How to approach a friend

[MRmichael.hooker]

Alright bros, heres the deal. One of my gym buddies wants to start using steroids. Now before this turns into some big debate on "gear vs. no gear" i dont give a shit. It has nothing to do with that. Everyone has their own opinions on the matter. What this is about it the fact he is maybe 165lbs. Diet is shit. He 'tries' to eat big, but is your typical douche who complains about not growing yet eats no calories and drinks every weekend. His g/f approached me offline and asked me to talk to him about it. She says he has pretty much made his mind up on the matter. No blood work done, didnt even know you need/should get blood work done. Pretty much is under the impressions 'stick yourself with test and it will make him grow & look how he wants". Has no post cycle planned. Isn't a bodybuilder/powerlifter, not trying to be. Just wants some size. Obviously if someone is willing to stick themselves, they really care about how they look. I don't wanna walk up and say "listen fucker, dont do this shit' because it will just go in one ear and out the other. Has anyone had a situation like this? Any tips on how to approach him and talk about it? Thanks guys. P.S: Please do not turn this into a shit thread about natural vs not.

[ToSo]

Thats a tough situation, all I know is your friend has a similar background to my friend who passed away last year because of "it." My friend was a skinny college kid, trained hard during the week, partied harder during the weekend. Cycling like a made man, 8 months later ended up in the hospital, then he was gone. Can't give you advice because again its a tough situation but atleast maybe if you do approach him and he'll know you care or atleast are there for him. Good luck.

[Aggression]

I've been in this situation more times than I care to remember. My young cousin, 20yrs old, is taking PHs and its the same story. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do besides just try to talk to him as a friend. Tell him that you're concerned with his approach and you just want to shoot the shit with him about it. Don't get aggravated or start talking down to him. Do your best to keep your cool despite his immature outlook on it. Just bullshit with him about it. The more it seems like an intervention, the worse it'll be.

If he's dead-set on taking the stuff, then I would then switch gears to helping him with all the 'accessory work' that goes into using the sauce. Maybe talking about PCT, blood work, liver values, raised estrogen, hormonal shutdown, etc., will make him think twice.

[MRmichael.hooker]

thanks bros. we'll see what happens

[Bruiser]

Good luck

[Brick By Brick]

How old is he? Can he be convinced that eating right + adequate rest + proper programming will give him great results without spending (what could be) a lot of money on gear? I would kill to have the growth potential of an 18-25 year old kid. I was having a conversation with an IFBB Pro who trains at my gym about this kind of thing, and basically, guys like him don't get huge from the magic of anabolics, they get huge from hard work and proper eating/supplementation. If he doesn't have the genetics for bigorexia, or the work ethic, he's wasting his time. I realize all of this would most likely fall on deaf ears with your friend. The best advice I could give you is to keep your eye on him, and remind him that the "legal" stuff you see advertised in the bb mags, especially the injectables, can be of questionable quality, at best. It could be olive oil in a bottle, for all he knows. I wish you luck, and hopefully, there's some way to make him change his mind.

[BarbellManiac]

Tell him that chemicals won't make him big, it's the work ethic he puts in that will. Diet + Training hard + Consistency over a long period of time, and then maybe think about chemical enhancement. The mistake young guys make about using gear at an early age and thinking that is what makes a champion is total bullshit. It's about using your natural growth potential, because the majority of your gains will come from that.

[MELTDOWN]

I've been in this situation more times than I care to remember. My young cousin, 20yrs old, is taking PHs and its the same story. Unfortunately, there's not much you can do besides just try to talk to him as a friend. Tell him that you're concerned with his approach and you just want to shoot the shit with him about it. Don't get aggravated or start talking down to him. Do your best to keep your cool despite his immature outlook on it. Just bullshit with him about it. The more it seems like an intervention, the worse it'll be.

If he's dead-set on taking the stuff, then I would then switch gears to helping him with all the 'accessory work' that goes into using the sauce. Maybe talking about PCT, blood work, liver values, raised estrogen, hormonal shutdown, etc., will make him think twice.

Yo A...that's scary close to my nephew...almost to the T. He's trained for about 2 years and never really took the time to find his "switch"....(when the diet, training and supp's start yielding results). He want's to get within a year where some guys have taken 5-7-10 years or more to be at now.
No matter what hard, honest talk I had with him (with and without his parents & fiance' around) he's going with it. His mind is made up and there is no changing it. I just planted the seed about all the "stuff" that goes along during and after his cycles. Yeah, I can see some wheels turning in his brain, but he already on it and see's results.
Still love him, hate what he's doing, and want to make sure he gets thru it...

[MRmichael.hooker]

Update a few months later. Friend didn't care really what i had to say. No blood work done, no research done, still eats like garbage, went on a heavy oral cycle. No pct done, nothing. Just, few months on, now stopped. Wants to do it again later. Still, doesnt care about going to a Dr or anything. At least i know i really gave it a good effort to try to talk to him.

[Brick By Brick]

Update a few months later. Friend didn't care really what i had to say. No blood work done, no research done, still eats like garbage, went on a heavy oral cycle. No pct done, nothing. Just, few months on, now stopped. Wants to do it again later. Still, doesnt care about going to a Dr or anything. At least i know i really gave it a good effort to try to talk to him.

Wow. At least you tried, seems he's dead set on his plans . Will say a prayer for him, hope he comes out of it ok.

[Big C]

That's on him bro. Plenty of idiots out there who give steroids a bad name this sounds like a typical case. I see it all the time.

Personally I don't have a problem with em if someone is serious about their training/diet/goals and has reached a reasonable age/weight.

As a friend, you did what you could bro but 9/10 times if someone has their mind made up about doing something no one is gonna talk them out of it.

[SuperFlexSteve]

Update a few months later. Friend didn't care really what i had to say. No blood work done, no research done, still eats like garbage, went on a heavy oral cycle. No pct done, nothing. Just, few months on, now stopped. Wants to do it again later. Still, doesnt care about going to a Dr or anything. At least i know i really gave it a good effort to try to talk to him.

You might want to reiterate the fact that orals are HIGHLY liver toxic, and if he's gonna choose to go that path he should at least have blood work done or risk making his liver fail. Also, if you've talked to him and he hasn't listened the only thing that will make people like that listen is to have something bad happen to them(sounds shitty, but that's how it is).

[MRmichael.hooker]

You might want to reiterate the fact that orals are HIGHLY liver toxic, and if he's gonna choose to go that path he should at least have blood work done or risk making his liver fail. Also, if you've talked to him and he hasn't listened the only thing that will make people like that listen is to have something bad happen to them(sounds shitty, but that's how it is).

ive tried telling him as many effects that injections can have, orals are a whole other level of shitty effects that can happen. And i agree. It sucks, but the only way he will learn is when he is fucked and its too late