How early did most pros start using AAS?

[HyPeRtRoPhIc]

Just as the title asks, how early did these guys start to become the behemoths they are? at the age they are? just something that popped in my head. thanks guys.

[Hazard]

This is probably better suited for the lounge......

I heard one of the pro's started around age 15..... which could explain why he's only 5'4 or so ahaha - it's all hearsay though. I believe in one of cutlers videos he states that he started working out around 18 or so.....

~Haz~

[carp123]

ill just call ronnie and ask him ,lol ,this question cant be answered buddy ..

[MACHINE5150]

This is probably better suited for the lounge......

I heard one of the pro's started around age 15..... which could explain why he's only 5'4 or so ahaha - it's all hearsay though. I believe in one of cutlers videos he states that he started working out around 18 or so.....

~Haz~

That was something preist or something wasn't it... forgot his name.

I would imagine most started working out at 15 and started AAS in early twenties.. arnold was only 19-20 or something like that.. but he was also 6'2"

[Superhero d-bolman]

actually, i think arnold started taking steroids real early like when he was 15.

[Noles12]

Lee priest admitted to starting young but like another person said no one can answer this. We have about as much inside information on the pros cycles as you do

[Hazard]

That was something preist or something wasn't it... forgot his name.

I would imagine most started working out at 15 and started AAS in early twenties.. arnold was only 19-20 or something like that.. but he was also 6'2"

Yes Lee Priest is one..... but there's another guy who currently competes. I wont say his name but he did a promotion for a store..... I know the owner and the workers. They didn't tell me they directly talked to him about it but one of my friends there said he started around 15.

ah well..... doesn't matter cuz i'm gunna be 27 and still workin my ass off for size LOL

~Haz~

[big_ron]

Would love if the pro's where more honest.

[Far from massive]

I am sure it varies a lot person to person.

Of course there are a ton of factors involved why the start point that may apply to a pro body builder would no apply to the average BB. One big one, being if a guy is 20 and has been lifting most his life, has no college education and no family fortune or business to inherit and has a big ass contract just out of reach this is a pretty great motivator to do something that is likely to have some serious health consequences. Just like I would not breath fumes of boiling heavy metals that are known to lead to parkinsons, young guys who are welders looking to put food on their families table, often will do just that. Life is full of compromises and weighing the risks against the possible benefits is almost always a tough choice.

FFM

[dec11]

actually, i think arnold started taking steroids real early like when he was 15.

how can you poss know this?

[SMcB]

In the documentary 'Bigger Stronger Faster' (not sure if this part was in the movie or the deleted scenes) didn't Christian Boeving admit to starting steroids when he was only 16? Also in that movie they showed Arnold when he won a title back at age 19 and it looked like he had been 'on' even at that time. I didn't realize how many people actually juiced at such an early age. And if pro bodybuilders or fitness models juice that early on in life and obviously have to be on almost year round because of their careers, wouldn't that mean they are/will be on TRT for the rest of their lives? Their balls must be completely gone by now........

[thewarrior8845]

in one of arnolds biographies he states he started using when he was 16

[HyPeRtRoPhIc]

in one of arnolds biographies he states he started using when he was 16

Dnag! i wonder what sides he has now? or if he did something crazy that kept him okay

[JohnnyVegas]

When I was young there were a lot of young pros. Rich Gaspari, Shawn Ray and others were stars in their late teens. I have no inside knowledge, but they look incredible and I always assumed they were not natural. They had only been lifting a few years.

This is Ray at 19


Here is Gaspari (at 20) and other young guys. When he was 22 he came in third at the Olympia.

[marcus300]

The starting time will be all different for various reasons so its a impossible question to answer unless you are a pro. Starting drugs at a young age doesn't mean you will become a pro either, genetics play a huge part if your going to be one of the monster what stroll on the Mr O stage.

[Hazard]

The starting time will be all different for various reasons so its a impossible question to answer unless you are a pro. Starting drugs at a young age doesn't mean you will become a pro either, genetics play a huge part if your going to be one of the monster what stroll on the Mr O stage.

^^^^ Exactly..... If starting at 16 was the key.... and shawn ray/gaspari looked great at 19..... then they've only been cycling for 3 years. Everyone ought to look like a pro after 3 years.....

