At Rx Muscle, we pride ourselves on providing readers with an honest insider's view of all aspects of weight training - nutrition, training, supplementation and pharmaceutical usage. When it comes to athletic drug use, Dave Palumbo provides in-depth knowledge of the science behind proper therapy. John Romano does an unrivaled job of exposing the socio-cultural and legal implications of the subject. With these two areas covered, I decided to share the behind-the-scenes real world views by top athletes, explaining their introduction to anabolic use, what worked (or didn't) for them, and what type of benefits and risks they encountered.
To kick things off, I transcribed an old athlete interview from eight years ago with one of the most prominent powerlifters in the world. Over copious amounts of cheap diner food and industry smack-talk, our anonymous powerlifting friend was extremely open with his experiences.
Describe your introduction to working out.
I started training when I was 10 years old. I received a weight set from my uncle for Christmas. I loved it from the start; I think I trained about four hours every day. This lead to joining the local YMCA, where I had access to more equipment, but still liked the free weights. In two years I was stronger than everybody there, so I moved on to a local powerlifting gym. I entered my first power meet when I was 13 and did a 400 squat, 315 bench and a 400 deadlift. I think I placed dead last. But I knew this was the sport for me. By the time I graduated high school, I had a 650 squat, 500 bench and a 620 deadlift.
Give our readers some description of your physical characteristics as well as some of your better lifts.
I weigh 300 pounds with around 11% bodyfat (taken with skinfold calipers). My best meet lifts are close to a 900 squat, 600 bench and 760 deadlift.
And what are your future goals in competition?
I would like to hit a 2300-pound total. I want to place a total that will always mean something, so 30 years from now it won't look like nothing. It is still all about setting personal records to me; I really don't care about who I beat or where I place.
Tossing around weights like that obviously involves some type of hormonal supplementation. When did "juice" first enter the picture?
I started on D-bol at the age of 15. I only took about one or two tabs a day. I loved it - my strength went through the roof. I got them through a doctor that was recommended to me by a cop in the gym in which I trained. It's kind of funny because everybody was using the stuff, but when I started to outlift them, they would say it was because of the drugs. They all started to treat me differently. This just pissed me off and made me want to do more.
Okay, you had strength gains but how else did this cycle effect you?
The only effects I remember were great strength increases. I put about 100 pounds on my bench and gained 20 pounds in eight weeks.
How has your anabolic use changed since then?
I have gone through different phases. When I was in college I took a lot of stuff (around 4000 mg. a week) I thought more was better. I was bodybuilding at the time and I do think it helped. It got me up to 242 at 5% body fat. I stayed this way for around five years. I would go on for eight weeks and off for six weeks. I took whatever I could get; I really didn't have any logic to it. When I went back to powerlifting I found this approach did not work.
So how do you design your cycles now?
I stay on year round. I will take small amounts of deca and equipoise in the off season (around two cc of each a week), then 10 weeks before a meet I take 2.5 cc of test (either cypionate or enanthate) every third day and 1.5 cc of deca and 1.5 cc of equipoise every third day until the meet. At 8 weeks out I add in d-bol (the dose depends on how good the stuff is. I have had some d-bol that 4 a day worked great and some that I needed 12 a day).
What do you feel are the best anabolics for weight and strength gain?
Implus H is by far the best for weight gain. I would take 1 dose every week. I would just cook it with oil and fire it up. Anadrol is also great for weight gain but I have a tendency to pull muscles while on this. For strength gains, I feel that training is the key. The drug doesn't matter that much, it is all in how well I recuperate.
With the difference in goals, how do you feel a powerlifter's cycle should vary from a bodybuilder's?
Powerlifters don't need as much stuff. It doesn't matter how big you are, just what you can lift. I also don't see a need for a powerlifter to take insulin or growth hormone. I'm not convinced either of these drugs make you stronger. Powerlifters also need harsher drugs like test and d-bol. Also, water retention is not a concern. Actually, more water retention will change your leverage and make you stronger.
Do you have any concerns about side effects and have you ever had any?
No, I personally don't think they are bad for you. I feel in the future we are going to find more and more regular people on drugs for the anti-aging effects.
How predominate are drugs in the sport of powerlifting and how does it compare to other sports?
They have a very strong presence in all sports. I talk to pro athletes all the time. They all are on something. It always has made me laugh during the Olympics when they talk about the women swimmers from other countries on drugs. Last time I checked our women looked bigger, stronger and were setting the world records. What does that tell you?
It always seemed to me that powerlifters would have a very tight network, since they compete frequently...
Does this translate to good drug connections? At meets we really don't talk about drugs that much, we are more interested in the training but everybody is always very open about information. We all want to see everyone excel. Drugs are hard to get for all of us at times.
If you could design a stack, without concern for cost or availability, what would it include?
Parabolin, good D-bol, Steris test suspension and enanthate. Maybe growth hormone because I hear it helps keep your tendons strong. There are a lot of tendon injuries in our sport. Yes, I think that would set me up pretty nicely.
DRUGS IN SHORT
Test Enanthate: Great for strength and size.
Test Cypionate: Same as enanthate but not as good.
Sustanon 250: Very over-rated.
Parabolin: One of the best for size and strength. Hard to get and very expensive.
Implus H: Great for weight gain. Pain in the ass to use.
Equipoise: Good for basic maintenance.
Deca: Great for maintenance and seems to help heal injuries.
Winstrol V: Not worth the price.
Finajet: One of the best. Sorry it's not around any more.
D-bol: A mainstay. You have to take D-ball to get strong.
Anadrol: Great for some and not for others. I have seen a lot of muscle pulls on this. It seems to make you too tight. If I take it, it's only one tab a day for two weeks. Great to break sticking points.
Test Suspension: Great for about two weeks before a meet. The gains come fast but stop quickly. Plus it seems you have to take it every day to make it really work.
All others: I think I have taken every drug out there except for growth hormone and insulin. I don't think any thing works better than good ole' test and D-bol.
Note: Once again I have found over the past 17 years that you don't need high doses to get strong (no more that 1200 mg a week (pre-season) and 400 mg week (off-season, for a big man), the training will do that. You do however need to find the drugs that help you recover faster and cause you to retain water.
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