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If you’ve got the money, they’ll give you testosterone). I know a guy who had a natural measured testosterone level of 800, and he’s getting HRT from a clinic. If it is, they’ll start giving you weekly testosterone injections to “bring you back up to normal.” (Actually, they’ll do this for you even if it’s not low. You set up an appointment and they measure your testosterone to see if it’s low. Some people call it testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). Huh? What? Yeah, it’s called hormone replacement therapy, or HRT. They can always just do hormone replacement therapy. I know testing is happening, but the word around the campfire is that it’s sparse.Īre masters lifters really pounding the drugs? Do we have a bunch of geriatrics loitering around the locker rooms at LA Fitness, asking the bodybuilders for some D-Bol? Probably not so much. I know a handful of lifters who have won Masters Nationals, Pam Ams, and/or Worlds and never gotten tested. I haven’t competed in a national masters meet since 2012, but I’ve heard a lot of conflicting reports about the testing that’s going on. That’s still an option, based on what I’m hearing. You always had the option to stay loaded and just roll the dice. The only meets you had to clean out for were the Worlds and Pan Ams, and there wasn’t even a strong chance that you’d get tested at these meets. Prior to the last few years, you could show up to the national masters competitions juiced to the gills, and it didn’t matter. Why are these lifters being drug tested?īecause a lot of them are taking drugs, and the masters federation wants to catch them and keep the playing field level. We’re talking about athletes in their 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond. Some of you probably know the exact years. I think last year (2017) was the first year they tested American Masters, and they started testing National Masters three or four years ago, I think (2014-15, something like that). But here in the US, the two major national meets (Masters Nationals and American Masters) have just started drug testing within the last few years. You knew that, right? The major IWF international masters competitions (World Championship and Pan Ams) have been drug tested for a long time. The meet will be drug tested, just like all national and international masters meets. Make no mistake about it, masters weightlifting is growing at a phenomenal pace. They reached 750 entries, so they had to cap it because they couldn’t handle any more than that.ħ50 lifters at the Masters Worlds. Want to hear something crazy? The organizers of this meet had to cut off the entry deadline a week early because the number of lifters grew too high. In two months, the World Masters Weightlifting Championship will take place in Barcelona, Spain. I’m writing this article on June 24 th, 2018.