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Archive for the ‘Bodybuilding’ Category

Pro Bodybuilder Flex Lewis Interviewed in Steroid Investigation?

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

Was IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Flex Lewis connected to the Tennessee steroid investigation involving several Tennesse law enforcement officers? Absolutely not! However, Nashville, Tennessee’s News Channel 5 took the opportunity to include the following teaser on their website as part of their exclusive coverage of the steroid investigation (”Nashville’s Hidden Steroid Culture,” May 7).

On Thursday night, the second part of the NewsChannel exclusive steroids investigation will focus on the informant and the Nashville Predators team physician and world-class body builder Flex Lewis. The report airs at 6 p.m.

By stating that their steroid investigation will “focus” on Flex Lewis, the reader is left to speculate how Flex Lewis is connected to the steroid investigation. Is he involved? Or is is just going to talk about steroids? It turns out the answer is negative to both questions.

I contacted Flex since I know he lives in the United Kingdom and asked him about this. He explained that he happened to be at a nutritional store in Tennessee doing a demo as a representative of Gaspari Nutrition. A local television camera crew briefly interviewed him but they NEVER mentioned steroids!

The media is unbelievable. This is probably why Jim Lorimer told pro bodybuilders not to trust the media when it comes to steroids in a private athlete’s meeting at this year’s Arnold Classic.

UPDATE: The sports supplement store where Flex Lewis made a guest appearance promoting Gaspari was American Nutrition Wholesalers in Hermitage, Tennessee. Owner Mark Johnson is considered a main suspect by investigators in the Tennessee steroid investigation. Lewis just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and has absolutely no relationship with Johnson or this investigation. So, I hope NewsChannel 5 in Nashville uses the Flex Lewis footage for the good of the health industry as promised.

Sentencing in David Jacobs Steroid Distribution Ring in Texas

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

Three of the seven co-defendants indicted for their role in David Jacobs’ Texas-based steroid distribution network were sentenced today including David Jacobs. All seven co-conspirators have already pleaded guilty. David Jacobs, Amber Jarrell and Matt Williams all received probation along with a monetary fine based on their respective role in the steroid operation (”Plano steroids supplier wants to help clean up NFL,” May 2)

Sentenced Thursday: Mr. Jacobs, 35, ringleader, three years’ probation and a $25,000 fine. Amber Jarrell, 37, of Plano, his former girlfriend, three years’ probation and a $1,000 fine. Matt Williams, 39, of Dallas, who helped bottle and store the steroids, three years’ probation and a $10,000 fine.

 

Awaiting sentences: Andrew Schenck of Dallas; Juan Carlos Ballivian of Houston; Brandon Mark Smith of the Dallas area; and Jamie Mongeau of Wichita, Kan.

David Jacobs told the Dallas Morning News that now he plans on helping the NFL tackle their unacknowledged steroid problem.

The ringleader of one of the largest steroids trafficking networks in the nation said Thursday after he was sentenced to probation that he plans to meet with the NFL to share his expertise to help “clean up” football.

“I want to help them understand the loopholes, how I was able to help people beat the tests, and how prevalent steroid use is,” Plano bodybuilder David Jacobs said after his sentencing hearing.

He told the New York Times that he has inside knowledge of the rampant steroid use in the NFL and exploitation of loopholes used by football players (”Steroid Maker Says He Taught About N.F.L. Loopholes,” May 2).

Jacobs, a former body builder, said he advised about 10 N.F.L. players on how to exploit loopholes in the league’s drug-testing program. One way, he said, was to have team doctors write them prescriptions for drugs that would mask steroid use…

Jacobs said he advised players, including Lehr, to ask their team doctors to write them prescriptions for finasteride, a drug used to treat balding in young men. Jacobs said a Falcons team doctor wrote Lehr a prescription for the substance.

Now that the leader of one of the largest steroid distribution rings in the country was sentenced to probation along with two other co-conspirators, it seems to confirm that steroid dealers were not the targets of the federal steroid investigation in Texas. It appears that the real targets of the investigation are professional athletes, namely NFL football players with David Jacobs providing the steroids and football link.

Will David Jacobs represent the NFL’s BALCO?

Bodybuilder Dan Puckett Did NOT Die from Anabolic Steroids

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

NPC Bodybuilder Dan Puckett was found dead in his apartment on November 8, 2007 at the age of 22. There was immediate speculation that Puckett died from the use of anabolic steroids based on the fact that he was a bodybuilder and furthered by the rampant steroid hysteria in the media. This week, autopsy results reveal that Puckett’s unfortunate death was due to “natural causes” dispelling claims that he died from steroid use.

Dan Puckett was a collegiate bodybuilding champion, winning the 2006 NPC Teen & Collegiate National Championships, and a senior marketing major at the University of Alabama.

