So the guy that looks like he’s permanently on a mission down the gym, you know the one… attacks the free weights as if they’re a matador in a bull ring, seemingly blowing steam out his nostrils… is he on steroids?

Apparently they’re one of the most widely used banned substances around. I can spot a stoner from a mile off and have always assumed that ‘roid users fit a tattooed overly pumped upper body, chicken legged, crew cut stereotype. Am I right?

Does anyone on here use them?

yeah. Im buff me.

Probably. Using steroids is about on par to using SPDs on the scale of taking your hobby seriously. The majority of guys in the gym who look like they go to the gym will be using.

Have a look at muscletalk.co.uk to get an idea of casually open it is.

Ha, I spotted a Stoner!

5th, really? Is that a casual admission?
I would’ve said it was the opposite to taking fitness seriously. A lazy cheat way of achieving your goals.

i use ‘roids:

attacks the free weights as if they’re a matador in a bull ring, seemingly blowing steam out his nostrils… is he on steroids?

Not been to a bullfight, have we?

Does anyone on here use them?

Is anyone going to admit to having shrivelled manparts on an open forum?

TSY, yeah, I know for a fact that most of the usual faces down my gym hammering away on the free weights are on steroids. If you’re looking for tell tale signs then a puffy face is the first giveaway but the roid users also seem to lack any kind of real definition generally…the muscle tone is always quite, well, flabby.

Big mass for sure, but poorly defined and not really a look to be desired IMO.

TSY, yeah, I know for a fact that most of the usual faces down my gym hammering away on the free weights are on steroids. If you’re looking for tell tale signs then a puffy face is the first giveaway but the roid users also seem to lack any kind of real definition generally…the muscle tone is always quite, well, flabby.

Big mass for sure, but poorly defined and not really a look to be desired IMO.

Oh yes, I see what you mean. 😆

You’re confusing high levels of bodyfat for muscle.

Steroids aren’t a factor, beyond some water retention, it’s diet at fault. Or, they’re training for strength where extra bulk comes in handy.

thats not muscles, thats an inflatable muscle suit, one small prick (see what i did there… steroids, small penis… oh never mind) and he’d pop and deflate.

Watching women go from natural to untested competition is interesting. Body fat plumets, muscle tone comes right up. And their voices break. 😆

Oh, and contrary to the myth about winky shrinkage the opposite happens. Applies to women in a, err, big way.

Steroids aren’t a factor, it’s diet at fault. Or, they’re training for strength where extra bulk comes in handy.

Hmmm, I reckon that they’re are a good few guys that smash the roids at my gym who fit the look described by neallyman who are training to get big and have no real care for how fit they are. They drink litres of protein shake whilst training too.

There are also guys that are working towards that picture, again fitness isn’t really on the agenda for them.

Fitness for what? They’re not training to be cyclists. But no, it’s not about health. But the same can be said for TDF riders.

I got ‘roids’, or Nobby Stiles as there known round here 😆

If I was down the gym I’d spend most of my time eyeing up the yummy mummys there. I wouldn’t be staring at the men

then there are the ones who take ‘roids but don’t train – they only want the ‘psycho-logical’ effects…

Pretty sure a few take them at my gym, including the women. 😐

Mr Feet… I spend most of my time in yoga classes to be fair 😆

5th – theses dudes ain’t fit! There’s absolutely no way you can argue that some bloke who struggles with walking but can press 150kg is fit!

Chapeau iDave – good work there 🙂

There’s a few women at my gym who take it 😛

5th – theses dudes ain’t fit! There’s absolutely no way you can argue that some bloke who struggles with walking but can press 150kg is fit!

“Fit” is meaningless. It’s “fit for purpose”. If the purpose is to press 150kg then they’re “fit” and you’re clearly not “fit”.

OK so they’re lacking in “general fitness”.

I feel sorry for them.

OK so they’re lacking in “general fitness”.

Same could be said for top cyclists.

I feel sorry for them.

Do you feel sorry for serious cyclists? I don’t. They make me wince though. All tendons and elbows and on the brink of starvation.

Top as in professional or top amateurs?

I think I’d rather go for the cyclist look, has far more practical aplications than beef cake.

Do you take roids then 5th? IS your training more geared towards increasing your lift max or your endurance?

My old gym was full of he-men who liked lifting heavy things up and putting them down again till thier faces turned crimson. Steroid use was so common place there were as many users as non users. I was offered all kinds of things to cut you up, bulk you up, recover faster but never felt tempted as I heard it males your wanger smaller and I kind of need all the help I can get in that area.

I must admit it amuses me when i see the proper muscley blokes in the gym trying to walk on the treadmill, or at a push use the cross trainer. Some of the proper big ones can’t even have their arm straight down at their sides due to big muscles 😯 One bloke actually sounds like he is having an orgasm when he lifts weights, i can hear him from the other side of the gym, over my ipod 😐

The problem is that most of it is only mirror muscle…ie the ones that they can see, and they often neglected ones they can’t so they end up looking weird… well, thats my observation from having worked out at a gym since i was 16! A friends friends husband died of a heart attack a few months back, she was really shocked as he was “really fit”. When i asked her about it, “really fit” = bodybuilder, lived off protein, dabled with steriods etc.

