The [Drug] Life of a Pro Bodybuilder

Professional bodybuilders – NOT like you and me! That’s an understatement. But an even bigger understatement is that we clearly don’t take the same AS as pros; and certainly not in the same galvanic portions!

Everything changes when a pro card passes from the IFBB to a national champion’s back pocket. The game is raised, and the expectations along with it, as well as how things work. That is to say, all of a sudden, your IFBB pro card fits in the magic card key slot, and the golden door of opportunity just opens up and welcomes you inside. “Inside”, being the inner sanctum of drug use that includes everything from price to availability to the means to acquire steroids and other useful substances. After all, AS cycles are the lifeblood of a pro’s career. Anyone who tells you differently, is deluding themselves, and trying to delude you.

So just what kinds of drugs do pros take at that level of competition? We’ll get to that in a minute. Let’s first look at what it actually means to be a pro….

First, the moment an athlete turns pro at the USA or the Nationals, drug dealers all over town are scrambling to either keep or get New Pro Guy’s business. They know he’s going to be needing an incredible amount of drug supply on a regular basis with his new status, and that he’ll continue buying them for a long time if he’s a success up on the stage and doesn’t blow it with poor condition. They want to be his supplier for the long haul. Keep in mind that it’s a matter of prestige and legitimacy for a supplier, too:

If Regular Guys A & B, prospective new clients, need drugs, they’re going to go to that supplier because they know he supplies New Pro Guy. If it’s good enough for New Pro Guy, it’s certainly good for their cause, and it increases Drug Dealer’s client base and income.

The other benefit to turning pro, where acquisition is concerned, is simple: Many hangers-on, wannabes and entourage prospects, will want to acquire the drugs for a new pro, because they want to curry favor, and be N.P.G.’s buddy so they can say that they “know New Pro Guy”. Now he owes them, but he’s gotten to keep his nose clean. He no longer has to approach dealers himself, and risk a raid or arrest. Either they come to him, or he can send any number of willing guys to the dealer on his behalf.

Being a new pro means being catapulted to instant “Fuckable New Pro Guy”. Ahhhh, the allure of a laminated piece of paper, half the size of the palm of your right hand! As a new pro, there’ll be rarely a lonely night, and N.P.G. has an instant cook, laundress and steroid/ drug mule to do his bidding where once these filthy chores were his alone! This changes everything, believe it or not. Now he has more time to spend acquiring drugs, taking drugs, training, and finding other girls to keep on the side.

So just how expensive could competitive drug use become for a new pro? Quite. In fact, up until this time, know it or not, he was actually a mere recreational drug user. Now, with card in hand, he’s a bonafide competiive drug user complete with carte blanche to abuse the hell out of any anabolic substance he can get his hands on. Alas, however, with this new unlimited lease on drug use comes a greater fiscal responsibility; particularly if he is poorly “connected” (or just plain clueless about how the system works). Incidentally, it’s our theory that, unless the genetics are just ‘ill’, 12th through 18th place are filled with poorly connected dudes who can’t catch a break with a regular supplier.

Often, it merely comes down to financing. A pro’s menu of drugs is astronomical, even when discounts are afforded. That’s why a great many pros try to get at least a $2K to $4K/ month contract with a supplement or equipment company. This is almost a “must” for any guy who wants to make the grade from the start. That is, of course, unless he’s willing to work full time to support his habit. Let’s face it, even superior genetics aren’t enough in this day and age to place someone at the top of his game. It’s a combination of chemicals, connections and good DNA.

To give you a frame of reference about the difference between a good amateur and a fledgling pro, it’s like this:

Whereas he used to inject 6 iu/ day of GH, now he injects up to 14 iu/ day!

Whereas he once filled a shoebox with drugs, now it’s more like an orange crate.

Whereas he once used just 3-4 drugs per cycle, now he’s using up to 8.

Whereas he once went “on” for 8 weeks, and came off for the same, now he’s “on” for 12 weeks and “off” for just 4.

Whereas he once injected a muscle or two for cosmetic enlargement, now he’s a pincushion for Synthol.

Whereas once he practiced sodium loading to engorge his muscles before competition, he now uses plasma expanders to do the job.

Wait…did everything just become ultra complicated?

Sound appealing? Depends on who you are. But one thing is for certain: A pro’s life and choices will never be the same again, until he stops competing on the big stage. As a top amateur he probably devoted a good many hours weekly to the sport – more, depending upon his level of motivation, dedication and liabilities. BUT, as a new pro, he may as well get used to the fact that he’ll live, breathe, eat and sleep pro bodybuilding until he retires…or is forced to get an organ transplant; whichever comes first.

He’ll also have to get used to using drugs that may be unfamiliar to him in his amateur career. Things like plasma expanders to increase blood volume, high-powered diuretics that he was sure were outlawed a few years back, are now back in his system. Now, he’ll probably be using insulin, which is foreign to a lot of amateurs until they hit the pros. If he can make the Top 3 at the Nationals in his weight class, why would he ever have taken it? But he’ll have to become accustomed to the high art of finding that balance between simple sugars and nausea or diabetic coma. He will mess up in the beginning.

