredible shrinking double D’s, why my clitoris would tingle, and having multiple orgasms by just doing leg extensions while on the juice!

Ciao bambinos!