Performance enhancing drugs have been around professional sports from at least the 70's...and they aren't going to disappear from MMA. The Nevada State Athletic Commission used to test only for title fights...now it seems like they may be testing across the card. No doubt he'll be back...pending the length of his suspension.
Maybe board Fitness & Training Expert Swarm can give some insight into the issue.
LWPD (Pride doesn't test for steriods...if testing by the NSAC is now across the card...it'll be really interesting to see how guys like Randleman and Coleman come in for the US show)The more you know...
Steroids in Mixed Martial Arts
An interview with Trainer X
by Chris Shugart
T-Nation: In MMA, Pride, UFC etc., are all the fighters juicing?Trainer X: I'd never say "all." At the higher level of the sport, I'd guess 90% or more are using. I think many of them are using reasonable doses and not staying on all the time. Obviously, certain fighters have styles that are more strength based so they're likely to use more than the technical fighters.
T-Nation: So give us an idea of what kind of steroids a top MMA fighter is on. What's the ideal cycle for a brawler?Trainer X: Like training and diet, there's no best plan for everyone. Usually you want to keep it simple. The first guideline I follow is to go for about 600mg total dose the first week. Beyond 600mg/week, it seems like strength gains aren't much greater but weight gain is. Since we're usually looking for relative strength, I like the 600mg/week guide. In my experience many fighters need even less.
Usually each subsequent week will run from 300-500mg. Popular items are Testosterone, Equipoise (boldenone), Anavar (oxandrolone) and Halotestin (fluoxymesterone). Trenbolone and Winny (stanozolol) make it in too but it depends on the fighter's response to the possible high blood pressure of trenbolone and joint pain of Winny.
Deca (nandrolone) is used sometimes too for its joint relief properties. A simple plan is to split the total weekly dose between Eq and Testosterone. Eq does seem to boost RBC's and therefore endurance. A good cycle length is six to eight weeks pre-fight. If the athlete wants to experiment a little, I like to see a blend of 50mg Masteron (drostanolone propionate)/50mg Eq Propionate/50mg Test Propionate shot four times the first week and three times each following week. Anavar could be added at 15-30mg/day and in the last two weeks before the fight, maybe some Halotestin at 10-20mg/day.
I like this because I think the Eq and Testosterone have benefits for a fighter but I don't like to get the dose too high because appetite can soar. Balancing them out with Anavar and Masteron seems to yield nice strength gains with minimal weight gain.
Pre-fight, you need good feedback from your athlete as well as his strength and conditioning coach and technical coach. Is he gaining too much weight for his class? Does he feel tired? My golden rule is do no harm. In no way do you want to mess up the athlete's fight conditioning or his ability to make weight. You want a strong, fast, conditioned athlete who makes weight. Anything that'll hurt that is out. This includes any untested last minute changes to his steroid plan or his training and diet plan.
Now, if I had time with this athlete way out from a fight, we might want to gain some weight and learn some new strength levels, but here I'm looking to help him recover and help with his endurance, along with maintaining or maybe increasing strength and speed. In addition, this is what a lot of fighters have told me they like.
I normally don't experiment with oxymetholone and methandrostenolone 'cause they seem to do okay without them. I've considered adding D-bol at a low (15-25mg/day) dose for some guys. Problem is, they don't like to stray from what they know works. And can you blame them? It's not like they strike out in their sport; they get knocked out, arm locked or choked out! So they want to use what's worked in the past.
Winny is loved by some, hated by others. Again, it's personal preference. I don't recommend it to most athletes but I do trust experienced users who like it and leave it to them. The main thing to remember here is we go to a max of 600mg/week total (perhaps higher on the first week but I haven't had a fighter go over 625mg yet. Some other types of athletes I've gone to 750mg the first week). Methenolone isn't preferred because there are just better steroids that give more bang for the buck.
T-Nation: Give us an idea of some other successful plans you've seen used.Trainer X: Some other plans I've seen guys use are:
Equipoise only at 400mg on week one, followed by 300-350mg each additional week until the fight. One fighter likes this exclusively. This has done well for him and the increased RBC's do seem to have a positive affect on his conditioning.
Testosterone butyrate with anastrazole at 600mg on week one followed by 400mg each additional week. Another guy prefers this and seems to do well with it.
