Fake Natties

I've been thinking about writing something up about fake natties for a while. It is something which is prevalent within the fitness community and is something I think is a problem.

What I intend to cover is what a fake natty is, why someone would lie about being natural, why it is a problem and what I think some of the signs to look out for are. However I want to preface this by stating that this is not an attack on anyone in particular. I for one have been accused many times of being a fake natty and it just isn't fair to accuse anyone of this without evidence. On the other hand it's silly to be ignorant and think that everyone out there who is saying they are natural actually is because some people are lying.

I also want to note that whilst I will be pointing out some things that I think you should look out for, if someone exhibits signs of one of these things it doesn't necessarily mean that they are a fake natty. Some people have just been training for a really long time and/or have genetic advantages over other people. For example I've been training since 2002 and have a pretty reasonable ability to put on muscle. But the muscle I've put on has been put on gradually over many years of consistent hard work and it wasn't a case of training however I wanted to train or eating whatever I wanted to eat. The good genetics part is just that in my case I have a greater total capacity to gain than many others, not the rate or ease of gain. Another example is Alberto Nunez. His gift is that he has an extraordinary ability to get contest lean. Of course he still has to work hard to get there but when he does get there he looks freaky vascular and striated (something that is arguably more difficult for others to achieve). So I would encourage you not to look at everyone who is ahead of you and think they are cheaters because numerous factors go into building a physique.

What is a "fake natty"?

A fake natty or fake natural refers to someone who claims to be a natural bodybuilder but in reality is using banned performance enhancing substances and is blatantly or implicitly lying about it.

Why lie?

The reasons fake natties usually lie about being natural generally stem back to either personal gain of some kind, ego/validation, maintenance of an image or legal reasons.

1. Personal gain could include - endorsements and contracts, winning bodybuilding championships, indirect financial gain through means which are related to a popular and marketable physique eg increased numbers of personal training clients, sales of programs and e-books etc.

2. Ego/validation is a motive which relates to projecting an image to the public which appeases the person's ego and validates their need for recognition. This could include anything from winning a bodybuilding show to gaining popularity on social media and within the bodybuilding/fitness community.

3. Use of performance enhancing drugs is frowned upon by many people in the community. It makes sense that people don't want to disappoint their family, friends, coworkers, clients and people who know them or may judge them. Hence by hiding the fact that they are actually using performance enhancers they are able to achieve well, make those people proud and do so whilst maintaining a squeaky clean image.

4. Steroid use is illegal. Legality is more of a reason that enhanced individuals in general don't openly admit to or discuss steroid use. So this one doesn't cover just fake natties but it is part of the reason fake natties don't admit to taking performance enhancing drugs.

Why is it a problem?

I personally see this as being a problem for a few reasons:

(a) It's cheating! In competition it is just plain unfair. Someone who has great genetics and is natural may be able to beat someone with poor genetics who is using drugs. But take two genetically superior bodybuilders and give one drugs and the guy who takes drugs is generally going to have the edge over the other guy. Use of drugs in competitions that are specifically meant for natural competitors is cheating and actually quite unnecessary considering how many federations exist that allow drug use.

(b) It sets unrealistic standards for young people, naive people and those new to lifting in general. Surely other perfectly normal factors such as genetics also contribute to these expectations but lying about drugs makes this so much worse. It makes it much more difficult (especially for the lay person) to determine the spectrum of what is typically achievable without drugs.

(c) It is part of a cycle of corruption that is rife within the bodybuilding and fitness industry. We have fake natties who want recognition. We have brands that knowingly sponsor fake natties who want money in their pockets. And we have (some) natural federations who promote themselves as being natural whilst doing nothing at all to catch the drug cheats. Fake naturals who look good make these federations look better and they bring in money through competitor fees and ticket sales. Everybody wins ... except for the real natural bodybuilders.

I hope that wasn't too pessimistic lol. Obviously not all natural federations are like this. Some do a fantastic job at deterring and trying to catch cheaters. But in my opinion there are those who are corrupt as well and it's probably smart to not fool ourselves into believing that all natural federations exist solely to benefit the real natural competitors and not primarily to make money.

So what are the signs?

