he was a true guru in every sense of the word....and plus he was a crazy ass MOFO!

The Doctor

Steroid state of the art & the new gurus....

There are a few new steroid gurus on the scene. So far (but I could be wrong on this assessment) none of them have advanced steroid use in a practical sense. The three new ones are:

Paul Barrassen out of England. Supposedly he has the practical experience of yours truly, but with a college degree in chemistry and biology. I have never met Paul, but I have read his book �The Anabolic Edge�. My problem in accepting his recommendations is that many times he will make a statement that really doesn�t have any basis in scientific fact or research. For example, granted, there may have a difference in steroid receptors in different mammals, but this doesn�t mean that veterinary steroids are tailored for those receptors. Regardless that Borressen has a college degree, he appears not to be very smart. His steroid dosages (at least for the genetically gifted) are staggeringly high, in the �grams per day� range. I can�t outright say that such dosing schemes are ineffective, but they are possibly dangerous. But his mantra will be enticing to the myriad wanna-be�s in the steroid subculture: to give the hopeless hope again by implying that size is just over the horizon if only you would use enough steroids.

Bill Roberts: I should say beforehand that I intensely dislike this man. More than any other person in bodybuilding, actually. I won�t get into the reasons why, as I feel that Bill is his own worst enemy, and he is doing a great job of illustrating to the world why he is such an asshole.

Roberts is a graduate student, and most of his studies centers steroid theory and chemistry. Up only recently, his knowledge was usually steroid trivia-type stuff: why, chemically, a steroid does or does not do some action. He has been advocating starting a steroid cycle for a pretty high dose of steroid, at the 1-gram a week or more. Yes, many steroid neophytes have gained some nice size on this regimen, but we really don�t know if the extra milligrams really helped. What Roberts has done is to more precisely explain much of the steroid arcana that was already being done. IE: The importance of estrogen conversion, cycle length, the fallacy of pyramids, or tapers, for that matter. His advice applies mainly to the occasional and recreational steroid user. Roberts has not venture into the professional bodybuilding arena like Borressen does.

Lately, I must admit that Roberts is beginning to theorize into valid applications. He was the first to point out that Anadrol 50 does not appreciably aromatize to estrogen, a long-held belief because the rampant gynecomastia seen in its users. His hypothesis is that Anadrol 50 has cross-reactance with progesterone receptors, similar to mibolerone (Checque drops). This would explain a number of side effects from Anadrol. The gyno can be caused by too much progesterone in men. The down-regulation of natural testosterone secretion is also affected by progesterone. Progesterone causes insulin resistance, that will cause an increase of appetite and an acceleration of bodyfat. For example, synthetic progesterone, Megace, is used in wasting-syndrome victims for weight gain. It is mostly fat-gain, though.

It is one of my postulations is that such steroids that cause progesterone effects are valuable for fat loss while on low calories. If you can resist the increase of appetite, progesterone can be thermogenic (from its uncoupling action on cells), and insulin resistance is beneficial for using fatty acids as a primary fuel source. Both growth hormone and ephedrine cause a slight insulin resistance, both favoring fat burning.

Roberts has also proposed that Winstrol (stanazol) might be acting as a weak progesterone antagonist, and that this explains why Winstrol users claim a fat and water loss from it. Roberts has proposed a stacking of Anadrol 50 with Winstrol, to negate the progesterone effects. And I think that this is a bona-fide advancement of practical steroid use. I hope that Roberts continues his creative postulations, because we need such advancement.

Dharkman: Well, I know this guy�s real name, but he loves being mysterious. This is his main problem, his secrecy. Dharkam has some unusual ideas about how steroids work (or more importantly, don�t work), but he doesn�t to give up his references. I�m assuming that in his home country (France) he has access to some very smart doctor/researchers doing work in steroid theory who give him broad suggestions on specific areas that should be explored. As much that Bill Roberts dislikes me, he really hates Dharkham, called him that �fucking frogman�. Dharkham believes that there is an array of enzymes in the muscle cells that de-activate the steroids from attaching to the receptor. He also believes that the muscle membrane can affect steroid transference under the influence of various compounds, mostly lipids. Roberts vehemently (and I really mean vehemently) thinks that this is complete rubbish and this is being kind), even though Dharkham, at times, have responded with supporting research (at least with the deactivation scheme). Dharkham does make some very unusual steroid statements that he can�t (or won�t) explain. IE: he has stated that blacks respond to Equipoise better than non-blacks because of their acceptance of androgens.