posted April 04, 2000 08:45 PM            

Our first interview is with a Canadian professional bodybuilder who's nickname�given to him by some of the guys from his old gym�is "Mailbox." He's called that because at a height of 5'2", he resembles one. We spoke to "Mailbox" over the phone. Here's what he had to say:

T: Mailbox, what's your competitive background?

MB: I have won both my weight class (80 kg) and the overall title in the National Championships and I twice placed in the top 8 of a couple of prestigious IFBB pro shows.

T: Let's get down to brass tacks: how did you get involved with steroids?

MB: I was always skinny as a kid, but after two years of training, I was still only 135 pounds at 5'2". So I decided to try anabolics. After doing some serious begging, the gym owner got me bottles of Finajet and Equipoise. That was in 1982 when steroids were not a big deal for the Canadian police establishment, so the stuff was circulating pretty freely and the anabolics were still falling under the Food and Drugs Act. Now, of course, as of April '94, it's under the Criminal Code.

T: What was your dosing regimen?

MB: I was taking in 4-5 cc of each of those products per week. Basically, I was shooting a cc or so of something every day. It was a fairly high dose for a first-time user, but the gym owner who advised me was a classical bullshitter and wanted to off-set his failures through me.

T: What sort of progress did you make?

MB: Pretty dramatic. I went from 135 pounds to 185 pounds in just twelve weeks.

T: Whoa!!! Fifty pounds in twelve weeks? Impossible!

MB: No, it really happened. You may think I was just a fat fuck, but my body fat stayed under 8%. Everybody in the know out there says that I must have the best receptor affinity possible. Apparently, I'm one of the few people in the world who grows on Winstrol tablets alone.

Of course, the first cycle is always your best cycle, and as you can see, I did not go easy on the dosage, especially for a novice. I was using 400-500 mg a week for my first cycle. Compare that to the fact that most novices will use 10 mg of D-bol a day for a whopping total of 70 mg a week.

T: What is the heaviest you weighed?

MB: 238 pounds at 5'2". My nickname was "Mailbox." My gym buddies were telling me that it was easier to jump over me than to go around me.

T: Well, let me put it another way...how good did you look?

MB: I was smooth, something like 14% fat. That's when I was fooled into the John-Parillo-high-calorie-diet-bullshit. But instead of using MCT oil, I was using a lot of weight gainer powder in skim milk. That was in the mid-eighties and the high calorie approach was in vogue. Every food supplement company of that time was promoting a weight gain product, and like any motivated bodybuilder I fell for it.

T: It wasn't just the high-calorie diet, right? I mean, you must have been using a hell of a huge-dosage cycle...

MB: An "intensive-extensive" cycle to say the least. After getting up one day, I weighed myself, and as usual, I weighed 202 pounds. I was stuck at that weight for months, so I said "I'm fucking sick and tired of never weighing more than 202 pounds! Enough of these baby dosages!", so I went on a full-blast cycle, and I got this bodybuilding nutritionist to give me a high-caloric diet which consisted of 10,000 calories: 30% protein, 50% carbs, and 20% fat.

T: What was your full blast cycle?

MB: A bottle of each of one of the following per week: cypionate, propionate, suspension, enanthate. And of course, 1cc a day of Winstrol V for 16 weeks straight. This was right after the Ben Johnson scandal, so I only had access to vet products. The black market had dried up pretty much as the cops were starting to crack down on steroid dealers.

T: Wow! What was the total, in milligrams?

MB: 4,850 mg a week, to be precise!

T: Any comments on the wisdom of that cycle?

MB: Beside the fact that it was total heresy, the cycle was based on my insecurities and not on any carefully thought out physiological parameters. Aside from costing me a lot of hair, it also cost me a lot of money; about $150 a week.

It almost cost me my marriage. My wife was constantly nagging me; I almost got divorced because of that damn cycle. She was saying that I was spending more money on toilet paper�because of the high calorie diet�than on dates with her, but the sad thing was that she was right! My only source of entertainment was TV and my dogs.

I weighed more, but the quality wasn't good. I was sluggish. I needed ephedrine to get out of bed in the morning. Basically it was total heresy: committing suicide with a syringe and a spoon.

T: Did you learn anything from that experience?

MB: Yes. Invest time in finding a better source for your sauce!!! Luckily, I met some French bodybuilders on the IFBB circuit and I got access to great steroids at a cheap price.

I also learned to get more information from people in the know. I got this French doctor to help me out. He lowered my dosages by rotating my steroids every three weeks. He was a bodybuilder himself, having represented France in the Universe. He also introduced me to twice-a-day training for 40-50 minutes per session.

T: Did that help?

MB: For sure. It got me up to 224 pounds at 5.6% fat. Of course, I was using a lot of insulin, GH, and plenty of French and Italian steroids, all of which I had unlimited access to.

T: What was your steroid intake pattern under the French doctor?

MB: Every three weeks I would change the steroids I was using. The first three weeks would consist of two androgens and one anabolic. The next three weeks would consist of two anabolics and one androgen.

T: Can you give us an example?

MB: Sure.

Week 1:
1,000 mg Sustanon, 500 mg Androtardy [Testoviron], 420 mg Stromba

Week 2:
750 mg Sustanon, 500 mg Androtardy, 350 mg Stromba

Week 3:
500 mg Sustanon, 250 mg Androtardy, 210 mg Stromba

Week 4:
700 mg Primobolan, 280 mg Halotestin, 350 mg oxandrolone

Week 5:
500 mg Primobolan, 210 mg Halotestin, 280 mg oxandrolone

Week 6:
300 mg Primobolan, 140 mg Halotestin, 210 mg oxandrolone

I grew much better on these cycles. I also saved money, had lots of energy, and was able to drop my caloric intake down to 3,500 per day.

