Roid Rage

Wow the whole Chris Benoit thing is a shocker. I've written this a few different times and keep re-editing it. I'll try to keep this short.

Yes I knew who he was.

Yes I'll watch a little WWE now and then.

No I don't think it is real.

Yes sometimes it is funny.

Yes these WWE performers are athletes and stuntmen at the same time.

The wrestling isn't "real" but the injuries are.

Ok that cut it down ALOT!

How about the talk of "'Roid Rage" Chris may have had from his (maybe) steroid use?

I don't know about steroids first hand but I do know about them really well second hand. I've spent lots of time in gyms where really big strong guys tossed around really big weights like they were bags of potato chips. Seeing these top powerlifters and their strength is scary and impressive.

Seeing a guy clean and rack a 1000 pound squat, that is really scary and really impressive. Once you hang out at a gym where that happens all the time it gets kind of addictive. It is a fun environment to be in. You always see crazy stuff when you are there.

So do they take steroids? Lots of them have and still do. Why? Because they work really well to help them get bigger and stronger. Now you can't take them and sit on the couch and expect it to work. You have to work out like an animal to get the full effect of the drugs. Are there dangers? Sure, and I think you'd be crazy to use them. Other than about 1 week in the late 70's I never have.

But most of these guys I have known that do don't just take steroids. Once you take some drugs you can easily talk yourself into taking more. Here is how it works.

You take whatever steroids in whatever cycle you think or are told will work.

Then you take something to get you "up" for workouts. Maybe coffee, maybe something much stronger and not as legal.

So now you are wired and ready to hit the gym. You lift and train like an animal. You probably hurt yourself, if only just a muscle strain. Most of these heavy lifters have some injury all the time, even if it is just a sore muscle.

Now you add a painkiller to the mix. Maybe Advil, maybe something much stronger and not as legal.

Sometimes lifters take what is called a "stack." For a long time people took the ECA stack made up of ephedrine, caffeine, aspirin. Ephedrine is not as easy to get anymore, so they use something else.

At night it might be hard to sleep from all the "coffee" you took during the day so you take something to help you sleep. Maybe NyQuil, maybe something much stronger and not as legal.

OK now add in the lifestyle of being young and hitting the clubs and whatever drugs, legal or not come with that.

Repeat over and over and over. And the mindset of lots of these guys is that more is better. You workout twice a day and play hard at night.

So "Roid Rage"? Maybe. I don't think just taking steroids makes you crazy like that. In my experience it is all the other drugs and the mix that drives people nuts.