Seeing too many deaths within bodybuilding, Dante Trudel is on the quest to educate bodybuilders on the bare essentials of health and longevity.
In part one of this thread, Dante gives you four starting tips to gain control over your health: buy a blood pressure monitor, buy (2) blood kits, and take your body temperature.
In this installment, Dante shares the realities of steroid use and abuse that we're currently facing.
Fast forward to the last 20 years and with society so focused on the visual (Instagram...the "enough about me, let's talk a little bit more about myself" society), the constant barrage of Jersey Shore, Wrestling, Action Movie Hero's visuals, etc. etc. etc.... a bunch of terribly insecure junkies trying to solve their insecurities by next Tuesday have entered into the sport.
Before I get more into everything here...I want to present my own personal thoughts on something. There are hundreds of thousands of natural bodybuilders. There are hundreds of thousands of "enhanced" bodybuilders. I made my bones "so to say" in the sport by talking about things that weren't openly talked about back in the 90's when I came out with the Hardcore Muscle Newsletter. I don't want to count the hours (YEARS!) I have spent researching libraries (pre-internet), pubmed, essays, various theories, various studies, etc. etc. etc. I've researched training, diets, foods, compounds, supplements, and drugs as it pertains to this genre. Now over the next few weeks I'm going to talk about things that aren't so politically correct in certain circles. Why am I saying this? Because I have people reading my Facebook page that are in the sport (and they already know the deal) and people who are on the fringe and outside of the sport (family/friends) who aren't going to understand why Im talking about certain taboo subjects. Ill tell you why. IT'S REALITY!
I had this conversation with my parents back in the 90's when they asked me why I discussed steroids and growth hormone and drugs in my newsletter along with training, diet, food, supplements. And my reasoning to them then is the same reasoning now. I am not condoning anything but for god's sake, above all else do not bullshit anyone. Don't walk around the controversy. It is what it is. Talk about the reality of things because the reality of things is people are using steroids and drugs and the majority of society is applauding them and idolizing them. My father was a huge New England Patriots fan as I am.....the conversation went like this back then in the 90's :
"Dad, if you really think the same people you are applauding and cheering for every Sunday in the NFL, if you really think the various sports events you watch, if you really think the highest grossing movies and action heroes at that time (Rocky movies, Terminator movies, Bloodsport) are not part of this reality.....then i don't know what to tell you dad! But i will tell you. If someone wants to lose the respect of everyone real quick, pretend it's not there....because the truth of the matter, like it or not, it is there!"
My parents got my points after the whole Major League Baseball debacle (I had certain members of MLB contacting me back in the early 90's during my newsletter reign telling me what they were doing ergo wise...so i already knew that whole deal)....the whole NFL debacle, Bonds, Sosa, Armstrong, etc., you all get it. And my parents, I believe, finally did to....REALITY.
So fast forward to today. Every bodybuilder (natural or enhanced) reading this right now knows the deal but the layperson family or friends reading it who aren't understanding why I'M talking about certain things...let me go with the same vein of thought modernized:
If you really think that you are watching a movie starring the Rock Dwayne Johnson, If you really think you are watching certain actors in the most popular movies out there like Xmen movies and Avenger movies, If you really think these cult TV shows like "Jersey Shore", certain motorcycle building shows in the past, and other incredibly popular modern media heroes or sports celebrities aren't part of this reality....I dont know what to tell you"..........it's as simple as that.
Now to this point, I'm going to tell you where the huge problem comes from: The Internet.
Prior to 1996-2000 the number of bodybuilders who were dying young were few and far between. Very rare and very unheard of. Then the net starts getting widespread around 1997. Prior to these years, bodybuilders by and large used moderate to respectable dosages of bodybuilding drugs. And for the most part, if you are respectful in your usage of these bodybuilding drugs, you will be as healthy (if not healthier) than you would normally. Now let me quickly explain the (if not healthier part). I dont care what it is about the endocrine/hormonal system it is, if you are deficient or overproduce...you will create a situation that will cause you to expire many years before your proper time. If you have diabetes and refuse to take insulin or various derivatives....you are going to die (probably quick). If you have extreme hypothyroidism or extreme hyperthyroidism (severely underactive or overactive thyroid) the consequences of all those side effects over time without solving that problem are going to end your life much sooner than you expect. Testosterone, its reaches its peak around the mid 20's (SURPRISE! Also your healthiest years as a person!) and for every year after that it ebbs. So take a modern, physically active person. From the age of 20-40 their physique looks pretty much the same, doesn't it? What happens from age 40 to 60? Their endogenous testosterone goes way way down and they turn into an old man before your eyes. Estradiol goes up, testosterone goes down, and you will see someone disintegrate visually from the outside and physically from the inside from the age of 40 onward.
I could spend the next 48 hours listing study after study proving how important it is to have lower estradiol 21-37 ish, and healthy testosterone levels plus 550ng ish including studies showing thousands of men studied with the ones with the lowest testosterone levels dying so much sooner than their "healthy testosterone level" counterparts. It would scare the hell out of you. But I'll get off base of what my point is.... so if inclined...look through the various literature and footnotes at the bottom of pages and research it all yourself. It is of my opinion that keeping your testosterone levels and estradiol levels a semi-balance of what they were in your 20's while you age....is among the most important things you can do for your longterm health.
Back to my point. Prior to the Internet age, hardly anyone in the bodybuilding community was dropping dead in their 30-40's. Then along comes the Internet. Access to bodybuilding drugs goes sky high...click of a button and people are ordering up. The prices of these drugs go unbelievable low. And in the old days a lot of the people drawn to bodybuilding were athletes, yea there was some insecurities to be overcome mixed in there but by and large a majority of the people drawn to the sport looked at it as a personal challenge...you against the weights...an athletic endeavor/willpower/fortitude (not everyone obviously but a great many).
Fast forward to the last 20 years and with society so focused on the visual (Instagram...the "enough about me, let's talk a little bit more about myself" society), the constant barrage of Jersey Shore, Wrestling, Action Movie Hero's visuals, etc. etc. etc.... a bunch of terribly insecure junkies trying to solve their insecurities by next Tuesday have entered into the sport.
Add that up with widespread access to bodybuilding drugs, the astronomical low prices and you have the recipe for "bodybuilding drug abuse!
....And thats what has happened. What we have seen is just the tip of the iceberg of the people that are going to be dropping over the next few years. I thought personally the Derek Anthony dying at 33 years old was going to be a big wakeup call for a large majority of the sport....INSTEAD IT'S GOTTEN EVEN WORSE because social media has allowed a bunch of uneducated idiots to be heard (and they are the exact "junky" mentality I've been talking about who don't realize that what you do today doesn't end your life 30 days from now but DOES end it 12-15 years from now).
If Science Daily came out with a latest study that showed two aspirin a day over four-years time can increase a woman's breast size, within one month there would be thousands of insecure "junky-like" women dead from overdosing on 50-100 aspirin in a days time. That in a nutshell is what has happened.
So that's why I felt the need to explain this above. It's a reality that is ending people's lives prematurely that needs to be talked about. (continued)
Article Suggestions by Dante
Why Estrogen Balance is Critical to Aging Men
Dangers of Excess Estrogen In the Aging Male
The Testosterone Controversy
Startling Low Testosterone Blood Levels in Male Life Extension Members
Male Hormone Restoration
Source: Dante Trudel's Facebook Page