You’ve maybe heard of Gregg Valentino before. He’s the guy with the biggest arms in the world. This is a really interesting video about Gregg and gives some insights into why he took things to the extreme. In this first part, Greg said that he definitely has a Napoleon complex since he is a relatively short guy at only 5 feet 5 inches tall. He describes himself as a big guy in a little guy’s body and accordingly, he took things into his own hands to make himself bigger. He liked the attention.

This documentary is not unbiased but instead follows the work of Dr Harrison Pope and his theories of the male body. I have to say that Dr Pope has a lot of interesting points but he really does only present half the story. Gregg Valentino is not the norm but is actually detested by most bodybuilders and the documentary doesn’t show this. The documentary also fails to talk about synthol which is the oil that Gregg injected in his arms to make them so big. Steroids don’t make you a freak like Gregg, only synthol can do that.

Part 1

Here are some of the most interesting quotes from the first part.

The small man thing took over me and I just felt like I have to get bigger and that drive brought me to, you know, just do whatever it took. And then in that case I had to make a decision one day and that’s when I decided I’m gonna juice my mind out.

Football, guys are bigger, stronger, faster, they’re like machines. They can keep going, it’s not just some fat guy wearing a football uniform anymore. You know what I mean, where you can’t move him off the front line. He’ll outrun you, he’ll jump over you. Look at these wrestlers. Look at professional wrestlers. You got guys, 350 pounds, jumping off a rope, flying through the air like a bird. Is that because the human being has evolved? No. It’s because of performance enhancers. These guys are machines and that’s what steroids do. They make you a machine.

Part 2

In this second part, the makers of the documentary introduce some young, aimless guy that wants to be Mr Olimpia. I’ve no idea why he’s in the documentary so just ignore his story throughout the film. It’s just bad film making.

Steve Michalik, a bodybuilder from the golden era of Arnold and co, brings up some interesting points. He says:

The turning point in all of bodybuilding was one word and one word only, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold Schwarzenegger changed bodybuilding and made it prominent. Why? Because not only did Arnold have muscles but he had personality. he was, you know, funny, he was friendly, he had that star quality which brought attention to him and then, thus, brought attention to us.

Thankfully, the documentary does include another voice, Mick Hart. Mick is proud that he provides information on steroids and has even advised his own son in the use of steroids. His son had the most amazing transformation in only one year. Just look at this.

Chris before steroids

Chris after steroids

Both Mick and Chris believe that steroids are not as dangerous as portrayed in the media and it is abuse rather than use that causes problems.

Part 3

In the third part, we see Gregg’s downfall. From his exploding bicep to his arrest, Gregg lost just about everything he had. What’s important in this part is not so much the danger’s of steroids because Gregg admits that he was a very stupid user. The real story here is that steroids are often connected with other drugs and some very shady people.

I had tons of, you know, needles, syringes, you know the whole bit and I’m over there reusing needles, dropping the damn thing on the floor, blowing it off, wiping it off and then you stick that in you and you get infections, you know? And that’s what happened, you know, I end up getting an infection and um… when I got the infection, it starts off, you get a bad fever, the area gets red, soft, pusy, it was like a giant zit in there. It was just loaded with pus and if you don’t do something about it, you’re gonna wind up in the hospital and kill yourself.

This is a bold statement now. But there’s not a pro bodybuilder on this planet or a guy who takes steroids who hasn’t sold steroids either. They may not be heavy duty drug dealers but I can’t imagine any bodybuilder who trains in a gym, who takes steroids, especially on a regular basis, who hasn’t at least sold a bottle or two to his friends or other guys in the gym.

In the sport of bodybuilding, I mean it’s drugs, you’re dealing drugs so you gotta deal with shady people and you know, there’s gonna be, wherever there’s steroids, there’s usually other drugs too. I mean I could give you a million stories. There’s a guy doing time in jail right now and he fronted us like 30,000 dollar’s worth of stuff and we got robbed. He took it out on us, you know, he wanted his money. He brought is to a parking lot over by Yankee stadium, he had us get down on our freakin knees and give us a reason why he shouldn’t kill us. And a couple of weeks later the same guy that held a gun to our heads was arrested for triple murder down in Florida.

