When are you ready for steroids?

Rugger

Rugger

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
I was thinking about this earlier today, and about when it's appropriate for lifters to begin using in terms of their weight/progress.

I thought about it for a while and came up with what I think is a fair conclusion.

If you have or have previously reached (and are still relatively close to) 2.5 pounds LBM per inch of height, then in my mind you are ready to roll if you think you need the help.

We will use 2 examples

1) 70 inches, 200 pounds at 12%
  • 176 LBM/ 70 =~ 2.5 pounds per inch
  • READY
2) 73 inches, 200 pounds at 15%
  • 170 LBM/ 73 =~ 2.33 pounds per inch
  • NOT READY
What do you guys think?
 
nosnmiveins

nosnmiveins

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
i think its a good equation, but there are TONS more factors in determining if ur "ready" or not.
 
WeightShift

WeightShift

Member
Awards
1
  • Established
Thats an intuitive way of classifying things.

I certainly don't think there is anything wrong with it. We all know everybody is different and so these estimates are just that, estimates.

I think this underscores an important aspect of deciding to juice. Some people are born with naturally lean or pseudo muscular frames; however, their tendons and ligaments are generally just as fragile as everyone else. It takes several years of working out to strengthen your tendons and ligaments considerably.

Without that strengthening prior to adding on mass, you could be looking at stress fractures, tendon tears and joint collapse.

So just because you're lean doesn't mean you should be juicing! Otherwise, good post Rugger!
 

gelin

New member
Awards
0
As the others mentioned, BF / LBM is only one small part of the equation. There are several different components to health and physical & mental maturity that come to mind immediately, and I'm sure that I've missed others.

1. Age & biological maturity (obvious, I hope!)
- not just the minimum 21+, but also the fact that stats for older peeps (eg. 35-50) are going to be different than at 25 and need special consideration

2. Training experience & results
- lifted responsibly / very intensely for several years and pretty much reached a natural plateau after building serious muscle mass
- lean enough that one isn't going to have excess aromatization issues

3. Mental maturity & other pre-existing health issues
- many people just don't have the maturity to do gear without becoming emotional wrecks or aholes... others just aren't disciplined enough to do a 10-12 week test cycle or whatever without staying out of bars... let's face it, there are thousands of idiots on all the BB forums that we all know shouldn't be adding chemicals to their already fragile makeup
- everybody should have a physical exam and bloodwork done before even considering starting a cycle... pre-existing conditions - whether it be something as severe as a liver issue, or more commonly, horrible lipid levels & high BP, should serve as an absolute bar to using gear
 
UnrealMachine

UnrealMachine

Well-known member
Awards
2
  • Established
  • RockStar
I was thinking about this earlier today, and about when it's appropriate for lifters to begin using in terms of their weight/progress.

I thought about it for a while and came up with what I think is a fair conclusion.

If you have or have previously reached (and are still relatively close to) 2.5 pounds LBM per inch of height, then in my mind you are ready to roll if you think you need the help.

We will use 2 examples

1) 70 inches, 200 pounds at 12%
  • 176 LBM/ 70 =~ 2.5 pounds per inch
  • READY
2) 73 inches, 200 pounds at 15%
  • 170 LBM/ 73 =~ 2.33 pounds per inch
  • NOT READY
What do you guys think?
Establishing a height:weight relationship for when someone is ready is a good idea because i'm tired of seeing people who look like they don't lift throwing high dosed orals down their gullet.

But here's one problem with your calculations there: it doesn't take into account that it's easy to get a high LBM if the bodyfat is very high, for instance:

70 inches, 220 pounds, 20% bodyfat
= 2.5 lbs/inch which satisfies your equation
However while this person is "big" they are also a fatass and shouldn't juice until they lose some weight (for several reasons).

Now on the other hand
70 inches, 185 pounds, 8% bodyfat
= 2.43 lbs/inch which doesn't satisfy your equation, even though they are at a good level of development and probably an ectomorph


So my bottom line is this equation needs to take BF% into account beyond using it to calculate LBM.


