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I had an interesting conversation with a fellow competitor this morning concerning drug use in the natural and drug-free shows, especially drug use among Master’s and Figure competitors who aren’t asked to strip down at prejudging. He asked what my thoughts were on it. I shared them with him and then said I’d written a blog about it several months ago after the Spokane show in which I found out that several of my fellow Master’s competitors were on doctor-prescribed doses of steroids and GH. I decided to re-blog that blog what with the Washington Ironman Naturally being this Saturday. So sit back, grab a bowl of chicken breast and veggies, and enjoy…

Get Outta My World! 4-26-2011

Lil’ Weedhoppahs, I’m warning you right now – this blog is a vent blog! There are some things happening in the sport that I’m calling people out on, and I realize that this might be controversial.  But I’m here to tell you, these are my thoughts, my opinions, and my beliefs.  You can save the comments and replies on this one…this has kinda been stewing for a while and over the past three shows, some things have come to light which necessitated this blog.

So what am I talking about?  Anabolic steroids and other growth-enhancing drugs in the natural and drug-free shows, such as the Vancouver Natural and Washington Ironman.  Specifically, drugs in the Master’s classes under the guise of ‘Doctor-prescribed medically safe’ doses.  I personally know of 3 competitors now who have competed in the Master’s classes at natural/drug-free shows while on LT (low testosterone) doses and low doses of GH (Growth Hormone).  There may be more – I don’t know.  So why is this such a big deal you ask?  I mean, all these guys are doing is returning their test and GH levels to that of when they were 30-40 years old.  They’re not taking the 10—100 X’s the doses the big boys are taking.  They’re not gettin’ ‘hella-huge’!  On a sidebar, let me say that I don’t care who does what as far as the non-tested shows are concerned.  Heck, I compete in those shows all the time and you’ve never heard me utter a negative word.  I’m in their world – I play by their rules.  But when you’re in my world, you’ve gotta play by my rules.  My rules say no growth-enhancing, size-producing, androgenic, anabolic substances OF ANY KIND are allowed, medically prescribed or otherwise.  Some of you will agree.  Some of you won’t.  Either way, I’m gonna spit.

Returning levels to when you were in your mid-30’s is huge, people!  You might think there’s no advantage but I’ve seen it first-hand.  Guys that normally are sittin’ at 155-165 are now at 165-175.  They’re telling me how strong they are once again and how they’re building muscle and have increased energy, recovery, stamina…all the signs of a younger person.  Who are these guys?  That’s not important.  I’m not here to bust anyone out.  I know of one 50+ person who was benching 185-205 last year for a few reps.  He’s now benching 275 for reps.  His leg and knee pain is all but gone which means he’s able to squat again, push harder, recover faster, and rebuild muscle previously lost due to the aging process.   One of my fellow Masters competitors came to my house and I literally stopped in my tracks as I let him in.  The bodyweight he was at now was a hard, muscular, and vascular look, whereas last year he was soft, smooth, and barely had veins showing at the same weight.  His neck was bigger, arms were bigger, legs were bigger…heck, he was just bigger!   Another competitor who took me out disclosed that he’d gone on LT doctor-prescribed doses last September/October.  He was noticeably bigger, harder, and more vascular and told me he’d gained about 10 lbs of muscle since going on doctor-prescribed doses of Testosterone and GH.  He competed in the Vancouver Natural.  Seriously??? I can’t compete with that.

Am I whining?  No.  I’m simply saying that if someone goes on something that now provides an unfair advantage then the playing field is no longer equal.  One guy said, “Hey, I’m training hard, eating clean…I’ve figured things out and now things are just working for me.”  My response was, “So you’re saying that I don’t train hard or eat clean?  I don’t know what I’m doing and you’ve suddenly figured everything out?  How come I haven’t gained 10 lbs of muscle in the past 6 months?  What are you doing differently in your nutrition and training that’s suddenly allowed your body to pack on lean mass that I don’t know about?  How are you and others able to grow when I can’t and I’ve written more articles on training, nutrition, and cardio than you can shake a stick at?  What’s the one variable that’s different between us?”  He couldn’t quite answer that (or didn’t want to).  To another competitor I simply said, “You know YOU didn’t take me out, but rather the DRUGS in you took me out.”

Is that anger?  A pissy statement by a guy who’s upset he got beat in a natural show?  No.  It’s a truthful statement by a bodybuilder who takes pride in doing everything he can to be at his drug-free best to compete against his drug-free peers in a drug-free show.  Mano-a-mano!  Let the best man win!  As I said earlier, when I compete in the non-tested shows, I could care less about who does what, when, and why.  But c’mon doctor-prescribed guys…how can you honestly say that the ONLY reason you’re taking the drugs is because you want to improve the quality of life, feel better, hurt less, wake up more alert, have a better sex life, yada, yada, yada…yea…right!  You KNOW you’re gonna see an increase in size, strength, muscularity, hardness, density, thickness, and leanness.  You KNOW you’re gonna present a better package onstage.  How is that fair?  How can you say the playing field is equal and level?  It isn’t.

