Hacker News Reader

Comment by monooso | Hacker News Reader

It wasn't steroid "abuse", it was completely legal (and common practise) at the time. The article you linked to makes this perfectly clear.

View on HN

It might have been common practice, but everyone denied it, including Arnold repeatedly. It was and is considered “cheating”, so the claim that it was normal should be asterisked. It is “normal” the way affairs in marriage are.

And his recollection of his usage seems suspect. Both his dbol and test are seriously on the low side. I hugely doubt he is being forthcoming.

To be clear I am a big fan of his and think the use of steroids is a personal choice, weighed against risks. It’s just that the post-facto fictions presented are seldom honest.

He talks pretty openly about using steroids in "Pumping Iron" which came out in 1977. He was very candid about it, probably because you would have to be a moron to look at professional body builders and think they were natural.

> It might have been common practice, but everyone denied it, including Arnold repeatedly. It was and is considered “cheating”, so the claim that it was normal should be asterisked. It is “normal” the way affairs in marriage are.

Maybe I am naive, but having an affair isn't a prerequisite for marriage. Whereas everyone in bodybuilding is on steroids, it's a prerequisite for the sport. It was back then and it still is now.

Use/abuse - still a negative for me. I didn't read his book but I doubt it's one of his tools..

Legality doesn't preclude abuse potential. Plenty of people abuse legal things like alcohol every day.

That still doesn't reflect a moral blight, let alone for the fact that it's a "potential".

I don't know what this means.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com