Jeff Cavaliere has built one of the biggest fitness channels in the world, ATHLEAN-X, without ever taking steroids. In this clip from his 2020 London Real interview, Brian Rose asks him about drugs in bodybuilding, and Cavaliere gives a clear, personal answer about why he never went down that road, and why he thinks the risks today’s professionals take are “insane”.
It’s a seven-minute clip that’s as much about motivation as it is about drugs.
▶ Watch the full episode: Jeff Cavaliere – ATHLEAN-X
Why he started training
Cavaliere says that when bodybuilding reaches the point where people use drugs to enhance themselves, it becomes, in his view, incredibly unhealthy and defeats the purpose. As a kid, he just wanted to look better. He looked up to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Frank Zane without realising they were enhanced. For him, the goal was always to build muscle, look more aesthetic, and feel better along the way.
He also encourages people who already have the muscle to use it: do something functional, stay mobile, and let the body reward the hard work.
The professional end of the sport
Professional bodybuilding, he says, has become dangerous. He remembers when a Mr. Olympia winner weighed around 240 pounds. Today they can exceed 300 pounds at very low body fat, and he calls the drugs needed to get there “outrageous”. What worries him most is that many competitors don’t seem concerned about the long-term effects on their bodies, for what he believes is relatively little money.
Brian brings up Dorian Yates, a previous London Real guest, who paid a heavy physical price for his career, and who has since made a mental shift that most former champions can’t: walking away from the big-guy image.
Kids asking about steroids
Cavaliere says he gets questions about steroids all the time on Instagram and YouTube, and it concerns him how casually they’re asked. In his high school football team, he says, maybe one player might have used something. Today he hears stories of teams where half or more are using.
Two reasons he never did it
He gives two reasons for never using steroids himself. The first was simple: his father. His parents were divorced, he lived with his dad, and he knew that if he did anything like that, he’d be out of the house.
The second matters more to him now. He didn’t want results he would need to stay on drugs to keep, and he didn’t want to shortchange the reward. The feeling of achievement from his own effort, he says, is what he loves most about training: knowing that the results, good and bad, are his.
What to take from it
Cavaliere’s advice to anyone tempted is a question: do you find any reward in your own effort? If you do, he says, stay away, because you don’t need it. Natural progress takes longer, but it’s yours. And as he gets older, he’s inspired by men who never took anything and still look great, and who still get up and do the work.
This clip reflects Jeff Cavaliere’s views. It is not medical advice. Anabolic steroids carry real health risks and are controlled substances in many countries.
Who is Jeff Cavaliere?
Jeff Cavaliere is an American physical therapist and strength coach, and the founder of ATHLEAN-X, one of the largest fitness channels on YouTube. He previously worked as head physical therapist and assistant strength coach for the New York Mets, and is known for science-based, functional training.
In the full 2020 episode, he talks with Brian Rose about training smarter, functional strength and building ATHLEAN-X.
See everything Jeff Cavaliere has done with London Real on his guest page: Jeff Cavaliere on London Real.
More on London Real
Transcript
Transcript: Jeff Cavaliere – Steroids In Bodybuilding: “The Risks Are Insane And Short Term”
0:00 Jeff Cavaliere: When bodybuilding gets to the degree where people are starting to use drugs to enhance themselves, I think it’s incredibly unhealthy. I think that defeats the purpose. When I first started training as a kid, I just wanted to look better. I didn’t know about drugs at that point. I looked at guys like Arnold and Frank Zane and thought that’s just what they looked like. I didn’t realise they were enhanced in some way. So the pursuit for me was just about developing muscle, looking more aesthetic, looking better and feeling better along with it. That is the goal, and it remains the goal, and you don’t go down those other roads to get there.
0:43 Jeff Cavaliere: I still think it can be healthy, but I still encourage people at some point: OK, look, you’ve built some muscle, now do something with it. Have some function. Do a couple of days a week where you’re out there touching your toes, doing something that rewards the muscle for its hard work and actually lets it do something.
1:04 Brian Rose: I think at the large sizes it’s never going to be a drug-free sport.
