Counterweight Opinion: What's with all the Steroid hate?

I see a lot of parallels between Marijuana and Steroids. Both have been victims of extensive 'Reefer Madness' negative propaganda. Now while marijuana is on the verge of widespread acceptance and legalization, steroids and PEDs of many kinds are still terribly demonized.

Here are the only three questions necessary to ask to give you the full picture of steroids.

Are steroids dangerous? Yes
Can steroids be used safely and effectively? Yes
Even when used safely, are there potential side effects of their use that a user should be aware of? Yes

The effectively part is understood, they work great. That's why people actually use them. What you don't hear much of is that with proper guidance, there are very safe for people to use towards their goals. This goes for all sorts of different PEDs (but not all I'm sure).

So if they can be used but have potential downsides, how are they any worse than alcohol? I personally do not drink alcohol nor do I smoke, do narcotic drugs, or take steroids or PEDs. I am for a person's right to choose, yes even to take the hard drugs, and that choice needs to be made with all the information and without outside pressure. That is the ideal. Knowing the pros and cons, and of their own free will a person should be able to take anything they wish.

Are drugs cheating? In many sports currently, yes. They are cheating if the rules explicitly state they are not to be taken by a competitor in preparation for an event. Is it 'cheating' for a recreational user, just a bro or broette in the gym, to use them to improve their physique? Is it cheating in sports such as powerlifting or strongman with federations/contests that do not have rules against PEDs? No to both. It isn't cheating if it isn't against the rules.

Where the waters get murky is in sports with governing bodies that have imposes PED bans. I would go as far as to bet that every single one of those still have an overwhelming number of "dirty" athletes. If a contest/league is recognized to crown the greatest in that sport in the world, or it is a stepping stone to the the one that does, then you have a conflict of spirit. The drive and need to be the greatest at something doesn't play well with limits, especially when there is no guarantee that your competition are going to follow them either.

Cheating the system is an unwritten rule of strength sports. Even if it weren't that way originally, secretive culture and rampant paranoia drove it there. The greatest the human body is capable of is achieved with talent, hard work, luck, and topped up with pharmaceuticals. That's the truth. If you want to be the best, you let nothing stand in your way. That comes with extremes of ego and pride that it takes to be the best at something. Necessary evils.

Are there wrong ways to take PEDs/Steroids? Yes.
1) Taking the wrong kind when you are too young and screwing up your maturation process.
2) Taking too much. Either in amount or frequency. Supplanting and undermining your body's natural processes.
Neither of these things will really deter the single minded. They are risks they are willing to take, sacrifices they are willing to make. Is it really a sport's place to put limits on the commitment to excellence of their athletes? Especially for professionals when it is their livelihood and legacy at stake.

So now we finally visit the title question. Why all the hate? I think it's jealousy, plain and simple. The average person has never felt the bone deep, overwhelming drive to be the best at something. That their purpose in life is to leave a lasting mark on the history books of their passion. I know of scientists, musicians, and artists that feel the same and sometimes go to unhealthy lengths to achieve it, yet are never vilified for it.
The sports viewing audience is torn. They want to see spectacle, they want to see the unbelievable, but they want to feel like they could have achieved it themselves. Most every sports fan doesn't have even an iota of the drive and commitment it would take, but they want to delude themselves into thinking they could. Steroids and PEDs are a step too many know, either because of ignorantly or knowledge, that they are not willing to take, and that destroys their illusion. This grudge is compounded but fear mongering and demonization until it reaches the levels we know and love today.
It's a step I will never take, could never take, but will never condemn someone who will.

I personally think the professional level of commitment is scary and extreme. I have too many wants in life including specifically my career and family. I'm also way too lazy. I love sport and challenge I also love wasting a day playing video games and eating awesome food. I've never even formed sport fandom. When I watch sports, I'm never really cheering for one team or individual, I want to see good competition. Even as a kid when I had a team that was "my team", I was only going through the motions. I have a hobby and a love of challenges. I'm never going to be 'that guy' and I'm okay with that. If you aren't, you should be too eventually.