For the record I checked into HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) for men several years ago.  All of my levels are low – testosterone, GH, IGF-1...everything!  I could have gone on HRT back in 2006-2007.  But I called Brad Craig, the Regional NPC Chairperson, and spoke with him about it.  He said that going on HRT would disqualify me from competing in the Ironman and other natural shows.  After the Empire Classic this past weekend I again asked him the same question about HRT.  His response was still the same – taking anything other than OTC (Over-The-Counter) which doesn’t give you that drug effect (if it did, everyone would be growing like weeds, right? They’re not!)  whether it be black market or doctor-prescribed will disqualify me from natural shows.  He said that he’s gotten several calls from Master’s competitors asking the same question.  Yet it appears there are a few individuals who either don’t want to know the real truth, which means they probably suspect that the drugs, although legal, would disqualify them from certain shows, or believe that since they’re not on the black-market doses and their levels are still in the normal range everything is good.  As one Master’s guy told me, “I didn’t think it was illegal since I’m taking natural testosterone from my doctor.”  For those that don’t know, the only testosterone naturally produced is that which is already in your body.  Anything you put in, whether it is by a pill, injection, patch, cream, rectally, or any other method, is synthetic.

I’ve had people approach me over the years and suggest that I just get a doctor’s prescription and keep competing. Since my levels would still be in the normal testosterone/epi-testosterone range for a man, their rationalization was that I’d still be considered ‘clean’ and could compete in natural shows.  Even I started to believe that maybe it’d be okay prior to checking with Brad.  But deep down inside I really did know better.  I really did know that I now would have an unfair advantage over my true drug-free competitors.  I would feel like I was living a lie every time I stepped onstage.  I didn’t want that feeling.  I don’t want it now either.  I guess what it comes down to is a moral and ethical decision on the part of the competitor.  You’re legal in what you’re taking but morally and ethically you’re on drugs, which make you ineligible for natural shows.  How will you live with that?

Will I ever go on HRT? Probably.  It’s becoming more and more common among men.  The latest news I heard was that by 2015 most insurances will be paying for it just like they do for women’s birth control pills and estrogen replacement.  If and when I go on, will I attempt to compete in drug-free shows? Absolutely not!  Drug-free means drug-free…how much clearer can I make it to you.  I will NOT be a hypocrite and yell ‘foul’ now and preach for it later! If and when I go on, either my competitive days will be over or I’ll simply do non-tested shows.

Now here’s another scenario though.  We were driving over to Spokane and I was telling Guy Overby about this topic and me blogging on it and he asked, “Well, what about other substances, such as insulin, which Janet Guenther is taking?”  I didn’t really have a comeback just then and couldn’t quite defend her use of it and the fact that she competes in the natural shows.  But that night the answer hit me.  On the way home I asked, “Hey, remember the question you asked on Janet?  Got an answer now.”  “What,” he returned?  “Janet has to take insulin to keep her alive.  The only time that pump is NOT on her is for the minute or so she’s onstage and I personally know that she takes it off literally 30 seconds prior to walking out and puts it back on immediately upon exiting. I’ve never seen her without it at practice or anywhere else.  She sleeps with it on.”

Janet needs her insulin pump to keep her alive.  She just happens to have gotten into bodybuilding to where it benefitted her.  I’ve been at shows and we’ve been practicing and I’ve seen her levels drop into the 40’s to where if she doesn’t get some sugar in her system she’s a goner.   Guys going on HRT don’t need the drugs to stay alive.  If I go on it’ll truly be for anti-aging reasons – not for competitive benefits.

My thought is, new testing procedures need to be implemented at drug-free shows.  How?  Easy…all class winners, and maybe even the top 2-3 placers, are subject to being tested.  Master’s Men in all age groups need to be subject to testing. Figure women, and maybe even Bikini need to be subject to testing. It needs to be made perfectly clear that drug use in ANY class is not allowed and that ALL classes are subject to testing. Master’s Men don’t strip down to have their look assessed at check-in to determine if they have a ‘harder and bigger than normal’ look. Figure and Bikini simply use a height measurement and don’t strip down either. The people being tested right now are random based upon who the check-in people see and call out.  If the physique isn’t seen, how can a call be made on whether they need to be tested? It can’t. These people have slid through the system. Having everyone strip down will help.

Even better is to potentially test class winners. They will still be random as no one knows who will win each class.  You win your class (randomness…) you are subject to being tested!  If a competitor is on and knows that he now might be tested and run the risk of being caught (and what drug user wants to be caught sneaking into a natural show – how lame is that?), he’s far less likely to enter.   That’s my thought on policing and cleaning up the natural shows. If you have a better suggestion, please present it.

I like my reputation as being a drug-free bodybuilder.  I like what I’ve accomplished as a drug-free bodybuilder.  I will continue to compete as a drug-free bodybuilder until this body cannot perform up to my standards and expectations.  I just ask that all other bodybuilders who compete in drug-free shows have the same mindset.  Peace…

Don't pee on my head and tell me it’s raining!

The Dr.

David "Dr. Buff" Patterson, MPE, CSCS, CSTS

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"Tell me you will...tell me you won't...don't tell me you can't!"

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