I got an email the other day from a serious young man named Dustin (name changed for identity reasons). Now Dustin, like most young men in their teens and early twenties, was looking to gain an extra ten or twenty pounds of muscle to complete his build.
Dustin, like many men his age, felt he was too thin. He also told me that he had been training for 3-4 years with moderate results and that although he was relatively thin, his body weight had stagnated between 170-175 pounds at a height of 5.11. I have received hundreds, if not thousands, of letters from guys and girls around the world like Dustin who are desperate to gain more muscle.
Like so many others before him, Dustin told me how he had religiously followed an endless variety of training programs. Although he had experienced some gains when he first switched to a new training program, usually after the first 2-3 weeks on a new program, his gains stopped. The situation had gotten worse because at the time of his email he had been sitting at his current body weight for almost a year and he couldn’t seem to gain a pound of muscle no matter what he did.
Dustin also shared with me that he had been consuming 250-300 grams of protein per day and doing all of his sets to failure, including partials, forced reps, and even negatives. In fact, he felt that he had never trained harder in his life and his diet was the best he had ever had.
He tried all the supplements advertised in the magazines, including creatine, NO2, hormone precursors, testosterone boosters, and some products whose names neither he nor I could pronounce, much less spell. He also poured out his heart about how frustrated he was as he felt like he was doing everything right.
Dustin emailed me because he was considering taking a steroid cycle. He really didn’t want to start using drugs, but felt he had no choice but to give in to pressure from his friends and gym mates as well.
Now before we get into the solution to Dustin’s problem, let’s first look at the cold and hard facts that every student who goes to a gym today will eventually face. My goal here is to warn you: who, what, when, where, why, and how many trapped dudes like Dustin get up on The Get Big or Die Trying show, which is running rampant in almost every gym in the world.
This article promises to be a real eye-opener for some of you and is definitely a boundless look at what’s really going on at the Whacky World of Modern Day Muscle-Building Mania.
Also quote a line from the Matrix, “Fasten your seat belt Dorothy because Kansas is leaving bye”.
The Biggest Bodybuilding Lie Ever … “Just One Cycle”
Dustin’s story is a familiar one. It all started when some of the “big guys” at the gym told him that if he did a small cycle he would gain another 20 pounds in a month or two. These guys definitely had impressive physiques and they certainly seem to know a lot about training, diet, and growth.
The bottom line was that Dustin was almost ready to say “To hell with that”, he grabs a syringe and joins the members of the “Drug-Infused Testosterone Nation”, who can usually be seen parading through most of the gyms on the planet like a herd of oversized people. plate heads. To the innocent observer, these guys seemed fine and they all assured him that a little juice wouldn’t hurt anyone.
I really felt Dustin’s situation as I reflected on my own journey in the bodybuilding industry. I have been in Dustin’s situation myself, as have millions of young men and women around the world.
Unfortunately, business these days is booming thanks to “drug dealers” around the world who have used this cycle tone ever since drug dealing began. It’s no secret that this shade is compelling and bodybuilders have been falling along these lines since the invention of the barbell.
Let’s face it, the bodybuilding industry has taken a nosedive since Dorian Yates ushered in the “Chemical Warfare” era. While drug use was prevalent among top professionals and hobbyists in the 70s and 80s, the 90s ushered in the era where you just take as many chemicals as you can afford, lift as heavy as you can, and wait like hell no. get sick, broken or completely destroy your health.
Unfortunately, this insane quest for size comes at extreme costs as evidenced by the flood of professional and amateur bodybuilders who have died, permanently ruined their health, or ended up in prison. The reality is that few people consider the big picture when it comes to their training programs, diet, health, or the actual costs of “juicing,” even if it is for a “single cycle.”
The facts are that one cycle leads to another, and another, and another because medications cannot replace the science of real training, quality nutrition, drive, focus, time, and commitment it takes to build a physique. really amazing. Though drugs may seem like a quick fix to Dustin’s current weight gain challenges. Not there! In fact, the first cycle is usually the first step towards the underground steroid subculture. Let’s take a look at the players in this deadly game, but keep in mind that this could get tricky before I’m done talking!
