Okay so with Arnold’s book and wealth of knowledge of weight training to use at my disposal I mapped out a plan as to how I’m was going to get as big and ripped as he once was. I figured if I were to follow his exact training program along with his exact diet plan then surely I would look exactly just like him, or at least close enough. I studied all of the exercises listed in his book meticulously. I knew exactly which exercise worked for each particular muscle group. I memorized the entire muscle anatomy and learned the physiology behind every single muscle in the human body.. I mastered the art of supersets and conquered the complicity of dropsets. I engraved the importance of both pre and post-workout nutrition into my brain so that I could maximize my training sessions in the gym. I was pumped, I was ready, I was excited for the changes that were about to occur within my own body. But I was also a little bit delusional.

I was 15 years old the first time I picked up a pair of dumbbells and performed my very first set. As a typical adolescent teenager I knew everything and therefore could do no wrong. I was also extremely egotistical which made be believe that I could lift all the weights in the gym (over 15 years later and at times I think I still might believe this). I remember seeing a photo of Arnold curling 70lbs dumbbells and figured that is what I must do to achieve the ultimate physique. A few injuries later and I decided to check my ego at the door of the gym and perhaps try to gradually increase my weight each week as opposed to going from zero to one hundred in one day.

I actually made quite a bit of progress during my first two years of training. Despite my poor form on most exercises and inconsistent eating habits (remember, I was a teenager) I was able to add on a solid 30lbs of muscle during my first two years at the gym. The gym was located right next to my school which was very convenient for me. The changes in my physique were not dramatic however I did notice my shirts were tighter around my arms and chest and I loved the attention I was starting to receive from some of the girls (and even the guys) in my classes. I was hooked on building my body and slowly became in love with the sport of bodybuilding.

There were plenty of times during my senior year in highschool that I would actually skip class to go and train. I was never one to take school seriously but my workouts were something that I never missed. While most kids who were cutting class were at the beach, smoking and drinking, I was busting my ass off in a dark, smelly, dungeon-like atmosphere gym and loving every moment of it.

I loved how confident and powerful I felt once my workout was finished. Even though I felt fantastic and was stronger then I had ever been my entire life, I had still not achieved my ultimate goal which was to look like one of my action idols from the 1980’s.

I was baffled. I had done everything Schwarzenegger had suggested for the most part. I know my diet could have used some improvement however there weren’t too many teenagers that I knew who were eating chicken and yams for dinner and I didn’t see anyone else in my classes consuming protein shakes during lectures. And I was doing both. So what was I missing?

After reading a few muscle magazines at the gym I learned that most of the pro bodybuilders on the current scene were using supplements such as creatine, glutamine and various weight gaining powders to help them build more muscle in less time. The bodybuilders in the magazines looked even bigger and more ripped then Arnold did so being the influential young man that I was, with a full time job and very little expenses I decided a trip to the local supplement store was in order.

The supplements that were being promoted most back when I first started training were weight gainers and creatine. I decided to purchase both. Now I must admit after a month of using both products I did notice that my weight on the scale did start to go up again as it did during my first two years of training. However at 1000 calories per scoop from the weight gainer formula, the weight seemed to be coming on directly in my mid-section and no where else this time.

Frustrated with the supplements I gave them both away to a friend. I found myself starting to become unmotivated to train and became lazy with my diet. How would I ever achieve the body of a Stallone, a Van Dam, or even one of the bodybuilders in the magazines if I had tried everything that they did and still could not look like them?

But did I actually do and try everything that they said they did? Was there more to it then just weight training, following a clean diet and consuming protein powders?

My physique looked good but it didn’t look anything like my idols. I felt like there was something to the formula that I was missing. One key component that I had forgot or perhaps overlooked.

I decided to dig a little deeper. I did some research on bodybuilders. I asked some of the bigger guys at my own gym as to what their diets looked like, training frequency/split was, supplement protocol, etc. For the most part, they were all very similar to mine. So why were they so much bigger and more muscular then I was?

Finally one day after an actual honest conversation with one of the bigger and older guys at my gym I learned the deep, dark, dirty little secret that all of my idols and most of the pro bodybuilders in the magazines shared but never admitted to in the magazines or books that I read. The secret that made one of’ the biggest differences between a “good” looking physique and an “amazing looking physique in my mind. That secret being…… STEROIDS (cue dramatic music here).

I had never given much thought to the use of pharmaceutical drugs and anabolic steroids. I knew they existed but just assumed they were used predominately in professional sports by some athletes to gain an advantage over their opponents in strength and speed. But not bodybuilding.

The more I researched the use of anabolic steroids in bodybuilding the more deceived I felt. How could I have been so naive? I mean look at those guys! They were all mass monsters!

So now that their dirty little secret had been exposed , it was time for me to make a decision. Was I going to remain content with my current physique and continue to make small changes each year naturally. Or was it time for me to dip into the “dark side” and take my physique to an entirely different level with the help of a needle in my ass?

I was perplexed as to how I was going to make my decision. The line between right and wrong was very blurry to me at that moment. I wanted to achieve my goal of obtaining the ultimate physique but at what cost was I willing to pay?