Nowadays, most of those who take steroids to increase muscle mass are quite easy to spot due to their unnatural look. Also, signs of side effects on their body like acne. The first question that comes to my mind is why old bodybuilders look very well. They continue to inspire new generations while our contemporaries fail in this chapter.
What old bodybuilders knew and we miss, and how could the “less is more” principle work great for them? I’ve searched for other opinions to understand the reasons behind this and come up with a list of very good-to-know facts that explain why back in daily use of steroids was safer and delivered just high-quality results.
Genetics plays a huge role in building muscle successfully. Back in the day, the number of pro bodybuilders was quite limited compared to what we have nowadays when even the less dotted individual aspires to become a professional bodybuilder. Some of them do it, but with high damage to their health.
Typically, old-school bodybuilders were mesomorphs, characterized by easiness in gaining muscle mass and having a lean body all the time (below 6% fat). In the case of these guys, the low amounts of steroids did wonders and just elevated the potential they already had. No need to mention side effects when minimal doses are used. They had a clean look, being esthetic and powerful.
The golden age of bodybuilding was about genetics, diet, and training rather than steroid use. Back in the day, bodybuilders ate like crazy, following an exercise program meant to support it and bring out the best of it. Anabolics played a secondary role, while nutrition was indeed essential. This a good lesson to learn for most of the monster bodybuilders of our days who refuse to see the bad impact steroids have on their health and blindly continue their usage.
Must Read: Effects of Steroids
The wide range of options to buy steroids from is an advantage of our days, while dozens of years back, bodybuilders faced significant challenges in finding a steroid dealer. Usually, an individual came to the gym once in a while and offered steroids for sale. Bodybuilders confessed that dealers sell all the stock, there being still people left with no roids. The high demand was not even far supplied, so the number of those who took steroids was pretty low.
Steroids were not only challenging to find but had exorbitant prices. Not everyone can afford them, as happens nowadays. To run a steroid cycle back in the day meant throwing away a lot of money - a caprice that only some people could admit. Presently, have the money, access to the internet, and type steroids for sale, and dozens of online steroid stores will offer a wide range of steroids at decent prices. It comes to such simplicity. Our predecessor would envy us for this.
Must Read: How Much Do Steroids Cost
Performance enhancer drugs used today by us are far lower quality than roids taken by old-school bodybuilders. If there were a vital feature of steroids back in the day, then it would be their excellent quality. Due to this, gains in muscle mass were durable, with no water retention or blandness, gyno, or other side effects so common nowadays among bodybuilders.
Everything came from a pharmacy, so the excellent quality of drugs was ensured. Quite the opposite of what we have today, when steroids are illegal, and individuals have to buy them from the black market. It means no control over the production process. Very often, drugs are contaminated, underdosed, or in the worst cases, contain substances other than those specified on the label.
Legal steroids available in pharmacies require a medical prescription to be bought and are mild-in-action anabolic steroids. The strong steroids are underground, but every time you decide to order the, you take some risks that you must be aware of.
A common trend among steroid users is to continue to take as even when the cycle is over - a technique known as bridging between cycles. It helps to keep on the whole amount of mass gained over the cycle. At first glance, such an approach may benefit, but it hurts your body.
Must Read: 8 Good Ways How to Pass Tests for Steroid Users
Short steroids cycles with several weeks break between them is the most recommended path to follow when taking steroids. But 3-4 weeks of cycling is not gonna cause much muscle gain. Thus people go with more extended periods of about 8-10 weeks. Even in this case, you can be safe if you follow the proper dosage and PCT. But every time you decide to fill in the gap between cycles with other steroids, you risk suppressing your testosterone production and becoming infertile.
Must Read: Time Between Steroid Cycles
Our body needs windows between steroid cycles to restore its functions and return to previous functionality. This is a lesson that old-school bodybuilders gave us. They are not used to continuing with a steroid while the whole cycle is done. Think about this as it may be one of the few motives you didn’t know about.
With the risk of overtraining in mind, many steroid users follow a light exercise program to prevent it. Aside from this, steroids do their job with more or less stimulation; that way, too few of those who bother with indeed high-intensity training.
Old school bodybuilders train hard, even 3-4 hours daily, and get the most from every workout. They managed to build a Zeus body with 1 g of injectable and a moderate dose of Dbol. So, the time dedicated to training, their intensity, and gear potency were the catalysts of impressive gains.
Read our post "Workout while on steroids" to get a clear image of what it should look like and what moments to consider.
The moderate use of roids in a golden era of bodybuilding was not dictated by correctness and high moral principles. Rather than several practical reasons surpassed over time. Steroids have become more affordable and easy to get, and take them in a way that brings excellent results even with less effort.
Just imagine how old-school bodybuilders would have been using steroids, having all the advantages we have nowadays. I tend to believe that they would also fall into the trap of abusing them.
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I'm a 59-year-old who's been bodybuilding since 1972 when I began age 16, which was three or four years before Schwarzenegger became known to the general public through the book and movie, "Pumping Iron". I've been in the bodybuilding world for over 40 years, so have observed the trends in steroid use from the "golden age" of bodybuilding to the current generation of physique competitors.
Steroid usage among "old school" bodybuilders was not comparatively moderate because of the reasons offered in this article.
Before steroids became illegal, steroids were not harder to obtain than they are today; in fact, because steroids were at that time not yet illegal, steroids were EASIER for top bodybuilders to obtain during the "old school" era. Nor were steroids more expensive relative to today's prices. Nor were the bodybuilders of "old school" more genetically-gifted relative to today's top competitors. And, "old school" bodybuilders such as Schwarzenegger, Oliva, Zane, Columbu, Wayne, Nubret, Ferrigno, Michalik, Dickerson, Coe, or Robinson weren't necessarily using only what might be considered "moderate" amounts of steroids simply because they didn't want to use more, but, because they often HAD to limit the amounts to avoid certain side effects which today's bodybuilders can counteract with yet other drugs.
What the old schoolers didn't have included these:
1) the greater variety of steroids available now
2) the range of anti-estrogenics which counteract the side effects of higher doses of steroids, which allow steroids to be used in much larger amounts than the old schoolers could use without those side effects such as gynecomastia
3) the wide availability of Growth Hormone that is had today
4) the knowledge about insulin dosing for promoting growth
5) pressure to build the higher amounts of muscle mass required to win today's contests
As one of those old schoolers said in a recent interview, "If we'd had that stuff, then we'd probably have used it like they're using it today, too!"