NPC bodybuilder Dan Puckett

Movie About Sexual Fetishism and Female Bodybuilding

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

In 2001, New Line optioned the rights to make a movie adaptation of Chemical Pink, a novel about sexual fetishism and the world of female bodybuilding written by Katie Arnoldi. David Fincher was supposed to direct it and Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk was supposed to write the screenplay; however, both dropped out of the movie project and the future of the movie seemed uncertain.

Gene Hwang reports that a new team is moving forward with the Chemical Pink movie project.

Arnoldi eventually wrote the screenplay herself and music video director Jonas Akerlund will now direct. The latest is that he and producer Ted Field are now looking for someone to play Aurora Johnson, the main character - an aspiring female bodybuilder who moves to southern California to pursue her dream.

Patricia Arquette, Rosario Dawson and Jessical Biel were considered for the role of Aurora. And while the prospect of these actresses gaining 15-20 lbs of muscle would be quite appealing for fans of female muscle, the big name Hollywood actresses all rejected the role of Aurora. It is unclear whether the role was rejected due to the disturbing nature of steroid-related side effects and sexual fetishism portrayed in the screenplay or the daunting task of trying to look like a female bodybuilder in six months.

According to the Genextras blog, it now looks like the producers are searching for a real female bodybuilder to play the role of Aurora.

Arnoldi tells us they now plan to cast a “real girl” instead. They are even talking about an American Idol-style reality show in which Arnoldi, Akerlund and Field would go around the country auditioning female bodybuilders for the part - what Arnoldi calls “In Search of Aurora”. That could mean an amazing opportunity for a female bodybuilder to play the lead in a Hollywood movie. We’ll let you know as soon as we know more…

This is certain to be an interesting movie. I think Testosterone Nation best described Chemical Pink when the suggested it could have originated from the perverted mind of steroid guru Dan Duchaine:

If Dan Duchaine had been a writer of fiction, this is the book he’d have written.

Chemical Pink by Katie Arnoldi - book about sexual fetishism, steroid use and female bodybuilding

Muscletech Fires Christian Boeving for Talking About Anabolic Steroids

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

Filmmaker Christopher Bell interviewed his good friend Muscletech spokesperson Christian Boeving about anabolic steroids for the critically acclaimed documentary “Bigger Stronger Faster*”. Boeving spoke honestly about his use of anabolic steroids. When CNN aired excerpts from the documentary shortly after its screening at the Sundance Film Festival, Muscletech fired released the bodybuilding and fitness model from his contract.

Muscletech apparently has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to steroids. You certainly can’t talk about steroids if you are sponsored by Muscletech. Muscletech allows you to publicly talk about quite a few things (like masturbating to Christina Lindley’s Maxim photo spread, making multiple references to Lindley’s ample breasts or alluding to Lindlay and microphone fellatio while interviewing Christina Lindley) without consequence but talking about steroids publicly crosses the line. Such a public admission of steroid use might indicate to consumers that the muscular physique of a sponsored bodybuilding athlete is not solely the result of Muscletech supplementation.

Anthony Roberts asked Chris Bell about Christian Boeving during an interview for Steroid.com filmed when Bigger Stronger Faster came to the 2008 AFI Dallas International Film Festival; Chris Bell answered this and many other interesting questions about Bigger Stronger Faster.

Bigger Stronger Faster steroid documentary still

Muscletech Sponsored Athletes

Bigger Stronger Faster at the Tribeca Film Festival

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

The highly acclaimed steroid documentary “Bigger Stronger Faster*” is coming to New York City for a special screening at the Tribeca Film Festival and the ESPN Sports Film Festival. I had the opportunity to screen Bigger Stronger Faster at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival. I was impressed with the well-written and well-produced film which implored audience members to think critically about anabolic steroids while presenting interviews from a diverse group of individuals involved in both sides of the steroid debate.

If you catch the Tribeca screening, I strongly encourage you to take the time to meet with director Christopher Bell and co-producers Tamsin Rawady and Alex Buono.

“Bigger Stronger Faster*” opens today for the New York City premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival for the first of four screenings at the festival.

Sat, Apr 26, 9:00PM Tishman Auditorium at The New School

Sun, Apr 27, 7:30PM AMC Village VII Theater 5

Wed, Apr 30, 4:00PM AMC Village VII Theater 2

Sat, May 03, 9:30PM AMC 19th St. East Theater 3

Alex Buono, Millard Baker (MESO-Rx), Christopher Bell, Tamsin Rawady at Bigger Stronger Faster Screening

Bigger Stronger Faster steroid documentary still

Steroid Seizures by Australian Customs in First Quarter 2008

Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

Australian Customs has reported over 300 anabolic steroid seizures during the first three months of the year. This reportedly exceeds steroid seizures from previous years. The increase in steroid shipments confiscated by customs prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing is similar to increases seen prior to the 2000 Sydney Olympics (”Steroid imports not ‘linked to athletes,’” April 22).

