Q: So what’s the deal with cutting drugs vs. mass drugs? I hear from people all the time that if you’re in the off season, you should only do certain AAS and when you diet for a show, you should only do other AAS. What is the protocol or list of drugs you should and shouldn’t do at each time of the year?
A: This is a really great question, because it is a heated debate amongst bodybuilders – some of whom swear it is the law, and others who say otherwise. In my own experience, I think that statement is a falsehood. I have trained many bodybuilders, from top level down to local caliber, and I can tell you that success has much more to do with diet and knowing how to work with your body than the drugs you take. A guy I trained in New York, only had access to D-bol the entire cycle. It didn’t do his liver any favors, but he ended up looking like a million bucks – ripped glutes and all – because he followed my prescribed diet religiously, and was a freak about training, dieting correctly and doing minimal cardio. I put him on 3-4 a day, knowing he’d probably take 5 or 6 – which was about right.
So the philosophy of only taking Test/ Deca/ EQ/ Anadrol, etc.. in the off season and Winstrol/ Anavar/ Tren in the pre-contest phase just doesn’t hold up. Now, don’t misunderstand. Are there drugs I would take close to a contest? No way! I wouldn’t, for instance, take certain Tests, and I wouldn’t take anything that was going to really encourage water weight gain. But, there again, I can tell you that I have seen some people even take half an A-50 with Proviron, and Arimidex to get rock hard, paper-thin skin in that last 4 days before a show. It’s really about knowing how your body tolerates it. And remember, if your diet is perfect, and you’re eating tons of red meat and not a lot of carbs in the early part of the week prior to you getting on stage, you are NOT going to hold water. Stress would be the only reason, and that’s why you take Aldosterone. But if you are prepared, you aren’t going to need very much of anything. Point is, you can do any drug you want, anytime you want, if you are eating and training correctly. Side effects, I find, are largely due to people being sloppy and careless with diet, or not knowing how a drug affects their body before taking it and taking it at an inopportune time, such as two days before a competition. Still, if you mess up two days before, there is a LOT you can do to correct it. Eight hours is a lot to correct something if you know what you’re doing.