Steroids in Sports and Baseball

The story of steroid use in sports began just before the World Weightlifting Championships of 1954. The Soviets had made their Olympic debut in Helsinki in 1952, and made quite an impact, but nothing compared to the show they put on in 1954. That year, the Soviets easily dominated most of the weight classes. As the story goes, John Ziegler (team physician for the United States) questioned the soviet team's doctor after the medals were given out, and the soviet doctor said that his team had been receiving testosterone injections. That, in all probability, was the first time anyone had ever used anabolic steroids to enhance performance in an athletic event. According to some unconfirmed sources, testosterone preparations were used by Germany's Olympic team in 1936 for the Berlin Olympics. At that time, there were rumours that an Olympic medal winner had previously used oral Testosterone preparations, but the benefit to be had from them (due to the technology at the time regarding oral testosterone) would have been minor. In the case of the Soviets, however, rumours of discarded syringes in their dressing rooms made it clear that they were not using oral steroids, they were using something different. And everyone wanted to know what it was.

That wasn't, however, the first time anabolic performance enhancement had been attempted. As far back as the original Olympic Games in ancient Greece, athletes ingested various herbs and foods with the hopes of improving their performance. The big winner in the 480 B.C. Olympic Games said he ate nothing but meat for 10 months prior to the Games. Now we know that meat is especially high in B vitamins and Creatine, both of which can enhance performance. Early attempts to increase Testosterone were documented as early as 776 BC and again, by Olympic athletes´ ingested sheep's testicles, which they knew to be a source of Testosterone production (3). Although it might seem extreme to us now, to eat meat for ten straight months (or to ingest sheep testicles), this was a small price to pay for the prize money that was offered back then& up to 1,200 days pay for winning an event was common. There were no participation medals; they did not compete for the love of the game, to give it their best shot, or even for pride. They competed for money and prestige, end of story (1). And that is why they sought out performance enhancers.

If that story sounds familiar, like perhaps one you've heard on TV or in magazines concerning modern-day steroid use in sports, it should. Athletes´ today- especially professional athletes- have very lucrative contracts and sponsorship deals, and steroids are known to enhance performance, reduce and repair injuries, and lengthen careers. So it should be no surprise to most people that when Dr.Ziegler returned from the World Weightlifting Championships, he immediately began researching testosterone and trying to develop something better for his Athletes.

What Dr. Ziegler developed, with the help of the Ciba pharmaceutical company was called "Methandrostenolone" or Dianabol. This was the creation of the first anabolic steroid that wasn't simply testosterone. That was late in 1956. By the time the early 1960s rolled around, Ziegler's weightlifters were dominating American weightlifting. And since then, many different steroids, each with their own different set of characteristics, have been developed.

By the late 1960´s the East Germans had also entered the fray and were giving steroids to their athletes as part of a state sponsored program to bolster national pride by winning Olympic Gold Medals. In 1968, Dr. Manfred Hoeppner, East Germany's Chief Medical Officer, wrote and submitted a report to the government in which he recommended the total collective administration of steroids to the entire East German athletes (2). In the couple of decades that followed after this report, the East Germans´ presence was felt at every major world wide sporting event. From the Olympics to World Championships, they took home both medals as well as world records.

Of course, there have been other documented instances of athletes taking various drugs and other substances in an attempt to enhance their performance. Thomas Hicks, an American marathoner in the 1904 Olympics, had to be revived after he drank Brandy lased with cocaine and strychnine. He won the gold medal, although I believe the Brandy/Cocaine/Strychnine cocktail never really took off in popularity among his fellow athletes. His fellow runners, the sprinters attempted to use nitroglycerine a couple of decades later, to dilate (expand) their coronary arteries; they later switched to experimenting with Benzidrine, an amphetamine.

Many of such compounds had been used, but none are as powerful or provided such rapid increases in strength and powerful as anabolic steroids. For this reason, after its invention by Dr.Ziegler, Dianabol was quickly made available to anyone looking for an extra edge. It helped many bodybuilders, weightlifters, football players, and Olympic athletes train harder, longer, and more efficiently. As all steroids can do, it enhanced protein synthesis and allowed new muscle to be built at a rate that was much more rapid than would otherwise be possible. And that increased muscle power and strength translated into financial rewards for the athletes who were taking them.

If you were an athlete looking to take your career farther, Dianabol was going to be an indespensible part of your dietary intake. At this point, the "steroid arms-race" was in full swing. Athletes all over the world wanted to know where to get them and how to use them, and countries were scrambling to develop new steroids and protocols for using them. Then, oddly, in 1968 there was an official complaint about steroids made by the World Health Organization. This complaint wasn´t made by sports authorities, but by the World Health Organization. Steroids were being over produced by the major pharmaceutical firms, and were subsequently shipped to certain third world countries, where doctors would receive a kickback for prescribing large amounts of them. Kenya and Jamaica were the main countries where this was happening, and they (predictably) did very well for themselves at the Olympics that year.

At this time in the United States, professional sports were gaining prominence and athletes began to be able to support themselves by just playing their sport. Notably, at this time, there were no documented reports of athletes using steroids in sports other than Olympic competition. Nonetheless, at this time, a ban on Anabolic steroids was issued by the International Olympic Council, and in the coming decades, most professional sports organizations would follow suit. The original ban on anabolic steroids was enacted for ethical and moral concerns, not safety (as is often thought). Shortly after the first ban on performance enhancers came the first athlete caught breaking that ban. In the 1972, an American swimmer named Rick De Mont was found to be using a newly banned substance- ephedrine. At that time, ephedrine was an approved medication for asthma, and you guessed it- Mr. De Mont was an asthmatic with a prescription for it. Two years prior to that first the 1972 Olympics, Arnold Schwarzenegger won his first of seven Mr. Olympia titles, reportedly with the aid of Dr. Ziegler's little blue Dianabol pills.

Steroid use in the Olympics went on, for the next couple of decades, in a game of Cat and Mouse between the athletes and the International Olympic Committee. For the most part, the athletes were very successful in avoiding positive drug tests. The East Germans developed several novel compounds to avoid detection, and were only caught when word leaked somehow. For the most part, the Russians and Americans were also very successful at this. Professional bodybuilding also marched onwards with competitors taking ever-increasing amounts of steroids and other drugs, without fear of testing positive.

By the 1990´s, Anabolic Steroids had been absorbed into society, and their use had penetrated every possible sport from the professional ranks down to the High-School level. There were the occasional scandals here and there, but nothing really captured the general public's attention for very long. In 1987 the National Football League introduced it's anti-steroid policy, and Major League Baseball was left as the most major sports organization in the world which still had no such policy.

Steroids in High School Sports

Steroids in high-school have become an increasingly hot topic in both the media as well as at various levels of the government. This particular topic, of course is going to be at the forefront of many high-school athletes as well as their parents, coaches, and teachers. At this juncture, I think it's important that I be crystal clear about my position on steroid use by high-school students/athletes and minors under the age of 18 in general. I do not endorse nor condone the use of any illegal substance by minors. However, I also feel it to be absurd to carry on allowing the campaign of misinformation on anabolic steroid use to be allowed to continue. I've personally been out of high-school for exactly a decade, and before I began writing about performance-enhancement full time, I worked with at-risk youths in a high-school. I believe this gives me a unique perspective to provide information from, as well as a certain degree of sensitivity to the current climate regarding this issue.

The first thing that I'm going to tell you is that "scare tactics" don't work. Telling a high-school kid that steroids will kill you is silly; especially when he can turn on the television and look at ESPN and see Bill Romanowski setting NFL records, or Barry Bonds and Jason Giambi breaking home-run records. Scare-tactics and misinformation have failed miserably to stem the tide of anabolic steroid use by high-school students. My position therefore is that education and truth are the best ways to deal with the issue of steroids in high school sports.

First, let´s see where misinformation has gotten us, with regards to stopping high school students from taking steroids. Steroid "education" in schools started becoming widespread in the mid 1980. A quick look at the literature from this time shows that the position taken by the educational community was that steroids do not enhance athletic performance, and they carry with them the great probability of permanent health damage. I´m not really sure where to begin my comments on those particular positions, and still keep this article G-rated.

So let's review the facts.

In 1988, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association examined Anabolic Steroid use patterns among the male adolescents. In this particular study, overall participation rate on a school-wide basis was 68.7% and on an individual basis was approximately half (just over 50%). The participants in this survey were 12th-grade male students in 46 high schools across the nation who completed a questionnaire which asked them several questions concerning their current or previous use of Anabolic Steroids. The results indicated that 6.6% of 12th grade male students use or have used AS and that over two thirds of the users were 16 years of age or younger when they did their first cycle (5).

The results of a 1990 survey of 2113 high school students show that Ninety-four (4.4%) of 2113 students admitted using anabolic steroids. When that is categorized further by gender, we find that 67 (6.5%) of 1028 males and 27 (2.5%) of 1085 females were users of steroids. Predictably, athletes had a statistically significant greater use of steroids (79 [5.5%] of 1436 subjects) than did non-athletes (15 [2.4%] of 636 subjects) (6). Still, the survey shows a total of roughly 4% of the surveyed high school population had used steroids.

