I think people are quite aware of how prolific steroid usage in bodybuilding is. It's the movie actor physiques that people aren't as aware of.
In many areas of the world it's completely risk-free as well as you won't get busted for possession of Testosterone or even stuff like Trenbolone.
[1] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-1997-10-03/html/97-25...
I didn't do any steriods, because a friend of mine went from "pillsbury doughboy" (his assessment) to very jacked in about 9 months. He used steroids, and was shocked to find he'd lost a couple inches in height. The doc told him it was the steroids, and even worse, he'd still lose the usual height when he aged (we all shrink as we age).
He was pretty bummed about it, but still became very popular with the ladies and was happy about that.
The things people believe constantly amaze me. Steroids don't make people shrink.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904194604576580...
Googling "do people get shorter as they age steroids" yields many more references to this.
He took a lot of steroids (I don't know which ones), his doctor told him that was the cause, and nothing else accounted for it. Anyone considering steroids should consult with a physician first. Me, I wasn't willing to take the risk.
It's an anecdote and third-hand information, at best. Maybe OP misremembered something. Maybe the doctor was wrong or simply trying to convince the guy to stop using steroids. Maybe the guy lied about what really happened to protect their medical privacy.
None of us is in any position to determine what really happened. Facts as I understand them:
OP chose to not use steroids themselves because of scary story from person they knew.
Everything else is damn near wild conjecture as to "what really happened."
Generally, to get to the level of single-digits body fat you see on screen, you're looking at 3-6 months of clean eating (or more, depending on the actor's physique when they land the role), meaning among other things, no alcohol, no sweets, and lots of eggs or chicken meals. Someone being paid a few million dollars can afford to pay a nutritionist to custom-design a diet to meet specific appearance goals, a and they have a huge incentive to stick with that diet. For example, Chris Pratt had to give up beer, pizza, and all dietary pleasures for six months to go from being the fat guy on Parks and Rec to the main hero of Guardians of the Galaxy.
On top of the diet, the actor is spending hours on near-daily exercise for several months. Chris Hemsworth eschews cardio for pure muscle-building, but Paul Rudd and Kumail Nujani each spent a year preparing for their Marvel roles, using a blend of cardio and full-body workouts (as, in contrast to Thor, Ant Man and Kingo have lean physiques but neither actor was particularly athletic when cast), while Pratt spent nearly 6 hours a day, 6 days a week, for over 6 months on cardio activities to cut weight for the first Guardians movie (as he already had the muscle for the character underneath his excess bulk and just needed to reveal them).
But the real trick to the "cut" look on screen is dehydration; actors don't drink for several hours before shirtless scenes, which makes them appear thinner and more defined. (In several interviews, Kumail Nujani talks about nearly passing out after several filming several shirtless scenes for The Eternals, which required him to limit water consumption for nearly 12 hours before shooting.) This is something you can actually try yourself at home: take a before pic, spend a few hours on a long cardio activity like running or biking, and then take an after pic before you rehydrate. You will appear thinner and your muscles (if they were visible beforehand) will appear more well-defined, even though they aren't any bigger.
The problem is that they tell these stories, and people believe it. If he had really done six hours of cardio per day he'd likely disappear and have no muscle.
Diet and exercise is, make no mistake, a huge part of it - all of that has to be on point. The reality very much involves manipulating hormones, and that means steroids, growth hormone, etc.
My point was that cardio-centric fitness does not cause you to waste away from a muscle mass perspective, and I pointed out two exercises which are generally considered cardio but which result in people developing more noticeable muscles throughout their body or maintaining muscles already present. Contrasting with exercises like cycling and running, which focus on a limited set of muscles and, without additional exercises, do not promote a strong upper body or maintaining the muscles of the upper body if someone already starts off with well-developed arms, chest, and back.
I suppose if you spend all of your day in front of a computer, you'll have difficulty understanding what the human body is capable of on its own with enough time and discipline and you'll just assume everyone is taking shortcuts. Najani isn't some special case; he's a prototypical example of "easy gains" that pretty much any guy can get with a year of dedicated training and diet if you're focused on muscular appearance rather than muscular performance. (For those who understand the lingo, this means he focused heavily on large fast-twitch muscles which grow quickly and easily, at the expense of the slow-twitch and medium twitch muscles that would relevant for most athletic performance.)
Members of the military routinely do 12+ hours a day of physical exercise, including hours of cardio, and yet none of them have problems disappearing (and only about 2.5% of military personnel use steroids). Triathletes, similarly, can spend 6 hours a day or more on exercise.
Cardio doesn't consume muscle unless you combine it with starvation. Muscles are the last-ditch choice of fuel. On a proper diet, cardio burns glycogen and fat. And if you're as fast as Pratt was when he started his that exercise regime, you've got plenty of fuel for hours of daily exercise, no steroids or hormones required (except for the ones your body generates itself in response to exercise and diet).
You're assuming an awful lot. I am sure there are more than a handful of people here who know when there is reason to be suspicious of someone's gains.
>Members of the military routinely do 12+ hours a day of physical exercise, including hours of cardio, and yet none of them have problems disappearing (and only about 2.5% of military personnel use steroids). Triathletes, similarly, can spend 6 hours a day or more on exercise.
Members of the military get very fit. But the body transformations we're seeing in Hollywood are emphasizing physique. Practical fitness is less of a consideration. And many bodybuilders do very little real cardio. Even when getting lean for competition, some do little more than fast walking.
