Since the very beginning IronGangsta has been informing its readers about all fake natural bodybuilders out there. But how do you spot a fake natural bodybuilder ? There are many guides out there and we beleive that IronGangsta mush have one as well !
The easiest way to spot a fake natural bodybuilder is to analyze his weight to height ratio while taking into consideration the body fat levels of the "athlete".
Example:
If someone is 200lbs/6'1 while being 5-8% body fat it's quite unlikely for him/her (haha..) to be natural. You can see the general guidelines for natural bodybuilders outlined below. Keep in mind that the weight listed comes with 5% BF (really hard to maintain and achieve without killing somebody around you or simply being a crazy/dedicated person on a very strict diet).
5'11 177
5'10 170
5' 9 163
5'8 154
5'7 147
For every inch of height below or above 5'10 you add/remove 7 lbs. This is the maximum muscle a natural bodybuilder who is really dedicated and has favorable genetics for bodybuilding as well as lifestyle able to support such life (strict diets, less stress...etc) will ever achieve. Most people would be pretty happy with such physique. Of course the magazine, YouTube...etc ave made many lifters overestimate what kind of physique you can actually achieve without taking drugs, hormones and other drugs.
Let's take a look at some fake "natural" bodybuilders:
Jeff Seid
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| Note: Jeff Seid is a few years older now but this does not make him more "natural". |
As you can see Jeff Seid is 10 pounds over his "natural weight" at the age of 17. While 10 pounds do not seem like a lot you have to keep in mind that the numbers listed above are only for natural bodybuilders much older that 17 who have been training for years. In order to illustrate this even better please look at the following picture.
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| 6' tall and 200lbs heavy |
The guy in the picture is Serge Nubret and this photo is taken at Mr. Olympia 1975. According to Serge himself he was 200lbs and 6' at that competition. He finished second. If Jeff Seid is telling the truth about his bodyweight he is only about 10-15lbs less than a Mr. Olympia contender from the 70s. The difference is 5 lbs but we add 10lbs because most likely Serge Nubret was heavily dehydrated during Mr. Olympia 1975 while Jeff Seid is not. When you keep all that information into consideration it becomes that obvious Jeff Seid is as natural as Serge Nubret.
Note: Some people have also reported that Jeff Seid is usually making himself taller than he actually is. Sweet.
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| You say "good genetics" ? Try harder we are not that stupid. |
Josh Hyaduck
Josh Hyaduck is another fake natural bodybuilder. He is only 5'6 tall but weights 186 at very low body fat. Frank Zane who was a well known steroid abuser and Mr. Olympia title holder competed at the weight of 185lbs at 5'9. I think it is safe to make the conclusion that Josh Hyaduck is as natural as Frank Zane.
Obviously the above method is quite easy but there are also other ways to spot a fake natural bodybuilder.
This is a picture of the famous Lazar Angelov. Take a look at his shoulder, face and overall thickness. Natural bodybuilders will never ever have full shoulders especially at such low body fat. Second, his body looks so dry and thick it's not even funny. Very hard look to achieve naturally.
Below is an even better example of a thick, "shredded" and dry body on steroids.
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| This is Ben Noy, another fitness model |
Achieving the above muscle separation and level of leanness is pretty much an impossible task to achieve with just clean eating and lifting weights. If you want to try anyway say goodbye to lots of time and money only to fail.
Another think you have to take into consideration when you are wondering whether someone is natural is the source of his/her financial income. For example the majority of the fitness models and bodybuilders out there make most of the money through contracts with supplements companies, magazine covers...etc.
Obviously if an athlete is making money through the
mentioned scheme he/she won't benefit at all if everybody knew he/she
was using anabolic substances to achieve “them gains”. Drugs are
not well tolerated by the media and people using them are considered
“cheaters”. To an extend they are because they cheat the public and
mainly their followers.
Look at the number of people who liked the Facebook
page of Lazar Angelov – as of now it is something like 930 000. The
reason for is the fact that many people aspire to look like that and
believe they can actually achieve similar muscular development
naturally. Obviously everybody has different motivation but the
majority of men would like to look like Lazar in order to attract the
attention of women. Show a picture of Lazar to 10 women and while
some won't approve they will all be willing to test him for one
night. Now if you tell all that 930 000 or so people that pretty much
all professional fitness models are not lifetime natural bodybuilders
the interest will drop because suddenly everybody will realize that
the sacrifice they have to make in order to look like their heroes is
much larger and the consequences are much more serious. The interest will drop pretty fast and the supplements sells will go down as well.
Who would want that ?