Now, let's fast forward a couple of years to examine a survey by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. According to that survey, steroid use among high school students more than doubled between 1991 and 2003. Slightly over 6% of 15,000 students surveyed admitted trying steroid pills or injections. Huh? Wait and in 1988, 6% of the students in the survey had done steroids. Yet, in 2003 the number was still the same, though it had "doubled since 1991" according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. At this time, it should be noted that fewer than 4% of the nation's high schools were testing for steroids, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations´ survey of athletic directors.

Are you confused yet? It seems that the rates of steroid use is holding relatively steady at between 4 and 6%, yet we're being told that it's an epidemic. So what's the real story about steroids in high school?

In 2005, if we look at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance, 6.1% of students from grades 9 through 12 had taken anabolic steroids (7). Once again, we're seeing about 6% or so of high school students are using anabolic steroids. Sorry, but that's still basically the same rate as the previous two decades. Is this a "mounting problem" as many in the media would have us believe? Hardly. In fact, it's holding steady.

So where is the media getting their information? Well, probably not from scientific journals or reliable sources for statistics. In fact, anecdotal evidence is frequently used in news reports, and that type of evidence typically greatly over estimates the widespread usage of anabolic steroids among athletes and often claims reach as high as 20-90%. On the other hand, scientific studies show a trend towards indicating that usage is actually rare and generally no higher than 6% (8). And, to look further into the hard scientific research instead of the soft anecdotal evidence, there is strong indications that suggest that anabolic steroid usage actually declines progressively from high school to college and beyond(8).

Should high school students be using anabolic steroids? No, definitely not. Is this the problem the media would have us believe it is? Again: no, definitely not. In fact, some estimates for 2004 even suggest that only 3.4% of 12th graders have used steroids (9). Let's put that number in perspective, shall we? According to that same source, 76.8% of 12th graders have drank alcohol in their, and the rates of use for most other drugs by high school students (Marijuana, Cocaine, Ecstasy, etc...) are significantly higher than they are for steroid use. I don't know if that eases the minds of most parents, but I think it ought to give some kind of perspective on exactly where the "steroid epidemic" ranks in importance.

Still for most parents, most memorable moment in the Congressional hearings on steroids was the testimony when the committee's chairman, Rep. Tom Davis (R., Va.) claimed that there were in attendance "the parents of kids who have used steroids and committed suicide." Later, The New York Times published a story on a student who killed himself, Efrain Marrero, whose family said that his stopping anabolic steroid use provides a viable explanation for his suicide. The New York Times calls this "persuasive anecdotal evidence." Dr. Jack Darkes, who is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology as well as the Director of Interventions, Alcohol and Substance Use Research Institute at the University of South Florida disagrees with the notion that steroids can be blamed for such instances, and instead cautions us to try to ascribe the tragic ending of a young life to just one factor. I would like to echo his sentiments and say that to attempt to overstate the issue of steroids in high school to only one factor, or overstate it's importance is equally dangerous. Education at the high school level needs to be based in science and reason, and not simply be reactionary and emotional displays set into motion by the current media frenzy of attention to the issue. The first step is to educate the parents, coaches, and teachers with solid medically based and unbiased information, then to present it to adolescents through the high school education system they are enrolled in. Put simply, you wouldn't let your children learn table manners from television, so why let them learn about steroids and other drugs from there?

Recent research strongly indicates that a prominent media outlet (a major magazine or television show, for example) can build an agenda for the entire media and thereby influence policy changes as far reaching as the national level of government (10). So if the general feeling we get from the media is that steroids are a rising problem and that steroid abuse is becoming more common in high schools  yet the hard scientific date suggests otherwise and who are we to trust? I think the answer is clear & personally, I would put my faith in science and scientific studies before the media. Unfortunately, it would appear that the former is not strongly influencing government policy, while the latter is (10). And that all started with steroids in baseball.

Steroids in Baseball

(Sports Illustrated, June 2002, as told by Ken Caminiti)

Major league baseball was the last major sports organization in the United States to implement a comprehensive drug testing policy. This all started with a bottle of a nutritional supplement seen in Mark McGwire´s locker. The bottle contained Androstendione, a prohormone, or a compound which can convert into another one inside the body. In this particular case, the compound in question converts to Testosterone once in the body. Unfortunately, at this time, McGwire was en route to breaking a home-run record that had been standing for decades. MGwire retired shortly after breaking that record, but the story of steroids in baseball and the Major League Baseball (ML organization went ahead at full speed. Just a few short years later, Ken Caminiti revealed to Sports Illustrated that he used anabolic steroids, and that he estimated roughly fifty percent of the players in the league were using them also. This admission opened the floodgates to the media to begin their full scale assault on MLB. Jose Canseco, in a book published during the height of the steroids in baseball media coverage, estimated that 85% of all players in MLB used steroids, and also admitted using them. Remember the difference between what has been found in scientific studies vs. anecdotal statistics? This is a prime example of one such difference. The players can't even agree on a percentage, and they're in the locker-rooms!

Although Caminiti´s story was the earliest major media admission of steroid use by a recently retired former MVP in baseball's professional ranks, it was one of the most influential. The following is a chart illustrating media attention to steroids in baseball for the weeks preceding and following the Sports Illustrated piece on Caminiti. Week fourteen is when the piece was published. You can see that prior to that, only ten pieces were published in the mainstream media. In the same time (weeks-wise), you can see that hundreds of articles were put out after Caminiti admission:

The most famous story in the steroids in sports is that of Jason Giambi and Barry Bonds. Both of those players were suspected of using anabolic steroids when the BALCO scandal was exposed. Giambi, for his part, told a U.S. grand jury that he used a duo of undetectable steroids known respectively as "the cream" and "the clear," both of which he received from personal trainer Greg Anderson during the 2003 season. Bonds, on the other hand claimed that his trainer told him the substances were the nutritional supplement flaxseed oil and a pain-relieving balm for his arthritis.

There were also claims that a transcript of Bonds´ entire testimony was leaked to the press, and that according to a transcript of Bonds´ Dec. 4, 2003, testimony, he admitted the following were used by him: "the cream," "the clear," human growth hormone, Depo-Testosterone, insulin and a drug for female infertility that can be used to mask steroid use."

Bonds´ attorney, Michael Rains, said the leak of the testimony was simply engineered to discredit Mr. Bonds. However, it's important to remember that at the time they were not banned by MLB.

So did all this media attention hurt baseball? The answer is a resounding "no". Baseball sales figures and attendance were in a slump before McGwire was en route to his home-run record, and they've been climbing ever since. But are all the additional home runs a result of steroid use? Well, it's easy to say we need to put asterisks on every record set during the "steroid era" of baseball, but that would give too much credit to steroids alone. Of course training methods and nutrition are part of the puzzle, but the other piece is probably not as obvious. In the mid-´90s starting in the American League and in the late ´90s starting in the National League, home runs began to become more and more common.

Although steroids are often blamed, the construction of more "homer-friendly" ballparks also has something to do with it, no doubt. Coors Field, a recent addition to the MLB stable of fields has become the most prolific run-scoring park in the history of MLB. Enron Field was also built (reincarnated into the more media friendly "Minute Maid Park", actually has a home-run friendly left field line that was (and still may be) a clear violation of major league rules. The Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and Texas Rangers have all also built very homerun-friendly fields in recent years, as have the Arizona Diamondbacks. For their part, the Cardinals, Orioles, and White Sox have pulled in the distance from home-plate to their outfield fence. Need I also add that the strike zone has become much more beneficial to hitters since the era of Ted Williams? Still, the questions remain, about steroids in major league baseball. Do major league baseball players use steroids? Of course they do. Can we say that steroids are the reason for the inflated home-run statistics of recent years? Of course not.

With Multi-Million dollar contracts on the line every season, the only fact that we can be sure of is that steroids are being used in baseball, and they will continue to be used for as long as players can get away with it. Congress recently chimed in and pressured MLB into instituting a comprehensive testing policy for their athletes, but steroid use in baseball is unlikely to decline considerably as a result of it.

Steroids in Football

Steroid policy in football and the NFL as we know it began in 1987. But to understand the use of steroids in football, first we need to take a look at the emerging trends in the high school and collegiate ranks. So what's going on in high school? Well, if we look at an examination of the heights and weights of members of the annual Parade Magazine's High School All-American Football Teams from 1963-1971, we see no significant changes in the Body Mass Index of these elite high-school athletes. Now, if we take another look and examine those same players´ heights and weights but this time we compare 1972-1989, we see a clear trend towards an increased pattern in Body Mass Index (11). These are interesting results, to say the least. If we take a look at an elite collegiate program such as Michigan State University, we see this trend again. In 1975, their average player weighed 213lbs, and by 2005 that weight had jumped to 236lbs (12).