Again I want to reiterate at this point that displaying one or more of these signs is not a reason to label someone as a definite cheater. These are just things that you might look out for:

1. Blowing up and shrinking - what I mean by this is there will be periods (ie weeks to months) of time where the person gains size (blows up) and then periods of time where they appear to shrink back to normal again. As a side note I want to point out that I don't mean they go into the gym one day and get a good pump and the next day they look flat. Those things are more likely to be related to nutrition and training. What I'm talking about is a cyclical blowing up and then shrinking down.

2. Maintaining fullness during a cut - any natural bodybuilder who has done a serious contest prep knows that generally you look flat most of the time during a cut largely due to glycogen depletion. The exception is of course when you have a refeed, diet break or when you get a great pump going in the gym. When a natural bodybuilder is cutting for a contest and they are continuously full like they are in the off season throughout the time they are prepping, that is in my opinion suspicious.

3. Gaining size during a cut - I won't say that this is completely impossible. It isn't unheard of that you might gain a small amount of muscle whilst losing body fat. However if one were to gain significant amounts of muscle whilst losing significant amounts of fat then something is probably up. This is called growing into a show and is mentioned at times by IFBB Pros.

4. Lean off season - staying quite lean (within striking distance of contest weight) and gaining significant amounts of muscle. I don't mean being just relatively lean with a very slow rate of gain because that is of course possible to do naturally. I mean being quite lean all year round and gaining reasonable amounts of muscle.

5. Nutrition - on the note of the above point, if you are a large, male natural bodybuilder and you are eating predominantly salads in your off season and making all kinds of gains whilst staying shredded then something isn't quite adding up. You don't make gains with salad. This isn't of course the case for some females or smaller males, but the lean 100 kg guy eating 6 chicken salads a day hmmmm.

6. Training - this one is a tricky one because some people do just have great genetics and everyone has different responses to training. However within the context of other factors I generally find it suspicious if I notice someone has an advanced looking physique but their training is largely bullshit. What I mean by bullshit is short, infrequent training sessions which involve fancy, non progressive exercises. Of course there are people that do respond well to training relatively infrequently with lowish volume but they are not the norm and generally you will find that their training is well programmed with good and consistent exercise choices.

7.  Physical signs of drug use - this could include things like acne, baldness, skin tone, unproportionate muscle growth (huge delts, chest and traps are typical). In this case these things might be things that lead you to believe someone might be a fake natty but again should be taken into account with the entire context because many of them occur normally. Obviously many people who have never even touched a weight go bald. Many people also experience acne for a variety of reasons. In fact I experience some acne myself and I am life time drug free.

8. Federations - one thing you can do is look at the federation(s) the person competes with. This is by no means fool proof but it can give you a better idea. Some federations are almost renowned for their competitors being largely made up of fake natties. Additionally if competitors are specifically competing in dodgy federations whilst avoiding federations that are known to test that might be another clue.

I don't suggest people use the above points as "signs and symptoms" of being a fake natural. It isn't exactly healthy to go around thinking and/or accusing everyone who is bigger than you or looks better than you of drug use. At the same time it doesn't help anyone to be completely naive either. You might use these points to give you somewhat of an idea of who is natural and who is not. Of course there are more objective ways to get a ballpark idea eg FFMI and online calculators but these aren't perfect and you will require the person's measurements for those things.

What can you do?

This blog entry would be fairly pointless if it were just talking about the problem without offering any solutions. Personally I'd like to see more testing occurring at shows and in the off season.

People are always going to argue that people can pass tests by cheating in some manner or going off the drugs early etc. Other typical complaints are that polygraph testing is useless. These people should realise that just complaining about the accuracy and effectiveness of testing does nothing. What we have at the moment is not perfect but it's somewhat effective and is a deterrent. Testing is something that hopefully will become more advanced and effective as time goes on but for now we have to accept what we have available.

Things you can do are:

- Talk to show promoters and let them know what you want to happen eg more people tested at shows, off season testing, types of tests, structure of testing at shows (mandatory testing of winners or top three etc).
- Do your homework and cast your vote by only competing with and supporting reputable federations who are implementing more of the things you want to see happening in regards to testing and deterring drug cheats.

Well, I think that's about it for this entry. Remember you can get in touch with me or follow me via the following avenues. Coaching inquiries should be directed to email.

Email - info@muscleacademy.com.au
Website - www.muscleacademy.com.au
Facebook - www.facebook.com/MuscleAcademy
Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon

Until next time.

- Evan