The hike comes with the Beijing Olympic Games looming in August and follows a similar increase before the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

However, the Australian Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA),which has an unprecedented information-sharing relationship with the Australian government, reports that there is no increase in steroid shipments destined for competitive athletes.

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) chief executive Richard Ings said the organisation works closely with customs and is notified of any involvement by Australian athletes in importing performance-enhancing drugs.

“If customs are indicating that they are seeing an increase in seizures, there is no suggestion those products were bound for athletes,” he told AAP.

Authorities attribute the increase in steroid seizures to greater demand by bodybuilders and weightlifters in an “image culture.”

Muscular Physique as a Marketing Tool for Cenegenics

Monday, April 21st, 2008

A recent ad campaign by Cenegenics Medical Institute seen in various domestic in-flight magazines and on various websites featured the muscular torso of Dr. Jeffry Life, Chief Medical Officer of Cenegenics Las Vegas. One internet banner ad asks the question, “how does this 67-year old doctor have the body of a 30-year old?”

Cenegenics - Muscular Dr. Jeffry Life

The answer, in part, is likely anabolic steroids (testosterone) and human growth hormone which are the cornerstone of anti-aging and age management medicine. The Cenegenics ad campaign seeks to appeal to individuals seeking to improve their physical appearance; benefits may include “improved muscle tone,” “decreased body fat,” “increased energy,” “increased sex drive / libido,” “sharper thinking,” and “improved outlook on life.” These happen to be the same motivations that lead men of all ages to the illicit use anabolic steroids and growth hormone.

When I attended a lecture by Dr. Bob Goldman, American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M), at the 2008 Iron Man Expo in Los Angeles, I was surprised that the presentation focused primarily on the obtainability of muscular, athletic physiques through the anti-aging lifestyle with a slideshow featuring several muscular bodybuilders and athletes.

With all the negative news about steroids in baseball and steroid pharmacy scandals, should age management (Cenegenics) and anti-aging organizations (A4M) aggressively market the muscle-building and bodybuilding effects of anabolic steroids (testosterone) and growth hormone (i.e. hormone optimization) to prospective clients? (”Mainstream docs join the anti-aging bandwagon,” April 21)

Now that sports doping scandals have made HGH, as well as testosterone and other hormones, front-page news, and some anti-aging clinics and compounding pharmacies have been raided by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency for being overly liberal with hormone prescriptions, the anti-aging community has toned down its endorsement of hormones, at least in public.

“Less than 10 percent of patients involved in anti-aging are receiving growth hormone,” Klatz insists.

That seems a dubious assertion. In fact, hormones remain a key ingredient of anti-aging practice. “Most of my anti-aging patients get hormones,” typically growth hormone as well as sex hormones appropriate to each gender, Jurow says.

Given the steroid hysteria and steroid demonization resulting from the steroids in sports scandals, it seems like this would hurt business for anti-aging medicine. But this has not been the case, business is booming in anti-aging medicine.

Back in 1994, the annual Las Vegas meeting of the fledgling American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine (A4M) was held in a small hotel off the Las Vegas strip. Everyone could fit into a temporary tent-like structure on the pool patio. Last December, at the 15th A4M confab, roughly 2,000 attendees, including business owners, anti-aging promoters and hundreds of doctors — among them obstetricians, ER docs, psychiatrists and internists — filled a cavernous meeting space inside the Venetian Hotel and Resort.

Today, claims Dr. Bob Goldman, A4M’s co-founder, there are about 20,000 A4M-certified doctors around the world. A4M’s tax returns confirm the boom. The income from fees charged to those seeking board certification from A4M more than doubled from $544,845 in 2005 to $1.2 million in 2006.

A rival organization, Age Management Medicine Group, is growing rapidly, too, says co-founder Rick Merner. He claims the group had more than 400 doctors at its last meeting, sponsored by the nation’s single largest “age-management” clinic, Cenegenics. The Cenegenics Foundation also certifies practitioners in age-management medicine (it shuns the term “anti-aging”) and claims to have experienced a 100 percent increase in the number of its physician “affiliates” to more than 800.

Could the steroid hysteria actually be stimulating business for legal prescriptions for testosterone and growth hormone?! The public condemnation of the muscle-building and performance-enhancing effects of steroids and other PEDs may be accompanied by a private celebration of the potential benefits of these hormones.