With regards to football, it would seem that current educational efforts are not working well, either. At the high school level education about steroids was studied on six different. Two football teams received a lecture on steroids and a four-page handout, two of them were given just the handout, and two teams were controls (and didn't receive any education on steroids). Also, at this level of football, the incidence of self-report of current steroid use was 1.1%. After the education was given to the athletes, focusing of the adverse effects possible with anabolic steroid use, no differences in their attitudes toward the use of anabolic steroids occurred as compared to controls, at all (13). So that's the starting point we have to look at anabolic use in professional football. Education, in its current form isn´t changing the attitudes of high-school players, and at the elite level of high-school and college, the players are getting significantly bigger. So what does the landscape of professional football look like? In a story that is very similar to its roots in high school and collegiate football, NFL linemen are weighing well over 300lbs on average today. Roughly 25 years ago, they weighed over fifty pounds less, on average (13).

The most famous story of steroid use in the NFL is that of Lyle Alzado. Seven years after having a successful career in the NFL, in 1992, Alzado died from brain lymphoma, a very rare form of brain cancer. He was 43 that year, but in the years preceding it, Alzado became an often used symbol of the dangers of steroid abuse. There is absolutely no medical link between steroids and brain lymphoma, and there is absolutely no reason for Alzado to believe his condition was related to steroid use.

The story of Bill Romanowski is probably the next most influential one concerning steroids in football. Although Bill Romanowski wasn´t indicted in the BALCO scandal, he later wrote a book, in which he admits that Victor Conte introduced him to several performance enhancing compounds, notably anabolic steroids (15).

Although he was a very good linebacker before he used steroids, people often attribute his tackling ability to them. He is probably most famous for his non-playing related antics, however. He spit in J.J. Stokes´ face, broke somebody's finger at the bottom of a pile up, kicked a downed player in the head several times in one incident, broke a quarterback's jaw with an illegal helmet to helmet hit, fought former boxer Charles Haley in training camp, often speared wide receivers illegally, broke another players´ ocular cavity, and was always involved in various shoving matches and on field altercations. Unfortunately, this has been attributed, post-facto, to his use of anabolic steroids.

Of course, football players use steroids, and of course this occurs at the high-school, collegiate, and professional levels. It´s a fact of the game that a very skilled but small player will usually get beaten by a very skilled but considerably larger player.

And once again, as long as there is prestige and money to be earned from playing football, there will be steroids in it.

Steroids in the Olympics

Anabolic steroid use in athletics, in all probability, began with the 1952 Olympics, as noted earlier in this article. Although not chronologically correct, I'm going to also finish this piece with the most famous case of sports doping in the world. Of course, I'm talking about the man who was considered the fastest man in the world: Ben Johnson. After breaking the world sprinting record in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games, he tested positive for Winstrol (Stanozolol). For anyone who has never heard his coach tell the story, Charlie Francis has provided ample evidence for the test being somewhat unreliable (3). Briefly states, the accepted drug clearance time for Winstrol at that time was +/- three days for the oral form and +/- 14 days for the injectable. Ben had used the compound 28 days prior to the race, and the parent compound was still found. This is especially odd, since the parent compound only lasts for 45 minutes after administration. The testers, therefore, must be making the claim that Ben ingested it just prior to the actual race. Both he and his coach, Mr. Francis, denied this. In fact, it was later discovered that someone as lean as Johnson may have even been clear in less than 3 days! Some oral steroids at that time (Anavar, or Oxandrolone) couldn't even be found on tests at that time.

So the test remains very suspect, although Ben Johnson was suspended and stripped of his Olympic Gold medal. He probably suffered the worst fate of all the people who have been caught using steroids either at the Olympics or otherwise.

So where does that leave us? Well certainly, the world of sports has embraced the use of steroids, or at least the athletes have... the use of steroids in sports is certainly visible but not as widespread as thought. It is not the problem that it is often made out to be, and it is not a problem that is easily defined or to put a number on. Statistically, it is a very elusive topic, and sources often present conflicting data. But one thing remains true, regardless of statistics, Congressional hearings, or admissions of guilt. Although some athletes still compete for the love of the game, prestige often accompanies success. And today, just as two millennia ago, athletes often find the opportunity to compete for both prestige as well as money. And that is why they sought out performance enhancers in the ancient Olympic Games, and that's why athletes are using steroids in sports today.

By Anthony Roberts

References:

1. Wm. Blake Tyrrell, "The Smell of Sweat: Greek Athletics, Olympics, and Culture," Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers, Wauconda. 2004.
2. "Hormonal Doping and Androgenization of Athletes: " Franke et. al
3. "A Brief History of Drugs in Sport" by Charlie Francis
4. "Speed Trap" by Charlie Francis
5. JAMA 1988 Dec 16;260(23):3441-5.
6. Am J Dis Child. 1990 Jan;144(1):99-103.
7. J Sch Nurs. 2005 Dec;21(6):333-9.
8. J Strength Cond Res. 2004 Nov;18(4):908-17.
9. Monitoring the Future [MTF], n.d
10. Journalism. 5(1). 51-68, 2004.
11. Percept Mot Skills. 1993 Apr;76(2):379-83.
12. (Michigan State University Dept. of Athletics)
13. J Adolesc Health Care. 1990 May;11(3):210-4.
14. (National Football League Statistics)
15. "Romo My Life on the Edge: Living Dreams and Slaying Dragons."by Bill Romanowski et al. William Morrow Publishing co. 2005.

George Stallone,
Nutrition expert, competitive bodybuilder and author of many widely acclaimed bodybuilding and steroid e-books.
http://www.hellaspharmacy.info

They've read about 27 ways to diet, 34 ways to do cardio, 101 ways to lift weights and 79 supplements to take. But they still don't have a clue how to start. 

You stuff your brain with so much information it feels like it's going to explode, but then you never do anything about it. You're like a deer stuck in headlights. Sound familiar?

I call this the "paralysis by analysis" syndrome.

The most important thing you can do is take action. Just begin the journey and figure it out as you go. Better still; get a coach or trainer right from the start. 

Actually, losing fat is not that complicated. You don't need a PhD in exercise physiology to figure out that any exercise is better than no exercise. You don't have to be a genius in nutritional biochemistry to figure out that an apple is better than a pop tart. Getting lean is simple: Exercise. Eat healthier foods. Eat smaller portions. Isn't this stuff just common sense? Didn't your mother tell you this?

So what's stopping you? What makes you freeze up?

If you're like most people, FEAR is stopping you. You're so afraid of doing something wrong, you choose to do nothing rather than make a mistake or look foolish. 

What you must understand is that people who accomplish much and people who accomplish little BOTH have fears. The difference between the two is that the latter feels the fear and lets it immobilize them. The former feels the fear and does it anyway. 

Begin the process. You can always fine-tune your program as you go. Naturally, it's better to aim and then fire, but its better to fire and then adjust your aim later than not to fire at all. You can't win a battle by hiding in the trenches.

2. WALKING IS A GREAT WAY TO START A CARDIO PROGRAM
Ok, so you've decided to forge ahead in spite of your fear and start working out. Congratulations. Now what? How do you choose between Stairmaster, Tae Bo, Lifecycle, Yoga, Kickboxing, Elliptical machine, jogging, swimming, etc.? 

Any exercise is better than no exercise so stop over-analyzing: just pick something and start. Just do it. 

If you can't make up your mind, then here's the simplest, easiest, most guaranteed way for any beginner to successfully start a fat loss program: 

Walk!

Here's why:

It requires no equipment
It requires no knowledge of exercise technique
It can be done by almost everyone, regardless of experience
It can be done almost anywhere 
It's safe

For all these reasons, walking is the perfect way to begin. However, the better your condition becomes, the more you'll need to advance to higher levels of exercise intensity to reach higher levels of fitness. 

I'm not saying you should abandon walking, but if you decide to keep walking, a casual stroll will no longer do. For an experienced exerciser, I would consider walking a method of locomotion more than a serious workout. 

There's a big difference between walking for health vs walking for fat loss. Even a 10 or 15-minute casual walk has health benefits. But if you want to turn walking into an effective, fat-melting workout, you'll need to push yourself for 30 minutes or more several days per week. Walking briskly uphill (or on an inclined treadmill) is an excellent fat-burning workout for anyone.

3. DON'T GET CAUGHT UP IN MINUTIA - FOCUS ON FUNDAMENTALS
Read any book about success and it will tell you "pay attention to detail." Sounds like good advice - unless you haven't mastered the fundamentals yet. In that case, it's the worst advice you could follow.

Every day people send me questions like these:

"Should I use a fast acting protein powder like whey or would casein be better? What if I mix both and also add a little bit of Soy? If I use all of them, what ratio of the three would be ideal and when should I take them?"

"I want to do the ephedrine-caffeine stack and it says to take 20 mg of ephedrine with 200 milligrams of caffeine. The ephedrine comes in 25 milligram tablets, so should I chip a little bit off the tablet to get the right ratio?"

Do you see the problem here?

