Old school shredded

[Tomgrass]

Just wonder how guys in golden era were conditioned if no ai were used. Any ideas guys? Did they lowered test in last few weeks or other way?

 

[td]

My guess would be limited test, higher oral use. Wasn't testosterone considered a "dirty" drug because of the water retention?

No GH, no insulin.

 

[aHarness]

Just wonder how guys in golden era were conditioned if no ai were used. Any ideas guys? Did they lowered test in last few weeks or other way?

Comparing them to todays guys, they weren’t that shredded. Definitely a softer look. Not nearly as dry.

 

[Elvia1023]

You don't need AI's to get conditioned but sure that dry hard grainy condition is only helped with lowering estrogen (especially when on large doses of aromatizing compounds). That said not many in that era had that dry hard condition and things weren't taken to the extreme and the unavailability of certain drugs is one of the reasons for that. Although it's very possible to get extremely lean taking no estrogen blockers. Look how lean legit natural athletes get and that should tell you everything. They did use other AAS that can have an estrogen lowering/blocking effect. Estrone levels are also much higher in fat tissue than in circulation. It's in the fat tissue were estrone sulfate coverts to estrone and then later into estradiol. So if you have less fat tissue you should naturally have less estrogen and aromatization taking place.

 

[b-boy]

You don't need AI's to get conditioned but sure that dry hard grainy condition is only helped with lowering estrogen (especially when on large doses of aromatizing compounds). That said not many in that era had that dry hard condition and things weren't taken to the extreme and the unavailability of certain drugs is one of the reasons for that. Although it's very possible to get extremely lean taking no estrogen blockers. Look how lean legit natural athletes get and that should tell you everything. They did use other AAS that can have an estrogen lowering/blocking effect. Estrone levels are also much higher in fat tissue than in circulation. It's in the fat tissue were estrone sulfate coverts to estrone and then later into estradiol. So if you have less fat tissue you should naturally have less estrogen and aromatization taking place.

 

[hawkmoon]

My guess would be limited test, higher oral use. Wasn't testosterone considered a "dirty" drug because of the water retention?

No GH, no insulin.

I think you are correct. Those around me competing at the time were using low test, more EQ, Primo, and Parabolan. Winstrol, Anavar, and Anadrol were also plentiful - all brand name stuff. No AIs or SERMs.
People dieted harder and used less drugs to compensate IMHO. No "cheat days". No carb-ups except those final days. People really looked (and felt) like death that last week, not the round, full faces like we see today. Sunken cheeks and eye-sockets.
Flesh that looked like like stained chicken skin, so thin you can count the follicles. The more we suffered, the better. If you weren't suffering you weren't working hard enough, and you will lose to someone who is pushing harder.

 

[1fst400]

I keep hearing that today's pros have lower body fat than guys in the 80's and 90's, even though they don't look like it. The explanations I see revolve around GH causing fuller and heavier muscles, but preventing striations and deep detail (except for the coveted striated glutes lmao). Even if that were true, I don't think ACTUALLY having lower bf means that much if you don't LOOK shredded. Bodybuilding is, after all, a pageant - looks matter. Not the scale or your DEXA. I think it's reasonable to point out that between the balance of being massive and shredded, competitors (and judges?) favor size.

 

[buck]

Might depend on what old school one is talking about. When i hear old school i am thinking 1970's. The newer schools probably did it different as ideas, knowledge and trends change.

 

[st114]

Depends on what era we’re considering old school, but a lot of guys ran a deca or primo base (depending on if they were in the US or Europe for the most part). That plus winstrol and halo, strict dieting sometimes with no carbs, and a lot of them changed up their training to extremely high volume sometimes twice a day for hours plus cardio

Also, we really only see the genetic elite because their photos have lasted through time, versus today where literally everyone who lifts has an IG. The guys who were fatter and dealing with high estro and gyno didn’t place well, and there’s few pics of these guys

Just a few things I’ve gathered throughout the years, but I never lived in the old school era so take all this with a grain of salt