Triathletes competing in the Ironman will obviously do more than 6+ hours on event day. I don't personally know of any who train like that. Three hours per day would be more like it, and not necessarily every day. There must be room for recovery.
I can speak more personally about road cycling. Six hour training blocks simply don't happen. Even six hour races are not that common even at the top pro levels.
>Cardio doesn't consume muscle unless you combine it with starvation. Muscles are the last-ditch choice of fuel. On a proper diet, cardio burns glycogen and fat.
Obviously the diet is key here. And my original point wasn't specific enough about this, but here goes: a lot of these Hollywood "transformations" aren't being honest about the diet versus the claimed exercise regimen. I don't want to take anything away from them in terms of their accomplishments - it is tough to nail all of this to achieve the body they're getting. And steroids help.
While it's true that the Schwarzenegger look isn't in vogue, it's a bit of a myth to think that steroid usage would lead to that look in any short amount of time.
There are many steroid "stacks" (meaning some kind of testosterone ester with other steroids on top) that are designed for the lean, dry look that many movie stars have reached in recent years. I don't doubt that some stars work for it naturally, but I do believe many have used them in the short term.
I also don't think it's incredibly risky to your health in the short term, depending of course on the steroid.
Getting a visible 6-pack is a lot easier than people think it is. It doesn't require steroids, just discipline and time.
That's exactly the problem with lying about steroids. It took a while for Arnold and his successors to admit that they were on 1000mg of test per week (plus other stuff of course; normal production of even high test men is below 100mg). Now people believe that yeah that bodybuilders are obviously juiced but physiques of elite athletes like soccer players or Hollywood actors are natural because they are smaller.
Remember, significant % of guys in your local gym are on juice. There are no doping controls in Hollywood. Testosterone won't kill you, it may even make your life better if you use it wisely. Would you take it if million dollars and fame were on the line? We know they take it because we know quite well how juiced up physiques look.
Besides, if someone who is not a professional athlete did 6 hours of serious training per day their body would give up sooner rather than later unless the recovery was "enhanced".
I don't condemn steroid use btw. I oppose widespread lying about it by the users and the media.
Yeah this is the thing that annoys me. Recently listening to Tim Ferriss interviewing an amazing female powerlifter. She deadlifts 4x body weight and other sorts of remarkable feats.
So the entire 2 hour show discussed her insane training regimen and diet and other forms of wellness. Hearing how much she squats in a week was daunting (“what am I doing with my own weak training then!?”)
Then I googled her (Stefi Cohen) and she has shoulders like cannonballs (female Dan Green) and ripped abs like a male bodybuilder. So very obviously steroids play an essential role in her training /recovery capacity.
I have no problem or quibble with that. Want to take that, fine. Probably the only way you’ll meet the records she has established.
What I dislike, though, is the interview where everything BUT drugs is discussed. Drugs enable the recovery that enables her insane workload. Especially when Ferriss purports to dig into “the secrets of high performers”. Well this is one vital secret. I felt like this interview was deceptive in a way.
Like I said earlier, I’m not opposed to steroid use. I decided not to use them myself. But it would be refreshing to hear about the high performers among us who do. I’d like to know their thinking around the decision. I’m sure it valid and more refined than whatever I’d expect them to say.
Anyway I think the most practical justification why they don’t talk about this is because their sponsors don’t like it. Money talks.
How widely are you thinking, and where are you getting your stats? People have been using steroids for decades now, so comparing pre-steroid athletes to modern day athletes is apples and oranges. Exercise science has come a long way over the decades, not to mention the cultural ideal body images have also changed.
Athletes train for performance, generally meaning muscle strength and endurance. Actors train for appearance, generally meaning muscle size. These different training goals generally require very different training programs.
Would you take it if million dollars and fame were on the line? We know they take it because we know quite well how juiced up physiques look.
Clearly, you don't, or you would see immediately that Rudd and Najani are not juiced. If they were or had been juicing, they would be significantly more muscular after a full year of training.
Besides, if someone who is not a professional athlete did 6 hours of serious training per day their body would give up sooner rather than later unless the recovery was "enhanced".
With proper exercise form, proper diet and recovery, the human body can sustain elevated levels of serious training indefinitely. Our armed forces do it all the time; only 2.5% of the military uses steroids.
The guy laughed, and said something like: "If I don't get back in shape, I lose several million dollars and my career." They're highly motivated, to say the least.
Nujani is on gear, and what's more, he has an NDA which means he can't talk about it even if he wanted to.
I can't prove it, of course. But don't fool yourself, that's what's happening. Look at his jawline if you don't believe me, what diet is supposed to do that?
Najani gave a series of press interviews in 2019/2020 as part of the original press campaign for The Eternals, so I don't know why you think an NDA would apply here. (And for that matter, the SAG agreement with the studio would generally bar an NDA of that nature.) He had a year to get into shape, and a wife to make sure he kept to his diet, and that sort of transformation is definitely doable for a normal guy in a year. If anything, his transformation is pretty underwhelming given that he had a full year to get ready; if he had been doing steroids his arms and chest should be significantly larger.
Look at his jawline if you don't believe me, what diet is supposed to do that?
His jawline in that picture is natural; that's what it can look like when you have <9% body fat and you're extremely dehydrated and sucking in your cheeks when the picture is being taken.