Steroid use is more widely accepted today than it was decades ago, and it\u2019s had a significant impact on bodybuilding. In a recent video shared on Dec. 2, 2025, Joe Rogan and Derek of More Plates More Dates discussed old-school bodybuilders lying about performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).\u00a0<\/p>\n
In a sport that awards muscularity and leanness, PEDs are king. While there\u2019s inherent risks, athletes are willing to use them during preparations to display their best possible physique. Dosages today have gotten out of hand<\/a>, whereas bodybuilders of the past vehemently claim they used a small amount<\/a> to get the job done. To separate fact from fiction, Rogan and Derek laid out how the PED climate has shifted over the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n Joe Rogan, Derek MPMD Talk Bodybuilders Lying About Steroid Use\u00a0<\/p>\n In the video, Rogan first spoke up about the unrestricted supplement market, calling vitamin shops like GNC the \u2018Wild West.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s crazy too is back then, it was proprietary blends on a lot of the products, and it was still the norm with no education available, no YouTube to really tell you what to look for. So, these companies would basically sell you for $50 a powder-flavored tub of just the stimulant. All the other ingredients for vasodilatation, they are like fuck you, you\u2019re just getting DMAA, bro, that\u2019s it, \u201d said<\/a> Derek.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYou were just getting straight meth, it was crazy,\u201d added Rogan. \u201cThose were the wild west days of GNC and local vitamin shops.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Derek explained that companies would use bodybuilding legends like Jay Cutler<\/a> or Lee Priest<\/a> to help peddle products.\u00a0<\/p>\n Get Fitter, Faster<\/p>\n Level Up Your Fitness: Join our \ud83d\udcaa strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!<\/p>\n Please wait…<\/p>\n You’re In! Let’s Crush Your Fitness Goals Together<\/p>\n Expect expert-backed workouts, nutrition advice, the latest in strength sports, and a whole lot of motivation heading your way.<\/p>\n Subscribe Another Email<\/p>\n \u201cYou need this combo that costs $250, and it\u2019s literally pressed tablets of glutamine or something at a dose that doesn\u2019t even help. They are telling me this is what Jay Cutler used to prep for the Olympia. Look at the before and after of Lee Priest. He lost 50 pounds of pure fat and kept all of his muscle from Cell-Tech.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Rogan said bodybuilders would lie about their gear use, emphasizing that it became deceptive for those unfamiliar with the sport.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the dirty thing about those bodybuilders back in the day is that they couldn\u2019t admit they were on gear. So they were all telling you they were taking this stuff, then they\u2019d be spokespeople for it, god, it was so deceptive, so creepy. You\u2019d have to know someone at the gym, oh I want to be like Lee Haney<\/a>\u2026 no, that\u2019s not how he got that way. You got to take the real stuff.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo many people didn\u2019t think that those bodybuilders were on hardcore steroids,\u201d said Rogan.\u00a0<\/p>\n For these reasons, Rogan even likened the sport to a scam game of three-card monte.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s deception at a mass scale for sure,\u201d said Derek.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole sport was a complete 3-card monte game,\u201d explained Rogan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Fans believe it\u2019s not just bodybuilders who lie about steroid use. They recently called out Dwayne \u2018The Rock\u2019 Johnson<\/a> for downsizing his physique. Given the dramatic drop in weight and muscle, fans have suggested that Johnson finally quit using gear<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The stigma around steroid use has definitely changed from the 1990s. While they are still used in bodybuilding today, Rogan and Derek believe athletes aren\u2019t as deceptive as they once were.\u00a0<\/p>\n Watch the full video from the PowerfulJRE YouTube channel below:\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Steroid use is more widely accepted today than it was decades ago, and it\u2019s had a significant impact…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":331445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[12706,167918,167919,337,97,36042,167920],"class_list":{"0":"post-331444","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-bodybuilding","9":"tag-derek-more-plates-more-dates","10":"tag-derek-mpmd","11":"tag-fitness","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-joe-rogan","14":"tag-steroids"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}