Gym-Mythbusters Episode I:

(insert famous bodybuilder here) "Didn't Take Steroids Because they Weren't Around Back Then..."

...

We've all heard this one. When I was a kid, I actually believed it, thinking that steroids were something of recent years. But at the time I didn't, like many people now don't, realize that steroids go back further than that. The use of gonadal steroids (testosterone) predates their identification, meaning people were using/testing/studying them before we really knew what they were. Medical use began in the late 19th century, many many years before modern bodybuilding. Testosterone was used by the Soviet Union and East Germany in the 1940's to improve the performance of Olympic and other amateur athletes, still a decade or two before the beginning of the "prime years" of bodybuilding. So we know it was around, and many past bodybuilders will admit to taking them.

Impressive results can be achieved with good hard work and eating healthy. But an image has been created by the fitness industry that cannot be achieved unless you take steroids. Don't be discouraged if you don't look like a famous bodybuilder. Chances are you've probably achieved impressive results if you've been at it for a while, so don't beat yourself up or listen to the critics/salesmen. Because, after all, that's just ridiculous; and I don't know about you, but I stand for being ri-FIT-ulous.

~ PAUL

If you're curious to see some bodybuilders admit to steroid use, just click on one of the videos to the side. If you wanna read more about the history of steroids, just read the Wikipedia article below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabolic_steroid#History