Insulin is a fact of life for a pro. It is one of the most anabolic substances known to man, and it’s also one of the most dangerous and difficult to perfect. It also may alter his chemistry and pancreatic function for life – something he’ll have to come to terms with as he prepares for successive shows.

The average cost of a drug cycle for an IFBB pro is about $2K to $3K a month. That’s right…there’s a chance N.P.G. will spend upwards of $36,000 in a year on drug use. And that’s at a discount.

Some things won’t change. Like the staples of drug use in his growing crate of drugs. For instance, Testosterone Cypionate, Testosterone Enanthate, and Tesosterone Suspension are all staples for any bodybuilder. Each is used in different cycles for different reasons with different drugs accompanying. Same with Winstrol-V, Anavar, Sustenon, Primobolan Depot, and Sten, or D-Bol. All of these can be purchased quite easily and cheaply from someone in the gym – or many of them in Mexico. Mexico is cheaper, but local is less risky. Mailing these drugs back to the States is the only way for an obviously large man to go. Crossing the border with a big supply is risky. This isn’t anything new, and a part of the lifestyle that will continue for years to come as a new pro.

Crossing over into the realm of official “long term use” now means that hair loss is certainly inevitable, even if he’s escaped that side effect thus far. He should expect to get ‘gyno’ at least once in his career, if not more than once. He’ll have to get used to being accused of using Synthol (because, let’s face it, he is) and of being accused of implants of the pecs, calves, biceps or otherwise. He’ll have to get used to staying leaner in the off season too. A guy can’t maintain his messed up habits of overeating until he’s ready to burst after competitions. He’ll need to stay photo ready (for a pro this means, ‘within 25-30 pounds of contest weight, with the ability to drop 8 pounds of water overnight) almost all the time.

And that brings up another thing…

His cycles, as mentioned earlier, will be longer, with less time off, simply because now he is under official scrutiny. No longer can he get fat or small in the off season and just wear clothes that hide it. If he’s not showing skin, he’s automatically suspect. If he’s not in the magazines now, much more often, it means he sacrifices having been seen all year by judges who monitor his appearance and condition, unofficially, officially. He risks losing at least 5 places if he hides in the off season (because unless your name is Coleman or Cutler, and they know you’re good, you’re toast). That means increased drug use, better diet, and more time dedicated to pursuing all of this each day and week. Can N.P.G. hang?

Here are just a few pro cycles he will have to endure, and bankroll, to go ‘all the way’. We say “endure” because he’s probably been laboring under a misconception that being a pro is all fun and frivolity. Actually, it’s a lot harder than being an amateur, even though the workouts stay the same. That’s because taking more drugs, in larger amounts, is arduous and hard on the body.

Cycles:

Coleman’s Purported Cycle – K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple Stupid!)

1 Sustanon/Hr + 1 Deca
10 D-Bol tabs/ every 3 hours
10 iu GH/ every 3 hours
20 iu Insulin/ every 3 hours (w/ meal)
100mcg IGF/ 3x a day

Don’t Try This at Home

Weeks 1-20: 2500 Mg. Sustanon (EW) + 1000 Mg. E.Q. (EW) + 200 Mg. Test. Propionate (D)
Weeks 1-8: 70 Mg. D-bol (D)

Weeks 8-13: 600 Mg. Nandralone Phenylpropionate (EW)

Weeks 14-20: 100 Mg. Trenbolone Ac. (EOD) + 50 Mg. D-bol (D)
Arimidex

Gonzo Boy Cycle

Weeks: 1-8 250mg Sustanon (EOD) + 800mg EQ (EW) + 100mg Trenbolone Ac (EOD)
Weeks 9-21: 1000mg Test. Cypionate (EW)
Weeks 9-16: 1000mg EQ (EW)

Weeks 12-24: SuperClen 200mcg/Ephedrine 60mg/keto 3mg (D)

Weeks 16-24: 100mg Trenbolone Ac. (D) + 50-60mg Anavar (D)
Weeks 22-24: 50mg Test Propionate / 50mg Test Suspension (D)
Additionally:
Weeks 1-12: 15iu GH (D)

Weeks 9-10: HCG 5000iu
Weeks 13-24: 20iu GH (D)

Weeks 16-17: HCG 5000iu
Weeks 1-24: 50mg Aromasin (D) + 1 mg Arimidex (D)

The downside to living a public life filled with illicit drug use…

Keep your nose clean – both in terms of getting into unnecessary pissing matches, and in terms of being “invisible” with all that you do. So many people want to know you, but for everyone who wants to know and hang out with you, 100 more want to bring you down. This is why it’s so crucial to know who your friends are, lest you create unwitting enemies. Case in point: Craig Titus. Finding friends, when you need them most, when you are cocky, arrogant, combative or otherwise unpleasant because of your drug use, is nearly impossible when the chips are down. And let’s face it, we all get a turn now and again.