I’ve known Johnnie Juicer (obviously an alias) for about 5 years and met him through powerlifting. We became friends from the start and still talk about once a week. Johnnie is a very bright individual, graduated from college and has a professional career in marketing. When it comes to drugs and doing an interview about them, I thought that Johnnie would be a perfect fit. He is an elite level lifter but not a WPO competitor. He has reached some very significant strength feats, although none were world records (but somewhat close). Since Johnnie and I have talked about this issue many times, I’ve decided to give him a voice. I should point out that Johnnie does not lift in drug tested meets. Remember that the views expressed in this interview do not reflect the views of EliteFTS but would like to give our readers and inside look at steroid use in powerlifting.
EFS: How old are you now and when did you start taking steroids?
J.J.: I am 32 years old and began taking them when I was 26.
EFS: How long did you train before taking them?
J.J.: I began training when I was 14 years old, so I had 12 years of natural training.
EFS: How did you train prior to taking steroids?
J.J.: I was a collegiate football player so all of my training revolved around becoming a better football player.
EFS: I can do the math, but I assume that you never took anything in college?
J.J.: Never
EFS: Any reason for that?
J.J.: There were two reasons, really. First, I had no money. Second, I didn’t want to get caught and bring any embarrassment to my team, my coaches and my family. I didn’t really need them. I was already strong as hell in college. There wasn’t much need for me to take them. You don’t need to squat 800lbs to play college football; or pro football.
EFS: What were your lifts in college?
J.J.: I was an undersized linebacker; about 230lbs but under 6 feet. I benched pressed 400lbs and squatted 615. After a certain point, I never felt the need to get much stronger, so I tried to work on other aspects.
EFS: At what level did you play football at?
J.J.: I played at a Division I-A school
EFS: How prevalent were steroids at your school?
J.J.: Well I’d like to think that I was “in the know” with steroids. I was a weight room junkie and I knew everyone that had the same attitude as me. In 5 years, I knew of 3 people that took something. So I don’t think they are as big of as a problem as people think. I would venture to say that marijuana was by far the most prevalent illegal drug.
EFS: Do you know what they took?
J.J.: They took testosterone (suspension), Winstrol and one guy tried Anadrol. They were all very short cycles and they usually did it in the summer time.
EFS: Were the doses high?
J.J.: Knowing what I know now…hell, no. I don’t think any of them went over 300mgs of injectables a week; this is probably because of the low mg/ml dose of Winnie and Test Suspension. The guy that took Anadrol used one tab a day.
EFS: What about Growth Hormone?
J.J.: I know one guy that took it and got nothing out of it. This was awhile ago so maybe he didn’t use it correctly. Who knows. He wasn’t the smartest player we had.
EFS: So how did you get into steroids?
J.J.: I began powerlifting and simply wanted to become stronger. I felt like I maximized my potential.
EFS: Did you research them?
J.J.: I did a lot of research on the internet and tried to visit as many steroid forums and web sites as possible. I also read a couple of the drug books. I didn’t want to go in to this without a bunch of knowledge.
EFS: How did you go about getting them?
J.J.: After college I moved to Southern California and was close to the Tijuana border. If you live near Mexico, it’s a gold mine…at least it was when I was there. I’ve been to several border towns and it’s like being a kid at a candy store. I don’t know the situation now, but suspect it’s about the same. I haven’t been near Mexico in almost 5 years.
EFS: How did you get the stuff across the border?
J.J.: I never took anything across the border. I injected in Mexico and walked across; “clean”. You think I’m going to risk jail time for drugs? You’re nuts. The problem was never getting back into the U.S. but getting into Mexico. As soon as you cross the border, there are about a million people walking up to you asking if you want, “muscle juice.” It’s insane. You can barely walk.
EFS: How the hell did you inject in Mexico?
J.J.: Well my friend and I would walk across the border, buy our stuff, go to the bathroom in the pharmacy and inject. It was pretty amusing, actually.
EFS: You told me the story of your virgin injection before. I think it’s hilarious. So if you wouldn’t mind, fill our readers in.
J.J.: Well as you can imagine, the first injection is always the scariest. You feel excited and scared. It’s like taking a path you’ve only heard about in dark alleys and in hushed tones. Plus, I don’t like needles, at least not then. I was petrified. Well, my friend knew how scared I was, so he was really cool with me. After we bought our stuff, the pharmacist let us go upstairs and inject in the bathroom. I should point out that it was in August and the upstairs was not air conditioned. It had to have been about 100 degrees in there. Plus, we were in a dirty bathroom that was dimly lit with an overhead light bulb. It was very film noir, actually.
