Unfortunately I think that we have reached the point of no return when it comes to drugs in the bodybuilding industry. To say that the drug problem in bodybuilding has gotten way out of hand would be an understatement! Each and every year we see these pro bodybuilders step on stage bigger, and freakier looking than the year before. The standard has been reset. The guys that win the shows, and that have the most marketable look to gain the most media exposure, are the guys who using the most drugs. This new standard in bodybuilding not only encourages drug use, but it also pressures these guys into playing a dangerous, one-upping game with one another.  One guy ups his chemical dosages and gains another 15 pounds, so then the other guys competing against him do the same thing in order to stay competitive. It’s a vicious cycle that will inevitably result in many health related illnesses, and premature deaths.

There are still lots of people out there that will argue that there is no solid evidence that steroids can kill, and that they really aren’t that dangerous. These were the views of self proclaimed steroid guru Dan Duchaine, who was famous for writing the book titled: UNDERGROUND STEROID HANDBOOK . When this book came out I knew two local bodybuilders who worshiped this book like the bible, and practiced some of the steroid cycles listed in the book that were considered to be safe. Both of these guys are dead now before reaching age 40. In each case, congestive heart failure was the cause of death. If that isn’t enough to prove that steroids are dangerous, then how about Dan Duchaine, the self anointed steroid guru himself, dying at the age of 48? Need more? Pro bodybuilder, Andreas Munzer, dead at age 36; Former owner of Nuclear Nutrition, Trevor Smith, dead at age 33; Former “World’s Strongest Man” Anthony Clark, dead at age 39, Scottish bodybuilding champion, Louise Halliwell, dead at age 38; Former Mr. America, Mike Scarcella, dead at age 39; European bodybuilding champion, Mohammed Benaziza, dead at age 33; Former winner of the masters Olympia, Sonny Schmidt, dead at age 50; Former football Hero of the LA Raiders, Lyle Alzado, dead at age 42; Former pro football player/pro wrestler, Ed “The Bull” Ganter, dead at age 30; Pro wrestlers Davey Boy Smith, Alex Rizzo, Brian Pillman, Ravishing Rick Rude, Terry Von Eric, and Eddie Guererro, all dead before the age of 40; then you also have Curt Hennig, Mike “Road Warrior Hawk” Hegstrand, Mike “Crash Holly” Lockwood, Keith Pinckard, and Adrian Adonis, all who died before the age of 50. These are names of some of the most famous athletes who happen to use steroids and had their lives expire early, not to mention all the other countless users throughout the world that weren’t famous and died prematurely. Can you prove for fact that steroids were responsible for every single one of these deaths? No, but I would say that the circumstantial evidence is compelling enough to make someone think twice before using these drugs.

I think it’s great that there are bodybuilding organizations out there that drug test in order to allow natural competitors a chance to compete on an even playing field. The only problem is that instead of joining together to try and make a united effort in order to do something about the drug issue in bodybuilding, they are all sort of trying to reinvent the wheel so to speak, and take an individualized approach to the problem.

As long as there are creative chemists out there, the drug problem will never go away. Now days you have these chemists out there producing these undetectable, designer steroids, about as fast, and easy as it is for you to make break, and bake cookies!  I think the main key to controlling the drug problem will be through educating potential users about the harmful effects these drugs can have, and also finding ways to give more exposure, and notoriety to bodybuilders, and other athletes who don’t use steroids. As I said before, the bodybuilding mainstream has made the look of the gigantic freak the image that is most marketable. If the industry were to make the image of the giant freaks less marketable, and increase marketability of the natural bodybuilders, then I think that alone would convince a substantial percentage of athletes to stay away from the drugs.

This plan would require magazine editor’s, and supplement companies to make some drastic changes to their marketing schemes! Those changes would have to be met with great public support, or else the magazines, and supplement companies would lose money, and their reputations. This is a risk that not many magazines or supplement companies are willing to take. I personally feel that the vast majority of the public would support these types of changes, and those magazines, and supplement companies may actually become more profitable if they played their cards right. None the less, it would still be a gamble.

I think that all synthetic steroids, growth hormones, thyroid hormones, insulin, prescription diuretics, and steroidal, pre-cursors should fall under the classification as a drug. It is my opinion that all of these types of enhancements have the ability to change the body chemistry enough to cause harmful effects in a relatively short amount of time.
I think that protein powder, creatine, N02 boosters, branched chain amino acids, glutamine, ZMA, CLA, glucosomine, HMB, essential fatty acids, vitamins, caffeine, and most herbal, and plant extracts, can be used safely with no ill effects if they are used sensibly.

People get into trouble when they start playing with their hormonal chemistry. The hormones in your body are like a perfect recipe for a gourmet dish. Each of the 22 hormones in your body are the ingredients for that perfect recipe. No person on earth has the knowledge to administer these drugs in a balanced fashion that will be optimal for good health. Like a gourmet chef, your body has ability to combine all these ingredients in perfect proportions for optimal health. The chef that measures, and mixes all of these ingredients perfectly is called the pituitary gland.
Anytime you add anything additional to these ingredients, other than what the recipe calls for, it will affect all the other ingredients. In other words you can’t take testosterone, or any other anabolic agent without it effecting leutenizing hormone, FSH, DHEA, thyroxin, cortisole, estrogen, and so on, and so forth. Just like the perfect gourmet recipe, if there is too much of one ingredient, or not enough of another, or extra ingredients that the recipe doesn’t call for, then the quality of the dish will suffer, and the end product of the recipe will be spoiled.