I really think it's all luck..... someone decides to start young and if it pans out well then great..... but most of the guys who start that young will have bigger problems down the road. Imagine how many guys never lift a weight in their lives..... yet carry the genetics to go pro?

~Haz~

[awms]

Being a pro bodybuilder is almost 90% genetics...anyone can take steroids at 16 and get big but not every one can take steroids at 16 and have a 28 inch waist and 20 inch arms. The brutal truth about the sport of bodybuilding is that it is not all that healthy of a sport...you think Ronne Coleman will live to be 95? lol no but do you think he cares? no....the guy has packed 300lbs onto a 185lb frame and theres only so much the heart can take for so long.

My point is that yes if you want to be the next mr. olympia you prob do need to start young and risk alot to get there! me personly I just enjoy living a healthy life style and doing a simple cycle once a year is plenty for me.

[BG]

Genetics are a must to be pro. Here Priest as a teen.

[Striatiostation]

good question. we'll never know. too many sponsors for them to lose.

[AlphaMaleDawg]

This is probably better suited for the lounge......

I heard one of the pro's started around age 15..... which could explain why he's only 5'4 or so ahaha - it's all hearsay though. I believe in one of cutlers videos he states that he started working out around 18 or so.....

~Haz~

nah Lee Priest started at 19. He is the only pro that openly talks about his usage and is also the most honest

[AlphaMaleDawg]

FYI, Ronnie started MUCH later than you all think. He was in his twenties. Here is a post quoted from the really hardcore AAS site on the net. Doggcrap (Dante from DC training) made this post. This is a guy who is ALWAYS worth listening too

"I also believe Ronnie Coleman was natural when he got his pro card. Ive come to know too much information 4 ways around the block to believe otherwise now.

a) he goes to the nationals and places 5th in his class and they offer anyone in the heavyweights the chance to go to the team universe if they are willing to pass all the drug tests....#1 thru #4 say no way (why risk getting caught and made to look like crap publically) but ronnie is more than glad to do it (and passes)...why? Because he was clean.

b) Ronnie gets his pro card at 218-222 if i remember right. He much later (after he gets on the gas) competes at 303 pounds at the Hungarian Grand Prix onstage. So for those of you who say "hell no he wasnt natural when he got his pro card......." ...... he weighed 80 pounds more onstage many years later!!!! What....was he running fake stuff at the Team Universe to weigh 80 pounds less? Anybody in this forum ever use steroids and then somehow magically later on gain 80 pounds out of nowhere by continuing to use steroids? Doesnt happen. Eighty pounds happens when you are clean and then get on juice/gh for many years with extreme genetics. I have no problem at all believing that if Layne Norton can weigh 204 pounds ripped at 5'11 natural that a black guy with some of the best genetics on this planet can weigh 220 natural ripped at 5'11".....and probably would have gotten close to 230 ripped many years later if he continued being natural. We are talking about genetics that come along once in a lifetime here.....not Frankie average down at 24 hour Fitness. (I also feel this is the reason Kai Greene used to weigh 206 to 211 his first couple pro shows and magically now competes at 255 to 270.) When you gain 50-80 pounds in the pro ranks (which virtually nobody does even remotely)....its kind of not too hard to figure out the deal. On the other hand Cutler gets his pro card at 248-252 and here we are what...14-15 years later and he is going in shows at 255-270.....thats the whole (getting on vs been on the entire time equation right there)

c) Im from Massachusetts....Mike Quinn was also....I have hung out a lil and been out to eat with him after a seminar he did in Mass. Im just going to say the following....I left kind of dissapointed in who he was as an individual back then because right during the lunch an individual came up and asked him if he wanted to do some blow and he nodded his head.....(definitely isnt my scene) right in front of myself and the group....and there were some other tidbits that were somewhat dissapointing....as it relays to some of his complaints about pro's in the above article vs who he was and what he was saying at that time. Im going to give him the benefit of the doubt that maybe it was a bad day or he wasnt himself due to the drugs (coke) and say maybe he is now a better individual. Bodybuilder wise he was thick as all hell upperbody wise."

[arsowat]

arnold was only 19-20 or something like that.. but he was also 6'2"

LOL! arnold won mr. universe at age 19, he was on the sauce by 16-17

[awms]

Im sorry but ronnie was not natural when he got his pro card! lol that just ridiculous!