But then taking steroids in the gym isn’t much different to top riders taking epo/whatever. I couldn’t do it – i’d feel like i cheated.

DirtyG – I like you. You talk sense.

I was always to busy gawping at the women to notice the blokes.

Top as in professional or top amateurs?

I don’t really mix with either so lets say the fast lads at races.

I think I’d rather go for the cyclist look, has far more practical aplications than beef cake.

Whichever you prefer is fine by me. I’d argue anyone at the extreme end of either sport is a freak. Somewhere in the middle would be my preference from a utility and health perspective.

Do you take roids then 5th?

Take? No. I’m a 40-something interested in being healthy.

In my youth my interest was weight lifting and I mixed with top amateur bodybuilders (one of which went on to be a top pro at world level). I was pretty serious and it’s a subject that still interests me.

IS your training more geared towards increasing your lift max or your endurance?

75% endurance 25% strength probably sums it up at the moment. This may change in the future. I swap back and forth in my interests.

5th – sounds like we take a very similar view then. I look at some of the top cyclists and can’t work out how their arms are so thin… it’s beyond me. I’ve friends who’ve spent years pushing it on the Time Trial circuit who can’t ride mtb as they don’t have the upper body strength.. that aint for me, but I’d rather that than the guy is hugely muscular but struggles to get off the floor.

LOL at the ‘I’m too busy staring at women’ comments.

but yeti don’t you understand that going to the gym makes you homosexual unless you go to stare at women then go home via the chip shop/kebab van?

DirtyG – I like you. You talk sense.

*is wise* 😆 There will be no steroids or epo at our convent, you just have to work damn hard to achieve results.

My physio says a large % of athletes are taking something, esp sprinters.

And whilst we are on the subject, why do blokes go for the top heavy look? I never see blokes at my gym using any leg weights, they have sparrow legs and look like Arnie on their top half. Do they really think this is a good look?

Phil – good job I didn’t start a thread about who else takes a sneaky look at other guys knobs whilst getting changed, isn’t it? 😯

yeti, this wouldn’t have happened if you had stuck to dirt instead of all this silly road riding malarky!

And whilst we are on the subject, why do blokes go for the top heavy look? I never see blokes at my gym using any leg weights, they have sparrow legs and look like Arnie on their top half. Do they really think this is a good look?

Training legs hurts. You can’t breath, blood vessels pop, you see stars. Just loading up the leg press is uncomfortable!

Then you fall down the stairs as you leave the gym.

Upper body is a far more comfortable experience. 😆

Phil – It’s true, I do miss the opportunity to get naked in trail centre car parks.

Dirty – most of those dudes wear tracky bums whilst training and then go into the cubicles to get changed.

Why train endurance in a gym when you can train it on your bike?

The problem is most people approach gym training from a bodybuilding perspective, regardless of whether they are bodybuilders or not.

The gym is for getting strong and powerful. Neural adaptaions. (unless you want to get bigger – some cyclists could do with it.

Check out Olympic track cyclist Jamie Staff….

Jamie Staff squatting

I reckon that is significantly more than most of the bodybuilders allegedly on roids down your local gym….

Seriously heavy. Seriously strong and looks athletic, not muscle bound. Benefit of following a properly periodised training programme.

P.S. dont use the leg press…Squat. Requires less weight and uses more muscles. Leg press can drain you as you can load it up with silly weight.

@ 5thElefant 😆

Yeti, not in my gym they don’t – they wear shorts which is why i know they have sparrow legs. Mine are way more toned than 90% of the blokes in there.

DirtyG you know the drill… pictures or it didn’t happen 😉

I reckon that is significantly more than most of the bodybuilders allegedly on roids down your local gym…

No, it’s not. It would put him amongst the serious lads though, which is what you’d expect.

P.S. dont use the leg press…Squat. Requires less weight and uses more muscles. Leg press can drain you as you can load it up with silly weight.

Very true. Squats are the cornerstone. Leg press is good to finish your legs off though. If you can get your hands on enough weights.

Pretty blimming good for a clean athlete who apparently weights 92kg though.

And whilst we are on the subject, why do blokes go for the top heavy look? I never see blokes at my gym using any leg weights, they have sparrow legs and look like Arnie on their top half. Do they really think this is a good look?

That was one of the most common mistakes that I saw people doing when I went to the gym (IMO). Mostly made by men. Also commonplace:

-Trying to lift the heaviest weight possible, irrespective of whether your technique is any good or not.

-Drinking lots of protein shakes and lifting lots of heavy weights but never doing cardio and (presumably) eating an otherwise poor diet, ending up being fat with big arms(!)

I hasten to add that this is amateur weight lifters and not a slur on those that are more serious!