Drug LOADED Bodybuilding - The Fast Track to Self Destruction

You see I realized almost the entire competitive bodybuilding scene had almost nothing to do with “Real Bodybuilding”. In fact it was more like body destruction. Many of these athletes I was competing with and against, had become consumed by the desire to build massive muscles and resorted to using massive amount of drugs that damaged their health. While their physiques and muscles are definitely impressive, they had built them at the cost of their health as well as the personal lives.



I personally consider this to be a psychological condition of disease similar to anorexia, or obsessive-compulsive disorder and indeed some psychologists have labeled the condition “Muscle Dysmorphia”. Many “hardcore” bodybuilders have become so obsessed with competitions, muscular size, body fat levels, diets, etc. that every other aspect of their lives has shrunk smaller then their testes on a 10 year cycle.



I know how this dysfunctional psychology can limit one’s life because for 10 years I went down that path. Fortunately, I turned the corner and saw “the light” so to speak, and recognized that there was a lot more to life than a 20-inch arm. I understand how the pressures of athletic excellence lead some athletes to turn to drug usage. I am not condoning the act however I simply recognize how athletes rationalize drug usage and get caught in the “machine” of high performance sports.



Although it seems things are getting worse in the athletic world as opposed to better with the increase in volume of high profile athletes testing positive for drug use; I believe the increased awareness of what’s going on in sports will eventually change the course of athletics, including what I call the return to True Bodybuilding.



Don’t Play Russian Roulette With Your Health



Now what’s even crazier than taking drugs for athletic performance, is the sheer number of individuals, who use bodybuilding drugs thinking it a short cut to an impressive body. Countless scores of young men and women in bodybuilding are resorting to any number of drugs to change their appearance.



These misguided individuals who often purchase these drugs on the underground market from “dubious sources,” are playing Russian roulette with their health. Often these drugs are fake, veterinarian, or “home made” drugs not intended for human consumption.



Many of these men/women delusively believe they will stop taking drugs once they add that extra inch to their arms or lose that next percentage of fat. As soon as they stop the drugs, the muscles are gone, the fat comes back, and they begin looking for the next “fix”. This sets a vicious cycle of enslavement to the drugs, as the individual has unconsciously linked drugs to a better physique and built a reliance on them to improve the cosmetic appearance of their body.



What’s worse is that ever cycle of drugs damages the delicate balance within the body’s biochemistry, making it harder to improve, as well as setting oneself up for problems in the future. One only has too look at the rate of top professional and amateur bodybuilders who are dying prematurely or contracting severe disease to illustrate the true cost of short-sighted thinking.



True bodybuilding is about self-improvement. Building muscles, losing body fat, and shaping or defining the physique, are more about expressing one’s essence than an absolute outcome.



Everybody’s ideal physique is a little bit different and the only judge that matters is the one looking back at you in the mirror. Interestingly, what one sees in the mirror has more to do with the program in one’s head than the true-image reflected in the mirror.