1. I took steroids.
2. If you want to lift in an equipped meet, you'll need to buy equipment.
3. The title of the thread is "Two Questions." I answered the two that actually made sense.
Member
Two Questions
Rip, I have three questions I was hoping you would address to finally resolve them and allow me to move on to other topics to mentally disect.
1. When you competed were you taking steroids or any performance enchancing drugs to reach those weights for competition or did you just pound of the beef and milk as recommended to us?
I do apologize as this is a somewhat personal question and one you may be unwilling to answer (or have already answered) but I am not trying to discredit in any way or raise a debate. I recognize that from reading some of the articles that steroids were used by competitors to reach greater weight and it was not found to be wrong, unethical, or cheating. I know people may flame me for asking this question, but I'm asking because I want to know if heavy lifts, ie 600, 700, or even 800lbs on Deads, Squats, etc. are possible without ehancement.
2. I see a lot of big impressive lifts being done but at the same time those people are wearing belts, single ply suits, the works to make it happen. I recognize genetic potential as being part of pulling impressive lifts, but where do people reach the point of "needing" these items to continue moving forward in lifting?
I'm not saying I am considering buying a single ply suit. For me, I will probably never get to that point as I want to go as far as my genetic potential will allow without aids. A belt however is a very realistic item to utilize for support and continued strengthening of the core. I know there are 100's of threads on this forum about belts, and 100's of debates on when someone should purchase one. I'm curious as to if/when it actually is ever needed or if people just use it for an "edge."
3. The SS program focuses greatly on the Squat and rightly so as you said its the single exercise that works basically the entire body. It also focuses on the largest muscle group of the human body, the legs/butt. This will spur greatest gains for an individual and result in mass being built, but primarily in the lower half of the body. Assuming one reaches a satisfactory weight/proportion in that area, does it make sense to apply the SS ideal to other exercises, such as do Bench three times a week and Squats only once per workout A to maintain strength?
I ask because Bench and Press are focused on much smaller muscle groups although still remaining compound exercises. Can the body recover on the same caloric and protein intake used for squats, or will one overtrain too quickly even if microloading as opposed to using the 5-10lb approach?
Thanks. I will note I only currently own the SS book 2nd Edition, so if you cover this in Practical Programming or some other text, I apologize for requesting an answer to that which is already out there.
TMPHBITEU
1. I took steroids.
2. If you want to lift in an equipped meet, you'll need to buy equipment.
3. The title of the thread is "Two Questions." I answered the two that actually made sense.
Member
Hoping that my question is okay here I would like to ask something that's been on my mind:
Would you say there are natural strength limits that are invariant to age, bodyweight, experience? Like "nobody can bench more than 400 pounds without being on drugs"? Not that I would care if somebody is clean or not but I was wondering if there are limits within us that cannot be surpassed. Or is there still development in the numbers that's not due to improved materials (like better shirts or suits)?
An example for such a limit (altough probably not natural) would be the high jump. The last three world records have been established by the same guy (Javier Sotomayor in 88, 89 and 93, raised the bar for 1cm each time). But nobody these days comes even close to his records, you usually win the world championship with 10 cm less in height and it's assumed that no human being yould jump any higher than he did.
TMPHBITEU
There are obviously strength limitations to humans. Nobody will ever squat 1100, bench 700, deadlift 900, clean 700, snatch 600, or press 600 without chemical and textile assistance. Given these species-level limitations, there are obviously wide variations. I know many people who have benched 400 clean and un-shirted. The NFL is full of guys who can deadlift 600 and pass a drug test.
Member
<<When you competed were you taking steroids or any performance enchancing drugs to reach those weights for competition or did you just pound of the beef and milk as recommended to us?>>
When did people start feeling comfortable asking such questions to those who aren't even acquaintances? I realize you apologized after asking the question, but the genie was out of the bottle.
<<...I'm asking because I want to know if heavy lifts, ie 600, 700, or even 800lbs on Deads, Squats, etc. are possible without ehancement.>>
Top IPF lifters Mike Tuchscherer and Brad Gillingham have numerous 800+ deadlifts behind them, and I believe both are drug free. Gillingham has been tested (both in meet and OMTed) around as many times as he has pulled 800+ (approximately 60). Tuchscherer has also squatted 755 raw. This isn't to say such numbers are attainable for most people, whether they use steroids or not. Powerlifting can instill a constructive humility in this regard.
Member
One question that I ask myself is, what is the effect of "cleaning up" on the steroid gains. If you reach a limit at Xkg drug-free, then take steroids to get to Ykg on some lift, then stop, do you inevitably revert to lifting Xkg again over time, or do you have a "clean genetic potential" and a different "cleaned-up genetic potential"?Originally Posted by MylesKantor
Member
I find it interesting that even after I said I wasn't trying to bunch some panties here that someone's got bunched.
I'm not going to beat around the bush on this. If you are man enough to do steroids then you better be man enough to admit to it. Just like if you do any other plethora of things that are debateable, questionable, and considered by some unethical, you better be able to man up to it. People come on these forums all the time and challenge others manhood over what they lift or can't. Being a man is being able to stand by your decisions and admit it them wrong or right, not what you lift.
Especially for someone who has people coming to him asking for advice. We and they deserve to know realistically that lifting heavy heavy weights beyond a certain range requires enhancements.
Rip was man enough to admit it, and also didn't take it immaturely. I meant the question honestly and with no contempt but for knowledge. If it offends you, get over it and grow up. If you want to take a magic drug and hide it then you aren't being realistic and lying not only to yourself but others.
I didn't ask about his personal life, his marriage, kids, etc. I asked about his lifting career, which last I checked was what this forum was about. And to me, he has more credibility (at least to me) for being honest than getting emotional over the truth.
Member
another limitation that should be accounted for is body durability. Plenty of people seem to have lots of strength potential but are constantly injured, while some people rarely suffer injury (Konstantinovs has been injured rarely, for instance). In other sports, baseball pitcher Kerry Wood had great potential and had pretty good career, but it was certainly flattened by the fact that he was always on the DL.
TMPHBITEU
Quite honestly, zee, it is still absolutely none of your business. I just decided to get it out of the way since it comes up quite often. There aren't many of us that lifted in the 1980s that didn't use some chemical help, because it wasn't illegal at the time. Frankly, it's silly that the law is involved now.
I write the books, I post the silly shit I write on this board, and if it works for you, fine. Use it. Lots of people think it doesn't, and that's fine too. But my body and my lifting are my personal business. It doesn't take a "man" to do steroids, any more than it takes a "man" to admit having done them. I know lots of pussies that took and take steroids now, that brag about having done so, and that wouldn't put their asses on the line on a judged platform. I also know lots of guys that took them to compete, didn't like it, but did it because of the necessity of being competitive if they were going to risk injury with the heavy training.
I appreciate your kind words, but just drop it.
Member
Is it okay to ask questions about steroids in general? I'm very interested in the subject. I have no interest in actually taking them.
Matt
Posting Permissions