Steroids in the Gym

by Matt Capece

Steroid use, and scandals in sports have become more and more popular to our knowledge throughout this century even though they have been around for nearly 100 years. These scandals have been bought to our attention mostly by fellow players/ teammates, who thought it would be right to not hold silence any longer. These stories have demolished player’s images, respect, and in some cases may have stripped them of a chance to enter the hall of fame. However, not to be confused, but steroids are not only for the “superstars”, they are very accessible and in almost every gym around the world.

Boxing has been around since the early 1900’s and at one time was one of the most watched sporting events in America. With fighters such as Rocky Marciano, Joe Frazier, and Muhammad Ali it was a very interesting sport to watch. However in the last decade, after the Tysons and Holifields had to hang up their gloves, the sport has lost its ratings. What other fighters names besides Floyd Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya, ring a bell in your head? If you do not follow boxing than chances are not much, hence is the reason why this sport is becoming less popular. The future of boxing is not held in the hands of the current professionals, but the non-professionals boxing in their local gyms. These amateurs even though different at sight, have the same goal; this goal is to be known. The statement “be known” means just what it says, whether it is to be known locally or be known around the world, the goal is still the same.

Yong Buck gym* is a gym in Long Island New York that was built to train young athletes who want to better themselves for their upcoming years, only recently has the gym decided to raise there age limit from 10-16 to 10-21. Young Buck Gym is not your typical “muscle pump” gym with weights to boost your size; this gym is a gym that trains athletes of the recently dying sport “boxing”. It is hard to think of reasons why boxers would want to take steroids since the sport is not based on size, but based on precision, mental awareness, and mental toughness. However after a few discussions and statements from their athletes and even trainers there reasons become identifiable on the basis of “why do it”.

There were 3 males interviewed, their names will be concealed to prevent defamation. The first male interviewed was a 17 year old who has been boxing since age 14. He claims to have first started taking steroids in February of 09 just after his 17^th birthday. “ I wanted to move up in weight classes because I was not quick enough for the weight class I was in, I was told that I could be helped”. He was being injected by a former boxer at they gym, and the doses consisted of 2cc oral intakes of methandrostenolone (D-BOL) and a 3 cc shot of Winstrol (Winny). The oral Intake of D-BOL would be taken by the dropping of the liquid out of the needle and into the back of the throat, and then swallowed. The Winstrol would be loaded into the needle and either shot in the lower back side or the shoulder. With the injection there is usually some pain at the direct sight, however depending on the potency of the steroid there can be a very painful after math for the first week, winstrol is known to give the chills. The D-BOL was to put on quick size to move up in weight class and the Winstrol was used to keep him cut and quick, so his hand speed would not slow down. With in 3 months of use he went from a lean 140 pounds to a bigger 165pound middleweight class, with little or no side effects. However what the young boxer failed to realize is the life span of the steroids, and how they would show up during testing. D-BOL when taken orally usually stays in your system up to 2 months depending on your intake, however winstrol like most steroids can last anywhere from 4-6 months, almost half a year. The 17 year old had to miss his scheduled October 18^th match just so he would not be caught, a reschedule was allowed but the young boxer needs to keep on a very strict diet and workout routine in order to keep his “new weight”. What most people do not realize is that steroids don’t keep you big forever, you need to go on post workout supplements to keep testosterone levels normal, steroids can have the ability to stop production of the bodies natural testosterone once the cycle is over. You need to work out differently in order to keep most your gains, and chances are you need to re-use again.

(Non-Liquid Pink D-BOL)

What most people fail to realize is that steroids is not just some magic drug that will get anyone a lot of muscle, there is very hard dedication needed in order to obtain good size. It starts with your diet you need a lot of protein and a lot of calories, Testosterone is a fat burner so the more calories are usually cancelled out, a normal “steroid” diet would include about 3,000 calories a day. Steroids are also not just drugs that you can come off and everything will be fine, they are probably the most dangerous AFTER the cycle. You need to go on post cycle of drugs such as proviorn, and arimidex to level out your testosterone level, and give your body a kick-start into making its own again. Without the post cycle involved you will most likely loose most of your gains, have a huge decrease in your testosterone level, which can lead to gynecomastia “bitch tits” or loss of sex drive.

The Second individual to be interviewed was an older fighter who has had 10 years of boxing experience, he is 20 years old. He began taking steroids when he got hurt during a match in which decided if he would make the All Nassau County team or not, the fight had to be stopped because of a visible dislocation to the shoulder. The young warrior became emotional thinking back to that night “ I thought that was it” he said. About 6 months after the dislocation he got the okay from the doctor and was back to fighting, except this time he wanted an extra boost to get back to his skills that he acquired in his 10 years experience. “Anything to get back, those 6 months had the potential to erase 10 years,” said the 20 year old as a smirk crossed his face. According to him there are many trainers who put performance-enhancing drugs into the boxers drink during the actual match to give them an extra boost through out the rounds. Although he did not say which ones, the 20-year-old boxer admitted to doing two kinds of steroids, and two cycles.

The last interview was probably the most significant in that it wasn’t an athlete training at the gym, but a trainer, a trainer who admits to using steroids himself. This trainer is a 36 year old ex football player from the University of Wake Forest, and says he has been on and off steroids since age 18. The reasons he gives for first going on is too get a head start on training for his fresh man year at Wake Forest, back when he was in college the NCAA rules for steroid use were not as strict and often it was just a handful of players who were picked to be tested. The 30-year-old trainer was always a fan of boxing since his brother did it; he also used to watch his uncle train his brother and this where he learned how to train fighters. “ I knew the success I had with steroids, I was aware of how to properly take them, and I knew they would help out young athletes when properly supervised”. He however will not give or recommend steroids to anybody under the age of 16, for undisclosed reasons but the trainer is confident about the use and benefits of steroids “ You become bigger, faster, stronger, and better than the average man, when you are on it that girl will love you, and that guy will envy you”.

Steroids effect people in different ways, some of the lucky ones just see great results and have the time of their lives, others are only lucky for so long before the side effects start to kick in. There are critics who say steroids ruin the sports in which they are used, and some say they bring more attention since the enhancement of player skills brings ratings.

*Name changed for protection