Cenegenics

Oklahoma Steroid Crackdown Involving Competitive Bodybuilders

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control and the Tulsa Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit are preparing to make arrests in a major steroid bust in Oklahoma involving a gym owner and supplement store owner (Chris Goodman) along with at least one amateur bodybuilder (Keith Koppenhaver) and one professional bodybuilder (Guy Ducasse).

Chris Goodman is allegedly a major distributor of anabolic steroids and performance enhancement drugs in Tulsa. Goodman is the owner of Hi-Octane Fitness (formerly Physical Edge) and co-owner of Supplement Shak stores in Oklahoma City and Tulsa (”Probe nets steroids tied to Tulsa fitness center,” April 20).

Undercover officers have discovered evidence of steroid use at the fitness center and distribution by either Goodman or other members at the fitness center, according to court records. 

That evidence includes syringes, bank statements, computer software, cell phone records and financial records belonging to either Goodman or the fitness center. 

A confidential informant has told undercover officers that Goodman was “actively distributing steroids” and that “individuals associated with Physical Edge often use and/or distribute steroids,” according to court records.

NPC bodybuilder Keith Koppenhaver, who last competed at the 2000 NPC Junior Nationals, has also been implicated. Koppenhaver was a personal trainer at Physical Edge (Hi-Octane) and a friend of Chris Goodman.

Undercover officers seized several types of steroids, human growth hormone, insulin and other dangerous, controlled substances from Koppenhaver’s home or property, according to court records.

He has admitted to undercover officers that he sold steroids and never pays taxes from those sales or the money that he receives as a personal trainer, according to court records.

He has identified Goodman and a professional bodybuilder in the Oklahoma City area as his steroid suppliers, according to court records.

The IFBB Professional bodybuilder connected to the steroid distribution case is Guy Ducasse, a trainer at Sky Fitness & Wellbeing who last competed at the 2007 IFBB Europa Pro show (”Arrests expected in Tulsa steroids investigation,” April 19).

Tulsa County District Court records filed Wednesday show that officers recently searched the home and found vials of popular muscle-building steroids and human growth hormone. Among the substances found were testosterone, nandrolone decanate and stanozolol.

Also seized were e-mails to Ducasse “instructing him on bodybuilding drug use,” “handwritten notes regarding steroid cycles,” a “weekly steroid use schedule” and “7 pages of clients,” who are believed to be members of Sky Fitness & Wellbeing, 10121 S. Sheridan Road, according to the court records.

An employee at the fitness center said Friday that Ducasse trains clients at the facility. 

Bad news for Oklahoma bodybuilding.

IFBB Pro Guy Ducasse - 2007 IFBB Europa Supershow (c) GraphicMuscle.com

Steroid Users Largest Client at UK Needle Exchange Programs

Thursday, April 17th, 2008

Anabolic steroid users represent the largest client at needle exchange programs in the United Kingdom according to the weekly current affairs magazine, the New Statesman (”Shape of the future: observations on bodybuilding,” April 17).

In recognition of the increasing number of steroid users entering needle exchange assistance programs, steroid expert William Llewellyn, author of Anabolics 2007 and Body of Science, has been a regular lecturer at the National Conference on Injecting Drug Use in London. Llewellyn spoke before key policy makers at the harm reduction conference for the past two years.

The New Statesman magazine also identifies some disturbing trends in steroid use in the U.K.

But rates of steroid use aren’t the only thing that’s changing: so is the type of person who uses the drugs.

According to Martin Chandler, a specialist in steroid use at Liverpool John Moores University, the rise is caused by people “younger and less knowledgeable” than their previous counterparts. “What scares me is their limited research and understanding,” he says.

According to Martin Chandler, the increasing number of young people using steroids is due to aesthetic (body image) concerns and not performance enhancement concerns.

If the demographic of steroid users is changing, so too are their motivations. Among older users, the drugs were often taken as a means to open up non-academic job opportunities. This was particularly true in former manufacturing towns. When manual workers found themselves unable to make a living in the old industries, they often trained as security staff, bouncers or police officers to continue making a living through their bodies.

But, unlike mining and manufacturing work, for instance, these new careers did not develop appropriate physiques “on the job”. Being a doorman might require a big build, but the job itself is more likely to cultivate guts than shoulders. Hence the rise of gym culture, and steroids.

Now, according to Chandler, it is fashion rather than function that motivates the younger generation to pump up: “Ultimately, what new users are concerned with is body image. It’s got nothing to do with performance gain - it’s about aesthetic.” The trend is not surprising. Men’s magazines are booming; there are also flourishing industries in male health, diet and supplements. Meanwhile, multimillion-dollar advertising budgets are pulling in actors and sportsmen to sponsor the “male ideal”.

Fortunately, the harm reduction programs offer an additional opportunity at steroid education hopefully improving the health of steroid users.