LBM is nice but LBM with respect to bodyfat is everything. When i started using the designer orals i had almost the same LBM as I do now. The difference is I was fat (6'1 240 18%).
And i'm at a hell of a more developed level now than i was then.

Anyone can eat their way up to a good LBM, just you become a fatass in the process.


I agree, STRONGLY AGREE, that people should have reached a certain level of development before starting usage. But it is really hard to quantitatively classify that point, believe me i've thought about it before and i'm always irritated to see people starting way too early... you need to have patience, i sat on my bottle of Superdrol for 2 fcking years before opening it, for instance. Before I ever ran my first cycle i had researched for the better part of a year and was designing cycles off the top of my head all the time.

Besides the level of training the other variable is physical maturity.

How can you determine the two variables? If i see a full body flexed picture, I can determine if the physical maturity and muscular development is enough for steroid use.
 
Rugger

Rugger

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
All comments true. I was thinking more a long the lines of "if all other criteria satisfied, then check this guideline."

Basically, if someone is doing all they should be doing, then they reference something like this to know when is when.
 

futurepilot

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
Basically you need to already look like you do steroids, before you should do steroids.

And if that fails, check my signature.
 
suncloud

suncloud

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
i think it depends on where you started bulking from.

going by your example - 69 inches, 187 lbs, i'm not ready for prohormones. however, i bulked naturally from 126 lbs to 175. i think if i could increase my mass by 40% while keeping body fat under 12% i would be ready. basically, there's other variables IMO such as starting weight, body frame, etc.
 
Trauma1

Trauma1

Legend
Awards
3
  • RockStar
  • Legend!
  • Established
I was thinking about this earlier today, and about when it's appropriate for lifters to begin using in terms of their weight/progress.

I thought about it for a while and came up with what I think is a fair conclusion.

If you have or have previously reached (and are still relatively close to) 2.5 pounds LBM per inch of height, then in my mind you are ready to roll if you think you need the help.

We will use 2 examples

1) 70 inches, 200 pounds at 12%
  • 176 LBM/ 70 =~ 2.5 pounds per inch
  • READY
2) 73 inches, 200 pounds at 15%
  • 170 LBM/ 73 =~ 2.33 pounds per inch
  • NOT READY
What do you guys think?
I think FAR too many people fail to exhaust their own genetic potential before engaging in A.A.S use, period. Everyone wants to get big quick. Without a solid foundation (Diet and Training) to build off, it's all for nothing in the end. A large majority of people find that out the hard way.
 
suncloud

suncloud

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
I think FAR too many people fail to exhaust their own genetic potential before engaging in A.A.S use, period. Everyone wants to get big quick. Without a solid foundation (Diet and Training) to build off, it's all for nothing in the end. A large majority of people find that out the hard way.
100% my point, but more direct.
 
bigpapa

bigpapa

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
math is not the answer rugger..lol. IMO u are ready when u feel u have reached your physical max, are in a plataue or stagnant part in your training or strength, and most importantly when you can use them responsibly and appropriately.
 

warriorlax45

New member
Awards
0
well according to your theory. im ready for steroids but realisticly im not ready for them
 
dg806

dg806

Enologist/Brewmaster/Damn good guy
Awards
1
  • Established
I think FAR too many people fail to exhaust their own genetic potential before engaging in A.A.S use, period. Everyone wants to get big quick. Without a solid foundation (Diet and Training) to build off, it's all for nothing in the end. A large majority of people find that out the hard way.
Exactly, no one wants to put in the time to get big. They want it right now. And that is where the problem comes from. That is what I wish people would learn from it is that there is no short cut to bodybuilding. It is hard work and that it takes years to build a good physique.
 
dg806

dg806

Enologist/Brewmaster/Damn good guy
Awards
1
  • Established
math is not the answer rugger..lol. IMO u are ready when u feel u have reached your physical max, are in a plataue or stagnant part in your training or strength, and most importantly when you can use them responsibly and appropriately.
This is also a hard part to determine. Alot of guys think they have reached a max, but in reality, either their training is lacking, diet is lacking or both. Imo, training and diet can always be tweaked to take you to the next level. I have seen it far too many times. You just have to be patient and willing to give it time to work for you.
 