Test at 400mg with 150mg of tren on week one followed by 350mg/week of Test with 100mg/week tren for the subsequent weeks. I like masteron over trenbolone. A while back tren got a great rep for keeping you lean and adding strength, which it does. But there's something about this steroid in high doses that seems to affect endurance. I called bullshit on this too until a friend and I tried it and noticed we were gassing out. Tren can be used but I use it sparingly as it does raise blood pressure and that can affect endurance.
Test at 250mg/week and winny at 150mg/week.
Test at 300mg/week, deca at 100mg/week. I favor Eq over deca but I've seen guys ask for deca for its joint pain relief. I try not to go over 200mg/week and you need to figure this in for your total so you have to subtract from the other androgens in the stack. Again, I've seen this but don't recommend it. I'd much rather see Test with Eq.
T-Nation: How about brands?Trainer X: A lot of Underground Labs. Atlantis Stenox is about the only real fluoxymesterone I've seen lately. For Boldenone propionate, the only one I've seen is RSOC. His Test blends are good too because they include some Arimidex (anastrazole). I've seen DPHARM and Proline for a lot of the other stuff and IP oral Winny. I like UG labs because they make a lot of fast acting gear and if given a choice I prefer esters with shorter half-lives.
Growth Hormone is used when available and affordable at 2-6 IU per day for as long as the athlete can. I believe this is great stuff for rehab and general health. Many of them run it 5on/2off just for cost reasons. I believe continued dosing is optimal if money is no object but there's certainly a benefit from this 5on/2off protocol. I've seen the Serostim and Jinotropin kits and I expect the Nutropin depot preparation to become popular.
T-Nation: What kind of ancillaries do your fighters use?Trainer X: In truth, most fighters ignore this stuff. To be honest, many athletes in general don't use ancillaries. Despite people trying to convince them, many just don't want to pay for them or feel it's too complicated. Fortunately, I haven't seen gynecomastia at the low doses used and this is why I like a certain underground Testosterone with Arimidex mixed in. Most of these guys also don't complain about HPTA recovery. After a fight, they usually take a much-needed active recovery period and don't use steroids again until another fight comes along.
Personally, I'm a fan of HCG only while on. I also like the low dose of 250IU two times per week and more only if necessary. I hate Clomid (clomiphene) for fighters. Again, if you have time to experiment or the athlete likes it, great. But it can make tough guys into, well, emotional tough guys. I like Arimidex while on (not for post-cycle therapy though) and Nolvadex (tamoxifen) while on and for post-cycle therapy.
T-Nation: Can a guy be "over-juiced" when it comes to MMA?Trainer X: Yes. MMA is not all about size. In MMA you usually need to be as strong as possible while staying in a weight class. You also need anaerobic endurance. I'm the last guy to preach about steroid side effects, but high blood pressure is very common on one gram a week or more. High BP is a conditioning killer so you need to avoid that.
Certain steroids like trenbolone are loved by some for the lean strength gain but hated by others because it seems to raise blood pressure to a greater degree than some other things. I've seen a few examples of this.
Another example happened a while back when a fighter got on about one gram per week of suspension on the advice of a buddy. He started this about two weeks before the fight! Not ideal. It's okay to do this if you're a bodybuilder; it's okay to do this if you know it works for you; and it's okay to do this if you're a fighter; but it isn't okay to do this two weeks before a fight when you've never tried it before!
This severely affected his conditioning in the ring because he had gained weight, water, fat and muscle too fast and his blood pressure was probably too high for him. He simply hadn't practiced fighting in that condition. Remember the energy systems needed for the sport. Linemen, strong men, powerlifters, and bodybuilders are a different animal and higher doses that work for them may not be best for fighters.
T-Nation: We've heard about boxers using certain drugs to "make them aggressive." Do your fighters do anything like that?Trainer X: I like halo for the strength and the CNS stimulation it gives without the weight gain. I like to restrict it to 10-25mg per day, two weeks or even one week before the fight 'cause it can make people a bit more aggressive. Some guys simply don't need to be more aggressive in their daily lives.
At the higher levels you don't want a fighter to be too aggressive too early and end up making mistakes or gassing out. It's very individual. Confidence is essential but overly emotional aggression can be a detriment. And we sure as hell don't need to give any more ammunition to the anti-steroid morons who cry about "roid rage!"
If aggression is distinctly low, then halotestin may be used longer, but I'd say that indicates another problem. The fighter should want to fight.
IPPON!!
