7 Things I've Learned As A Drug-Free Athlete

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This is a post that I've been putting off for quite some time, but it's time that I finally feel I'm able to provide something of value to the strength community. This isn't a click-bait blog post, but rather informational, and something that I hope many can take something away from and apply to their training, life, and decisions in the future. But first, if you don't know the PED policy with Elitefts, please give that a read first HERE.

For whatever reason, I feel like the strength sport community just assumes that most strength athlete are on some sort of performance enhancing supplement. Now I can't really speak for the bodybuilding and strongman community, but for powerlifting, I feel like this is far from the truth. Just like with about anything else in the world, we've got this lovely thing called a bell curve. At the furthest ends you're going to have your outliers. For this example, the strongest and highest end competitors are going to fall on the very far right of the spectrum. These are more than likely going to be some of the athletes that opt to "go on". They're chasing world records, and will do whatever they can to get it. In the middle (the highest part of the curve), would be our average competitor. Someone that does a few meets per year, but has other life obligations and does this more of a hobby. They want PR's, but they aren't dedicating their entire life to their total. More chances than not, these competitors are drug-free. They don't see the risk vs. the reward. So chances are most competitiors aren't using any performance enhancing substances (and to be clear, I'm talking about those that would be banned under WADA regulations).

Now I know people are going to say, "Well they just know how to beat the tests!".

Perhaps, but again, we're talking about a small percentage that even want to do this, let alone have the resources to do so. Exceptions - not the norm.

So now that I've got all the preface out of the way, here's what I've learned as a drug-free athlete.

If You Compete Untested, You're Going To Get Lumped Into "Using"

Unfortunately when you're not subjecting yourself to drug tests, others are just going to assume you're using, and even more so if your numbers are in that top 20 all-time list. I originally started out competing in drug tested federations, but moved away from them because I wanted to chase the best lifters - and most of those are competing in non-tested federations. Just understand the way the strength sport community is evolving if you aren't willing to subject yourself to such standards, it's just what people are going to think. The main take away though, compete how you want and screw what others think.

You're Going To Need More Time

If you're going to be drug-free, I've got a theory that you're going to need a minimum of 10 years of serious training before you put up any serious numbers or totals. I've been under a barbell since I was twelve (nearly 15 years), and started training seriously when I was a senior in high school. I've been squatting, benching, and deadlifting for nearly a decade. Regardless of whether you "get on" or not, this is true, but as a drug-free athlete, building muscle and strength is an expensive resource to the body. Which feeds me to my next point..

Don't Cut Weight

Given the amount of time that it takes to get strong and build quality muscle mass, cutting weight is only going to slow your progress down. This isn't an excuse to be a fat ass, but until you reach an elite total, what's the point? No one cares what your total is whether you're down a weight class or not? They just care about your total. So get stronger and don't cut weight. Leave that for when you are truly competitive (chasing records, titles, money, championships, etc.).

You'll Need More Volume

I'm not going to say that getting on drugs is going to make you jacked, but being drug free just means you're going to need more real stimulus, and therefore more overall volume to grow and get stronger. How you opt to do this is really up to you, but constantly giving your body the stimulus to grow and get bigger is going to do you wonders. You'll of course need to eat and sleep at the right levels to do this, but I do feel like this is a big thing many are lacking on. Everyone wants to deload, deload, deload. My question is, from what?! Until you're strong, you can't tax your CNS nearly enough to truly need to deload. I didn't know what a deload was until after nearly 8-9 years of training. If you learn to train by feel, your body will tell you when to push and when to pull. Which leads me to...

You Need To Learn Your Body

Your body is going to tell you everything you need to know. From whether you're eating enough, sleeping enough, and when you just need to say, "Screw it, I'm not going to train today". Auto-regulation is what separates the good from the best. Learning this will be vital as a drug-free athlete, because you'll need to capitalize on your good days, and really step away on the bad ones. The quicker you can learn what types of food your body likes, and how much sleep you require is going to aid your recovery process as well.

Learn The Lift AND Get Strong

If you're going to be drug-free, your most valuable asset is time. As I mentioned above, you're going to need a lot of time to get strong, and as such, you're going to need to use that to your advantage to put up the biggest total possible in your career. So take the time to learn the lifts and master them, but also don't beat them into the ground. You've only got so many squats, benches, and dealifts in your body, use them wisely.

I know specificity is important, but to some degree you're going to wear your body to pieces squatting and benching four times per week. Stop that shit. Save it for meet preps and when you need it, after you've mastered it (for me this means being technically proficient at 90-94% weights, with no break down). Once you've done that, use variations and volume to get stronger and build muscle. This is why I love conjugation, but that's a post for another day.

Stick To Your Morals, Values, and Ethics

If you take nothing away from this post, understand you're going to come to a crossroads one day where someone is going to ask you about getting on. It happens, and it's definitely going to if you take strength sports even remotely seriously. I can't judge you or your morals. You do what you think is best for YOU. I know why I won't get on, and probably never will. But that's also no one else's business but my own. Just do yourself a favor and educate yourself on both sides. Talk to people on both sides. But at the end of the day, don't let someone talk you into it. Make the decision yourself with all the education you can.

I have really good friends that opt to use, and I also have really good friends that are drug-free. I love them for the people they are, not how they opt to compete or use. For whatever reason, those that don't use feel the obligation to bash and demonize those that do. But yet, you also see the other side of the coin as well.

To me, your drug status doesn't define you.

Remember that thing called a total? Worry about that, and everything else will take care of itself.