Geschatte leestijd: 4 minuten
For a TV program, Filemon uses steroids in an attempt to achieve his dream physique and be informative. In my opinion, he completely misses the mark on both points.
Embarrassing Display on De Wereld Draait Door
Today I was watching De Wereld Draait Door. Filemon was a guest. During a previous pool party, he compared his “beer belly” to the six-packs around him and decided he wanted that too. “I want to give everything once in my life to get that good body.” Mathijs van Nieuwkerk: “Those guys at that pool party, they were all 20-22… You’re 36, do you really need that?”
Mathijs asks him to show the interim result, and (understandably) embarrassed, Filemon takes off his T-shirt again, pointing out that it’s an interim result.
What you as a viewer think of his result is of course subjective and depends on your frame of reference. He dares to take off his shirt on TV, which is commendable. Regarding the result, I wouldn’t normally speak negatively about it if I personally weren’t impressed. I’m a fitness photographer and attend bodybuilding competitions, so my standards are quite high. I prefer to look at where you come from, and in that regard, you can see that Filemon has achieved a good result.
All my positive thoughts are then suddenly replaced by all sorts of ugly thoughts when it’s casually mentioned that Filemon has also used steroids. The 39-year-old, natural bodybuilder (with a six-pack) in me is left dumbfounded.
I try to figure out why I’m so outraged. After all, I’ve extensively written about steroids because I’m pro-education and anti-demonization. However, I’ve also made it clear in earlier articles which cases of use I can understand and which cases I can only condemn. Filemon’s case falls into the second category for me for several reasons.
Filemon’s best argument for using steroids is essentially a good one. In fact, for the same reasons, I’ve considered once using them to document all the effects and share my experiences (ultimately didn’t do it to maintain my “natural” status). Journalistically and morally, you might think there’s nothing wrong with that.
Wrong, because Filemon isn’t me.
Filemon being a guinea pig for steroid use is rather pointless. The side effects he describes in terms of libido and aggression are well known. But more importantly:
He has just started training!
He should be fully benefiting from the so-called newbie gains, the rapid gains you experience when you start training. By using steroids during that period, you have no idea what the effect of your training is and what the effect of the steroids is. It’s only when you’ve trained for years and the gains become increasingly difficult that the effect of steroids becomes clear.
It’s also useful if you know what you’re talking about and understand what’s being injected into you.
Reinforcing the Cliché
Filemon’s statements, in my opinion, are also insulting to probably most of the guys at that pool party he talked about. To be clear:
You don’t need steroids for a six-pack!
At the table with Mathijs, the impression is created that steroid use is “standard”. Suppose Filemon was interested in cycling, would he also say:
“And of course, I used EPO”
In that comparison, a six-pack is hardly comparable to the Tour de France, rather to a trip over the Afsluitdijk with headwind: Difficult, but doable.
When it comes to a six-pack, steroid use is not necessary although it can make things easier. Simply have the right nutrition long enough, and you can achieve it even without training. Sure, cardio and more muscle mass help, but all you really need is discipline.
But of course, you also want to keep some muscle mass. That means you have to build in addition to breaking down, and that does indeed take longer. And what’s wrong with that, Filemon? You seem to understand when you say, “Bodybuilding is a lifestyle.” But that doesn’t align at all when you then find it necessary to start using steroids in your first six months. You can of course raise the journalistic argument again, but you can clearly infer from Filemon’s words that there was also a strong personal motivation driving this. He wanted “that good figure” and it couldn’t happen fast enough.
“Baseline Material”
According to the AD last Tuesday, Filemon noticed that his “transformation wasn’t progressing as fast.” Filemon also repeatedly speaks on DWDD about others’ better “baseline material.” Here lies perhaps the only “positive value” of Filemon’s action: It shows that steroid use doesn’t compensate for the lack of good genes and/or long-term dedication.
The main reason I don’t want to condemn steroid use in some cases is because I myself am blessed with decent genes. If you achieve more in half a year (naturally) than others do in several years with steroid use, then it’s easy to talk. I don’t know what I would do if I saw so little progress. Maybe I would have given up. Maybe I would have tried using steroids only to find out that they are only meaningful in the long term and require a commitment to making it a lifestyle.
The point is, Filemon: If you want to maintain what you’ve achieved or achieve more results, you’ll have to commit for the long term. The question then is whether you see a lifestyle with or without steroid use. That while you have no idea what you could naturally achieve.
Hardly a Promotion for Bodybuilding
I deliberately saved this until the end. You know, to get a bit of frustration out first. Earlier, I wrote that I didn’t want to speak negatively about Filemon’s interim result, but I can’t avoid it. A previously undefined feeling of annoyance shows its source during writing. I realize that Filemon’s performance is simply the worst promotion for bodybuilding ever.
“Do weight training! Train hard, watch your diet, use steroids, reduce the size of your testicles by 1/3 and lose your libido. In just six short months, you too can look like this:”
Too Early to Judge?
“Filemon staat strak” (Filemon is in shape) will be available from March 3 on BNN on NPO3. Of course, I will watch. Not to deliberately feed my annoyance, but in the hope of finding mitigating circumstances for his choice.
