Why did old-school bodybuilders lie about bulking? "It was a scam," says Rogan

Steroid use is a much more open topic in the fitness community today than it was decades ago. In a recent debate, Joe Rogan and Derek from the More Plates More Dates channel looked at how "old school" bodybuilding deliberately misled the public and why admitting to substance use (PEDs) was taboo at the time.

In an era where sports are judged by muscularity and sculptedness, performance-enhancing substances are often king. Despite the health risks, athletes are willing to do whatever it takes to show off their life form on stage. While today's dosages are often out of control, bodybuilders in the past vehemently claimed that hard work and supplements were the only things behind their results.

In a new video, Joe Rogan and Derek set out to separate fact from fiction and break down how the climate around steroids has changed over the years.

The wild west of dietary supplements

In the interview, Rogan reminisced about the unregulated market for dietary supplements, when vitamin stores resembled the "Wild West."

"The crazy thing about that time was that most of the products were hidden behind so-called proprietary blends. It was the norm. There was no education, no YouTube to find out what to look for," Derek explained. "Companies sold you a pixel of flavored powder for $50 that was just a stimulant. All the other ingredients for bloodletting were missing. You just got DMAA and by golly."

Rogan added: "People were basically buying pure meth, it was crazy. Those were the Wild West days at GNC and local vitamin stores."

A big scam on the fans

Derek went on to explain how companies used bodybuilding legends like Jay Cutler and Lee Priest to promote products that had little to do with their results.

"They were telling you, 'You need this $250 combo' - when it was just compressed glutamine tablets at a dose that didn't even work. But they said that's exactly what Jay Cutler was taking in preparation for the Olympics. Or look at Lee Priest, how he lost 20 pounds of fat and kept his muscles thanks to Cell-Tech."

Rogan pointed out that this was the "dirtiness" of the time. Bodybuilders couldn't admit they were on "gear" (steroids), so they became the faces of products that didn't work as promised.

"It was so deceptive, so sleazy. You had to know someone in the gym who told you the truth: 'Do you want to look like Lee Haney? That's not how he achieved it. You have to take the real stuff,'" Rogan said. "A lot of people just didn't believe these bodybuilders were on hardcore steroids."

Rogan even compared the whole business to shell games - a con game where only the one who cheats wins. "The whole sport was one big shell game," he concluded.

Are times changing?

Fans today are noticing that the obfuscation around substance use is not just the domain of bodybuilders. Recently, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who has significantly reduced the bulk of his physique, has also become a target of controversy, leading to speculation that he is done with substance use.

The stigma around steroids has definitely shifted since the 90s. While they are still present in bodybuilding, Rogan and Derek believe that today's athletes are not as deceptive as their predecessors and the community is much more transparent.