by Christian Duque
Starting with the title, I have to say this is a very interesting concept because of the fact that the word comeback is used. I have heard from so many people throughout the sport – particularly writers who are oblivious to the realities of competition – go on and on about whether or not we will see a resurgence of site enhancing oils, otherwise known as SEO’s. Some even ask if Synthol is still a thing? And that presents a whole other can of worms because Synthol represents one product that has been copycatted over and over again by the Brazilians, the Russians, and just random people in their bathtub or with some basic concept of chemistry.
We have seen people use rubbing alcohol, cleaning agents, everything but the kitchen sink. We have seen people get limbs amputated and we have seen other people come close to risking their lives just to walk around with balloon arms or balloon delts and for what? To go viral on Instagram? That hardly seems worth all of the risk, but we are talking about some of the dumbest people around the world. Anybody that understands the complexities of bodybuilding knows that once you deform your body no judge is ever going to give you a win. I don’t care how slim the pickings are once you ruin your look, you’re done.
But when it comes to bodybuilding at the elite levels there is a place unfortunately for site enhancement oils, silicone, and other fillers. As it was once described to me by some of the more accomplished bodybuilders of the day, these products are used primarily to touch up. They are used to fill in very small amounts of muscle that maybe do not look perfectly symmetrical or do not flow the way they should. The key is to use so little that the judges can’t tell. The problem is one of the few attributes bodybuilders have is a little something called moderation. In bodybuilding excess is best.
I think one of the biggest misconceptions about SEO’s is that people confuse the idiots from Brazil and Eastern Europe with top-tier bodybuilders competing for the biggest titles and top honors. The reality of the matter is bodybuilders as we know them are kind of like race cars. Not race car drivers per se, but more like the actual race cars.
If you know anything about Nascar or Formula 1 cars, you know that the races aren’t just to determine which vehicle is the fastest or which driver is the most skilled; rather, it’s about testing out different innovations in automotive technology. Whether it’s brakes, whether it’s accelerators, whether it’s maneuverability. Race cars are basically guinea pigs and drivers are operating guinea pigs essentially. That might be a bit of a stretch in terms of research and development, but I assure you that these sports cars traveling at close to 200 mph and sometimes more, are actually testing out all sorts of different gadgets.
In a very real way bodybuilders are testing out a variety of substances. The difference there being that they’re not testing them out for medical research or for any kind of study. They’re testing out various different chemicals and compounds in order to look their best for just a matter of a few hours on stage. And in fact sometimes it could come down to just how they look for a few minutes on stage. When you stop to think about it, how long does a routine take during the night show? How long can the judges move the athlete’s around during mandatory poses anyways?
Then again, as they say – shows are won and lost in the prejudging. Those few minutes are about as high stakes as they get! And you can believe chemicals play a major role!!
I’m not trying to take away anything from enhanced athletes. This is not an article where I throw the book at guys that sauce because let’s be honest the lion’s share of bodybuilding fans are watching enhanced athletes. They’re not watching natural bodybuilding. This is not to say that natural bodybuilding doesn’t have a lot of fans but they don’t pack the house like the guys that are juiced to the gills do. And the reality of the matter is those guys also have a tremendous amount of discipline and work very, very hard to bring in these phenomenal looks to the stage. But the major difference is they’re not natural and they’re using everything but the kitchen sink. And therein lies what we are talking about with this article.
To suggest that SEO’s, insulin, growth or any other substance that has been used in the past is all of a sudden gone is absolutely ridiculous. It’s very naive and it’s simply just not the case. Everything that has been used with success in the past you can bet your bottom dollar continues to be used today.
So when writers and pundits talk about a possible resurgence of site enhancing oils they clearly don’t know what they’re talking about. Now do we see these substances used at say the New York Pro, the Arnold Classic, or even the Super Bowl of Bodybuilding itself, the Mr Olympia? I would say yes. I would say that you may see top winners that have been running these substances for ages. Again we are talking about the very best athletes in the world. And they will stop at nothing to get the win and the top honors.
Remember we are not talking about people that are merely trying to look their best in the gym. They have careers and they have sponsors and they have obligations. If they don’t place well or if they don’t keep their titles they don’t eat. The stakes couldn’t be higher and as a result they will do anything. They will do diuretics, they will pump oil into themselves, they will stop at nothing. So once again I went with the title because of the fact I’ve been seeing the comments posted so much all throughout social media but not because I believe them for a second.
The only way a compound is going to stop being used is if it doesn’t work. If it’s a complete dud the vast majority won’t use it but that being said there’s still going to be a tiny sliver that will continue to use it on the off-chance that maybe it works for them. Bodybuilding stopped being about just training probably in the 1940s and 50s. It stopped being about what you could do simply with food, weight training, and just taking care of yourself. I have read many books that say that steroids were on the scene a lot earlier than the late 1960s which is what many purists in the sport would have you believe. I think anabolics have been around for a lot longer and I think that after anabolics everything else sort of stacked on top. For example, I don’t believe Dorian was the first to abuse insulin or Nasser SEO’s. I believe that sight enhancement oils didn’t come into play until the late 90s or 2000s. I think they were always at play. I just don’t think many people knew about them. The same thing with SARM’s. I don’t think that people just started using those in the last few years. Maybe the mainstream within the niche started using it but I think that people with an advanced knowledge of chemistry and the way the body works have probably been holding onto tricks for quite some time until unfortunately the inevitable happens and everyone and their mother in the gym finds out. That’s one thing about bodybuilding, as soon as something works – good luck trying to keep it a secret.
In the end I think what matters is the complete package. If we start dissecting the athletes with respect to what they take, what they do, what they are willing to do, it’s a vicious cycle. Sometimes it’s better to just look at the finished product and admire it and maybe think that we can achieve such a feat at some point. Even though in reality, there is simply no chance of that ever happening. Nonetheless it’s that illusion and it’s that innocent belief in duplicating what we see that sells protein powder, t-shirts, lifting straps and contest tickets.
Let’s keep the dream going and stay as naive as possible. As always I hope you enjoyed reading my article here at Iron Magazine. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments.
