Steroid issue from a "personal" viewpoint

[Jihad]

Yes I understand that this has been done a million times, and no I don't care. If you're too tired of the issue, please skip reading this. I will tell you that what I am about to discuss is very rarely discussed, and it includes a personal experience.

First off let me preface this with my undying love for both Barry Bonds and the Giants, and the effect of those sentiments on my own take of this situation. But my input comes from personal experience. Not with steroids, but with growth in general.

Sometime during my Sophomore year at USNA, I completely ripped my right shoulder out of its socket. Being a midshipman, I was obviously in at least decent shape, but nothing spectacular. After my surgery, I spent a full 6 months completely physically inactive.

One morning I woke up, realized how weak I had become, and got very upset, very determined. I started working out for 3-4 hours a day, pretty insane intensity levels. After about 6 months, I had gone from 220 lbs and very weak (6'1") to 200 pounds with power #'s that I'm sure would rival Barry's.

Along the way, I hit some plateau's and used some supplements to help me. I took one full cycle of creatine, and one bottle of Ripped Fuel, but no others whatsoever.

Yes, I had to wake up at 5AM to sneak in cardio before military/academic obligations kicked in. Yes, I was borderline insane. Yes, I was going on 2-5 hours of sleep for a full 6 months. But guess what? I did it without steroids, and I was a totally different person. People would look at me exactly the way I assume they look at Barry, with a sort of reverant amazement and definetely disbelief. People would constantly ask me in the gym what I was supplementing with or what special secret I have, the answer was none. Just a ton of time, and a lot of hard work.

My point to all of this is not that Barry didn't supplement. I, just like every other clown in the world besides 1, don't really know the answer, but it looks like he may have. My point is that it can be done, and when people constantly use the argument of his "incredible gains" being impossible without steroids, I knowingly laugh my ass off.

Listen guys, for the his entire career, Barry's work ethic, motivation, and drive have absolutely never come into question. During the first half of his career all of that work was poured into speed and pure hitting. Then the game changed, and so did his body. Is there anybody who will really argue that it is impossible, or even really that difficult, to gain 10 or even 30 pounds of muscle in a year? What about with the help of a full time nutritionist and fitness/strength coach?

That's all I got.