I try to visit my local Sports Council gym twice a week. But when I arrived in early October, I found an unnerving warning sitting at the sign-in counter. The notice warned patrons against using or pedaling steroids in the gym.
This warning left me wondering if it was a precautionary measure to safeguard against potential problems, or if it was a reactionary measure to combat an already existing problem. After some careful brooding, I declared the latter the victor.
Close friends and family members are familiar with my avid passion for weight lifting. I’ve been weight lifting since I was 10 and lift weights at least twice a week during off-peak (working) periods and up to 5 times a week during peak (vacation) seasons.
14 years of weight lifting have lead me to an awful truth that I now share with you; bodybuilders take anabolic steroids. All Mr Olympia contestants are on anabolic steroids. All of them. Not some of them, ALL OF THEM.
The ‘fitness’ industry is laden with smoke and mirrors. The documentary Bigger, Faster , Stronger revealed what many in the fitness industry already knew; that natural products don’t really work, if you want the kind of results advertised, you need to take anabolic steroids.
And the seemingly meek Singaporean is not immune from the allure of anabolic steroids. Steroid scandals have already plagued the Singaporean body building scene, with Jo Jo Sinclair the most high profile casualty.
But she isn’t alone. In May 2008, the New Paper reported that 6 Singaporean body builders were caught in a doping scandal. The article went on to discuss the usage of steroids among non-competitive body builders.
Anabolic steroid abuse in Singapore is very real. In 5 minutes of online research, I found 1 Stomper who looking for a steroid source in Singapore. I also found another Singaporean thread that discussed steroid usage before the discussion was promptly taken elsewhere.
There’s little doubt in my mind that anabolic steroid abuse is present in Singapore. The problem is that we do not know how widespread the problem is. Most Singaporeans have such strong preconceived notions of steroid users that most would be unable to spot a steroid user if presented with one.
Steroid users are not necessarily big and ripped. Most of them simply look unnaturally big. If you spot a weight lifter in the gym who looks unnaturally big (muscularly), then there’s a possibility he on steroids.
Therefore, my advice to all budding weight-lifters and fitness enthusiast is this: don’t model your physical ideals on someone else. It is impossible to naturally attain the same physiques you see in fitness magazines.
Some of you may be asking yourselves, “But what about YOU Ninja Master X? What has your experience with steroids been like?”
Fortunately for me, abusing anabolic steroids is something I could never do. I hate needles. When I had to draw blood in the army, my buddy Bart literally had to hold my hand, ‘just in case’. Anabolic steroids need to be injected into the body. They cannot be taken orally because long term usage will result in liver failure. But even if they could be taken orally, I wouldn’t take them. The side-effects of anabolic steroids are enough to deter me.
But that doesn’t mean I don’t know people who ARE taking anabolic steroids. When I was in the army I met a fellow weight lifter who was unusually big. I suspected that he was abusing anabolic steroids but never asked him. A question that provocative could ruin a relationship.
I didn’t know and I didn’t want to know. The less I knew the better. I am reasonably sure that he was using anabolic steroids at that point of time though.
But he wasn’t the only I harbored suspicions about. There were several other people in the army whom I suspected were taking anabolic steroids. This observation inevitably leads me to my next question; how rampant is steroid usage in the SAF?
In a conservative and mundane society like Singapore, this question may seem moot to some. However, I think it’s important to realize that in the US, up to 25% of law enforcement officials are on anabolic steroids. And with the evidence of casual interest in anabolic steroids formerly presented to you above, is it so difficult to imagine that members of the SAF maybe abusing steroids?
‘Regular’ Singaporeans need to realize that the mind of an anabolic steroid abuser is different from that of a non-user. Anabolic steroid abusers are able to justify their actions to themselves. Even policemen are willing to break the law in order to abuse anabolic steroids. This twisted sense of morality find no qualms seeking home in the minds of certain Singaporeans. It makes me wonder how many of our service are abusing steroids.
I don’t know how bad the problem is. But I’m sure the Singaporean government will say, don’t ask, don’t tell.
