Below you will find some more outrageous broscience beliefs which have somehow become an essential part of the mainstream bodybuilding doctrine.

1.Steroids are used solely to recover and train properly.

I had one of my best laughs when I read on T-Nation’s forum that a natural can get as big as Ronnie Coleman if there was enough time and aging wasn’t a factor.

The idea behind this “deep wisdom” was that the advantage of steroids consists in faster recovery allowing people to train harder and get bigger as a result. Since a natural does not have that luxury, he experiences less growth than a needle enthusiast.

This would be funny if it wasn’t sad. Yes, steroids help with recovery and allow you to train harder. That’s a fact. But they also boost your strength and size regardless of training.

There are no bodybuilders or lifters who take steroids “just to train harder”. That’s a myth. Lifters take them to become bigger and stronger beyond what’s possible naturally. The idea that a natural can get as big as Ronnie Coleman in his prime “if only there was enough time” shows how poorly people understand the effects of male hormones on the body.

In brief, steroids alter the synthesis of protein and allow more of it. Neither training nor nutrition has the capabilities to accomplish the same effect.

Even if we had some sort of Highlander natural who stays 25 years old forever, he would still fail to get as big as a steroid user even in 500 years.

Why? Because his hormonal profile does not allow the protein synthesis required to turn into Ronnie Coleman.

2.You can become as big as professional bodybuilders and other steroid users if you take enough of the right supplements.

There are people who think that supplements can potentially overcome the limitations in front of natural bodybuilders. The answer is, of course, “no” unless we’re talking about muscle elixirs like prohormones, but those are not really supplements – they are steroids.

Back in the day, I read an interview with Lee Priest where he explained that for a short period he maintained his massive physique naturally by increasing his intake of supplements. I guess this is possible…if the time frame was a month.

Many are spending hundreds on supplements hoping to reach amazing levels of muscular development thanks to magical powders.

I am sorry but this won’t happen. Taking stuff like whey protein from time to time is fine, but you should not expect miracles from it, just like you don’t expect to become a muscular gorilla after eating 3 eggs.

The graphics of muscular men on the labels have a serious effect on people’s perception, but at the end of the day – it’s a mind trick. If you buy a comic book with something stupid like Superman on the cover, does that make you feel like a super human? I hope not.

In brief, you can take as many supplements as you want. You will never match the roid users.

3.Taking your protein at the right time is very important.

The “anabolic window” concept is faulty. The human body is not designed to self-destruct super easily. Thus, not eating for an hour, two or maybe even 5 after your workout will not kill you, nor deprive you of gains. The number of total calories and macronutrients is what matters the most. The time when you take them as a natural is almost irrelevant as far as body composition is concerned.

4.I am 5lbs away from 5% body fat…

Many lifters suffer from severe delusions. They think that they’re super lean when they actually have to lose something like 50lbs or more to be competition lean.

Besides, most naturals will look sick and anorexic at 5% BF.

The truth is that those who are breaking the natural limits naturally are at least 15% body fat. In most cases, the number is actually close to 20%.

5.This exercise is really making me pumped. I will be growing soon.

Try this. Sit on the floor and do a classic L-sit. You will experience a massive pump and probably even some cramping in the quads. Do you think that your legs will get bigger from L-sits? Seriously, do you? Nobody gets bigger quads by doing L-sits. Thus, the fact that a muscle is getting pumped is not indicative that it will be growing in the near future.

The pump is just a sign that a muscle is being used. Pumping could be beneficial for recovery/rehab/warm-up, but it builds neither maximum strength nor guarantees that muscle hypertrophy will take place. Sorry, brahs.