So far I’ve competed in 8 bodybuilding shows. For me the areas that I struggled with the most were my quads, and my abs. The big problem I had gaining mass in my quads was strictly a result of the many knee problems that I’ve suffered from. Not having an ACL, and very little cartilage in one knee made my leg training very challenging. First reason is that I could never be consistent with my leg training most of the time. Things would be going good and I would just start to get some good muscle growth going, then all of sudden I would have a cartilage tear, or a knee dislocation that would require surgery, then I would have to go through months of rehab, just to try and get back to ground zero again. The second reason quads were challenging to build, is because I was limited to what exercises I could perform to build them because of the lack of stability, and range of motion in my one knee. Ideally, I would want to do free style squats, and front squats to build up my quads, but since those don’t work, I have to rely on smith squats, leg presses, hack squats, and partial leg extensions. As time has passed, I’ve figured out new ways to increase the intensity of these exercises to produce better results. Consequently, this has put my quads in much better balance with the rest of my physique. During my first few shows, my abdominals were a weak point for me simply because of errors I made with my diet. Over the years I’ve learned to master my diet in a fashion that has made my abdominals one of my strongest points.

I use a number of different techniques to boost the intensity of my workouts. Since muscular tension is what triggers an adaptive response, and forces the body to produce an increase in muscle volume, certain techniques have been very instrumental to my development. The techniques I use most often are: Using heavy weights, and low reps; rest-pauses, drop sets, slow negatives, partial reps, super-sets, giant sets, and static contractions. I recently began incorporating some German over-load training into my workouts, where the main objective is to perform a high volume of sets in a very short amount of time. For example, 8 sets, of 8 reps, with just 10-15 seconds of rest between each set. Since lactic acid is responsible for the release of human growth hormone in the body, I prefer to keep my time between sets at an absolute minimum in order to stimulate more lactic acid in the muscles. Although all of these techniques are useful to boost workout intensity, if they are over used, they can cause a natural athlete to slip into the realm of over training very quickly, and be counter-productive. As a rule of thumb, a natural bodybuilder needs to train very intensely, but for a relatively short duration of time. Ideally, 30-45 minutes of consistent, intense training, is the perfect time frame for a training session. The reason for this is that natural anabolic hormone levels will peak between 30-45 minutes of intense training, and then began to rapidly drop after that. This is also the point where adrenal hormones such as cortisole will begin to creep up. This creates a catabolic environment in the body that will work against muscle growth, and fat loss.

I often tell people this is a subject I could easily write a book about. When I begin my workout, I’m on a mission. I have an objective to fulfill, and I have limited amount of time to fulfill that objective. As a mentioned earlier, I allow very limited time between sets for important reasons. It can really be annoying when a typical gym rat will come up and try to strike up a conversation about something stupid either in the middle of my set, or even between my sets. By typical gym rat, I mean those guys who show up at the gym first, and foremost to socialize, and training is just a secondary thing to them. These guys will roam around the gym for 2-3 hours each night, and maybe do a total of 4-6 sets within 2-3 hours. At least 75% of their time is spent walking around talking. It shows too! The guys that do this tend to be very out of shape, and never show any improvements in their physiques. I’ve reached the point where I have to rude to these people because they just don’t take a hint. They can’t seem to understand why my workout is more important to me than listening to them tell a story about how drunk they were the previous weekend, or go on about some women they see in the gym that they wish they could get lucky with. I really don’t care if people want to waste their own time, it’s none of my business, but when people try to waste my limited time with something stupid, I tend to take offense. I don’t mind answering sincere questions for people about training, or nutrition. I’m a helpful person by nature, so if someone has a question for me, I’m more than happy to try and help them when my workout is finished.

I hate it when people in the gym have absolutely no consideration for other members, and act like they are the only ones in the gym. They do stuff like, sit on 1 piece of equipment for hours on end so nobody else can it, don’t put their weights away when they are done, don’t wipe of benches they just left a huge sweat puddle on, hock up luggies in the water fountains, use weights that are too heavy for them to control so they drop them, and break them, scream obnoxiously when they are training, and don’t maintain personal hygiene so they stink so bad you can smell them 100 yards away. I’m all for working up a good sweat, but you can tell if someone hasn’t showed for days, or put on deodorant. Not only are these behaviors offensive, but are also very unnecessary.

There is something else that really bothers me, and I think this is something that other people are also bothered by, but just won’t say it out loud. That is when I step into the locker room at the gym, and these guys come walking up to me butt naked and want to strike up a conversation. There is nothing that anyone has to say to me that is so important that it can’t wait until they at least have their underwear on! I have lots of hobbies, but wiener gazing isn’t one of them! Some of these guys are just a little too comfortable in there. A little shame is not a bad thing to have!

