Former Slugger and Current Author Practices What He Preaches

Although he hasn’t played a major league baseball game since 2001, Jose Canseco is still taking care of his body, at least in the way he has spoken about in his two ‘tell-all’ books. Perhaps even the once-rich and famous are having issues obtaining performance-enhancing drugs in this day and age of mass hysteria.

Attempting to smuggle in a supply of human chorionic gonadotrophin, commonly known as HCG, through the Mexico/San Diego border, Canseco was held by immigration authorities for 10 hours after the substance was found in his vehicle.

Although a fertility drug, HCG is used in combination with anabolic steroids, either during or after a cycle to return testosterone production and size in the testes. So, in reality, Canseco had his balls busted as a result of trying to limit the shrinkage.

It appears that the 44 year-old is still using performance-enhancing drugs and would have no other reason to take a trip to Mexico and bring back HCG. A commonly-used post-cycle therapy substance, it is popular amongst bodybuilders and used either separately or in conjunction with Clomid or Nolvadex.

Perhaps Canseco wanted to take the bull by the horns, or so to speak, and get his hands on his own stuff. Paying the middle man can jack the price up, but the alternative is what happened to him.

By Leigh Penman

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag giving information on a variety of performance-enhancing drugs for educational purposes. While it is apparent that people are going to use these substances regardless of the health and legal risks involved, quality information is necessary and learning as much about them as possible can only assist an adult making a decision either way.

Parabolan is a strong androgenic steroid which has no estrogenic activity at all and is reputed to be five times stronger than testosterone in terms of anabolic and androgenic activity. Also in its favor is its ability to bind fairly well to the androgen receptors which promotes the growth of muscle cells and the subsequent burning of fat cells. In addition, Parabolan also binds to the glucocorticoid receptors which leads to a reduction in catabolism. As if this weren’t enough, it is also considered to be a ‘nutrient partitioning agent’ which, put simply, means that it has the ability to convert more food into muscle and less into fat. This can lead to a visible increase in muscle hardness over the entire body in the course of several weeks. This makes it an excellent pre-contest steroid since it speeds up the metabolism and accelerates the fat burning process.

Another interesting observation about Parabolan is that bodybuilders who have used steroids for some time and who have reached a road block in their development suddenly make new progress whilst using this substance. Continue Reading »

Long Island Native Finishes Second in 202 Showdown

Most athletes have the luxury of something called an ‘offseason.’ You know, the winter in baseball and the spring for football. A time of the year to recover from all the work that you put in. That is the case in most sports.

Not in bodybuilding, which is a 12 month, seven days a week commitment. To prepare for a competition, especially one with the magnitude of Mr. Olympia, there isn’t a day to waste. Kevin English has to get down approximately 70 pounds to his contest weight of a little over 200.

“Usually when people see me on stage they think that I’m about 20 pounds heavier,” the 5’4” Great Neck, New York native said. No wonder with the mass that he possesses.

In September, he was on bodybuilding’s largest stage at the 44th Mr. Olympia contest, which took place at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. It was English’s rookie ‘O,’ and he finished 16th out of 19 competitors. Earlier in the day, he was the first runner-up in the 202 Showdown, which pitted the smaller bodybuilders against one another. Continue Reading »

Pre-Judging for Mr. Olympia Title Complete

Call it reading into something. Or reading between the lines. It could be either or a combination of the two. But it certainly appeared on Saturday night during the pre-judging for the 2008 Mr. Olympia that reigning two-time champion Jay Cutler and Dennis Wolf are going to be in the forefront tonight at the finals.

Both received a raucous ovation when introduced, and even more so when they were placed next to one another during the comparison stages. That may have been what occurred when the two behemoths were performing the requested poses, but the interesting moments came as they stood off to the side while some of the other competitors were posing.

What they were doing wasn’t the issue, but rather what they were not doing. Camaraderie runs high between the bodybuilders, even during strict competition. Many of the men, including, Cutler, were congratulating each other when the head judge called their name. A small handshake, fist pump or backslap were common, but Wolf and Cutler stood next to each other for a good length of time on and off stage without nary eye contact, let alone an exchange of words. Continue Reading »

Will Come Back in March from Injured Triceps; Will Compete in 2009 Mr. Olympia

Las Vegas, NV - Injuries are a part of the game. From football to bodybuilding. Just as Jeremy Shockey was forced to sit out Super Bowl XLII, Branch Warren is forced to watch from afar while the best bodybuilders in the world vie for the 2008 Mr. Olympia title.

While he rehabs his injured triceps, Warren will be here taking it all in. He was visibly disappointed when asked about missing the contest.

“Very much so,” he said during the ‘Meet the Olympians’ event on Thursday night. “I’ve been training very hard for the competition. I thought I would do very well, but things happen. But you have to keep the faith. I’ll be ready back at the Arnold Classic in March and I’ll be here next year.”

Judging by the size of the man, the rest of the competitors should heed the warnings.

