Whenever I see a big muscular guy in the gym, I always ask myself the question whether he would be a true natural bodybuilder or not. Unfortunately you often cannot answer that question with 100% certainty. It is especially difficult to say, if they haven’t been using drugs for a longer period of time. However, if they are in the middle of a heavy steroid cycle, a trained eye can often clearly see it from their appearance. Usually they gain lots of muscle mass in only a few weeks. They look like if all their muscles are permanently pumped up, even when they are not lifting weights. Their muscles really jump out, look hard, full, and often vascular. Their metabolism is up to twice as high as normal (often above 5,000 calories per day).

Unfortunately there exists no test that can determine a bodybuilder’s detailed drug use in the far past, and doping test results are very easy to manipulate. Therefore, if you really want to know whether a bodybuilder is true natural, or which drugs he has been using to build his physique, you will have to ask him. The standard answer to this question is, however, always “No, I have never used any drugs”. However, if you get to know the guy better, develop some friendship, give him some complements on his physique, and especially if he thinks that you are a drug user yourself or interested in becoming one, he might well loosen up and start telling you at least part of his true story.

There are, however, two simple and quite innocent questions that can help you in many cases figure out whether a guy has ever been on steroids or not:

* Did you ever compete in bodybuilding contests or do you have plans to do so?
* What is your highest daily calorie intake when you are in good shape?

Remember, about 99% of all competitive bodybuilders use anabolic steroids, certainly the heavy guys. Also remember that a heavy anabolic steroid cycle can double the daily amount of calories burned. If you are still not sure, grab the guy’s balls. If they are the size of a peanut, you can be sure that he is on steroids. If there are no balls at all, you’re dealing with a female bodybuilder. 😉