Elliott Hulse is a professional strongman and a former high-school football superstar enjoying a tremendous popularity on YouTube for his videos on strength, muscle, and philosophy. He has thousands of subscribers who follow him and aspire to acquire his mass and strength.

The question is – can that happen naturally?

According to official statements made by Hulse, he has used steroids in the past. In a YouTube video uploaded in 2012 under the title “How To Use Steroids”, Elliot Hulse informs us of the following:

– he didn’t take steroids during his football career
– he decided to try steroids out of ”curiosity” after lifting naturally for years
– steroids worked like magic for him
– he used a rather heavy cycle for a beginner – testosterone + trenbolone
– he didn’t feel fine on steroids, and his life started to fall apart – personal problems, torn biceps…etc.
– he considers his steroid period useful, for the fact that he can now educate his audience through his personal experience rather than second-hand knowledge

Hulse also talks about steroids on one of his websites where he states the following:

“My personal experience is that manipulating my hormones unnaturally not only changed my body, but negatively impacted my physiology, psychology and character. I did not like the person I turned me into. I was NOT The Strongest Version Of Myself.” – Elliott Hulse

Conclusions

1. Elliot Hulse is not a lifetime natural bodybuilder according to the statements in his videos and website. Therefore, questioning his natty status makes sense only in regards to a specific time frame before or after his self-admitted steroid experience.

2. Elliot Hulse acknowledges the fact that steroids are very effective when it comes to building muscle mass and strength.

3. The cycle described in the video is not beginner friendly since it included multiple compounds, one of which was trenbolone – a harsh anabolic steroid.

Trenbolone (tren) was originally designed for animals. It’s common knowledge in the muscle community that beginners shouldn’t use tren. Moreover, most people rarely if ever combine multiple compounds during their initial cycles.

This is important because it partially explains why Elliot Hulse might have experienced so many negative events in his life during his steroid experiment. Many people who run a properly designed TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) actually report improvements in their life – more energy, more strength, more muscle…etc. However, since Hulse took trenbolone, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to assume that this drug was the source of his physical and mental suffering.

This leaves us with one question:

Is the modern version of Elliot Hulse natural?

Elliott Hulse claims that he is no longer on steroids, but is this true?

Information provided by Elliott Hulse himself has revealed that when he is in shape he has the following body stats:

Height:	5’8” (173cm)
Weight:	205lbs (93.1kg)
Body fat levels:	9%

Let’s see how Elliot Hulse compares to Mr.Olympia Frank Zane.

In his prime, Zane had the following stats:

Off-season weight:	200 lbs (91kg)
Competition weight:	185lbs (83kg)
Height:	5’9” (175cm)
Bodyfat:	5%

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The data above reveals the following:

1. At 9% body fat, Hulse has 186.55lbs of lean body mass (LBM) (91% of 205lbs)
2. At 5% body fat Zane has 175.75lbs of LBM (95% of 185lbs)

Note:  LBM is the percentage of total body mass that is lean (muscle, bones, water, organs..etc.)

Elliott Hulse and Zane are about the same height. Yet Hulse has 10.8lbs more lean body mass than Zane. In case you don’t know, Zane competed against men like Arnold and Bertil Fox when steroids were widely available.

Let’s compare Elliott Hulse to another bodybuilding legend from the Golden Era of Bodybuilding – 1983 Mr. Olympia Samir Bannout.

In his prime, Samir Bannout had the following body stats:

Height:	5’8” (173cm)
Weight:	210 lbs (95.5kg)
Body fat levels:	5,00%

The data above reveals the following:

1. At 9% body fat, Hulse has 186.5lbs of LBM (91% of 205lbs)
2. At 5% body fat, Bannout has 199.5lbs of LBM (95% of 210lbs)

Former Mr. Olympia Samir Bannout had only 13lbs more LBM than  Elliott Hulse.

This leads us to a logical question – if the difference between a Mr. Olympia, albeit an old one, and a natural bodybuilder is 13lbs, why would anyone bother to use steroids? Why put your health at risk for 13lbs of muscle?

It’s best if you answer this question yourself.

What does the Fat-Free Mass Index (FFMI) calculator say?

The Fat-Free Mass Index (FFMI) belongs to the class of bodyweight indexes. It measures the lean body mass of an individual in relation to his weight and height. The formula was originally created in 1995 after a sample of 157 male athletes (83 users of anabolic-androgenic steroids and 74 nonusers) underwent an analysis. The conclusion was that men whose FFMI is equal or over 25 are most likely taking anabolic steroids. As a consequence, the FFMI has served as natty or not detector for a long time.

At 205lbs @ 5’8′ ‘@ 9% BF, the FFMI of Elliot Hulse is 28.42 – a very high number for a natural athlete.

In comparison, the FFMI, of Zane in his prime was 26.01 whereas the FFMI of Bannout was 30.40.

According to the research behind the FFMI, a score between 28 and 30 is highly unlike to be reached without anabolic steroids.

Q&A

Q: Hulse is 100% natural now. The muscle mass that he has today is every so slightly higher than the natural limit because he has kept some of his steroids gains. Correct?

A: You don’t get to keep your steroids gains after stopping steroids, contrary to popular belief. Anabolic drugs make you bigger by altering the regular synthesis of protein within a cell. When you remove them from the equation, the synthesis of protein returns to baseline levels, and the gains start to slowly disappear.

In order for someone to keep his steroids gains forever, his training and nutrition will have to compensate for the lack of drugs. That is impossible to happen.

If training and nutrition have failed to create the growth in the first place, how are they supposed to keep it?

In simple terms – if you work two jobs and suddenly lose one, the job that you still have will have to pay you more money in order for your income to remain the same.

Q: Hulse is not 9% body fat in the picture above. He is 13-14%. Therefore, he is natural. Correct?

A: You may be right. Who knows? The information was taken from material uploaded online by Hulse or someone from his team. One thing is certain, however – even at 14% body fat, Hulse’s stats are amazing for a natural. At 14% body fat, the FFMI of Hulse would be 26.86, which is still a very high number

Q: Hulse has been training for decades. Therefore, he is natural. Correct?

A: Many wrongfully assume that one could get exceptionally big with time. This is not correct.

Past a certain threshold (3-5 years), every extra year is negligible when you are natural, for the fact that you are already maxed out or brushing the limits of your potential. Even if you train for 50 more years past that threshold, you are not going to gain much. Not to mention that with age, there’s a natural decline. However, even if humans didn’t age, stagnation would still occur.

This is why steroids are so effective. They simply allow your body to synthesize more protein. Time, training and nutrition cannot do that. They simply don’t have the capacity to alter that process.

Training stimulates growth by damaging the muscle and putting it recovery mode whereas food provides the building blocks to repair the damage. Neither has an effect on how much protein the body is pre-determined to synthesize. Steroids, on the other hand, have that ability.

Nonetheless, even people on juice face a limit because the androgen receptors and the internal organs wear out sooner or later.

References:

1.http://www.leanhybridmuscle.com/ (visited on March 9, 2014);
2.http://www.hulsestrength.com/steroids/ (visited on March 9, 2014);
3.http://www.bodybuilding.com/ (visited on March 9, 2014);
4.http://www.wikipedia.org/ (visited on March 9, 2014);
5.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHOm89QUchk [How To Use Steroids by Strength Camp] (retrieved on March 9, 2014)