One last thing that bothers me at the gym is when people don’t respect the whole personal space etiquette. That is when you have a situation in which there are a dozen empty stair steppers in a row, and you jump on one, then someone else comes and jumps on the one right next to you even though they have the option to use a different stepper, and leave adequate space between you and them. This same offense occurs with urinals, and bathroom stalls. The only time it should be acceptable for someone to “box you in” is when all other possible options are taken, and there is no other possible choice available.

The only pet peeve I have regarding bodybuilding competitions’ I’ve been in, is when you have guys who act like jerks and snarl at the other competitors. Doing a bodybuilding competition should be about setting a personal goal and having fun with it. It isn’t MMA, or ultimate fighting. There is no reason to show up and act like an A-hole.

My favorite recipe to make is my muscle meat loaf! I make it in large batches so I can eat it for several days. This is how I make it: In a large bowl, I mix 3 lbs, of extra lean ground beef, 3 lbs of extra lean ground turkey, 3 cage free eggs, 1 cup of instant oatmeal, 2 medium onions chopped up, and ½ cup of unsweetened tomato sauce. After mixing these ingredients together, I fill 3 meat loaf pans, about ¾ the way full, and top off each loaf with a thin layer of unsweetened tomato sauce. I bake all 3 pans together, at 325 degrees, for about 50 minutes.

As I mentioned previously, if a bodybuilder is training naturally, then 30-45 minutes of intense weight training is ideal. The exception to this rule is if a bodybuilder is using steroids. Steroids drastically alter the chemistry of the body by increasing protein synthesis and nitrogen retention, as well as reduce catabolic hormone levels. These functions allow a bodybuilder using steroids to endure much more volume, and frequency then a natural bodybuilder training without steroid. When you train naturally, there is a very thin margin for error that you must adhere to. You need to be much more meticulous in terms of both your training and diet. Using chemical enhancements will compensate for many training, and dietary transgressions. As I’ve stated time, and time again, the compromises made when choosing to use chemical enhancements are extraordinary and should be carefully considered!

Number 1. I would have to say nutrition, because an individual’s nutrition would have to be based on their training regimen, and sleep patterns. The body can do nothing without nourishment. After that, I would have to say the gym, or training because not only is training essential for good health, and to develop a better body, but I think working out can also be a prerequisite to be able to sleep. If I don’t exercise, then stress and anxiety get the best of me, and I won’t be able to sleep at all. Sleep is very important for muscle growth, energy, the immune system, and mental well being, however, as the responsibilities in life continue to grow, a good night’s sleep is something that seems to be ever-more elusive for many people, including myself.

Currently I follow a ketogenic diet. In other words, my diet is very low in carbohydrates, but I consume a high level of protein, and moderate amount of fat. For those who aren’t familiar with ketogenic diets, they involve restricting carbohydrate in the diet to such an extent, that body is forced to convert fats in chemicals called ketone bodies. The body will use ketone bodies in the place of glucose for energy. Testing kits can be purchased at pharmacies that allow you to test your urine to see if you have reached a state of ketosis. The test kits include thin strips, with a small sponge on the end. You simply place the small sponge on the strip, in the flow of your urine, and wait 15 seconds. After 15 seconds, the sponge will change to a purple color if there are significant levels of ketone bodies in the urine. The deeper shade of purple the sponge turns to, the greater the level of ketosis that has been reached. This type of diet forces the body to rely on more on fat as an energy source, thus helping reduce body fat levels.

Are ketogenic diets necessary to get lean? No, absolutely not. I have been able to get my body very lean, and shredded without following a ketogenic diet. The reason why I like to follow a ketogenic diet is because my appetite is much easier to control on this type of diet. Consuming dietary fats cause the lining of the small intestine to release a hormone called CCK, or Cholecystokinin. CCK is a natural appetite suppressant. Carbohydrates on the other hand, seem to induce hunger for me personally.

My diet is pretty simple. I try to get about 5 servings of quality protein each day in the form of cage free eggs, steak, chicken, wild salmon, cod, and hydrolyzed whey protein. In addition to the protein, I try to get in at least 2 large serving of green vegetable each day, along with some essential fats such as flax seed, extra virgin olive oil, fish oil, and sometimes extra virgin coconut oil. I drink mostly water, some coffee, and allow myself 1 diet soda each day. I like to have a glass of red wine while I’m preparing dinner at night. I allow myself 1 cheat meal per week. It makes adhering to a strict diet much easier if you get 1 opportunity each week to indulge in something that you have been craving.

Supplements are a great asset to a natural bodybuilder so I take advantage of quite a few of them. I’ve always been completely honest about everything I use, so I will tell you exactly what my current supplement stack is which has been working very well.
-USP Labs~ Super Cissus Rx. This one is essential for sure, because without it, some of my joints would hurt so much I wouldn’t be able to train intensely.
-Optimum Nutrition~ Hydrowhey Platinum.
-USP Labs~ Jack3d
-Optimum Nutrition~ HMB
-USP Labs~ Modern BCAA
-Optimum Nutrition~ Creapure, creatine monohydrate
-Optimum Nutrition~ Optimen multivitamin, and also CLA.