So my buddy took his injection and he was like a seasoned pro. Next up was me and I was already sweating my ass off. Sweat was dripping down my nose, my legs, in my eyes; I felt like I was going through two-a-days. He took me through step by step of his injection and was really cool about it; telling me what he was doing and how he was doing it. He was very precise. He did the same with me. My hands were shaking and I was so damn nervous. I finally got through with it. This whole procedure took about 45 minutes. So we walk down the stairs, two very big guys (we were both about 230lbs), after almost an hour, sweating our asses off. I’m sure we looked very gay at that point.
EFS: So you were able to do this every time?
J.J.: What? You mean look gay?
EFS: No, but that was pretty funny. I mean they let you inject every time?
J.J.: Yeah, they knew us pretty well after awhile and were great. They knew exactly what we wanted and unlocked the upstairs door without asking. Very accommodating.
EFS: So what did you take?
J.J.: I took 750mgs of Sustanon a week. It was Organon and in the redi-ject amps.
EFS: So you guys only went to Mexico once/week?
J.J.: Yeah, it was about an hour drive and we both had jobs.
EFS: How much did you pay for the Sustanon?
J.J.: I think I paid about 7 American dollars per amp. Which is about 5 million pesos.
EFS: That’s pretty cheap.
J.J.: I think the going rate at that time for an amp of Sustanon was about 20-25 dollars, depending on where you were in the states. I thought it was a good deal, especially since everything I was doing was legal. That was a huge load off of my mind.
EFS: How was it walking back from Mexico? Did you get hassled by the border patrol?
J.J.: Actually, all we did was tell the truth. When they asked what our business was in Mexico, we told them that we came across the border to take steroids. They never hassled us and let us go without searching each time. If you are honest, they know. They always laughed, which was nice. One agent asked us if it was worth it. I told him that it was far cheaper in Mexico than in the States. After talking for about 3 minutes about the black market I realized he was asking, “Is it worth it for your health?” I thought that to be amusing.
EFS: How were your results?
J.J.: I gained about 20lbs in eight weeks and had enough oil on my skin to lower gas prices.
EFS: What about strength gains?
J.J.: They were good, but nothing like you read about in the media.
EFS: Side effects?
J.J.: Nothing, except for the oily skin and the strength and muscle gains. I was really healthy at the time so I was o.k. It was only an 8 week cycle. It’s not like you are going to die.
EFS: What was next for you?
J.J.: After the eight week cycle, I took a couple of weeks off and my buddy and I got some Equipoise to “bridge” our cycles. This was before the Ttokkyo and the others started making the higher doses of EQ so ours was 50mg/ml. I took 300mgs/ week.
EFS: Did you lose anything with a smaller dose?
J.J.: Nothing
EFS: What next?
J.J.: I continued using small doses of nandrolone (Laurobolin) and EQ for about a year. That’s all the money I had and I really couldn’t justify taking a big dose of stuff if I wasn’t competing. Then I entered my first powerlifting contest and once I sent my entry in, I upped the dose.
EFS: What did that consist of?
J.J.: About 1200mgs of test enanthate a week with 30mgs of d-bol/day
EFS: And what did you feel with that higher dose?
J.J.: Not great, to tell you the truth. Maybe I was looking for that massive kick I got from my first cycle but it never happened. I did have a great showing at my first meet, so I can’t complain.
EFS: I know you moved before your first meet. Where did you get your stuff then?
J.J.: Well in a very risky move, I ordered stuff off of the internet. Not smart, but I never got caught in 4 years. I made some pretty big orders, though. Mostly test.
EFS: So you’ve been taking stuff for quite awhile, tell us some of the doses you’ve taken.
J.J.: Well the highest dose I took for injectables was about 2500mgs/week. Almost all testosterone.
EFS: That’s pretty damn high.
J.J.: But not out of the ordinary, to tell you the truth.
EFS: What about orals?
J.J.: I love orals. They make you strong as hell. I’ve tried the typical stuff – d-bol, Anadrol, Winstrol. All have given me great gains. I’ve done 150mgs of Anadrol/day and found that 100mgs works just as well. D-bol is very potent and tried taking 100mgs/day but stopped that after 3 days. It was brutal. Headaches, back aches and high blood pressure. I felt like shit. 50mgs/day is about all I can take. Winstrol, for whatever reason, made me blow up too. I’ve taken 75mgs of Winne (orals) a day and gotten great gains out of it. This is not typical for most people, so it’s a real individual thing.
EFS: Have you gotten any bad gear?
J.J.: Probably, but not anymore. I took enough stuff to counteract any duds that I got. You can’t put all of your eggs in one basket.
EFS: Why don’t you get bad stuff anymore?
J.J.: Because I make all of my own stuff now.
EFS: With powders?
J.J.: Yes. It’s very, very cheap and high quality stuff. It’s pretty easy to do once you get the hang of it.
EFS: Did you ever make Tren with the old kits?