Steroids can still be a shortcut. If you plan on taking them you better have all your other affairs in order. You had better be a professional in your nutrition, training, recovery, and financial support or you do not really have the proper commitment and your just looking for a quick fix for your failings.

What do I want? PED and Steroid acceptance. Then we can easily create two streams of competition, one for their use and one without. Notice I didn't say with/without testing. Testing is a joke and a terrible waste of time and money for sports that don't earn nearly enough. If there is acceptance, and two streams, then there is no added prestige in winning a competition on performance enhancers in a league for those who do not use them. If there is nothing to hide, there is no stigma, and you can compete in your place. Some powerlifting federations are currently operating like this and I plan to support them. In strongman, there are beginning to be choices. I can see the light of possibility.

We need to erase the hate and build a competitive landscape for both. I'm pretty sure it will never happen, but I can always hope. All of strength sports are already held back by this and can never step into the spotlight without the hate and paranoia cloud that surrounds them.

Rack

Squatting for Strongman

Squatting for Strongman
by David Jennings

Squatting has been called the King of Exercises before and while for Strongman we often think of Deadlift as the most useful movement Squatting still has a vital role. Any serious strength athletes should know of the many merits of the Squat already without me having to state them. The point of this article is not to convince you that Squatting is important or to explain and give advice on how to perform and improve the various types of Squat but more to analyze what I think the purpose and methodology behind training the squat should be for an athlete looking to succeed in Strongman. This article is also specifically directed towards a Strongman competitor. This information may not apply to athletes seeking to compete in other strength sports as well. 

Most strength programs have at least one squat day in them a week. But what type of squat variations are most useful for Strongman training? Let me talk a bit about how I used to squat. Like many newer lifters I determined the success of my squat training based on how many reps I could get with how much weight. So naturally I would take up a wide, low bar powerlifting stance and just go down far enough to barely break parallel and have the squat actually count as a squat. This type of training got me to a point in summer 2013 where I finally hit a raw squat of 515 lbs. Although this was great for my ego I was beginning to realize this type of attitude and method was not good for my long term training goals. As a very tall lifter with long legs I was using this kind of squat as a crutch for my relatively weak quads by using my strong lower back and hips. Some friends of mine commenting on that lift had a very good observation when they described it as turning into a “crappy Good Morning” since I would lean forward to allow my legs to drive my hips up and have to finish the squat by bringing my back up as in a Good Morning. Are Good Mornings a great accessory lift after deadlifting? Yes they definitely are.  Is it good to lean forward and turn your squat into a Good Morning when it becomes too heavy for your legs? No absolutely not. I knew I needed to switch things up. Powerlifting style squats can also be used to compensate for lack of mobility. So if exclusively using this style of squat isn’t effective Strongman training than what is?

Although I had a good idea of what I should be doing it was confirmed to me at a seminar I attended where Magnus Ver Magnusson in no uncertain terms advised that for your primary back squat an Olympic lifting style squat had better carry over to Strongman than a powerlifting style squat. Now since Magnus is essentially a god among men whose word is law when it comes to Strongman I could leave it there but I feel I should explain things a little. Olympic lifting style squats put more focus on the quadriceps and less on the hips and lower back than powerlifting style. They also help to increase mobility and are a more natural squat position that has better carry over to most strongman events and can develop amazing explosive power within the legs. The squat is very rarely used as an event in strongman and so for the most part the numerous Squat variations are the go to group of exercises that build the legs and lower body. So what strongman events can squatting help you be better at? I think the list of events it wouldn’t help with would be shorter.