These are legitimate questions, but they're completely moot if you're eating doughnuts and sitting on the couch all day long. Fix your diet and get your butt moving first, then worry about the little things.

Emerson said, "The height of the pinnacle is determined by the breadth of the base." The heights you reach will depend entirely on how broad a foundation you build. Great coaches such as Vince Lombardi and John Wooden credited most of their success to drilling their players on fundamentals.

Forget about ALL the minutia until you have the fundamentals down cold!

Forget about supplement dosages 
Forget about macronutrient cycling
Forget about tempo manipulation
Forget about glycemic indexes
Forget about the latest Bulgarian or Russian periodization program

Master the fundamentals first!

The fundamentals of fat loss include: (1) Do your cardio, (2) Lift weights, (3) Burn more calories than you consume (4) Eat 5-6 small, frequent meals and never skip meals, (5) Keep your fat intake low, but include small amounts of good fats, (6) Eat natural foods; avoid processed & refined foods, (7) eat more complex carbs, fruits & vegetables, (8) eat lean proteins with each meal, (9) Think positive: visualize yourself as you would like to be.

If you're not doing all these things, and you're looking for the perfect supplement stack or the optimum periodization plan, I'm afraid you're barking up the wrong tree.

I don't want you to think that details don't matter - they do. The "Law of Accumulation" states that every success is a matter of hundreds or even thousands of tiny efforts that often go unnoticed or unappreciated. Everything counts. Everything either helps or hurts. Nothing is neutral. 

The problem is when you get bogged down in minutia before you've even learned the basics. Minor details produce minor results. Major fundamentals produce major results. 

Don't major in minor things. Lay your foundation first, then move on to the finer points. And remember, as Jim Rohn says, always be suspicious of someone who says they've found a new fundamental.

4. KNOW YOUR CALORIES
The most important dietary factor in fat loss is not how many grams of carbohydrate, protein or fat you eat, the most important factor for fat loss is calories. Eat more than you burn each day and you will store fat. Eat less than you burn each day and you will lose fat.It's just that simple. 

Where the calories come from is important too, but unless you understand the calorie concept, nothing else matters.

I'm appalled at how many people claim to sincerely want to lose body fat who admit they haven't a clue how many calories they eat.

Get serious! If you don't have the faintest idea how much you're eating, how can you expect to make any progress? 

Did it ever occur to you that your ONLY problem might be overeating! 

Do you realize that too much of anything gets stored as fat? 

That's right - even if you're eating nothing but "natural and healthy" foods, if you eat too many of them, you're still going to get fat.

Portion control, my friend, portion control!

On the other hand, maybe you're under-eating and slowing down your metabolism. There's a fine line. 

For all the details on your daily calorie needs, refer to my article Calorie Calculators.

5. NEVER, EVER QUIT! MAKE FITNESS A LIFESTYLE!
Do you know what is the biggest mistake made by beginners? 

They quit! What's especially sad is that most people quit right when they're on the verge of making substantial progress.

Remember: You're never a failure as long as you're working on the progressive realization of a worthy goal. But the second you quit, then it's official - you're a failure.

Quitting should not even be an option because...

FITNESS IS A LIFESTYLE!
Don't let these four words slip by you just because it's an oft-repeated clich?. This is an important mindset! You have to stop thinking of getting in shape for a New Year's resolution, vacation or wedding (or a contest, you bodybuilders). You must start thinking about getting healthy and in shape FOR LIFE. 

When you're just starting out, firmly resolve that quitting is not even an option. Don't approach this endeavor with an "I'll try" attitude. If you accept quitting as a possibility, you might as well not even start; just grab that remote control, a bag of chips and get back on the couch where you were before. 

Also, understand that results may come slowly in the beginning if you're not the genetically-gifted type. This process requires great patience and persistence for most people. 

Most beginners never allow themselves the time it takes to get any momentum going. They expect too much too soon, get discouraged and quit.

It takes a big push to get started. It's like getting a rocket off the ground - it uses most of its fuel just launching off the pad, but once it's in the air and the inertia has been overcome, it can keep going with very little energy expenditure. Don't quit just because it's difficult to "launch!"

6. GET A PERSONAL TRAINER, COACH, OR MENTOR
Life is too just too short to learn everything there is to know on your own. Don't waste time climbing the ladder only to find it's leaning against the wrong wall! Learn from the experts. Get a trainer, personal coach, or mentor to help you start right - right from the start.

7. JOIN A GYM IF YOU CAN, BUT A SET OF DUMBBELLS ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH TO GET YOU STARTED
I admit I'm showing my bias by saying everyone should join a gym (I'm in the health club business), but I sincerely believe nothing beats working out in a high quality health club. In a well-equipped gym, the possibilities are endless, the atmosphere is motivational and people are there to help you. 

More often than not, however, beginners start at home. That being the case, I admit that you don't need a gym to get started. You also don't need any of that garbage advertised on late night TV. The only piece of equipment you need has existed for over 100 years - that's right, the humble DUMBBELL!

Remember - don't overcomplicate this - think basics, basics, basics (and dumbbells are as basic as it gets.)

Dumbbells are the single most versatile piece of equipment in existence. You can perform hundreds, even thousands of exercises with dumbbells. 

Ladies, a set of 3 to 20 pounds will be more than sufficient. Guys, a set from 10 to 40 pounds should do the trick (for now). I've also heard wonderful things about Powerblock dumbbells for space-saving, although I don't have first hand experience to cite.

If you also get yourself a bench and clear out a little corner in your favorite room, then you're ready to roll!

Here it is - The beginner's all-dumbbell routine:

1. Dumbbell bench press (chest)
2. Dumbbell side lateral raise (shoulders)
3. One arm dumbbell row (upper back)
4. Dumbbell extension behind head (triceps)
5. Dumbbell Bicep curl (biceps)
6. Dumbbell Lunges (thighs)
7. Dumbbell One leg calf raise (calves)
8. Dumbbell leg curl (hamstrings)
9. Crunches (abs)

There you have it. Simple and effective. At home or in a gym.

If you're just starting, do this routine for 2-3 sets of 8-12 reps per exercise, except calves and abs which you can go up to 20 reps. Rest 1 minute between sets. You'll train your whole body in each workout, 2 -3 three days per week, non-consecutive days. 

After 3 - 6 months, you'll probably need to add exercises and move up to a split routine. (So I guess I have to do another article, called 8 tips for intermediates: How to keep going).

8. WEIGHT TRAINING IS NOT OPTIONAL - IT'S MANDATORY!
It's is a common misconception that you should start with aerobic workouts and lose the fat first before adding weight training.

Unfortunately, the best you can hope for from diet and aerobics alone is to become a "skinny fat person." You may lose weight, but you'll have a poor muscle to fat ratio and a "soft" appearance.

Obviously, weight training is the key to developing strength and muscle. What few people realize is that weight training also increases fat loss, although it occurs indirectly. 

Weight training is anaerobic and burns carbohydrates (sugar).Cardio is aerobic and therefore burns fat. So it seems logical to focus on aerobic training for fat loss. 

However, something interesting happens "beneath the surface" when you lift weights. Weight training increases your lean body mass - aerobic training does not. 

Low calorie dieting and aerobic training without weight lifting can make you lose lean body mass. If you lose lean body mass, your metabolism slows down, and this makes it harder to lose fat. 

If you increase your lean body mass, you increase your metabolic rate and this makes it easier to lose fat. With a faster metabolism, you'll burn more fat all day long - even while you're sleeping!

If you have limited time, and your main priority is fat loss, then do a very brief weight training program and spend the majority of your time concentrating on cardio. But never neglect the weights completely - always do both, and if possible, devote equal attention to each. 

George Stallone,
Nutrition expert, competitive bodybuilder and author of many widely acclaimed bodybuilding and steroid ebooks.
http://www.hellaspharmacy.info

1. Eat at least five times a day, every two to three hours.  You must keep your system saturated with amino acids and glycogen from protein and carb sources, respectively, if you want to push muscle growth to abnormal levels. You  never know when your body will need these precious nutrients. What's more, not eating every few hours can cause the starvation mechanism to kick  in,  which  signals your body to begin consuming  its own muscle tissue.

2. Center your bodybuilding program around the big compound movements, such as squats and presses. You should strive  for maximum efficiency of effort, or to work as many muscle groups as possible with as few sets as possible. Squats, for example, train not only your quads but also your lower back and glutes, so direct work for the muscles that assist during the squat should be minimal. This leaves more of your recovery ability to help in the growth process when you're out of the gym.

3. Don't  do more than 30 all-out work sets at  any workout, and  less is usually better. Overtraining is the number one reason most bodybuilders can't pack on muscle weight.

4. Don't train more than two days in a row. Your  muscles aren't  the only things that have to recover after a heavy workout; your entire nervous system needs a rest too.

5. Have a protein drink immediately after every traning session. Research  indicates that  boosting insulin levels right after an intense workout promotes muscle protein synthesis, which leads to faster growth.

