Victor Martinez details exactly when to stop your steroid cycle before a bodybuilding competition
Most competitive bodybuilders who use PEDs understand that steroids should be cycled on and off – not used every day for the full year. This steroid cycling component becomes especially important during the final weeks before a bodybuilding competition. Most bodybuilders practice the technique of ending a cycle before stepping on stage. But when exactly should you stop? In the latest episode of the Generation Iron Podcast, Victor Martinez explains exactly when to drop steroids before a bodybuilding competition.
Most individuals associate bodybuilding with steroids. While the importance of PEDs in the sport is grossly overstated – it is true that most professional bodybuilders use steroids and other PEDs to obtain mass monster physiques. However, a common misconception is that bodybuilders are on steroids when they step on stage for a competition.
In reality, most bodybuilders ensure that they are not currently using steroids when they compete. The use of anabolic steroids can be vital during training – but are typically cycled off in the final weeks leading up to a show.
That’s why Victor Martinez spends this week’s episode sharing his expert tips based on his career in bodybuilding – detailing how you should time coming off steroids before a competition. Martinez and the GI crew also discuss a new law passed in New York City banning discrimination of overweight individuals. Let’s jump into it.
Steroid cycle timing before a bodybuilding competition
Victor Martinez kicks off this week’s episode by answering a fan question. This one is about steroid cycles and how to time them before a competition. When is the right time to stop using steroids before a show?
Victor Martinez first explains why it is bad to stay on a steroid cycle through and into a bodybuilding competition. Most of these steroids cause inflammation. This inflammation is responsible for a puffy look that you may see on bodybuilders when they compete. To avoid the puffy look, bodybuilders get off steroids before a competition in order to reduce inflammation and look tighter and more conditioned for the competition.
Victor Martinez suggests that a person should always play it safe and stop using steroids two weeks before a competition. While some can push it closer, those are genetic exceptions. For those unsure, two weeks is the perfect amount of time to reduce inflammation and also help cut additional water weight that may have been caused by the substances.
Body shaming, obesity, and health
Unlike other discrimination topics, such as the color of one’s skin, weight is not something strictly tied to genetics. A person’s weight is also directly affected by their health and nutrition. It’s no secret that being overweight can be very problematic for a person’s health and lead to medical conditions such as heart failure.
However, it is also possible to be healthy while also being overweight. Genetics, disease, and other disorders can have a massive affect on a person’s weight – even if they eat very healthily.
That’s why Victor Martinez is conflicted about the new law passed in New York City that bans discrimination against overweight individuals – applying to businesses, housing, and access to public spaces. He personally believes that discrimination should not be tolerated – and overall agrees that businesses should not be able to hire (or not hire) based on a person’s body.
However, he also wonders how this will affect businesses in the fitness industry. Gyms, supplement companies, and fitness brands aim to promote strength, muscle, and health. If these businesses are forced to hire a qualified overweight person into their business – would it damage their brand?
Generation Iron Persia‘s Ehsan Farahi believes so – and is overall against many of the core tenets of the body positivity movement. He believes that a gym should be able to only hire fit people, even a front desk person, as fitness is about health, strength, and muscle.
Ehsan also believes that a person should be able to speak plainly about the dangers of being overweight. If a person is obese, Ehsan sees no problem with telling that person to start exercising, start eating better, and get into better shape. He thinks that tough action is required to help change people’s health habits.
This leads the GI crew and Victor Martinez to debate the wider topic of body shaming, obesity, and health. Ehsan worries that these kinds of laws and the body positivity movement is encouraging bad health. That the movement is going too far and enabling unhealthy eating habits. It gives overweight people the excuse to never get healthy again.
Victor Martinez agrees, but believes that the conversation should be spun into a positive direction. If Martinez has to hire an overweight person in his gym, he’ll do it, but he will also ask for that person to commit to a body transformation program. Use it as a springboard for better health.
Ultimately, Victor Martinez will side with any law that is against discrimination. As he understands there can be many causes for a person to be overweight beyond health. That being said – there still needs to be room for “tough love” and encouraging of weight loss as well.
RELATED:Try this ultimate weight loss guide for 2023
Wrap Up
Victor Martinez and the GI crew discuss in far more detail about obesity, body shaming, and how it intersects with health and fitness. You can watch the full discussion in our latest episode of the Generation Iron Podcast above. Don’t forget to watch new episodes every Tuesday only on the Generation Iron Fitness Network or wherever podcasts are downloaded.
