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I know this isn't directly off topic, but I didn't feel it belonged anywhere else either.

A mate of mine who lives in the UK is about to start taking steroids. We both frequent the same community online, and even though I only know him online, I've known him for years and I can assure you that he's not just some guy saying random stuff.

The thing is, since I started working out and talking about it in the aforementioned community, it actually drove a lot of the other members to start as well. He was one of them, but boy how he went the wrong route.
He has misconceptions upon misconceptions about training - he actually drinks cider(which is an alcoholic beverage with the same amount of alcohol as beer, as far as I know) while training, once talking about doing amphetamines for more intensity while training and so on.
On top of that, he drinks liters upon liters of aforementioned cider throughout the day normally, so he's pretty much always drunk, and he smokes weed.

Needless to say, he's pretty.. f**ked up, for a lack of a better term.

He has his own home gym, and he thinks everything that is wrong and perpetuated by product manufacturers that are trying to sell their products and all that stuff, is right. He's the kind of guy who just does the bench press and its variations for 5 days in a row, training through muscle soreness and whatnot, and get this.. he doesn't even squat!

Everything you can get wrong, he's getting wrong. But only for a month, which is the entire extent of his workout, and he's already saying "I just can't seem to gain weight or strength," whilst he does all of the above, and continues to lift at home where he only has enough weight for the smallest of muscles - only 50kg for the barbell, which he can bench way too easily for any strength gains, and even if he did squat, the 50kg would get too little too fast.

I'm here to ask you guys what I can possibly tell him to try to convince him to get serious, or just stop? I realize that some of the bad stuff surrounding steroid usage might be a hype, but I do know that there must be some unfortunate side-effects to it, or it would not have been made illegal in some countries.

I tried telling him that he should get his act together, and train properly for a much longer time than a month or so before he can make outlandish statements about him plateauing in weight, strength and size, but all his mates who are undoubtedly shady guys themselves(AFAIK, he has a lot of other weed smoking, alcohol binging friends and some who do more serious stuff than just weed) tell him that steroids will practically work like magic, making him gain muscle and strength without doing anything right, and without any side-effects.

The name of the steroid was "Deca Durabolin" and some preliminary research shows that it's pretty popular. I know some of you are doctors or otherwise medically educated, and while I will greatly appreciate everyone's input and past experiences, the input from the professionals would be gold, so I can slap him with some cold hard facts.

Thanks in advance.

As heartless as it sounds, some people are hard wired for survival, and some aren't.

Do you honestly think anything you say to him online is going to stop him from making this horrid choice?

If he is going to play around with AAS with such a small knowledge base, I mean what other poor life choices is he going to make.

How old is this kid? (Sorry if you mentioned that and I missed it.)

I know what you mean - another guy in the community is taking training seriously, and he is as baffled as I am.

I think he's about.. 22-23, I'm not entirely sure.

Do you / does anyone happen to know what the confirmed side-effects of these anabolic steroids(or anabolic steroids in general) are? As we all know, there is an abundance of urban legends about this stuff, and I couldn't find very man sources online that didn't look like they weren't pretty much directly from an urban legend.

Seems like steroids should be the least of your concerns for him. This guy needs to grow up. He's going to end up crashing and burning unless he realizes what he's doing is idiotic.

I would tell him, I have a feeling your headed down the wrong way and I don't want you to crash, so stop and think about what your doing.

And just go into more detail after that.

Lol That guy sounds like an idiot. Steroids aren't going to do much for you if you don't know how to train. You also have to have a good natural base before you take steroids, otherwise your joints and tendons are not going to be able to take it. You should have a solid track record of good diet and training and at least 3 years of successful natural bodybuilding.

Deca really isn't all that great. It is nandralone with a deconate ester. It has some anabolic properties, but not as good as some others. Plus if you take it without test you are going to have some problems. That stuff will totally shut you down. So you have to take a testosterone with it, otherwise you are not going to have hardly any test circulating. You will get the infamous deca dick.

The most recommended first cycle is testosterone enanthate 250mg biweekly.

That's for men of course. For women, a low dose of deca might be good, or maybe some var.

deca dick? Sounds awful. Does that mean there's truth in the urban myth that steroids mess with your meat 'n' 2 veg?

is there any good websites that tell you about steroids and how they work? I'd be interested to know. I'm not going to take them or anything, not because i have an ethical issue with them, I'd just be far too scared to inject myself with anything. That, and there's no end to how much my mates would make fun of me.

But as topics go it's an interesting one. How effective are they really? Do different ones do different things? If i took them, would i swell up like Arnie or would i go nuts and start beating up old people on the bus in a fit of roid rage?

I'll second that. I know people that don't work at all for a living or try to improve themselves in any manner and just play video games or just watch tv all day long. And get paid by the government too do this. But I digress...I just wanted to say perhaps you should just try some reverse psychology on the guy, or at least start agreeing with him, cause I found some people who get support for something tend to do the exact opposite.

Yes, it's true, in some ways. Pretty much all steroids, but especially the injectable ones, will shut down natural testosterone production. This will temporarily impair sexual function and make the testicles smaller. After post cycle therapy it goes back to normal though. In addition to that deca and tren will impair sexual function in other ways. I'm not sure what the mechanism is with deca, other then test production. However if you are taking plenty of test it should be ok. Tren will increase prolactin which will impair sexual function and might make you lactate. You can counteract it with bromocriptine or cabergoline. Caber is better. It will increase dopamine at certain receptors, I'm wanting to say D3 primarily, but I don't remember for sure. The increase in dopamine will reduce prolactin levels and that in turn increases test production.

Then of course there is testosterone..... That affects you in the opposite way. It makes you horny a lot and you get random erections sometimes. It's like being 13 again.

well that settles it then, I'm DEFINITELY not taking steroids. As much as I'd love to have big muscles, there's more important bodyparts by far...

Don't get the wrong idea. The small testicles is only temporary. The sexual dysfunction is only if you don't take test with it. Maybe with the exception of tren where you have to run other secondary drugs with it.

It's just complicated. You just have to do a lot of research. I'm into bodybuilding so I've talked to lots of people who use them regularly.

it's a fascinating topic. Personally i think that everyone should be allowed to do what they like as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else or anyone else's property, so if it were up to me steroids'd be legal.

The thing that puts me off ever taking them is I know nothing about the different effects different steroids have, including side effects. I wouldn't know how much to take, when to take or even how to take. Plus there's no way I'd have the balls to inject myself with anything.

if however i had a doctor onside, who could monitor what i was taking, how i was taking it and any ill effects it was having, I'd be into taking them.

only problem i'd have then would be my friends would make fun of me so badly (in a friendly way of course, it would still be a nightmare!) and my girlfriend would probably be really angry.

Perfect. That should be the position for everyone who doesn't know much about it. That's the attitude the person the OP was referring to should adopt.