6. Take  a  break after four to six weeks of  high  intensity training.  Either  take  a full week off  or  downshift  your intensity  for two weeks. This lets you recuperate fully  and  in many cases promotes a new growth spurt.

7. Keep  your  cruise control on. Try to keep your cool during the day no matter what. Getting overly excited can stress you out and cause excessive energy burn, energy your body could be using to fuel extraordinary muscle growth.

George Stallone,
Nutrition expert, competitive bodybuilder and author of many widely acclaimed bodybuilding and steroid ebooks.
http://www.hellaspharmacy.info

Although Person A is using a greater percentage of fat to perform the 30 minute bout of exercise, Person B is actually expending more calories. Since losing weight is only achieved by burning more calories than you consume, Person B is at a significant advantage in achieving their goal. Another disadvantage to working at a lower intensity is that while you will achieve many health benefits, you will not necessarily achieve fitness benefits. Health benefits are those such as body weight control, lowered blood pressure and improved cholesterol. Fitness benefits are those such as improved endurance, strength and athletic performance.

A low intensity program, such as one in the Fat Burning Zone, would be recommended for those who cannot tolerate high intensity exercise. Therefore, those beginning a program, overweight people or individuals restricted due to medical problems will benefit from a low intensity program. But, if you are able to work at a higher intensity than that prescribed in a fat-burning program, do so, because you will burn more calories. Remember, at the end of the day, the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume. Please also note, that while exercise alone will promote weight loss, the most effective weight loss method is through a combination of diet, exercise and behavioral changes.

George Stallone,
Nutrition expert, competitive bodybuilder and author of many widely acclaimed bodybuilding and steroid ebooks.
http://www.hellaspharmacy.info

  History of Steroids

In order to trace the history and development of anabolic steroids from their beginning to their present day form, we first need to look back towards ancient times, when it was known that the testicles were required for both the development and maintenance of male sexual characteristics. In modernity, this concept was further developed, by a scientist named Berthold and his experiments on cockerels done in 1849. He removed the testes from these birds, and they lost several of the characteristics common to the male of their species, including sexual function. So, we knew as early as 1849 that the testicles functioned to promote what we consider to be primary male sexual properties; in other words, they are what "make men into men". Berthold also found that if the testicles were removed and then transplanted to the abdomen, the sexual function of the birds was largely unaffected. When the birds were dissected, it was found that no nervous connections were formed, but a vastly extensive series of capillarization took place. (1) This provided strong evidence that "the testes act upon the blood" (2) and he further concluded that this blood then had a systemic effect on the entire organism. Anabolic Steroid history, therefore, can be truly said to have made its first step with this simple series of experiments.

Later, in 1929 a procedure to produce an extract of potent activity from bull's testicles was attempted, and in 1935 a more purified form of this extract was created. A year later, a scientist named Ruzicka synthesized this compound, testosterone, from cholesterol, as did two other scientists, Butenandt and Hanisch (3). Testosterone was, of course, the first anabolic steroid ever created, and remains the basis for all other derivations we have currently being used in medicine today. Testosterone was then used in 1936, in an experiment demonstrating that nitrogen excretion of the castrated dog could be increased by giving the dog supplemental testosterone, and this would increase its body weight. (4) Shortly after this time, the Nazi´s were rumored to have given their soldiers anabolic steroids, but that rumor seems to be largely undocumented. Later, further experiments were carried out in men, of course showing that testosterone was a potent anabolic substance in humans. Later, between the years of 1948 and 1954, the pharmaceutical firms Searle and Ciba had experimented with the synthesizing of over a thousand different testosterone derivatives and similar analogues (15).

The story of steroids in athletics is now about to begin:

In 1954, a physician named John Ziegler attended the World Weightlifting Championships in Vienna, Austria, as the team's doctor. The Soviets dominated the competition that year, easily breaking several world records and winning gold medals in legions of weight classes. According to anecdotal reports, Ziegler invited the Soviet´s team doctor to a bar and the doctor told him that that his lifters had used testosterone injections as part of their training programs. Whether that story is true or not, ultimately, the Americans returned from the World Championships that year and immediately began their efforts to defeat the Soviets using pharmaceutical enhancement.

As you may have expected, when they returned to the United States, the team doctor began administering straight testosterone to his weightlifters. He also got involved with Ciba, the large pharmaceutical firm, and attempted to synthesize a substance with strength enhancing effects comparable or better than testosterone's. In 1956, Methandrostenolone was created, and given the name "Dianabol".

In the following years, little pink Dianabol tablets found their way into many weightlifter´s training program, fast forward a few years, and in the early 1960s, there was a clear gap between Ziegler´s weightlifters and the rest of the country, and much less of one between them and the Soviets. It was also in the 1960´s that another anabolic steroid had been developed and used to treat short stature in children with Turner Disease syndrome (13)

At this time, physicians around the United States began to take notice of steroids, and numerous studies were performed on athletes taking them, in an effort to stem the tide of athletes attempting to obtain steroids for use in sports. The early studies on steroids clearly showed that anabolic steroids offered no athletic benefit whatsoever, but in retrospect can be said to have several design flaws. The first issue with those studies, and the most glaring one was that the doses were usually very low, too low to really produce much of an effect at all. In addition, it was neither common for these studies to not be double blind nor to be randomized. A double blind study is one where neither the scientists nor the subjects of the study know if they are getting a real medication or a placebo. A randomized study is where the real medicine is randomly dispersed throughout the test group. Finally, in those early studies, nutrition and exercise was not really controlled or standardized. Not long after those flawed studies were concluded, the Physicians Desk Reference boldly (and wrongly) claimed that anabolic steroids were not useful in enhancing athletic performance. Despite this, in 1967, the International Olympic Council banned the use of anabolic steroids and by the mid 1970´s most major sporting organizations had also banned them.

Steroids in Olympics

Just prior to the ban on steroids in the Olympics, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) began a program with the goals of synthesizing new anabolic steroids for their athletes to use in various sports. Their body of research remains the most extensive collection of information on the use of steroids in athletes ever complied (5). Despite the small size of their country, they managed to consistently dominate the top ranks of various sports, competing with both the United States and the Soviet Union for total medals in both the Olympics and various World Championships. In 1972, the IOC began a full scale drug-testing program (8).

By 1982, the International Olympic Council had developed a test for the detection of excess levels of testosterone in athletes, known as the "Testosterone: Epitestosterone test". In this test, levels of testosterone vs/ epitestosterone are measured, and if the testosterone level is 6x that of the epitestosterone level, it can safely be concluded that some form of testosterone has been used by the athlete. This is because testosterone is commonly no more than 6x the natural level of epitestosterone found naturally in the body. Thus, if there were more than that ratio, it was not naturally occurring, in all probability. The IOC was, as usual, one step behind the athletes. The GDR had already done a study on their athletes using a form of testosterone which would leave the body quickly, and thus they would be ready for the IOC test within three days of their last injection (6). They then developed a protocol to allow their athletes to continue steroid use, ceasing it only long enough to pass the drug test. In addition, the German firm Jenapharm, who had been supplying the government with steroids for their athletes, developed an epitestosterone product to administer to athletes to bring the ratio back to normal without discontinuing steroid use (5).

Their doping methods were so advanced, however, that they remained undetected for many years, until late 1989 when information was leaked to the western media about a government sponsored program of systematic anabolic steroid administration and concealment. Eventually, in the early 1990´s, the Germans had finally gotten caught, and the ensuing scandal was one which helped give anabolic steroids the bad reputation they have had ever since. Ironically, it was also in the early 1990´s that anabolic steroids had started to be used by the medical community to improve survival rates of AIDS and Cancer patients, when it was discovered that loss of lean body mass was associated with increased mortality rates respective to those diseases (14).

A similar story was being played out in the United States at about that same time. Before 1988, steroids were only prescription drugs, as classified by by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). FDA determines which drugs will be classified as over-the-counter versus those which will only be available through prescription. At this time, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, was invoked to restrict the access of steroids, making them available only by prescription. They were still not controlled substances at this time, however.

A "Controlled substance" is one that is more firmly regulated than uncontrolled prescription drugs. As an example, contact lenses can only be legally purchased with a prescription, but they are not &qont;rolled" per se. This stricter control of steroids created a vastly more intense examination of the doctors prescribing them; and of course, more harsh penalties for wrongful dispensing. 1988 also marked the passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, which put steroids in a totally different prescription category, one that stipulated very severe legal penalties for illegal sale or possession with intent to distribute. Now, steroid possession and/or distribution was considered a felony. Next, the United States Congress added steroids to the Controlled Substances Act as an amendment known as the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 1990. Steroids were now placed in "Schedule III" classification, along with amphetamines, methamphetamines, opium, and morphine, and carrying the same penalties for buying or selling them. This legislation and classification was passed without the support of the American Medical Association, the FDA, the DEA, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, all of whom actually protested the federal and state lIn the early part of the new millennium, steroids have again been pushed to the forefront of the news by the introduction of "prohormones" which were first developed and marketed by Patrick Arnold. It is at this point that the history of steroids in baseball begins to become more prominent; this is in all probability because Major League Baseball had no steroid testing program in effect during this time. During his epic quest to break Ted Williams´ home-run record, Mark Maguire was spotted by a reporter to have had a bottle of Androstendione in his locker. Although androstendione is not a steroid, and is simply a prohormone, the word /spanym-buyer, as did demand& and unfortunately, the prevalence of fake or counterfeit steroids.

