Bad times

[gabswithabs]

I'm ashamed to say that for the last couple of days I was very close to buying and taking steriods. I've been bodybuilding for the last 3years but have been weight training for 5. Not only this but I'm also a personal trainer and fitness and muscle building is my passion in life. I prepare all my food in the morning every day (5meals) I train extremely hard (H.I.T) and I do my cardio and have loads of rest days to recover. Since I was 16 I've packed on muscle in all the right areas and made great gains. Ive even been asked if I'm taking steriods ; ) lol

I love being a natural bodybuilder, but now and again I do see someone who's on juice and they look huge, I met this guy the same age as me 3days ago and has only been training 2 years, is on steriods, eats junk food, doesn't train as hard as me and looks so damn huge! So what took him 2 years, took me 5 years of hard training and eating food I hate. But i found this site for the natural bodybuilders and now i know I'm not alone! Have any of you been tempted to take steriods? And how did you overcome it? Because i feel once you take them you can never call yourself a natural ever again, that's what stopped me

[Philipp84]

Nice to hear you didn´t want to take steroids. Of course, for a short period, everything goes easier and you look huge, great and healthy - but you don´t know how these guys look like INSIDE! Most of them aren´t as strong and healthy as they look like!

So again: GREAT decision to stay natural! I think it is a much more motivational challenge to see what you can get out of your body by eating healthy and train hard!

Forget that steroid crap! Look at some guys here or at some WNBF-competitors for example. Lots of them look better than other guys who are on steroids. And they also work and live the natural way! So be part of them/us ;-)

[theGuy045]

lol'd @ HIT

i continue to be natty because i have an addictive personality and i know i would not want to come off cycle. plus, i started lifting to get laid and many women arent into hyooge dudes. so i stay natty.

[Jrich54338]

Natural Bodybuilding, is in my mind the best sport out there. It not only challenges you physically but mentally as well. Some days are worse then others, but what do you do, you dig deep, real deep. When you think you you have given everything, someone else is out there training harder.

This is not a team sport, this boils to how bad you want something for your own personal accomplishments. Flex Magazine, MD all great magazines, but I dont even bother with them anymore. Natural Bodybuilding, that Mr Fitter puts together has so much knowledge in it for us natties, I cant wait for the next issue. I wish they would come out every month instead of every few months, who knows maybe if we continue to grow as Natties, they will.

Whatever you choose Good Luck in the Future!

Future INBF PRO :)

[aguy fish]

I used to take steroid, i've been training for 20 years, my first 6 years were natural and I did well in competitions then i started to juice until 3 years ago. I dropped a lot of juice after year 2000 but i've been totally off since 2007
I don't regret to have taken gear it helped me achieving an amazing heigth/size ratio but coming off has given me a new challenge.On this board I "met" Sporto, father Flex, Layne, Semper, Eric helm and they inspired me soo much that i made the decision to come totally off. Of course I lost size while training hardest than ever but now everything is more challenging and It makes me want to learn more and more to compete with "mother nature" rather than searching more size with chemicals.
Don't get me wrong, I am NOT saying It's eaier on steroids because i think It is NOT: when competing in a non tested show people expect always more size, more mass, more cuts... evrything is pushed to an extreme so No it is not easier... it is simply different.
Now when I stagnate I have to search for a new way to grow and turn to diet, nutrition and my own knowledge of my body whereas in the past I always had "something new" to take to help me out... this is sooo challenging and i love it.
in addition, when taking steroids, there is always a risk behind, something which is not totally controlable and one day ( like I did when i turned 30) you might realize that unless you want to become a pro and make a living from it, it might not be worth risking your health...
I train now with Tommy Jeffers' advice and I draw inspiratin from all these great natural Athlete because they show how BB should be like.When I'm down, I watch some of their photos, reads some of their threads, email them and They always help.

To finish ( sorry for having been long ), last year I've competed in Mister Universe non tested show over here in Europe. I was "natural" and this prep was the hardest ver for me. i did it thanks to tommy Jeffers' help. I placed 7th out from 19 and I looked the leanest ever ( avi). I had no chance to competed with the top 5, I was told i lacked mass although I was 4'11 150lbs cut on stage! I talked with a guy who placed better than me and he said he used 15 000-20 000 dollars on gear each year ( including peptides, slin ...). You know what ? I was proud to have competed and to have "my place " on stage even if I clearly did not stand a chance of winning and this showed me I could do great without steroids considering many guys placed after me while being clearly on.
So make your own decision, there is no shame to take steroids it won't make you a bad person or a cheater like many think ( is it cheating is clearly evrybody is on when you compete ? well this is MY opinion). But you've been training hard so far,n you've had results, you preserve yur health, you learn to understand your body, so don't give a damn on the ones who take gear as an excuse to be lazy. Keep training hard bro, and be proud of your OWN achievements that no drug can give you but only your will power!
In 10 years time you'll be still training and growing and this guy on gear might have stopped or be into health trouble.Whatever happends he will never learn as much as you do being into natural BB.

[texasjason]

Is that you are 21 years old. Steroids are a personal choice--are they the great Satan that the media tries to tell you...no. They can be abused as can anti depressants, sleeping pills or pre-workout drinks(all of which can have horrible side effects) How about putting in some time in the gym(years) and when you are 30 or 35 re-address the issue.