Memoirs of a reluctant Bulker

THANKS to all of you Natural Athletes out there reading this, who grind it out day after day, night after night with the weights, adhere to that diet at the dinner table and push millions of miles on the recumbant. For you are to be saluted: Not only for your physical accomplishments, but for your character accomplishments as well! Read on…..

"Dude, you are looking huge! What are you taking?"

"Wow Girlie, you look smokin’ hot? Whatcha taking? You have gotta tell me!!"

Sound familiar? Chances are that if you have been lifting for some time, are exhibiting some muscle, maybe alot of muscle, and look any different than you once did…..you’ve been asked this question at one time or another, by either a friend, acquintance, or total stranger:

"What are you taking?" 

Now, this question can be met with anger or pride, depending on who you are, what your internal makeup is and of course, whether or not you are actually taking something.

Are you a person who thrives on input from others? Do you gauge your success by what other people think of you? At work, are you only successful, if someone points out your acheivements?

This question most likely answers whether or not you have, are or plan to ingest or inject hormonal implants (steroids). The following are personalities in a neighborhood near you, who workout, but either say "yes" or "no."

-Self starter Boy….does without direction: says "NO" to the ‘roids.

-Captain Hanger…hangs on other peoples thoughts of them: Flaming roid abuser

-Ms. Proactive…. could-care-less what you think: Roid rejector

-Colonel Warped….Self image of a skunk: Rectal roid rammer

Feel free to add any characters you are familiar with…….

There has been a boatload of discussion regarding steroids recently, whether it be baseball, cycling, track / field or any other major sport. Bodybuilding traditionally has entertained steroidal discussions for the past sixty years: for obvious reasons. It is because of this latest media frenzy and many blogs here on BS as of late, that I will now throw my less than two cents in on the subject.

Bodybuilding might either be a major player in your life or not even an entertained thought; as you prefer to just think of yourself as a person of fitness. Regardless of your goals for moving the iron, the generalized goal most likely is the same: "Give me some muscle"….some want more than others for sure. So, in this quest, we all eventually have come, are at, or will come to a dead end on our road to making progress. It is at this junction that we will have to re-evaluate what we are doing: And ulitmately, it boils down to two additional paths we may choose:

1. Change routines, machines, and diet….This road of course is not infinite with progress. On the contrary this road allows us to ulitmately hit our true, naturally selected and intended size as well as our aesthetic potential. 

2. Seek out chemical enhancements, which will allow us to stretch passed our natural abilities.

At this point here, I would suggest that any and all reading this, opt for number one. My reasons? Simple:

-Your body was intended to reach certain proportions as is determined by your DNA. Accept it and be happy with it. The human body is much more beautiful and functions on an amazing level when it is operating within it’s inherent requirements.

-Knowing that you are doing something without an "edge" should provide outright and natural motivation. When you have ingested something that is predetermined to make something easier, aka building muscle, where is the challenge and what now is the goal? To reach the extreme potential of a chemical that will, yes, build more muscle, but may also destroy your health? Not to mention your natural aesthetics and internal fitness level. Sounds alluring, yes?…..NOT!!

-Taking a chemical to enhance your physique states only (and maybe only to yourself, because it might never be detected) that you have proven the existence of an internally low self esteem, not to mention a low level of morality. HEY, you’re a decent person, how can I say this you ask? Well, if you feel the need to take something to push into an unexpected and unintended physical state, it’s most likely because you are an attention boarhog. Secondly, if you are competing, you most likely are not walking in and telling the world and / or judges that you have taken a banned substance: hence you are a cheater, yes?

-And if you are a cheater….and as the old saying goes: Who are you ultimately cheating by cheating? (Yeah I know it’s a tired saying, but) YES, MY FRIEND, YOU’RE CHEATING YOURSELF!!

Analogy:

Young whipper snapper number one elected not to cheat on the test and failed. His parents scolded him and as a result, he studied harder for the next test and passed. Upon graduating, he interviewed for an open slot for the University of Texas. Ironically, the interview contained many of the questions he had studied for and therefore smoked the interview. He was ultimately accepted.

Young whipper snapper number two elected to cheat on all of his tests, passed them with aces, and subsequently ensured that many a people and entity heard about his achievements loud and proud. Graduation day came and low-n-behold, The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) came a knockin’. During the interview, many of the lower level questions our heroic young cheater had earlier unmoralistically answered were lobbed his way. Do I need to finish the story or do you get the point? Really….okay well he didn’t get the open MIT spot because he didn’t know the softball questions.

Moral: Look deep inside if you are considering taking the ROIDS tonight and ask yourself whether or not the ultimate goal for which you are willing to take something, banned, illegal and unmoralistic does not need to be reconsidered. I would suggest that if you value your persona, your character, and your long range physical condition….you will opt to do it the natural way!

Tonight my friends, be the one who said no to the roid-rhomba-juice, then proudly listen to the question, "Dude / Dudette, what are you taking," and know that you have accomplished something fantastic……Naturally!!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 23rd, 2007 at 9:33 pm and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.