Steroids remained in the media, occasionally making an appearance when an athlete tested positive, or admitted using them, but for another decade, they remained uncharacteristically out of the media’s attention.

In the early part of the new millennium, steroids have again been pushed to the forefront of the news by the introduction of “prohormones” which were first developed and marketed by Patrick Arnold. It is at this point that the history of steroids in baseball begins to become more prominent; this is in all probability because Major League Baseball had no steroid testing program in effect during this time. During his epic quest to break Ted Williams’ home-run record, Mark Maguire was spotted by a reporter to have had a bottle of Androstendione in his locker. Although androstendione is not a steroid, and is simply a prohormone, the word “steroid” was again found circulating in the news on a nightly basis.

Not shortly after Ted Williams’ record was broken, another baseball player, Jason Giambi and various other athletes were either suspected of, or proven to have, taken anabolic steroids. Again, Congress convened a hearing, and just as they did the first time in 1990, they did not determine that steroids were a danger, but rather that the danger was more in protecting professional sports organizations. The updated statute has been updated to proscribe pro-hormones also The definition of an anabolic steroid as defined currently in the United States under (41)(A) is that "anabolic steroid" means any drug or hormonal substance, chemically and pharmacologically related to testosterone (other than estrogens, progestins, corticosteroids, and dehydroepiandrosterone (7).

Currently, steroid use is far from declining. Among 12th graders surveyed in 2000, 2.5% reported using steroids at least once in their lives, while in 2004 the number was 3.4% (9). A recent internet study also concluded that “anabolic steroid use among weightlifters and bodybuilders continues” (12), and by all accounts, there are no signs of it stopping in athletics any time soon.

In addition, the legitimate use of anabolic steroids for a variety of medical problems also continues, ranging from the treatment of Andropause or Menopause, and ranging from speeding the recovery in burn victims to helping improve quality of life in Aids patients, to helping fight breast cancer and stave off osteoporosis.

Thus, the history of anabolic steroids is not something that has already occurred and been written, but rather it is a continuing history being written every day by scientists, lawmakers, doctors and of course, athletes.

References

1. Maisel AQ. The Hormone Quest (1965) Random House
2. Kochakian CD. J Nutr (1935) 23 135
3. Kenyon AT et al. Endocrinology (1938) 23 135
4. Kochakian CD. Handbook Exp Pharmacol (1975) 43 1
5. Clinical Chemistry. 43, No7, 1997.
6. Clausnitzer, et al [Article in German] 1982.
7. United States Congressional records.
8. Vet Hum Toxicol. 2003 Mar;45(2):97-102.
9. United States Bureau of Statistics, 2005.
10. National Institute on Drug Abuse
11. United States Drug Enforcement Agency
12. Clin J Sport Med. 2005 Sep;15(5):326-30.
13. Marti Henneberg, C, et al. J. Pediatr 6;783-88. 1975.
14. Journal of the American Medical Association, Editorial. April 14, 1999, vol 281, No. 14.
15. Steroids. 1996 Aug;61(8):492-503.

George Stallone,
Nutrition expert, competitive bodybuilder and author of many widely acclaimed bodybuilding and steroid ebooks.
http://www.hellaspharmacy.info

This article is based solely on my professional opinion and experience, but I have taken into account experimental, epidemiological and anecdotal evidence. The list is in no particular order (except for the first two, which, I feel, are the most useful), and, indeed, not all listed are appropriate for every bodybuilder, but all listed have their uses for some individuals. Most of the others not listed here, I feel, are a waste of money (though I keep a slightly open mind, as there are new developments). You do not need supplements to build a great physique, but they are an extremely useful and effective way of improving your gains.

Engineered Nutrition Meal Replacement Powders (MRPs)
These are 'complete' nutrition containing high protein, moderate carbohydrate, essential fatty acids and all vitamins and minerals. They are an invaluable aid to the bodybuilder as they can be used to substitute one or more of the many meals he/she has to consume in a day; or can be used to complement a meal. MRPs should be made up with water only.

I believe MRPs started quite a few years ago with MetRx, which is still a great product, but since then, many other companies have developed their own, and improved on the original idea. Some now include pre- and probiotics (see separate article) and many anutrients (substances found in food which have no nutritional value per se but have been found to have health benefits).

Other examples are ProMR (Chemical Nutrition Products) and Myoplex Plus (EAS). Most come in portion sachets, but some are available in tubs. The problem is, sachets make up to a large volume which can be hard to consume in one go, and they are very expensive.

A must for the keen bodybuilder.

Quality Protein Powders
A few years ago, a new system of filtration identified ion-exchange whey protein as a top quality protein source. Before then, protein powders were based on cheap, poor quality soya protein, or egg white protein (which mixes poorly).

The debate on whey continues: There is no doubt as to its high biological value, similar amino acid profile to that of human muscle tissue, and that it is digested, absorbed and taken up by muscles quickly. Some people feel it passes too quickly through our gut, so not all is available for absorption. Other quality protein powders are combination ones, containing two or more sources of protein. These often include whey, but other sources as well, so there is a more staged digestion of the protein.

All quality whey and combination protein powders are invaluable to the bodybuilder, as it is often impractical to eat the amount of high protein food required for optimal gains. Mix with water, and consume in between or as a compliment to meals

Weight Gain Formulas
Weight gain powders will always have their place in the bodybuilding market. I do not mean the ridiculously high calorie crash weight gain formulas full of simple carbohydrate and fats; but the moderately high calorie, high protein formulas such as N-Large and Pro-Mass. Typically these are 600 kcal, 50g protein per serving, and can be mixed with water or skimmed milk.

Weight gain formulas are not necessary for every bodybuilder, but very useful for the skinny newcomer who struggles to eat enough food to put on quality weight. Also useful for the off season more-advanced bodybuilder with a fast metabolism and busy lifestyle to add a few more quality calories.

Mulidextrose Powders
Multidextrose is a synthetic polysaccharide which our body treats like starch, i.e. a complex carbohydrate. Multidextrose is used by a range of sports people to help meet the high-energy demands of intense exercise, especially by tri-athletes. In bodybuilding it is invaluable for the lean hard gainer who struggles to eat enough carbohydrate each day. Just adding the powder to drinks can increase intake by 6-800kcals a day. Multidextrose powders are cheap, and useful for bulking up on.

Amino Acid Capsules
Not essential, but can be useful for improving protein quality. Avoid the tablets, as these have binders and are less well absorbed; capsules are more easily digested.

I am a big believer in mixing two or more sources of protein at each meal. Remember that we are bodybuilders, and although the protein sources we eat may be 'complete', we have higher demands for each amino acid than 'normal' people do. If it's impractical to mix proteins, take a few amino acid capsules to help ensure quality protein at each meal. Not necessary with whey or whole egg sources, as these are already high quality protein sources.

Amino acids are not essential, but could be useful for more advanced bodybuilders to take with food.

My main criticism of these has to be price; is there really a need for them to be so expensive? Supplement bars are very useful for the busy bodybuilder, especially if he/she is bulking up.

Pre-Workout Drinks
Energy drinks come in a vast array of different concoctions, some just sugar-based and some containing a range of stimulants like caffeine, guarana and ephedra. Again very expensive, but nice tasting and many feel they need them to train after a hard day at work. I will not recommend any particular types, I'll leave that for you to decide which you prefer; but avoid the high sugar (glucose) ones which are full of calories, as these can have a rebound effect on your energy levels and, in fact, cause sluggishness. To avoid stomach cramps, sip them before and during workouts, don't gulp!

GABA
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is used by some with mixed reports of effectiveness. It became popular after the gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GH scare, which was used as a growth hormone releaser and subsequently a recreational drug. GABA is a natural substance found in the same chemical pathway as GHB.

Taken before bed it (supposedly) gives deeper quality sleep, hence more GH release and you feel better the next day. Some people like to use it pre-workout and claim it gives them a 'buzz' during training; I have tried this and it made me feel worse. I don't know about the increase in GH release, as I can find no clinical studies, but it does improve sleep quality, and it has been said you can get 8 hours worth of sleep in 6 hours - useful for the busy-lifestyle bodybuilder.

Watch out for its unpleasant side effect of shortness of breath about 10 minutes after ingestion which lasts about 5 minutes. This can be scary if unexpected.

GABA has its place on the supplement rack and isn't too expensive. Don't use it too often, so a tub will last months.

