Contest Prep is Expensive. Why?

[Gene]

I know this may seem obvious to some, and ignorant to others, but I've been reading extensively lately, and one thing I've noticed is how expensive contest prep is for most pro's. I know the food bill, for one thing, is probably reduced because so are the calories, so I'm guessing its the drugs. But then again, many are doing expensive cycles in the off-season too, so what makes contest prep so much more expensive that pro's have to resort to going to specific shows where they have a chance to win back the money? I also read somewhere that as contests near, most start taking test that gets in and out quicker, and diuretics and all, but I'm not sure what that all meant. (How fast can some test be in and out as opposed to others?). Anyone care to comment anything?

thanks. much appreciated.

[Iron horse]

Im going to give a educated guess.

besides other drugs like t3 and test or something.

they probably take high doses of GH to increase LBM and Loose more bf.

GH = lots of money!

[John Hubbard]

Contest prep usually involves expensive cutting AS like winny,anavar, primo, etc... This combined with lots of expensive GH really increases the cost.

[MIKE_XXL]

...we can't forget PGF-2, IGF-1, Arimidex, and a of of other expesive drugsas mentioned earlier...HGH, and clean drugs that don't hold to much water.....

[Krapfen]

Originally posted by Gene
I also read somewhere that as contests near, most start taking test that gets in and out quicker, and diuretics and all, but I'm not sure what that all meant. (How fast can some test be in and out as opposed to others?).

how long a steroid stays active in the system depends on whether there is an ester attached and if so, which one.
Test suspension ist pure testosterone, it will be out of the system in a couple of hours.
test propionate has the propionate ester attached to the testosterone molecule and it takes some hours for the esterase enzyme to metabolize this to get free testosterone. It will be out of the system in 2,3 days.
test enanthate takes longer, up to 14 days. cypionate even longer and i think laurate ist the longest used.
if you do a search you will find some 10 different esters which each have different half lifes.

this does not only apply to testosterone but to all steroids. there is trenbolone aceate which has to be injected ed or eod because it lasts only 2 days or so but there was a trenbolone cyclohexylmethylcarbonate on the market which lasted a week or so. Same with nandrolone - deca lasts some 2 weeks, durabolin only days, and so on.

if you need to pass a drug test it might be beneficial to use a short acting ester (or no ester at all as in test suspension) because you could have high test levels in your body up to hours before a show, but will have normal levels at the desired time.

[silverfox]

Eating well is costly, even with less cals, i find I am buying more "quilty food, lean steak instead of lean ground beef, extra chicken breast instead of few thights or somethin' plus i really feel bit extra gear is important to maintain LBM during dieting, all ads up, tanning, trunks, tanning cream

[Dr. Derek]

Food is the least of these guys financial burdens. Unless your Mr. Olympia I dont think any prize money is going to pay for the amount money spent soly on contest pharmacuticals, let alone food. I dont know how they make it, I have some good guesses. These guys spend some coin.