The Ramblin’ Freak Speaks his Mind About Steroids in Sports

The following article will appear in the October 2008 issue of New York Sportscene magazine. (www.nysportscene.com)

At Arm’s Length

Gregg Valentino Flexes his Opinion About Steroids

The old saying “Don’t throw stones in a glass house,” doesn’t apply to Gregg Valentino. When he talks about anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs, people listen. It’s sort of like that old Payne Webber television commercial. You see, Valentino has no problem admitting to steroid use that would probably eclipse every baseball clubhouse in the late 1990s.

“I was up to 4,000 milligrams of testosterone a week, and that’s not even counting the equipoise,” he said, not bragging but just being truthful. When you inject such high quantities of juice in your body, it should come as no surprise that Valentino laid claim to having the largest biceps in the world. At one point during the height of his usage, his arms were an astronomical 28 inches. Continue Reading »

By Leigh Penman

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag giving information on a variety of performance-enhancing drugs for educational purposes. While it is apparent that people are going to use these substances regardless of the health and legal risks involved, quality information is necessary and learning as much about them as possible can only assist an adult making a decision either way.

Anavar is one of those drugs that have attained cult status amongst athletes over the years. It has also become relatively hard to find and also fairly pricey. This puts it high on the ‘purchase it while you can and keep it stashed away’ list for many bodybuilders.

Anavar is also an extremely popular drug amongst female athletes who wish to avoid many of the side effects associated with anabolic steroid use(but more of that later).
Anavars near legendary status is due to the fact that it causes a strong strength gain without increasing water retention. It does this by stimulating the creation of phosphocreatine in the muscle cell without depositing water in either the joints or the muscles. Powerlifters often choose to combine Anavar with Halotestin to foster the strength and aggression required in their sport. Continue Reading »

MuscleSport Mag Sits Down with MD’s Own

Recently, MuscleSport Mag had the pleasure of doing a one-on-one interview with Gregg Valentino, who is a top staff writer in ‘Muscular Development’ magazine. His ‘Ramblin’ Freak’ column is just one of his contributions each month to the famous publication and is known throughout the industry as the type of writer that pulls no punches and tells it like it is – if it pisses off some people or not.

Here is one part in a continuing series from our session with Gregg.

Being shy about his own steroid use is not a trait for Gregg Valentino. Instead of being like someone who was born again and preaching the clean life, his experiences with the substances were not all bad and he’s been as open about that as the detrimental part of them.

Due to his being brutally frank about the subject, Valentino is sort of like that old television commercial for E.F. Hutton – when he talks, people listen. Picking his brain about the modern world of bodybuilding was as enlightening as it was interesting. With the ‘grand daddy’ of them all, Mr. Olympia, right around the corner, the topic of drug testing at that level is one that has been broached before, but remains cloudy.

“First of all, there is no testing,” Valentino said. “If you tested bodybuilding, the sport would die. Bodybuilding is not like baseball. Steroids are part of the sport. They’re a tool like the baseball bat is. If it weren’t for steroids, bodybuilding wouldn’t be the sport you know now.

“There is such thing as a natural show, but they’re looking for diuretics and stuff like that. Even when they do test, they make it so you have to be stupid to fail the test. They’ll go like, ‘Listen, March 23 you’re going to be tested.’ Long in advance. They give you enough time to clean out.” Continue Reading »

An Explanation on Steroid User Interview

We have received a number of emails since publishing ‘Deca Dick’ May or May Not Leave You Hanging a few days ago on MuscleSport Mag. First off, if anyone received the wrong message from it, we would like to apologize. With that said…wake up! The article was obviously written for education and information on a very hot topic, one that will not go away no matter how far some people stick their head in the sand. If anyone thinks that M.T., our interviewee, is unlike many of the people that work out next to us in the various gyms around the world, you are terribly mistaken.

Steroids are not only used by the bodybuilders on stage, the athletes on the field or the movie and rap celebrities on TMZ. No, the average guy or gal out there without much to gain besides what they see in the glass every morning are using performance-enhancing drugs, too.

We are not polarizing this or telling the readers that it is ‘the thing to do,’ but rather merely telling the truth. As we stated in our first article, Welcome to MuscleSport Mag, this is not the place to read about how great a supplement is if it sucks, or that anabolic steroids will kill you by reading the label. No, we’re not pussy-shipped like that. You will hear also not hear what you want to hear, unless that’s the truth. Continue Reading »

“The Black Prince” Throws Barbs at Arnold and Weider, Steroids in Bodybuilding and Baseball

To be considered one of the pioneers and a legend in your sport is something that can never go away. Even if he never picked up a weight again, Robby Robinson would always be one of the elite bodybuilders of all time.

While most men at the age of 62 find more time to sit around than exercise and have a diet that make their doctors turn red, the man known as “The Black Prince” still busts it in the gym and has not ‘enjoyed’ as much as piece of pie in over 20 years.

Never one to not speak his mind during the ‘golden age of bodybuilding,’ Robinson still has that trait and it is part of what has made him so great while being understood in certain circles. He has his own opinion on some of the biggest names in his sport and others, like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joe Weider, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds. Continue Reading »