Although many bodybuilders want to be bigger and better, they don’t know the risks of using steroid.
- An estimated 20% of people who use gyms in Britain have taken steroids.
- An estimated 5% British men aged under 30 years old admit using steroids.
Gregg Valentino, a bodybuilding legend, is well-known. His record for the largest arms was recorded in Guinness Book of Records. Gregg Valentino shows what can happen when steroids are misused.
Hidden Lives: ‘The Man Whose Arms Exploded’YouTube has the video. The video follows Gregg Valentino’s life and explores both the dangers associated with steroid abuse in bodybuilding as well as the risk bodybuilders take to be successful.
Reasons Gregg started using steroids
- Feeling self-conscious about stature and size
- Positive attention was more likely to be given to the larger he is.
- The small man syndrome: We did what it took
The term “biggerexia” was first used by bodybuilders to denote a disorder that is opposite to anorexia. These people feel smaller and more fragile than the rest. These people were far more likely to take steroids.
Gregg Valentino developed infection from his steroid abuse. Gregg is seen trying to perform surgery on his own to remove a hemorhage in his arm. He pulls out every syringe full of puss and blood. Gregg received emergency surgery after 20 minutes of self-mutilation, two tumblers full of coagulated hemoglobin and 20 minutes. Gregg was very close to losing one arm, but he survived.
This is a very extreme example of using steroids. Steve Michalik (Mr America in 1972, former training partner for Arnold Schwarzenegger) recalled how a friend convinced him to try steroids.
“…just try a little bit…it was the biggest mistake…there is no little bit”
He began to use steroids; it was very difficult for him to stop once he started.
“The only way you come off is if tragedy struck. That’s what happened to me.”
When he began passing blood in his urine, Steve knew there was something wrong. His liver was rupturing. The cause is believed to have been his use of steroid.
- He had a tumour the size of a grapefruit and three tumors that were about the same size as golf balls on his liver.
- The body mass of the average person has dropped from 220 to 146 lbs
- Stroke
- Sectioning temporarily under the Mental Health Act
- Your testosterone level is that of a 12-year-old girl
- The size of peanuts in testicles
The Adonis Complex author, Dr. Harrison Pope, says that there are very little short-term medical issues with steroids. That is why some people find it tempting to try them. Side effects such as mood swings, acne and the development of female growth tissue are outweighed by their perceived benefits. Many don’t notice the effects, and they are not considered long-term issues.
Dr. Pope says that we’ll see an increase of cases in major bodybuilders or high-profile athletes suffering from strokes or heart disease within the next 10 to 20 years. This will likely be due to the increased use of steroids.
The world we live in is one where image and performance are important. We want to be successful. People who just started out might feel pressured by the world to take extreme risks. There are also those who have been training naturally for many years and who resort to steroids.
Steve Michalik says the pills are not the answer and that he isn’t focusing on the now. Michalik urges bodybuilders not to use steroids to go back to their old training methods. Bodybuilders will not only live longer, but they’ll be more successful.
“You plant one tiny seed of anabolic steroid in your body, that seed grows, embedded in every cell in your body…even though your muscles on the outside are big, inside you are rotting, you are rusting” – Steve Michalik, Mr America 1972, Mr Universe 1975.