Probably the best piece of advice I have ever gotten for Strongman training is "Don't be too mechanical" by this I mean doing a very narrow variety of lifts a very specific way all the time. Unlike Powerlifting or Olympic weightlifting where the goal is to do a very specific lift for 1 rep Strongman has you doing a ton of different movements in different volumes. Every competition you go to will probably have different events with different kinds of implements that will force your body to be strong in multiple ways. This is the whole principal of odd object lifting that is one of my favourite aspects of Strongman. For an event like natural stones you can just go get a bunch of random boulders and tell the competitors to move them. This kind of performance along with the countless other possible events requires highly balanced overall lower body strength. This means add variety to your squatting. My favourite way to switch up standard squatting is pausing at the bottom. This makes the lift harder by taking away some stretch reflex and allows you to explode up out of the hole. Will this make you able to use less weight? Totally but sometimes you have to put the ego away and make training harder in ways other than just making it heavier. Another point that may seem contradictory to what I said before is that powerlifting style squats can totally be incorporated within a balanced squat program as long as they are only a portion of the squatting you do. 

The other best type of squat is something I almost feel sick saying since I hate them so much. Front squats. Yes for me at least they are possibly the least comfortable exercise in my training but if you wanted to be comfortable this isn't the sport for you. Front squats remove the possibility of using your lower back to do the lift and force you too keep an upright torso to avoid dropping the weight in front of you. They carry over well to almost any event having the weight held in front of you, can help build the type of quads that force you to buy new pants and they are easier on your lower back than back squatting. They are also a great exercise to add pauses to especially if you are masochistic. There are many other forms of squats that can be added into a program like Zercher squats or Safety bar squats and as long as you know how to safely perform these exercises feel totally free to add them in a part of your program. Just don't get too reliant on any specific style.

As far as gear goes for squatting my general idea is try to use more supportive equipment than assistive. By supportive I mean something like a belt or light knee sleeves that help support you through the lift but don't use elastic recoil to make the lift easier like knee wraps or a squat suit. I think knee wraps can still be used occasionally providing they aren't used as a crutch for muscular weakness but I personally prefer almost never using them. I will usually use my belt for lower rep sets but will do large amounts of my training without one. This comes down to individual factors and preferences though.

So what kinds of accessory work are good to do after squatting? Well getting back to the whole "don't be too mechanical" thing variety is key. Just remember that accessory work is meant to be an accessory and not something you try to 1 rep max with. I think a general good rule for accessory work is to focus on volume and good form. Here are some accessory exercises I like.

Leg Press- Yes a machine (gasp). Now some people make it their goal with leg press to load up every plate in the gym plus get their buddies to stand on the thing and barely pump out 1 tiny rep. This is actually fairly dangerous. When this huge amount of weight folds you up and drives your knees past the headrest it also lifts your hips off the back rest and can put huge stresses on your lower back. People have literally been carried out of gyms on stretchers doing this kind of thing. Instead try to get more volume and really focus on exploding the weight upwards and slowly lowering it. Leg press is also a great way to continue training your legs if the infamous lower back pump kicks in while squatting. 

Leg extensions- Pick your chins up off the floor now any free weight purists. How many guys at WSM do you see who have tiny legs? The answer is none. High rep leg extensions can be a great way to end a squat training session to really pump up the quads and encourage growth. I think the infamy leg extensions get is when ordinary people do them as a primary exercise and don't squat. But you are all smart enough not to do that.

Step ups- I think step ups are a highly under rated exercise as they are great for building agility. One variation I like is putting a barbell with some light weight on your back, walking up 2 steps, walking down backwards and then repeating leading with the opposite foot. Once again this is something to focus on volume, speed and good form (seeing a pattern with accessory work here). You want the set to end when you are getting tired not when one of your legs collapses under you from using too much weight.

Lunges- walking, stationary, barbell or dumbbell just do them and follow the rules of accessory work.

Sled drag- These destroy your quads. After doing a heavy drag for a good distance prepare to possibly fall down if you aren't used to them.

Prowler- After a lower back injury I had last year I used heavy prowler pushing as a rehab tool to keep my legs strong since it doesn't put a lateral stress on your lower back the way squats do. It is also my favourite conditioning tool when used with light or moderate weight for speed.

So take home points. Olympic style squats should be your primary back squat style. Front squat. Do paused front and back squats. Variety is key. Use you accessory training to do volume and maintain good form.

David