Part 4

Mick Hart, although adamant that steroid use is safe with the minimum of side effects so long as you know what you’re doing, admits that he did make some mistakes with drugs. He says:

In that time, I fell asleep in my car, nearly killed people at a bus stop, fell flat on my face, smashed all my face in, had to physically pull out 7, 12 of my own teeth. I’d made the ultimate mistake. Being classed as a helper and a guide, I’d fallen full, flat into this myself.

Mick suffered a heart attack but says it was nothing to do with steroids. Given that he admits to leading an unhealthy lifestyle in other respects, it seems difficult to blame the heart attack only on steroids. However, Dr Pope and Steve Michalik believe that the long term effects of steroids are more serious and affect the heart and arteries.

We found a grapefruit sized tumor and 3 golf ball sized tumors on my liver. I wound up in the hospital, I went cold turkey. The physical symptoms i had were extreme pain because of the liver tumors. Every joint in my body was hurting beyond imagination. My body shrunk down from 220 pounds to 146 pounds. I almost lost my mind, I wound up in a mental institution. A mental institution. This was a horror story… I thought I was over it, I was off the stuff but no, it was still playing its dirty tricks on me. What do I get? I get a massive heart attack. Right? Because the steroid time bomb was still ticking. Even though your muscles are big on the outside, on the inside you are rotting and you are rusting… Finally get over that, got it all clear, I’m all done, boom! I get hit with a stroke.

Part 5

In this last part, Steve describes us as living in a drug generation. He says:

We got a drug generation. From the day you’re born, you got a problem, you go to the pediatrician, he gives you a drug. Turn on the TV, what do you see? Drug for this. Drug for hair gain, drug for hair loss, drug for fat, drug for losing your weight, drug for diarrhea, drug for constipation, there’s a drug for everything. This is what the kids are getting, this generation. Drugs, drugs, drugs, drugs. Now the kid’s 17, 18 years old he wants to have muscles what does he do? He takes drugs. Because this is what we taught him. And we gotta now try to unravel it and say hey, slow down, wait a minute. Maybe the pill isn’t the answer and maybe the now is not the solution. How about taking some time, going back to the old way of doing things. You’re gonna live longer and have more success.

Final Thoughts

This documentary has massive flaws but is entertaining. It’s biased from the word go and its use of imagery to make steroids appear horrific is just not needed. This kind of biased reporting actually makes more people do the opposite since they know there is more to the story. That said, there are some good points. The association of illegal substances with underworld figures is something that people really need to think about. These days, we don’t buy a carpet from India if it was made by a child but many of us buy drugs knowing full well that people may have died somewhere along the supply chain. Why do we concern ourselves with child labor, human rights and things of that nature only until it comes to drugs. With drugs, anything goes. Who cares if we are lining the pockets of murderers?

Perhaps the biggest flaw in the film is that it does not mention synthol and synthol is the only reason that Gregg Valentino looks the way he does. It is basically an oil that can be injected into muscle to stretch it out and make it bigger. It does nothing for strength and is not a steroid. Isn’t it incredible that this documentary does not include a single mention of this? I’m sure that people like Mick Hart will be disappointed that he has been put in the same category as Gregg. They are worlds apart. Below, are some pictures of other synthol users. Remember folks, this has nothing to do with steroids. These guys, like Gregg, inject oil to stretch the muscle and make it bigger with absolutely no increase in strength.

Chris Bell and his older and younger brothers (“Mad Dog” and “Smelly,” respectively) grew up during the rise of Hulk Hogan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone. To the Bells, these oily, ripped warriors weren’t limited to admiration — the boys could be champions, too, if only they put in the time, dedication, and hard work.

Oh, and that other thing that Hulk, Arnold, and Sly put in (via hypodermic needle): anabolic steroids.