Bigger, Stronger, Faster...

Truth be told this is an old documentary. 2008! I was still at my second university pretending to be an accountant. At the time I was trying to cut weight whilst remaining big and strong. I never reached the upper echelons of competitive sport, not for lack of talent but because of bad timing. Oh and I should point out that by talent I mean

1. I grew at an alarmingly fast rate: 5ft 8 aged 11
2. I was massively heavy: 100kg + aged 15.

Those were my talents! Being bigger and stronger. Luckily or unluckily I was also fabulously flexible, hyper extending joints son! Some of you may see the problem here but for those who don't trying to apply power through joints that don't stay in place result in dislocation. These dislocations lead to many sprains, tears etc. Meaning that I could tear shit up on the field but I'd tend to get injured really easily.

But enough about me let's talk about why steroids are illegal! The usual spiel is that they are dangerous. I was going to list things but there are better lists compiled by people/institutions that know what they are doing so:

The video goes over one guy's inspiration to be big and strong. Actually it's three brothers who were inspired by their childhood heroes Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan etc. Then slowly realising that wrestling is fake and top class body builders juice all the time. The older brother is hell bent on being a pro wrestler and the younger wants to be the best strength athlete he can be. The middle brother, Chris, is the narrator and interviewer throughout.

I'll say that this does seem to come out in favour of steroids being safe and legal. Interviews were generally in favour of steroids use and most of the people being interviewed were on steroids. I'm not endorsing the use of steroids neither am I saying that if you use steroids you should be locked up. The other points that were hinted at throughout the documentary are what really fired up my mind grapes.

Why are some things considered cheating whilst others are fine? One example used was that Tiger Woods had laser eye surgery. There's a pretty good article from the Independent here. The guy has better than perfect vision as a result. So artificially boosting your muscle size/strength is bad but artificially boosting your eyes isn't. 

The second point that hit home with me was the four ways you can boost your red blood cell count. Red blood cells carry oxygen, so more red blood cells = more oxygen = greater endurance. There are four ways of increasing the number of red blood cells in the body 

1. Blood doping - remove some of your own blood and and bang it back in before your event.
2. Hypobaric chamber - sleep in a chamber that simulates a region much higher than sea level.
3. Altitude training - train somewhere that is much higher than sea level.
4. EPO - a hormone that just tells your body to make more red blood cells.

Two are legal and two are illegal. Why is that exactly? So the line appears to be arbitrarily drawn. Perhaps experts have been consulted. From the look of it the expert's testimony during the congressional hearing into steroids was ignored. Political careers were built on making things happen. Or at least making it look like things were happening.

Steroids were banned but their use is rife. Towards the end Chris even demonstrates how easily you can get a legal prescription for anabolic steroids. Banning something is meaningless if the enforcement of the ban is non-existent. So they made it look like things have changed when nothing really has.

The second point that seemed to stand out was the supplement industry that has sprung up. In my early teens I was convinced that if I got my hands on protein powder, creatine etc. then I would be as ripped and strong as the big, buff guys in the magazines. But the reality is that there is a carefully crafted exercise and diet regime that gets them the majority of the way there. And maybe some steroids. Oh an don't forget all the airbrushing etc. 

That's a little video from my favourite professional eater, Furious Pete. Showing that by utilising the pump, oil and some photoshop he looks a hell of a lot different.

I do have a few old mates who are genuinely mad ripped without juicing. I'm talking massive arms, pecs and abs for days. There is a lot of hard work behind their physiques though and they all take supplements. Not sure if they read this but here's a little shout out to the man with the biggest head in the world whose middle name is Geoffrey! The guy who broke his hand on my face and is always known by his middle name! And lastly the insane most push ups in one minute world record threatener. It stands at 138 and was set in 2004! I can't seem to find the record on the Guinness world record site.


If you skip to 1 hour 18 minutes in the vid at the top it'll go over the supplement industry in an entertaining and dramatic fashion. If you don't want to then read on, I'd prefer if you read on. Because...ego! Creating an entirely new industry that sells stuff that, for most of us, won't make too much difference. Do you have to take whey protein to get gains? I'd say no just eat a decent amount of protein, workout right and let your body do the rest. Maybe if you're an elite athlete then it's necessary but most of us aren't so it's something wholly unnecessary that has become big business.


So far we have a ban that isn't a ban and an industry that sells stuff to people who likely don't need it. Now there is a nugget in here that cuts to the core of why this is happening. I am insecure and tend to think that if I manage to get such and such life will be better. Action figures, athletes etc. have become increasingly ripped. Bigger, stronger and faster. Being fit isn't as attractive as being ripped. And this desire provides an opportunity for the unscrupulous to exploit.

Have you all seen Fight Club? or read Fight Club? It's pretty good and I've just realised that it's 15 years old! So it's well worth a watch, as for read I don't know but it does have an average rating of 4.5/5 on amazon from 189 ratings! Anyhow there's a point in the film where Tyler, the main antagonist, makes a speech. There's a quote below in italics but it sounds better coming from Brad Pitt.

Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. 

But we won't.

And there it is the dream that drives the industry. A delicately balanced house of cards built on a foundation of lies. I'm all for conspiracies as you may have already gathered!