Creatine Monohydrate
Probably the most scientifically researched supplement ever, results of which are conclusive in that creatine does help improve performance. Here's the science in brief: ATP is used for energy, by being broken down to ADP and AMP. Creatine Phosphate (CP) is found in muscle cells and replenishes ADP/AMP to ATP; hence more ATP is available for energy. It has been found that muscles can store far more CP than is possible to obtain from food (creatine is found in meat), so by supplementing with creatine monohydrate you can maximise these stores. More CP stored in muscle also draws water into muscle and makes it fuller and stronger.

Not only does creatine allow you to have more energy (through the above process) to help lift heavier weights, train harder and at higher intensity, but it also has other benefits to the bodybuilder. It has been demonstrated that creatine may also promote muscle growth by stimulating protein synthesis in two ways. Firstly, from the increased work you are able to do as a result of the above actions. But also, creatine's other principle function is as a cell volumiser, the more CP that is stored in muscle, the more water is drawn in. This aids ability to work, enhances the muscle 'pump' and helps to trigger protein synthesis, minimise protein breakdown and increase glycogen synthesis. If a muscle is then trained properly, this could lead to enhanced muscle growth.

Creatine formulas
You will see a number of formulas each marketed as being 'the best'! To sum it up - only use creatine monohydrate powder. Creatine phosphate, creatine citrate and creatine serum are useless. Some are marketed with special transport mechanisms, but these are expensive. Stick to the basics.

How to use creatine
You will hear a number of theories as to the best way of supplementing with creatine, some say take with a carbohydrate load; some say take with a hot beverage so it dissolves and is absorbed more easily; some advocate a loading and maintenance phase; some say only a maintenance dose of 5g a day and loading is a waste. My justification for having a loading phase is down to its side effect of nausea and using a continual 5g a day for weeks on end can be a lot to stomach. Though a loading phase does mean more creatine per day initially, this is only for a few days and enables a maintenance dose of merely 2g. Some argue that having a loading phase is just a way of companies selling more but, if you use my regimen below, you will actually require less.

It is also recommended to take creatine with simple carbohydrates. Pre-formulated creatine + carbs concoctions are available, but these are very expensive and contain excessive amounts of sugars, it is far cheaper and better to add your own carbs.

My conclusion, studying all data, it appears the following may be the optimal way of using creatine:

Take creatine monohydrate powder in a hot beverage with sugar (or a sugary cordial with hot water) with fruit with a loading and maintenance phase as follows: Loading phase: 10g per day as 2 x 5g for 5 days; 5g per day for 5 days; 3g per day for 7 days.
Maintenance phase: 2g per day for 5 weeks.

This may be followed by a period off, or back on the loading phase.

Some 'experts' claim that creatine shouldn't be taken with caffeine, like tea or coffee. They say that caffeine inhibits optimal absorption of creatine due to its effect on carbohydrate take up by muscle, and there is sub-optimal hydration of muscle too. There is no evidence to substantiate these claims, and I really fail to see that caffeine with creatine is a problem, as long as you continue to drink plenty of fluid.

Creatine is not the be-all-and-end-all of supplements and is certainly not fundamental to your nutrition regimen, though it is worth giving it a try to see for yourself. There are side effects namely nausea, especially on the loading phase, and quite intense muscle cramps, which can lead to injuries if you are not cautious whilst training. You MUST drink plenty of fluid whilst using creatine.

Glutamine
Again loads of research here, but with very mixed results. Glutamine is also used clinically in the intensive care setting to aid wound healing, and it is the amino acid preferred as a source of energy for intestinal muscle cells; but its use here also remains controversial. Bodybuilders use it for the same reasons, in that we stress our bodies intensely. Scientific evidence points to glutamine being of no use in sports, but anecdotal reports have shown benefits.

If you do feel glutamine is worth it, take it at least half an hour away from other protein sources, as other amino acids will compete for receptor uptake. Take it with carbohydrate, e.g. in fruit juice. Glutamine has its place for the more advanced bodybuilder, in aiding recovery.

George Stallone,
Nutrition expert, competitive bodybuilder and author of many widely acclaimed bodybuilding and steroid ebooks.
http://www.hellaspharmacy.info

• Hermann Goerner deadlifted 734 ½ lbs with one hand on October 8th 1920, at a bodyweight of no more than 290lbs (he also had a 1 rep max two handed deadlift of 830lbs, less than 100lbs off the current world record and his was accomplished without support gear or drug use).

• John Davis, two-time Olympic champion competing between 1937 and 1956, capable of squatting 500lbs fully for 10 reps, deadlifting 705lbs, strict curling 215lbs, and overhead pressing 375lbs. All without support gear or drugs.

• Paul Anderson, possibly the strongest man who ever lived, squatted 1206lbs, push pressed 600lbs, and still holds the all time record for heaviest weight lifted by a human, of 6270lbs in the backlift (check in the Guinness Book of records if you don't believe me).

• Reg Park, won the NABBA Mr. Universe title three times in 1951, 1958 and 1965 as well as many other bodybuilding awards from the 1940's to 1960's. The second person ever to bench press 500lbs, regularly squatted and deadlifted with 600lbs, and behind the neck pressed a 1 rep max of 300lbs. He was Arnold Schwarzenegger's hero, and was also British! How long did he train for? About 3 times a week, for about an hour.

There are many more examples if you're willing to look into the iron game's illustrious past.

During the mid 1960s and 1970s the influence of anabolic steroids became more prevalent in bodybuilding - they had been present before from about the 1950s, but took some time to take off as even into the late '60's, many lifters had great worries about the potential for ill health as a result of taking them. It is, if we look back, about this time that routines began to change and evolve into what we see today where a typical workout may consist of 25 sets, attempting to work each muscle independently and without thought to the body's own biochemical reactions. In my mind not only is this type of training counterproductive for the great majority of trainees, but also makes it impossible to put forth the level of hard work that is essential for muscular growth and physical advancement. Let us look at it this way, we have two people, one of whom trains 20 sets in a chest and triceps workout, he spends about an hour and a half in the gym, in which time doing 4 sets of flat bench, 4 sets of incline, 4 sets of cable cross-overs, 4 sets of skull-crushers on the ez-bar, and 4 sets of cable push downs. He feels his workout has been productive, takes a shower, and goes on his way.

On the other hand we have a guy who trains twice a week for less than an hour each time. He does cardio twice a week also and is in good shape, but lifts only on Monday and Thursday. His Monday workout consists of squats, to at least parallel, bench presses on a flat bench, bent over rows, barbell curls and sit-ups. Starting with squats he warms up then proceeds to a working weight of 300lbs for 20 reps, he always goes to the point where he has to drop the weight on the support bars of the squat rack, which means some weeks he gets 18 reps, some 24. If he gets 19 or better he moves the weight up 5lbs next week. Going to failure on hard squatting has the addition effect of occasionally meaning he has to sit down for 10 minutes afterward, or run to the toilet and puke - both sure signs of hard work, the type of hard work that is a prerequisite to solid muscle building. After the squats he moves on to bench presses. He sees no need to do incline, decline, flyes, cross-overs and endless other accessory movements for he already benches 250lbs for 8 full and smooth reps, and has a chest measurement of 45 inches with little body fat (not amazing, but easily a 300lb single and better than most of the people reading this I'd wager, and also better that the vast majority of people you've seen training in your gym!). Each set here is taken to muscular failure, where the spotter must take the weight from him on the last rep. Our lifter does not do forced reps, he doesn't see that need to pretend he lifts more than he does, and knows it can lead to over-training. The spotter only interferes with the set if the lifter asks and can't do anymore.

Bent over rows come next, 2 hard sets with 240lbs (far too many people have benching strength massively in excess of their pulling strength, and it is this kind of stupidity in training that helps lead to the multitude of shoulder injuries that are seen today). After this again, 2 sets of curls hard and to failure, and then 1 set of sit-ups for 50 reps. Sometimes he does these holding a disc on his stomach and going to failure, but today felt like simply repping it out.

The lifter above did just 8 sets, who has worked harder? Let me give you a test, if you don't believe that 2 short workouts each week can work, go to the gym and do this:

1) Take your ten rep squatting poundage and squat it for 30. If you fail and have to drop it on the squat rack pins, unload it then put it back up, load it again and keep going until you reach 30 repetitions!
2) Move on to deadlifts, take your 10-rep poundage and do the same, keeping your back flat and your form good.
3) Do one set of overhead presses to failure.

Do this and then come back and say you had an easy workout.

The basis of High Intensity Training
Arthur Jones created HIT back in the 1970's as an alternative to the high volume routines that often gave its gym followers little results. He scientifically tested his methods in order to convince others in the training industry, and also to help sell his machines. They became popular and Nautilus centres sprung up all over the United States. Mike Mentzer and others that he trained took what they learnt from Jones and created their own twists to the system, which at the time was heavily based on pre-exhaust techniques and sometimes negatives. In some cases they improved it, sometimes they didn't. The most influential spokespersons for modern day HIT training would likely be people like Dr Ken Liestner, the sadly departed Mike Mentzer, Stuart McRobert, and others who you'll no-doubt find if you do a simple internet search (or alternatively go to www.cyberpump.com, commonly referred to as the HIT mother ship).

