Do people on gear work harder???

[SteelWeaver]

Yeah yeah, so this is probably a dense question, but humour me here, OK?

Who works harder for their physique - a natural or a gear-user?

I was under the impression that gear allows you to recover faster, and diet harder with less loss of muscle, and improves protein synthesis so muscle-building is more efficient. So theoretically that means you could do a TON more work, work harder than any natural ever could, and get unbelievable results, right?

So why does everyone seem to think that steroids make it easier? I'd say it would be a huge waste of money and nasty sides to take gear and not work harder ... don't you think?

 

[MS]

Any answers you get are going to be anecdotal and very opinionated. There are really two classes of people that use AAS on these boards.......those that just want to look good naked with the minimum amount of work and those that want to blast past their natural plateaus to become the biggest, freakiest and leanest creature on the planet.

IMHO, most of the women on THIS board wish to retain somewhat of a natty look. Otherwise we'd be seeing a lot more of higher dose higher androgen usage required to get freakishly big and lean. So in a way, most of us around here would prolly be in the class of wanna look good naked with minimal amount of effort. This is the essence of human nature LOL. Given the large number of figure and fitness competitors that I have seen in the gym (as well as what they shove in their pie-holes), I would say that the majority of this class of women do not work nearly as hard as their non-AAS using counterparts, yet they usually take home the trophies. I'm sure the women on this board work hard for their bodies, but in my personal experience this is the face of modern figure and physique competitions. So I guess it depends on your goals although even in physique classes these days, a woman can get marked down for being TOO muscular. So there's no point in taking high doses of gear and busting your butt 24/7 if you're just going to lose points for getting too big!

 

[Hannibal]

Any answers you get are going to be anecdotal and very opinionated. There are really two classes of people that use AAS on these boards.......

Along the lines of what MS said...I think there are two classes of people in general. There are hard workers and then there are lazy asses. Lazy asses see AAS use as a quick fix...a miracle pill in a big bottle marked STEROIDS that requires a minimal amount of effort. Hard workers will generally think out their cycle and do as much work as possible to get the most "bang for their buck" out of the assistance.

So in a broad stroke generalization...I think that being a hard worker is a character trait. It is not dependant on whether you are chemically enhanced or not....IMO

 

[Sassy69]

I think the term "harder" is relative, depending on what you are talking about. The "hardest" training I ever did was for my 2nd show, natural, but fucked up diet. Despite literally slave-driven training sessions, I ended up too fat for competition. I also dieted "harder" than I'd ever dieted before - but again, wrong use of resources. I always train as hard as possible, but I every year that I train & learn more about bb, I try to train smarter, not harder. I still think of the two, diet is more important than training, AS or not. "Harder"? I always strive to achieve a new goal every time I go to the gym, whether an extra 15 min of cardio, one extra interval of HIIT, 5 additional lbs on a press or whatever. I've followed this approach since I first climbed into the leg press on a Universal machine at the local Y in 1981.

Just a thought -- when you refer to "harder" I guess you were thinking in terms of bulking up. "Smarter" training would allow you to perhaps focus on bringing up a lagging body part, bring out the smaller muscles that dont' usually get hit with the basic moves, allow you to lean out more, etc. but with less hours in the gym, more intensity & better focus.

 

[vinylgroover]

It's not about who works harder, it's about which has more assistance in terms of building lean muscle. Answer, the AAS user.

The majority of serious natural and AAS bodybuilders will put in the equivalent amount of physical and mental effort or exertion, it's just that the AAS user has other factors besides mental and physical effort that assist him or her to a much greater extent, therefore being able to better maximise the efficiency with which all of the inputs are used by the body.

 

[b fold the truth]

Hmmm...

Do those who use AAS take their training more seriously?

OR

Do those who take their training more seriously use AAS?

B True

 

[MS]

Hmmm indeed b fold.

I have actually thought about this a lot over many years, and spent those years doing a lot of observing. The answer is much more complex than the question (as always).

SteelWeaver, let's say you spent 10 years of your hardest, smartest, non-AAS training and acheived a great physique, but someone else just like you comes along and trains just as hard and just as smart but using AAS achieves that great physique in 18 months. Now who worked harder in your opinion?

Add to that that there are some things that you cannot ever acheive as a woman without gear, such as truly ripped quads.....

I have observed a total of 4 women over the years who I would honestly say continued to bust a gut in the gym and diet department after starting AAS. Of those, 2 were outta the iron game totally within a year due to irreparable tendon damage, one of them was pretty much forced to train with less intensity because she got too big (a figure competitor-note that she chose this path rather than to stop or reduce the AAS), and one of them has done very well in the pro ranks without ever using grossly excessive amounts of gear. Every other woman I have observed did not have great training habits BEFORE starting AAS, and that certainly didn't change after AAS even though their physiques changed noticeably. On the plus side of slacking off, most of the lazier women haven't had probs with tendons to the same extent as the 'harder' training women.

As AAS applies to diet, I haven't noticed there's much difference. It's not 'easier' to stick to a strict diet just because you're on AAS. You still have to have the willpower to not put it in your mouth. However, the boost to BMR seems to help a little, but there's no reason a natty with good knowledge, coaching and willpower can't be just as lean or leaner than someone on mild to moderate doses of AAS (quads aside).

I used to take my training very seriously, as have a lot of women over the years that have not used AAS. But there is a level of competition above which you cannot rise without using AAS, and there's an aweful lot of women below that level that just find it easier/more exciting/better results etc...with AAS. And of course, genetics will always play a huge factor in how someone looks and how hard they have to work to acheive that look!

 

[wilson6]

AAS can increase the drive to train harder. Psychological effects, particularly in women.

AAS produce more rapid changes in the physique in conjunction with diet and training, and that increases the motivation to train. Results driven.

On the other hand there are fitness girls that use pretty high doses of AAS but have to train light otherwise they'd get too big. The reason they use AAS is to get an overall (thighs and butt included) hard, lean look but not too much size. In fact, you'll probably see more figure girls on AAS to balance their fat distribution out. The judging for figure presents a problem because they want a softer look overall. Given the fact that most women carry more bodyfat in the gluteal-femoral region, to maintain a softer upper body look will likely result in a much fatter lower half than we'd like to see on stage (the bowling pin look).

Lastly, there are the lazy ones that use AAS but could probably achieve the same degree of strength and muscle mass without them, but they just don't like training hard and really watching their diet and nutritional supplementation.

W6

 

[Sassy69]

To MS's point about competition levels & AS, any guesses on % of women (let's ignore the men for the moment) who are on AS AND compete vs. just on AS for aesthetic reasons?

 

[The Shadow]

My 2 cc's:

I think that gearheads will spent a m ethodical amount of time on their diet when on...that sees to be the biggest difference to me

besides again to me....gear is most beneficial in it's anti-catabolic - ie - improved recovery time