Do most professional athletes take PEDs?

Interesting video put up by Clarence Kennedy recently: 

He discusses how most professional athletes might be on PEDs (certainly way more than the general public thinks) and how the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) fails to effectively test for most PEDs. Testosterone (one of the most common steroids) has been around for almost 100 years and there still isn't a great way to test for it. 

A big takeaway for me at least is passing a drug-test does not mean drug-free

25 Comments
 

yes. do you really expect athletes & massive brands who have millions on the line to not use something that can help them beat the competition. 

 

Of course, that's why like most "fitness influencers" are probably unnatural in some way, whether it be PEDs, implants, etc.

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I know a handful of SEC football players who have mentioned they know guys taking PEDs for sure. I'd imagine at a higher level (NFL), there'd be even more PED use tbh

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Big misconception people have is that PEDs are just steroids. Most of what guys are doing is for recovery as opposed to building size. 

Beyond a certain level strong is strong, but being able to last all the way from Sep to Feb playing in the NFL is so taxing.

Look at Andrew Whitworth....no way you last in the leauge that long at such a high level natty 

 

Clarence could easily medal in the Olympics in weightlifting but chooses not to because he believes the Olympics is one of the most corrupt organizations in the world. His mantra is hilarious: Pulls insane amount of weight "for fun"

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I disagree, tbh I can whole heartedly believe a significant amount of the professional athletes in the Olympics take PEDs. For bodybuilding, hell yeah they take PEDs... The IFBB is completely untested and do you freaking see the size of these guys?

Clarence speaks about the incentives on the line for athletes to perform. Most athletes in Olympic sports, don't make a lot of money. I'm not talking about basketball or football, i'm talking more about track & field, swimming, etc. Only the very top of these sports make good money (think Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, etc.). The guy who gets 8th place doesn't make nearly as much as the top 3. In the video, Clarence calls out Usain Bolt for PED use and ofc i believe Bolt takes PEDs and think a large amount of athletes do  

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http://dystnow.com/2013/03/04/lebron-james-jameer-nelson-linked-to-miam…

you would be extremely naive to think professional athletes dont take PEDs. 

The question wasn't 'Do professional athletes take PEDs', the question was 'Do MOST professional athletes take PEDs'.  

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

yes. I watched a documentary about mike Tyson and he talked about how he used to carry around a fake penis with someone else's piss in it because the doping agency followed you in to the toilet to watch you give a sample. he said this was because he smoked weed, but if regular guys in the gym cant resist the temptation to use test, and a professional boxer is bypassing the tests, there must be a lot of professionals that are using test. I've even done a few cycles of test, tren etc. 

some data on % of doping violations, bodybuilding/weightlifting/powerlifting dont even make up 50%:

https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/steroids-other-…

 

I don't know if I'd say most, but a fair number. It has been this way forever, they've just gotten better at hiding it. There's a ton of natty athletes who are also just plain freaks of nature, but I wouldn't be surprised if anywhere from 25%-50% of every professional sport is utilizing some kind of performance enhancing substance.

"If you don't have any enemies in life you have never stood up for anything" - Winston Churchill | "It's a testament to the sheer belligerence of the profession that people would rather argue about the 'risk-adjusted returns' of using inferior tooth cleaning methods." - kellycriterion
 

Better at hiding it for sure, we can't even accurately test for Testosterone which is a drug that's been around for almost a century... WADA estimated LESS THAN 1% of doping athletes are ever caught

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Most Helpful

Absolutely. Highschool football players in Texas are already taking gear at that age. Good point was also raised that PEDS is not just steroids, as steroids first came into widespread use in the 70s. Considering the incentives in place, if you don't think science has made any progress in the past 50 years in this sphere you're a fool. GSP made a good point on some podcast saying that he has been offered PEDs many times with everything ranging from recovery stimulants to stuff that makes your eyesight better.

Any top athlete or aspiring athlete will have no issue putting their body on the line in an effort to win.

Also there's that infamous picture of the 20 fastest 100m times ever recorded. Everyone on that list has popped...except for Usain Bolt...who also has the fastest of those times. Complete nonsense if you think that a guy without enhancements is beating those with enhancements.

Finally, its a poorly kept open secret when you think about things like the BALCO scandal, Icarus, or the Spanish doctor who was helping Nadal and any/all elite Spanish athletes around 2008-2010. Then when he is in front of the Spanish Supreme Court, lo and behold, all the documents he has have miraculously been destroyed...after he stated that he has meticulous records on hundreds of athletes that he treated.

 

It's hilarious when people think Usain Bolt's genetics are just "that good". The people at the very top of the sport have a combination of the following:

1) Extremely good genetics

2) Extremely good work ethic

3) Some sort of PEDs

I'm not trying to discredit the work ethic or genetics, but PEDs certainly make a difference in competition, so the best athletes are not those who only work the hardest and have great genetics, but the ones who also use PEDs and work their ass off

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No, most PED users are people at the local gym who look like they've never gone near it. People severely underestimate how genetically gifted athletes are (real athletes -- not muscled up guys who strip down in underwear in front of judges). If a professional athlete is on PEDs, I guarentee you taking it away won't impact their performance unless they're old or coming off some sort of injury. At the very least though, even if these athletes are on PEDs I can promise it isn't making a serious difference -- take a look at some of the greatest athletes when they were kids/in highschool, they are all physically genetic phenoms to begin with. 

 

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