T: Nowadays, where do you get most of your steroid information? For instance, do the pros share much about their knowledge of steroid use?

MB: Of course! What else�besides women�are they going to talk about? In fact, at breakfast, lunch or dinner, that IS the main topic of conversation. We barter sauce, we discuss stacks, we show each other ways to smuggle, and we talk about other sources. For instance, this German bodybuilder told me that he goes to Columbia once a year to train a cocaine dealer. He does not charge the dealer anything, but in exchange for the training, the dealer smuggles in all the Primo, Sustenon, Deca and GH he wants, free of charge, which I gladly trade him for bootleg D-Bol, Parabolan and oxandrolone.

However the more successful a guy gets, the less he gets to talk about his "secrets." Of course, a lot of guys love to fuck up aspiring bodybuilders by giving so-called pre-contest secrets out.

T: Can you give me an example?

MB: One Olympia finalist tells upcoming bodybuilders�like Nationals contenders, for instance�to eat a high saturated-fat diet when using 3,000 mg of test enanthate a week.

T: Nice guy. What do you think the average Mr. Olympia contestant is taking nowadays?

MB: The average is about 3,000 mg of sauce a week: 2,000-2,200 of androgens like Omnadren or propionate; 800-1,000 of anabolics like Winstrol, Oxandrolone, or Primo; and 10-24 IU of GH a day, plus, of course, Triacana or Cytomel and various other shit like the appetite suppressants.

The days of very anabolic, weak androgenic stacks like Primo-Winstrol and Oxandrolone as pre-contest drugs are over. Parabolan and Masterone are probably the most desired drugs these days.

T: Are there any drugs you don't like?

MB: Yes, there are some that definitely bother me. For instance, if I were starting over again, I wouldn't do so many testosterones.

Halotestin gave me wicked headaches and really disrupted my sleep. And for me, sleep is essential for growth. I got a lot of tendonitis on Winstrol V, too. My naturopath told me it was because of the impurities in the vet products, but I didn't have any problems with Equipoise and Finajet.

I also noticed that HCG makes me very tired, so I only shoot it on non-workout days. Clenbuterol is also something that really affects me negatively. Twice, it made me feel like I had had a heart attack. I had such terrible shakes while on it, too. It worked for the first two weeks I was on it and that was it.

T: What would you say are your top three drugs for putting size on?

MB: Finajet is for sure my all time favorite. If there was one steroid I wish they would bring back, it would be that fast-acting trenbolone. Nowadays, I substitute it with Reforvit-B, the injectable Dianabol with B vitamins from Mexico. But it isn't nearly as effective as good old Finajet.

Dynabolon from France rates highly with me. It always makes me recover fast.

Sustanon 250 or Androtardyl would be my favorite androgens for adding size. I feel like I load nutrients well on these drugs. For instance, I can carb up in just six hours when I am on that stuff.

T: I'm surprised you didn't mention Anadrol.

MB: To tell you the truth, I never tried Anadrol.

T: Really? Why?

MB: I never got my hands on any! And my biker friend who was using it complained incessantly of stomach upset while on it. I knew he was using the real stuff, too, as it came from a guy who stole from a central pharmacology warehouse.

T: What are your top three drugs for pre-contest use?

MB: I would say testosterone propionate, Anavar, and Primobolan. I think the propionate does the same job as the Masterone, but at a much lower cost. It gives you a more masculine look; more striated, way tighter.

I like Anavar because I get stronger on it. I'm not one of the stronger bodybuilders, but I always felt tighter and stronger on Anavar. The only problem is, the product is very expensive. I was spending easily $500 a month just on Anavar.

I think Primobolan is excellent if you're cutting calories. I also think it's the best anti-catabolic agent. Unfortunately, the cost is high since I only have access to the South American ones.

T: What about growth hormone? Are you using it much?

MB: I get my growth hormone from Spain via France. I tried the 2 IU every two days without much success. Once I jacked it to 10 IU a day, I started to see a lot of gains.

I found GH helped me get rid of a lot of my old training injuries. For some reason, I thought it had some excellent anti-inflammatory or rejuvenating properties.

I also lost a lot of fat. I could eat a lot more and still stay lean, or even get leaner. Of course, I found the biggest advantage of growth hormone is that it permanizes your gains.

T: What do you mean?

MB: Whatever size you gain from being on a steroid cycle, you keep much easier when you come off the drugs.

T: What about side effects?

MB: Everyone says my skin has taken on a different look. I was mixing insulin with GH and it really fucked me up. My pancreas took a wicked beating and I was even hospitalized. As a result, I have to really control my calcium intake right now. As soon as my calcium values go up, my pancreas hurts terribly.

T: Do you consult with a doctor during your cycles?

MB: Yes, a group of medical doctors from my local university�all specialists in endocrinology�have studied me over the four years of my pro career.

T: Did you learn anything from their research?

MB: I didn't read any of their reports, but they told me a lot of things. For instance, injectables are better than orals for managing my blood fats. Anavar was better than Winstrol for my HDL; supplementing my cycles with Cytomel increased the absorption of anabolics; and mega-dosages did not affect my liver enzymes much when I took the right hepato-protectants.

T: Which hepato-protectants were you using?

MB: I take this herb which I think is called Syllimarin�two capsules after every meal. It is sold in France under the name Legalon.

I also take an anti-oxidant formula that contains glutathione. With these products, my liver enzymes were normal, even at dosages as high as 3,000-4,000 mg a week of various anabolics.

T: Thanks for your time, Mailbox, it's been enlightening, to say the least.

T