Christian Thibaudeau works for the “muscle worship” website T-Nation.com. He claims that he has assembled his physique without the use of anabolic steroids. Consequently, many unaware teenagers believe that they can build a body similar to the one of Christian Thibaudeau without drugs. They go to T-Nation.com and buy all the supplements pushed in their face in the hope to become a monster. But is it even possible to build the physique of Christian Thibaudeau naturally?
Natty ?
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Height: |
5′ 9″ (175 cm) |
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Weight: |
205+ lbs (93 kg) |
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BF: |
5,00% |
To see whether Christian Thibaudeau is natural, we will compare him to a pro from the 70s – three times Mr. Olympia Frank Zane.
Zane competed during an era when quality steroids were widely available in the U.S.
In his prime, Frank Zane had the following stats:
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Competition weight: |
185lbs (83kg) |
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Height: |
5’9” (175cm) |
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BF: |
5,00% |
As you can see, Christian Thibaudeau has 20lbs more muscle than Frank Zane. They are both the same height and body fat.
How are natural bodybuilders getting as big as former IFBB pros? Creatine and protein? Yeah, right.
Let’s compare Christian Thibaudeau to another bodybuilding icon – the legendary french bodybuilder Serge Nubret:
The stats of Serge Nubret during his prime were:
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Competition weight: |
200lbs (91kg) |
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Height: |
6′ (182cm) |
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BF: |
5,00% |
Christian Thibaudeau is 5lbs heavier than Serge Nubret and 3 inches shorter. If we compare the lean body masses (LBM) of the two bodybuilders, we would get the following data:
Christian Thibaudeau: 194.75lbs (88 kg) – (95% of 205lbs)
Serge Nubret: 190lbs (86 kg) – (95% of 200 lbs)
Serge Nubret had 5lbs less LBM than Christian Thibaudeau, but keep in mind, that Nubret is taller.
FAQ
Q: Christian Thibaudeau says that he can’t take steroids because of heart problems. Why would he take steroids and risk his health?
A: How do you know that he has heart problems? Because he told you so? The truth is that we don’t know.
The physique of Christian Thibaudeau is clearly too exceptional to fall within the natural description.
Thibaudeau talks about his heart issue and kidney troubles in the below article. He also admits that he used anabolic steroids while playing football in teens and when starting his bodybuilding competitive career in 2005.
https://biotest-forums.t-nation.com/t/christian-thibaudeau-update/4630
You are literally comparing a Mesomorph and an Ecto-Meso to an Edno/ Endomeso
Jay Cutler is an Endo bodybuilder and a much better comparison.
Bone density is absolutely different between an Ecto and Endo in terms of thickness and weight. Further, Endos have much more muscle stored in the lower portion of the body than Ectos or Mesos.
Not saying that accounts for the entirety of the weight difference. But a cubic inch of both bone and muscle will weigh differently from body type to body type as well as muscle fiber ratios of fast or slow twitch.
TLDR: It’s simply a poor comparison.
There are no ecto, endo, mesomorphs. Do you research. That was debunked decades ago.
I think CT is the type, who can´t really estimate his physique properly.
The stats he gave result in a FFMI of 28.3 or something.
If we assume that the real stats are:
5´10 (measurement inaccuracy)
195 lbs (ate and drank a lot before weighing)
9% bodyfat (Calipers aren´t accurate, visceral fat exists, too)
That results in a FFMI of 26.2.
That may be achievable naturally.
The past steroid use and his long career in sports that started early and gave him a good bone density make it possible to achieve without juicing during the transformation.
In this video he claims that he once gained 26 lbs in 6 h:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1or5lO028Ng
204 lbs – 26 lbs = 178 lbs ripped may be possible.
Also, bodybuilders back then didn´t want their legs to grow much, as well as the traps and the waist, 3 areas in which CT has more size.