My background with natural bodybuilding was I started training in 2002. I was still in my final year of high school at that point and I really was just training once/week. The results were of course minimal. The next year I started studying at university and I had more opportunity to train at the small on campus gym. I trained 5 days per week and found that I put on muscle fairly quickly, especially in my stronger muscle groups. For the most part over the years I was fairly consistent with training, only really taking time off when I had to study for exams. So I continued to gain muscle gradually over time and later on down the track I have come across good sources of knowledge that have allowed me to improve even further.
Because of my consistency, application of good information and my genetic ability to gain muscle I've never really felt disheartened with my results. So whilst I have thought about what it might be like if I did take steroids I haven't ever felt the need to consider them seriously. Though it is of course tempting to wonder just what might happen if I did decide to go that route. For the most part however, I figure if I'm getting great results and I'm happy with the way I look, why would I need to take substances to accelerate the process.
Reasons why I choose to stay natural:
1. Health - I think this one is controversial since we don't have a lot of scientific evidence to back this up because of ethical issues with performing studies and because there are so many factors that contribute to the health issues disorders that steroid use may be associated with. It is impossible to do anything other than correlate steroids with health issues that occur chronically (as opposed to acutely). Anecdotally and logically though it appears to be likely that steroids can have negative consequences on one's health in the long term.
Now I'm sure some people are going to say "but Evan, there have been very few hospital admissions for anabolic steroids!". Well of course there haven't because like I hinted at above, the negative side effects of steroid use are not acute they are chronic and they manifest themselves as things that might be contributed to by various other factors eg a heart attack. Anyhow, it's not a risk I personally wish to take.
One logical way to look at it is we definitely hear semi frequently of enhanced bodybuilders suffering from adverse health conditions and sometimes dying from them. But when is the last time you heard of a natural pro bodybuilder dying of a heart attack or suffering from liver failure? I haven't even heard of one case.
Whilst we can't say for sure that steroids definitely cause or contribute to any serious illnesses, I think we can say that there is likely to be some risk involved. Whether or not one wants to assume those risks is up to the individual. Personally it's not something I want to be hanging over my head later in life.
Nothing is ever free, there is always a cost involved or consequences to be paid at some point.
2. Competitiveness - The current context is that I am a natural pro bodybuilder and I compete at a high level. I can envision that indeed I may be able to win a World Championship at some point in the future. I could say that I'm not the best in the world but I could consider myself somewhere on that world level playing field. If I were to switch now to enhanced bodybuilding I go from somewhere close to the top, straight to the bottom. And doing this all at 30 years old mind you. I would then have to take enough drugs to push myself to a point where I may be able to win a pro card. How long would that take? How much would that cost? And there is no guarantee that I would be able to win a pro card. And if I did win a pro card I don't think I would have the genetics to be competitive at the world level. So to me it's a no brainer that competitively it just makes a tonne more sense to remain a natural bodybuilder and to excel in this area.
Ronnie Coleman - I don't think I'm going to be on his level any time soon
3. Financial - I had always assumed that using drugs was costly. I guess this depends on what you take and how much you take. Recently however I have learned that for the most part it isn't as expensive as I had assumed. Regardless it's really not another cost that I want to add to my list of expenses. The other thing about this is that it is a long term expense because let's face it, after most people start using and leave humanity behind they usually don't want to stop using and go back to being "normal" again.
4. Fake Natties - With enhanced bodybuilding there is not just the obviously enhanced side, there is also a good number of fake natural bodybuilders. Some fake natties use their developed and shredded year round physiques to make a good amount of money. Ethically I cannot bring myself to become a fake natty and lie to people so that I can personally make more money. It's the wrong thing to do and I will not do it.
5. Physique - there is often a certain look that is associated with steroid use. I'm talking about more than just muscle size, there are issues with proportion that I see as well as changes in things like skin tone. That isn't a look that I desire to achieve for myself. Another way I like to think about this is there aren't a lot of enhanced bodybuilders around that I look at and think "I would prefer to look like that!". I personally am content with the way my physique looks and I don't want to change that.
Best physique ever
7. Dating - Not all girls like guys that look like Jay Cutler. In fact I'd say it's a minority that prefers that look. At the end of the day I train for myself and what I like but I think it's wise to take into account that most girls are going to prefer someone that looks like Thor rather than someone that looks like the Hulk. Disclaimer: I'm not saying that I look like either Thor or the Hulk and yes I am aware of the irony that the actor that plays Thor is most likely using drugs to help him look that way. But I'm sure you get my general point here.
8. Personality - It is my personality that I like to take a slow and steady approach to most things. I like to enjoy the process of making progress over the long haul and doing things methodically. It just wouldn't make any sense to me to take something that accelerates that process. It's not me, it's not how I work, the thing would lose value and I wouldn't enjoy it.
9. Community - I actually really like the friends that I have made both within Australia and internationally through natural bodybuilding. I know that I probably would stay in contact with these people if I were to use drugs but I don't know that it would be the same in terms of inclusiveness into that culture and community. We tend to associate with those of us that we can relate to and are like minded.
At Layne Norton's Bodybuilding VIP Camp 2013 with Ben Esgro (left) and Ryan Doris (middle)
10. Challenge - Training for hypertrophy and strength has always been a challenge to me. I like that it is difficult, I like that it takes a long time, I like that in order to maximise my progress I need to apply sound principles. I frequently see people that start out as natural bodybuilders end up using and they seem to just lose their interest in training. They will go from training for 1 - 2 hours to training within 45 minutes, they complain about having to train, they seem to put less thought into the programming behind their training and they just don't appear to enjoy as much as they once did. I'm absolutely sure this is not the case across the board because I know of enhanced people that definitely put a lot of thought and effort into their training but it is what I have observed with some people who have gone from natural to enhanced. Perhaps the challenge is gone for them or they feel they can still get results by doing less. I'm not sure but it's not something I am interested in. I want to keep the challenge alive.
11. Carry Over - Some of the things I have learned from natural bodybuilding are things that I have carried over into other areas of my life and are things that I appreciate. Some of these qualities are patience, discipline, focus, prioritisation, organisation, self reflection, intuition, critical thinking and passion. I'm sure there are others too. These valuable qualities can and should in my opinion be learned from the bodybuilding/weight training process. To me it really is about more than building a lot of skeletal muscle, it's about the process that you have to go through to get there and the things learned along the way. The primary purpose of anabolic steroids is to accelerate the process of gaining muscle (or losing fat) and to increase the total amount of muscle that can be gained for an individual. To me that achieves one end (the physical goal) but it hastens the process and as such glosses over some of what you would normally expect to develop from weight training eg patience. By losing those things, it kind of defeats the purpose as far as I'm concerned.
Note: I am NOT saying that steroid users don't work hard or that things are not difficult for them. I am saying that by accelerating the process certain qualities that I consider valuable are missed or less likely to be developed.
Final Thought
At the end of the day staying natural or using steroids is a personal decision and one that I don't judge others for. I have plenty of friends and even some clients who have chosen to take stuff and it isn't up to me to say what they should or should not do. I realise that others have their own personal perspectives on life and their own reasons for doing what they do. So the above should be taken not as me having a go at those who do use anabolic steroids, but rather just as my own personal reasons for why I make the choice to remain a natural bodybuilder.
Disagree with any points I have made? Let me know your own perspectives in the comment section below or on social media.
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- Evan