A basic HIT workout in its modern guise would look something like this,

Day 1
Bench press or weighted dips 2x8
Squats 1x20
Bent over rows 2x8

Day 2
Overhead press 2x8
Deadlifts or straight leg deadlifts 1x15
Chins 2x8

Abs done on both days for 1 or 2 sets, and all sets taken to failure.

This workout runs on the same principles that Bob Whelan (trainer, powerlifter, and respected iron writer) espouses in his programs (see www.naturalstrength.com) - you're doing squats, some form of deadlift, a vertical pull/push, and a horizontal pull/push, in so doing, working all the available musculature of the body.

Here's a split of how it works:

Legs and lower back (the most important muscle groups for any accomplished bodybuilder or weightlifter) - deadlifts, squats
Back and biceps - rows, chins
Chest, shoulders and triceps - Bench press or dips, overhead press
Abs - sit-ups or crunches done on both sessions.
Forearms - deadlifts, rows, chins

With these exercises you keep in mind poundage targets that are hard but achievable, and when you accomplish them, raise the stakes and set new ones. "Ah", you say, "but I'm a bodybuilder! Unconcerned with strength, I merely want big arms and bulging pecs, big enough to make the girls drool over my Adonis like body!"

Nope. The reason why poundage targets are used is that for the beginner at least, and in most cases for everyone that isn't a top-flight professional bodybuilder, is that poundage targets are not only the simplest indicators of progress, but also the best. There may not be a linear relationship between size and strength, but one does exist and if today you can curl 80lbs for 4 repetitions, yet in 6 months you manage 140lbs in the same fashion, your arms will undoubtedly be bigger. Focus on getting stronger in the "big basics" and your body will develop much better than it would by measuring yourself each week, using trial and error to work out "what sort of pump benefits me?" Plus, in my own meagre opinion, poundage targets are manlier!

Here are some good targets to work to over the medium to long term, once you reach these you will have surpassed 99% of all weight trainers all over the world, and will likely be one of the stronger guys in your gym,

Squats to at least parallel: 300lbs or 1.5xbodyweightx20, 400lbsx1
Deadlifts: 350lbsx20, 500lbsx1
Bench press: 240lbsx8, 300lbsx1
Standing shoulder press: 180lbsx6
Bent over rows: 220lbsx8

Lifting these poundage's at 200lbs bodyweight (14lbs in a stone), would roughly equate to an arm of over 16 inches, and a chest of over 45 inches. Do these sound small? Arnold Schwarzenegger's arms were 19 inches, he may have claimed otherwise but at his peak they were measured by Arthur Jones in what most believe to have been fair and controlled conditions. Nowadays bodybuilders still claim measurements that are far in excess of what they truly are, and if I were you I would take those (and their poundage claims) with a pinch of salt. Part of their business is the business of disinformation in order to sell supplements, so bare that in mind the next time you read of a 675lbs incline press.

The other HIT conditions for growth

In brief,

1) Hard work. Not long work, but hard work. You must work harder than you have ever done at any point in your life. If you do not put every ounce of effort you possibly can into each and every set, then you will not get the results that you could. This is especially true of squats and deadlifts, as the very big moves have a much greater carry-over effect to total body development than any other.

2) Good nutrition. Eat well. You must have an adequate intake of all the essential vitamins and minerals your body requires each day, as well as fats, the essential fatty acids. You must also take in adequate calories each day, if you're eating 2000 calories a day as a fully grown adult male, the chances are you are eating far too little to grow your body or to maximise the benefits that weight training can bring. Adjust your calories by eating more if you want to grow, and less if you want to cut body fat, and make sure to take in adequate protein, fresh vegetables, and fresh fruit. There's much more on bodybuilding/weight training nutrition elsewhere on the www.MuscleTalk.co.uk, so go there and learn, as it's not my personal area of expertise.

3) Include cardio-vascular work. This is not just for health - though that is it's most important benefit - but also to allow you to grow better in the long run. A healthy body is an adaptable body, and ultimately, by doing just something along the lines of 2 cardio sessions a week for 30 minutes or so will help keep fat off and aid recovery times between weights workouts.

4) Rest. If you aren't getting at least 7-8 hours sleep each night your body will find it much more difficult to repair and progress. There's no way I can believe someone without the benefit of drugs or incredible genetics would reach notable levels of muscularity and fitness without adequate sleep and recuperation. You grow when you sleep, end of message.

Conclusion
If at the end of this article you take nothing more away from it than the message of consistent progressive training, then the article will have been a success. There's no use in using the greatest routine ever devised, if you only workout one week in three, or working harder than anyone else in the gym, if you never increase your poundage's. Work on getting to good numbers in the big lifts, in good form with a good range of motion, setting both long and short term goals, and keep at it. To sum up, squat hard, deadlift hard, eat, rest and grow - the secret's out, good luck!

This information is vital in the timing of the dosing when attempting to achieve a more stable blood concentration, which leads to greater overall results and maintenance of gains. Some fluctuations of concentration levels are acceptable, and are also mostly unavoidable, but should be kept to a minimum.

This article covers the half-life's of the most commonly used steroids, esters and ancillary compounds.

Oral steroids

Depot steroids

*Winstrol depot does not actually possess a classical half-life because it is un-esterified. Instead, the microcrystals dissolve slowly. Once they have all dissolved levels of the drug fall very rapidly. It is still an important consideration, and we have included it with a half-life of one day.

Steroid esters

Ancillaries

A practical example is if one was to inject 100mg of testosterone propionate and allow blood levels to peak. In 4.5 days time (half-life duration from the above tables) and providing no other injections had taken place, the level would be reduced to 50mg. Again, a further 4.5 days down the line and levels would have dropped to 25mg, and the value keeps halving every 4.5 days.

George Stallone,
Nutrition expert, competitive bodybuilder and author of many widely acclaimed bodybuilding and steroid ebooks.
http://www.hellaspharmacy.info

Some of us think we train hard. I used to think so, but looking back that was only at a level of about 80% of how hard I train now. Even if your diet is perfect, and you take quality anabolic aids, you will not grow if you don't give it 100% in the gym. And 100% means 100%, i.e. until you physically (not psychologically) cannot do anymore.

Some bodybuilders claim they train better without a partner, but most find they need one, not only for encouragement, but to give assistance in order to do a few more reps after reaching failure on a weight.

Ways of training past failure are discussed below, many of which require assistance from a training partner:

Forced reps
Train to failure, then get a spot to assist you in lifting a few more reps out, but keep your form strict.

Drop sets
This is where you train to failure with a weight, then immediately use a lighter weight. Typically triple-drops are used, but there's no reason not to go all out sometimes and drop until hardly any weight is being lifted, going to failure on each weight.

Negative reps
Positive failure is where it is no longer possible to lift the weight. This is reached before negative failure, which is where it is no longer possible to control the negative movement of the weight. Here, after you have reached positive failure, your training partner will lift the weight, and you have to control it on the way down for a few reps.

Negative resistance reps
This is where, after positive failure, your training partner lifts the positive part of the movement and then pushes the weight down lightly and you have to try to resist the force. For example, in biceps curls, do a set until positive failure, then your partner lifts the weight up to your shoulders; he then applies some downward pressure while you attempt to keep the weight in the curled position. Be careful with these as they can cause injury - keep your form strict, only do 2-3 reps like this and only do them occasionally.

Cheat reps
Obviously, cheating should be discouraged, and try to keep perfect form on all exercises to minimise risk of injury and maximise isolation effort on the muscle. However, if you have reached failure with perfect form, cheat reps performed carefully can help you squeeze an extra few reps out and go past failure.

Rest-pause
I don't see many trainers using this method, but it's very simple and effective. Simply train a set to failure, put the weight down, shake off the pain, then pick the same weight up and go again, 2-3 times.

Half reps
When you cannot do another full rep, do a few more with just half the movement; as this is still stimulating the muscle.

Supersets
Two or more different exercises may be performed in succession with no rest in between. This may be two exercises for the same muscle group, or 2 for antagonistic muscles (I feel the latter is not very effective, as you cannot give your all for the second muscle after training the first set to failure).

Pre-exhaust
In a workout, to maximise exertion on a muscle, try performing isolation exercises before compound movements. This will ensure that the muscle in question will be well worked from the isolation movement, so during the compound movement it will tire before other muscles, so is maximally worked. This principle is more appropriate for bodybuilders and not strength trainers.

Different ways of training past failure can be incorporated together in the same set. For example in bench pressing: Train to positive failure, followed by 2-3 forced reps with your training partner; put the weight down, and strip some weight off and go again with the same principle as a triple drop; after the last drop try banging out 10 half reps. Precede bench press by dumbbell flyes, so the isolation movement is first.

My philosophy is, it doesn't matter how you train as long as you are genuinely training to maximum effort, and you are training safely.

Try some of these ideas in your workouts from time-to-time, if you are not already. Enjoy your workouts!