J.J.: Oh yeah. I would order some Fina pellets from a vet supply company, bought a kit and messed around with it. A big pain in the ass but very cheap.
EFS: What is the typical steroid dose and combo for most powerlifters?
J.J.: It’s hard to say because I’m not sure if everyone is telling the truth, but I would say most people take at least 1 gram of test before a meet. This is the least amount! It’s very individual though. I think everyone pushes the boundaries at least once to see how much they can handle. As for combo and stacks, I would say that test, d-bol and anadrol are the most popular. People still take Deca and EQ. Tren is also pretty big. I think people make it more complicated than it really is. Just shoot some shit and eat a ton of food.
EFS: Now that you’re more experienced, what is a typical cycle look like for you?
J.J.: Before a meet, about 10 weeks out, I will take about 10cc’s of test. That’s about 2250mgs/week. I will add in d-bol or anadrol about 6 weeks out. About 50mgs of d-bol or 100mgs of Anadrol; but never at the same time. Too many orals make me feel like shit.
EFS: What do you feel with this dose?
J.J: Fat and bloated. Honestly, I feel tired a lot of time but my skin is tight as hell. Sleep gets a little f#cked up, but that’s the nature of the beast. Heartburn is also pretty bad, especially with the d-bol.
EFS: What about between cycles? Do you take anytime off?
J.J.: Not really. Almost everyone I know takes about 500mgs/week of something. Some guys do come off, but it’s rare.
EFS: What about gyno?
J.J.: I never had a problem, even at high doses. But a lot of guys take Clomid or Arimidex.
EFS: Ok, what about your gains after all this time? How much did the drugs really help?
J.J.: I’d be lying if I said that they didn’t help me but I think people believe them to be a magic bullet. That’s not the case. I’ve done really well at meets and really poorly at meets and have taken the same dose. So this remains a constant. What I’ve found is that the training makes the biggest difference. Once I learned how to train and what worked well for me (as you have pointed out to me several times) that’s when my lifting got better. How much did they help me? It’s hard to say. They way that I look at it is this: I’m doing this to see what I can accomplish on the platform. I’m not looking to beat anyone or be a world record holder. I just want to better my performance. I think this is hard to understand for many people.
EFS: What about your friends and family? Do they know?
J.J.: They would be idiots not to know but it’s not like they are talked about all the time. Most of my friends outside of powerlifting have much bigger skeletons in their closets so it’s really not that big of an issue. I mean I’m just under 6 feet tall and weigh almost 300lbs with a lot of muscle. If people think I’m a genetic freak, let their ignorance be bliss.
EFS: What about co-workers? Your boss?
J.J.: It’s never really come up or been an issue. I think people are pretty happy to be around someone that is big and muscular. It sounds retarded but it’s true. Plus, I help people out with their own training and diet if they ask. They do ask about drug use, especially with the baseball and all the garbage, but I try to be as friendly as possible and answer their questions. Again, I don’t think people really care.
EFS: What about side effects?
J.J.: Well the weight gain isn’t great for my health and my blood pressure is a little high but I’m not going be doing this much longer.
EFS: What about after you are done?
J.J.: I’ll probably stay with some test because my levels are probably shot to hell, but no more than 1 cc every week or ten days.
EFS: Wrapping up now…I have two questions. What advice would you give someone looking to embark on the dark path and what do you have to say about the negative press and exposure of steroids today?
J.J.: For someone looking to start taking drugs, I think the first thing that should have is at least 10 years of solid consistent training. I don’t mean sporadic. This is not something for the casual lifter. You had better be dedicated and have a good reason to take them. I think too many young lifters fail to maximize their natural genetics. I say this as I had a lot of years of training naturally and I think I can say this without being a hypocrite.
As for the negative exposure – here’s the deal: it’s not as bad as people think nor is it as safe as people think. I’ve had some side effects but no roid rage, which I think is absolutely retarded. I remember something you once told me. The people that take steroids are usually naturally aggressive; it’s not like it’s the computer nerd taking the stuff. It’s the person that already has an aggressive personality. For every “roid rage” case that people point out, there are about a million other incidents of assault/battery that can be attributed to other things. You can argue the pros and cons of steroid use, but things are not going to change. They are always going to be illegal, especially now that Congress decided that this was a national issue and has decided to butt in. It’s good to see our leaders taking the REAL issues head on. What a waste of time and an embarrassment to our country. I would bet that if our elected leaders actually decided to perform the will of the people, this would be taken off the shelf and more important issues would be addressed. These would be issues that affect the average person, not a small portion of our population. What issues? Go ask them. I guarantee that steroids would never be brought up.
EFS: Sounds like you are a little mad?
J.J.: A little, but what are you going to do? Blame it on roid rage?
EFS: Very funny. Thanks for your time and your willing to talk. I’m sure this opened people’s eyes to drug use.
J.J.: You are welcome.
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