# Steroid Secrets Of Nyc Juicers



## STEELADDICTION (Apr 17, 2005)

STEROID SECRETS OF NYC JUICERS 
By MICHAEL KANE, LINDSAY POWERS and KIRSTEN FLEMING 


The "juice"- it's not just for major leaguers anymore.


For every ballplayer inflating his biceps and batting average, thousands of everyday New Yorkers are using illegal steroids to get Brad Pitt's six-pack abs or rake in more money at work.


'Roid users are everywhere in New York City - from ripped personal trainers to buff bartenders to underwear models showing off their lats on Times Square billboards. 


And it doesn't end there. 


The Post spent several weeks talking to steroid users all over the city about their illegal and dangerous habits - from downtown party promoters to male strippers to Wall Street financial wizards. 


"Hey, it's like women who get Botox," said one steroid user, who talked to The Post under the condition of anonymity. "New York is a vain and decadent city." 


These are not the usual mega-morphic muscleheads doing 400-pound squats in the gym - more like Hamptons beachcombers in search of a six-pack. These aren't Schwarzeneggers - they're the trim, tight hunks next door.


Most shocking is that users don't juice only for vanity's sake - but also because it's professionally advantageous. 


"Sebastian" is a high-visibility party promoter who plans Red Bull-fueled all-night bashes at downtown nightclubs. 


He's into Winstrol V, a cutting agent for longer, leaner muscles. He's also experimented with anadrol, an oral that "works great but makes you crazy." 


As a guy who socializes for a living, Sebastian says being muscular makes him stand out from the p.r. crowd. 


"People spot me because of my build," he says. "But at least they're talking about me." 


"George" is a financial professional in his mid-40s who spends more than $2,000 a year getting his fix. For three or four months, he injects a mix of Deca and testosterone into his buttocks, thigh or shoulder once a week. Then he abstains for three or four months. And so on. 


"Steroids absolutely help me professionally - they set me apart from people in their mid-40s," he said. He said he feels like he has the vitality of a 25-year-old, which adds to his already competitive personality. Plus, the steroids keep him in good shape and speed up his metabolism, he said. 


George acknowledges there are health risks involving steroid use but thinks they're exaggerated. In the five years he's juiced, he hasn't experienced any side effects, he said. 


"Steroids are demonized as something much worse than they are," he said. "It's a continuing education - people are doing it and not dying young. The truth is somewhere in the middle." 


Sebastian agrees, to a point. 


"They're not as taboo as you might think," he said. "Most people don't talk openly about it but not because they're dangerous or illegal. It's because guys don't want to admit they took a shortcut." 


He says the biggest downside is coming off a cycle. 


"You get addicted to the high of the confidence, the increased strength. When you come off, you get a little depressed. It's a come-down." 


Steroids are testosterone-boosting drugs meant to spur weight gain in patients with diseases like cancer and AIDS. 


Long-term health risks include liver and kidney failure, gynecomastia (breast growth) and testicular shrinkage. 


And while the urban closet-juicer may not have abnormal bulk, bloating and stretch marks where the skin can't expand fast enough over the muscles, a closer look may reveal tip-offs like acne or purplish skin tint, balding and bulging veins. 


Despite all that, Pete, a personal trainer at a high-profile health-club chain, still gets approached for steroids "once or twice a week, from all types - models, dancers, you name it." 


Pete's been on and off steroids for 10 years. The 6-foot-2 fitness buff weighed 185 pounds when he began. Now he's a ripped 225. 


"Steroids have directly led to my professional success, absolutely," says Pete, who just finished an eight-week cycle of Deca, ephinate (was that supposed to be enanthate) and anavar that he bought from his "guy in The Bronx" for $800. 


"As a personal trainer, I wouldn't have my career without them. People buy into the image I'm creating." 


Dosage varies, but just like prescription medications, such tablets as Anadrol or Primabol are ingested up to three times a day. Deca or Winstrol V, which stays active in the body longer, is injected only once or twice a week. Users vary shots around the hip, gluteus or shoulder to minimize bruising, and since it's no fun stabbing yourself, they'll inject each other. 


On his latest cycle, Pete peaked at 235 pounds, when it felt like he could "stick a pin into my bicep and pop it like a balloon," he said. 


"You put on 30 pounds of muscle, and then you lose anywhere from 20 to 25 when you come off. The goal is to maintain seven to 10 pounds." 


Federal and state law categorizes anabolic steroids as a Schedule III controlled substance, like Vicodin or the club drug Special K, and a first-time possession rap carries penalties up to $1,000 and a year in prison. 


Even The Finest aren't adverse to popping pills to enhance their ability to overpower felons. One member of the NYPD told friends he juices because the criminals are getting bigger and this is how he protects himself. 


The New York black market is centered in the city's gay community. 


AIDS patients can get up to $600 for putting a month's supply of growth hormone on the street. Many steroids are also available over the counter in Mexico and Canada, although smuggling them into the U.S. is a felony. 


Sebastian says about 80 percent of the steroids he buys in the city are legit. Others are cut with water or oil or are phony. 


"The labels look real," he said. "There's no way to tell until you shoot them up. Then you turn into the 'Bloaternator.'" 


Trenton Straube edits HX, a weekly gay-lifestyle magazine where the cover boys are often juiced, he said. 


"Models get steroids for photo shoots," Straube said. "They'll ask for a seven-week window so they can get in the right place in their cycle." 


Even in mainstream modeling, steroids are rampant. 


"A lot of guys do it to compensate for not having real defined Italian or Latin facial features," says Mike Miller, a model and former competitive swimmer from Brazil. 


Miller doesn't use steroids but has friends in the business who do. "Guys go on cycles before spring and summer shows," he said. 


"Neal," a bartender at a large downtown club, admits he juiced for three years when he was modeling and appearing in workout videos. His agency supplied him with steroids and controlled his doses depending on "the look" it wanted, he said. 


"I don't really regret using steroids because I had a lot of fun making money with them," Neal said. "But there's always a health concern. Prolonged use gets your chemistry completely out of whack." 


"Randy" is a prominent Manhattan plastic surgeon who also follows the four-month-on, four-month-off cycle. But he spends $400 a month for human growth hormone, which he injects six days a week into a small fold of fat on his stomach with a tiny needle. He started taking the drug because he thought it would keep him young. 


He envisions a day when plastic surgeons will prescribe hormones along with, or in lieu of, plastic surgery. 


"Taylor," an actor in his early 30s, uses Winstrol V and the bronchial dilator Clembuterol to slim down before testing for movie roles. 


He spends about $250 a month when he's using steroids but only does a couple of cycles a year. 


Former male stripper "Victor" says he remembers when his roommates, also strippers, would shoot each other up with human growth hormone or ingest Clembuterol tablets. 


"In stripping, you've got to be real cut, have good abs," he said. "Let's say you've got three rotations - jeans, boxers and maybe a G-string. 


"If you're in top shape, you can make $2,000 in a single night. That's $5,000 or $6,000 a week. And, hey, if you don't make it, someone else will."


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## STEELADDICTION (Apr 17, 2005)

"You put on 30 pounds of muscle, and then you lose anywhere from 20 to 25 when you come off. The goal is to maintain seven to 10 pounds." 

This guy must be skipping PCT.


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## DragonRider (Apr 18, 2005)

Just goes to show how even the users are ignorant about what they are doing.


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