This is a topic that is dear to me, normally I do not share this outside my circle of friends. However today is an anniversary of sorts and having been a member here for a few weeks I think it is worth sharing. This is not going to be long, sappy or preachy but I hope that if you take the time to read this you get the message and act on it.

Noobs in the iron game. What can I say? I have been one and so have you. Anyone disagree? Good.

We all start somewhere, whether we get into this hobby at 15 or 50, no matter if our goals are to be so massive as not fit into the seat of a compact car or swing a maul better than anyone else. We share a passion for fitness, enjoying the soreness the next day and results that follow. What we also share in the beginning is inexperience and a blinding desire to progress. Most of us go forth and research, read magazines, studies, talk to iron brothers at the gym etc. Invariably for many the allure of AS creeps up and an opportunity presents itself. It is at this point that the Internet becomes the double edged sword I mentioned in the topic. Lets flash back now to the mid 1990's, before we come back to the Internet:

Small town gym, a group of maybe 10 large guys and the remaining 100 or so small to average. Myself and a good friend frequent this gym while in HS. Typical noobs, reading Muscle Media and taking the usual period appropriate supplements (Ultimate Orange, Vanadyl Sulphate, EAS everything...). Gains occur, we chat with the Canadian power lifter on bench technique, the ex cop who is although huge refuses to train legs and a pair of guys that are just massive and the closest thing to a pro we have seen IRL. The last two have the typical bloat (not recognized by us noobs), and they explain that drol is where it is at. They explain at length every AS from oxandrolone to primo, but what lacks is anything more than what each one is good for (cutting, bulking, etc). So the idea has been planted, AS will make you huge no strings attached.

For me, not getting into AS was easy, no money (dirt poor). For my friend however, his parents owned a local company and sadly paid little attention to what he did. A local HS kid offered him some oral AS, $200.00. He went for it, unlabeled black gel caps (yah...) and got little to no gains. That seemed to be the end of AS, or so I thought. Remember, at this point no knowledge of bunk products, cycles, PCT ANYTHING was known to us. Towards the end of HS we spent less time together. I had to get grades in order for college, plus a steady GF made for a lot less time for endless sessions at the gym (overtraining before I knew what overtraining was). I moved on to college and came back the following summer, my friend at the small towns street party, easily 20 lbs heavier and looking a little bloated. We talked about the same old stuff, he mentioned that he was buying a gym, all good. I go back to college and through another friend I ask how things are back home. The usual, same people doing the same things and then he says, "You know #@&)$ died right?"... I will never forget that question. My long time friend passed away to what the newspaper described as a massive heart attack at 20. Come to find out from his family, my friend was mixing AS with cocaine for a period of time and his heart gave out. Had he known to check his BP often, to take an aspirin ED, not to take methylated orals and recreational drugs he would likely be here today. The basic information that AS will make you huge was available, but none of the requisite details were there. It was very unfortunate but preventable. I have made peace with the situation but I want to narrow in on the point: When we look at noobs here or in the gym, we are looking in a mirror. That was some years ago today.

Side note: I did not get into AS until a little later, having had several talks with the late Dan Duchaine and spending hours researching the topic.

Let's flash back forward now to present day. The internet is here, hell you can't escape it. Seemingly anything you want to know is a few well worded search phrases away. They arrive here, at our forum based on choice key words put into the search engine. When they arrive, we all know what they usually ask, "where can I get XXX?" and "What will get me huge fast?". We realize this is a very limited question and tend to beat them with the noob stick, at which point they are banned and go elsewhere. We have no control of the "elsewhere", we had our opportunity to provide quality AS education. For example, all noobs need to be given a link to the most basic things (PCT, blood work, AI etc), and some of us do a great job of that. You see, I know most of the other forums and in many a noob will just get his question answered and it is up to them to find the rest of the AS related questions to ask by himself. We seem to take the opposite approach which is great, asking for stats etc. All too often I see threads like "Is this gyno?", a glaring reminder that noobs jump right in most of the times (not all). I get that there are noobs who refuse to read the rules or adhere to them and should be booted, but on the other side of the coin we can all help provide guidance in one way or another. Let's keep working together at converting noobs into into educated iron brothers with the knowledge to proceed safely in this hobby.

RIP to all those who fell early simply due to AS ignorance.