1:10 Jeff Cavaliere: Oh no. I wasn’t even going there; I was thinking of the recreational bodybuilder. If you’re talking about professional bodybuilding, that’s dangerous. I think it’s getting ridiculous. I’m not even that old, but I go back to the days when Mr. Olympia was 240 pounds. Now he’s in excess of 300 pounds at 2 or 3% body fat. That’s insanity. And the drugs being used to get there are outrageous. It’s like they don’t even have a concern about what the long-term implications are going to be for their bodies. And from what I’m told, I’m not sure they make that much money for what they’re doing. So the risks involved, against what they’re making: it’s insane.
2:08 Brian Rose: It’s a crazy sport mentality. We had Dorian Yates on before. He trained until he tore his tricep and his bicep, and he was 265 lean on stage. And there’s something to be said about pursuing a discipline and what it teaches you mentally. But he destroyed his body, and almost his life, coming off that. He doesn’t regret those days, but he’s certainly feeling the repercussions.
2:38 Jeff Cavaliere: He’s changed his whole outlook. He no longer associates himself with Mr. Olympia, but a lot of guys do. They try to stay in shape, they try to go back later. Dorian just kind of walked away from it all. He can take his shirt off now, and he’s still not in bad shape, but he doesn’t need you to see him as the super big guy. That’s a mental shift most guys can’t make.
3:00 Brian Rose: We see Hollywood actors these days, and rap stars. Everyone needs to be big now, and a lot of drugs are being used to get there. Is this going down to high school kids asking how they get steroids?
3:12 Jeff Cavaliere: I get questions all the time on my platforms, Instagram, YouTube, whatever, and it’s concerning that it’s such a quick question to be asked. That wasn’t part of my life growing up. I didn’t even think about it. On my high school football team there might have been one guy using something. We don’t know, because no one ever knew. Now I hear stories of high school football teams where half the roster, if not three-quarters, are using something.
3:52 Jeff Cavaliere: It’s such a defeatist trend, because part of the real joy of this journey is the time and effort it takes to get where you want to be. I always tell the story: if I’d had the option to use steroids when I was young, I would have thought two things. Number one, my father’s going to kill me. If he ever finds out, I’m dead; he’s going to throw me out of the house. He didn’t want me doing anything. I never drank and I never did drugs because of him. My parents were divorced and we lived with my father, so I thought, if I screw this up, I’m toast. I’ve got nobody. So I was always careful not to do anything wrong.
4:39 Jeff Cavaliere: And then I had the other fear. Number one, the results I’d get wouldn’t be long term; I’d have to stay on this stuff to maintain them, and I didn’t want that. And number two, I always felt it would shortchange the whole enjoyment. I was being truthful when I said I like the feeling I get, and still do to this day: the feeling of achievement from doing what I do. This is something I can control in my life. Maybe I don’t get the results I’m looking for in one area of my training, and in others I excel. That’s all good. I know I was part of that. If I took something, it would shortchange the real reward. It would be because I took that, not because of the effort I put in.
5:40 Jeff Cavaliere: So I always say to anyone considering it: do you find any reward in what you do? Do you find any inspiration from your own efforts? If you do, stay away from that sh*t, because you don’t need it. It’s going to take a lot longer than if you used something, but it’s going to be that much more rewarding. You’ll always be able to walk around knowing you did this. You’re responsible for how you look. You didn’t take any shortcuts.
6:08 Jeff Cavaliere: To me, that’s one of the biggest things that keeps me inspired to this day, especially as I age. I know plenty of guys who have never taken anything and look amazing, much older than me, and I use that as inspiration. I want to continue to look good. They know the hard work it takes, and they’re still willing to do it when they’re older.
6:32 Brian Rose: It’s more of a challenge. It’s harder to wake up in the morning. Sure, you did it before this interview, but it’s probably not the same as it was 20 years ago.
6:48 Jeff Cavaliere: But now it’s part of the process. You challenge yourself to make sure you do it and get it in. And I think that’s the reward.