No he prob didnt use near what he uses now and I dout he had started playing with hgh yet but he was deff not natural! The reason ronnie blew up so much was cuz he was on boat loads of gh later in his career and every one knows that.

[AlphaMaleDawg]

Im sorry but ronnie was not natural when he got his pro card! lol that just ridiculous!

No he prob didnt use near what he uses now and I dout he had started playing with hgh yet but he was deff not natural! The reason ronnie blew up so much was cuz he was on boat loads of gh later in his career and every one knows that.

oh I'm sorry maybe from now on I'll listen to you instead of one of the more reputable figures in bodybuilding who has no reason to lie

[awms]

lol Im not saying bullshit to you...sorry bro it came off as if I was. Im just saying that lets be real...it makes for a good article but I dont buy it.

[AlphaMaleDawg]

lol Im not saying bullshit to you...sorry bro it came off as if I was. Im just saying that lets be real...it makes for a good article but I dont buy it.

it's not an article. It was a post on a forum

[Noles12]

I too would find it hard to believe ronnie was natural when he got his pro card. A reputable person in bodybuilding still may never know when someone really started. I'm not saying he is lieing, im saying his information still may be inaccurate (ronnie may not be telling people close to him the truth on his use because he wants to be claim he was natural when he got it).

My theory on the matter is he was using but at much lower doses than he is now. Any pro has to have great genetics but at his size and muscle development, i would find it hard to believe he was natural

[AlphaMaleDawg]

I too would find it hard to believe ronnie was natural when he got his pro card. A reputable person in bodybuilding still may never know when someone really started. I'm not saying he is lieing, im saying his information still may be inaccurate (ronnie may not be telling people close to him the truth on his use because he wants to be claim he was natural when he got it).

My theory on the matter is he was using but at much lower doses than he is now. Any pro has to have great genetics but at his size and muscle development, i would find it hard to believe he was natural

This is a respectable answer, but you aren't trying to claim he is lying. It's hard to argue Dante's post though, as much as it sounds crazy to believe. Ronnie was just such a genetic freak, so who knows

[bernimx]

Dante's post makes total sense to me.

[Hazard]

nah Lee Priest started at 19. He is the only pro that openly talks about his usage and is also the most honest

I wasn't initially talking about lee priest..... but did rope him in with the other guy. Lee Priest is a jerkoff IMO..... he's open about taking aas but i'm tellin you his dosages are whack as fvck. The bigger reason for him being a jerkoff tho is that I heard 1st hand that he was physically and verbally abusive. I take it with a grain of salt but given his personality..... I wouldn't doubt it.

~Haz~

[Superhero d-bolman]

Greg valentino mentioned that in arnolds biography he confessed to taking them at 15.

[Superhero d-bolman]

alphamaledawg Lee priest started way earlier with the juice at least at 16 probably earlier. Have you seen pictures of him lifting weights at 16? he looks freakish.

[dec11]

Just as the title asks, how early did these guys start to become the behemoths they are? at the age they are? just something that popped in my head. thanks guys.

or is because your 18 and still fumbling around for excuses to use gear?

[Noles12]

or is because your 18 and still fumbling around for excuses to use gear?

This is the first thread i thought of when i pieced things together about his age. He asks because he is only 18 and wants some way to say it is ok to cycle young

[dec11]

This is the first thread i thought of when i pieced things together about his age. He asks because he is only 18 and wants some way to say it is ok to cycle young

exactly, i can smell them a mile off. fireguy caught him out lying repeatidly, should be banned imo. ppl's stats should be on a sig in open forum, they wont think to lie when they are signing up.

[Booz]

how can you poss know this?

i know he was taking gear when he was at least 18 mate....
my cousin used to train with him when he was bought over here by Wag Bennet....................

[dec11]

i know he was taking gear when he was at least 18 mate....
my cousin used to train with him when he was bought over here by Wag Bennet....................

yeah tht sounds more plausible than the usual rumouring on here. must have been summit else for your cus to have trained with him, not many have that story to share!

[Booz]

he was over here for a year or so,my cousins wife was the first poster model you know the cardboard placard thingy for the Mr Universe
i think it was the Brugge one or something like that..............