I think you have me mistaken for somebody that has not been around lifting much. I know for a fact who is natural and who is not in my group, not only because of being friends in and outside of the gym, these same friends are competition in tested powerlifting divisions. Some also do not compete in tested divisions. I have a friend that is closing in on a legit 600lb raw competition bench, I would not believe it either until I knew him well and went to tested powerlifting meets with him. In the same group we have a guy who is 165lbs closing in on a 400lb touch and go bench.
I also know a lot of guys who are on gear who are nowhere near those strength levels. Point being, strong is relative, and you don't need to be on stuff to be strong. Strongest? yes, but its unfair to call somebody out on drugs because they have a 600lb deadlift--there are lots of guys who have hit 600+ deadlift without drugs.
edit: just to add, in groups of powerlifting--we all know who is on stuff and who isn't, its not a secret. Bodybuilding is totally different.
edit2: wanted to also add--you have a good point though, and I know your view to be true 99% of the time... some guys just wont admit it, especially bodybuilders and gym rats. They all want you to think they got to where they are naturally, and its rarely not a lie.
i was chronically overtrained. i could have been much stronger if i knew about periodization etc. also i was a bodybuilder, not a powerlifter although my training was somewhat powerlifter-like.
most my lifts were quite weak. my squat was a nonexistent. but i was quite strong on chin-ups, on shoulder press ( 140 lb dumbbells for 10 reps, or 150 lb dumbbells for 2 or 3 reps, my working weight was 130 ) and on bent over rows ( 5 plates per side for a few reps once, 4 plates was my working weight ). i also did 7 plates on the icarian T-Bar machine for reps.
so my lats were always my strongest point - they were also the first muscle i started training all the way back as a kid. i was overweight as a kid in USSR and i was the ONLY overweight kid in my class. most my classmates could do chin ups but i couldn't due to my weight. i was attending a gym at age 11 or 12 where i would swim laps ( to lose weight ) and do pull downs so i could learn to do chin ups. but swimming in itself works lats too, and later on i was on a high school swimming team. so my lats got consistent training since age 11 or so while for example i did not start doing squats and deadlifts until age 18 or so ( my parents told me i would not grow up vertically if i did them as a kid ). and in case of squats i stopped soon after i started because they were impinging some nerve in my neck.
as for shoulders - steroids help with that a lot. my back strength was quite good before steroids, and remained decent after steroids as well. my shoulder strength was 100% steroidal though. it came and left with them.
i don't remember the details of my routine but it was something like 2 - 3 hours a day 6 - 7 days a week with very long breaks between sets - like 5 minutes. i would do sets of 5 - 6 reps and i would do about 3 sets per exercise. i would train at about 90% of my max all the time.
also i did a lot of pyramids. that is for example i would start with 60lb dumbbells, work up to 130 ones and then, work back down to 80 lb ones. i would not go to failure until i would hit the highest weight i was going to do that day ( say 130 lbs ) but once i hit that weight i would go to failure on every set so to failure on 130, then to failure on 110, then to failure on 80 or so.
i really took overtraining to another level
but since i was always on 2 or 3 pills of ephedrine in the gym i didn't feel overtrained.
i did not do any cardio and very little ab work. for abs i would do sit ups on an decline bench with either a 45 lb plate in front of me or a 10 or 25 lb plate behind the head. i did not do many reps. i did not believe in reps back then - i believed that growth comes from tension.
my highest one-arm pull down at 220 lbs actually came a few years AFTER quitting steroids when i have already lost half of the muscle. i managed to increase my strength while losing muscle simply because by that time i understood overtraining.
when on steroids i did not understand overtraining at all. one time i had to spend a week in the hospital and it was driving me insane that i couldn't be in the gym. as soon as they let me out i went straight to the gym and set personal records on everything i lifted that day. i thought it was "strange" that my strength increased across the board after a week in bed under an IV. of course that's what was SUPPOSED to happen, but i didn't know it then.
wouldn't it be nice if you could live twice and apply everything you learned in the first life to your second ? i learned a lot about this sport over the years but i no longer have the health to try what i know on myself any more.