UnrealMachine

UnrealMachine

Well-known member
Awards
2
  • Established
  • RockStar
honda450

honda450

New member
Awards
0
I've seen people actually jump right on the candy without not much prior lifting and do very well. They did it because they wanted to change their lifestyle around from drinking and doing recreational drugs to eating healthy and having a better lifestyle. The juice is exactly what made them do it and they are happy today for choosing that path.

There are some very good points in this post though..
 
monsterbox

monsterbox

Well-known member
Awards
1
  • Established
I've seen people actually jump right on the candy without not much prior lifting and do very well. They did it because they wanted to change their lifestyle around from drinking and doing recreational drugs to eating healthy and having a better lifestyle. The juice is exactly what made them do it and they are happy today for choosing that path.

There are some very good points in this post though..

well I started way to early. I was 160lbs, 8% BF at 5'7. This equates to 2.2lbs/inch.

Ive exploded however all the way to 184 at 11% in 8 months with only 2 quick cycles of havoc. Its changed my life and has completely changed my motivation. I've kept every bit of muscle and have been gaining more...probably because I've not reached my genetic potential.

However, I really like how I can eat a million calories on steroids and get huge without getting fat.

I seriously don't care about being freakishly huge....If I reached my genetic potential I would certainly NOT at this time want to exceed that size w/ roids. This is why I do NOT feel like I'm cheating myself in any way by using AAS to reach a target weight/BMI. Id be happy with weighing 200 at my height and Ill use AAS to get there rather than take 5 years and have to spend more money in the long run naturally. I want to get to my goal as quickly as possible as long as I'm being smart and safe.

Not everyone who uses steroids is looking for 21inch arms.
 
ibanezman08

ibanezman08

Active member
Awards
1
  • Established
IMHO, you are ready once you've made significant progress naturally for a couple of years.

to the point where people are impressed with the way you look and ask you when you're going to compete.

also, you should have some good strength and have beaten some good personal bests that you are proud of.

you should also have a couple years of dieting experience under your belt. know what works for you. what helps you pack on that mass and shed that fat without loosing that mass. that can take years!

you should also have read about gear for at least a year streight even if all you want to take is pro-hormones.

you should be at bodybuilder's status. look, eat and train like one.
 
mixedup

mixedup

Well-known member
Awards
3
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
  • RockStar
I think strength should also be a factor because you can get a good lbm on diet alone.

How about being able to use at least your bodeweight for sets on big exercises.

Ie 200lbs should rep 200lbs lbs on leg extensions, curls, bench press, squats etc. Some people naturally have a great metabolism but doesnt' mean they have lifted enough to be ready.
 
NAS

NAS

Member
Awards
0
I think strength should also be a factor because you can get a good lbm on diet alone.

How about being able to use at least your bodeweight for sets on big exercises.

Ie 200lbs should rep 200lbs lbs on leg extensions, curls, bench press, squats etc. Some people naturally have a great metabolism but doesnt' mean they have lifted enough to be ready.
I dont see anyone repn 200lb curls... strength would be better described as being able to rep your body weight on bench and squats, curling half your weight for sets.. its really arbatrary
 
mixedup

mixedup

Well-known member
Awards
3
  • Established
  • First Up Vote
  • RockStar
I dont see anyone repn 200lb curls... strength would be better described as being able to rep your body weight on bench and squats, curling half your weight for sets.. its really arbatrary
I meant Leg Curls. Ofcourse it's all arbatrary but bw on main body parts chest, legs, back is just a starting point just like the LBM equation. All just thoughts and suggestions. I mean at the gym i actually see Many natty people benching and squatting much more than their bw.
 

Top