IRONMAN's focus is bodybuilding, with a special emphasis on drug-free physique development as a part of a healthy lifestyle. We reinforce that by stressing workouts and diets that work for natural bodybuilders because we know that the so-called champs' regimens aren't necessarily the best way for you to train. On the competitive side, we support drug-free bodybuilding by giving more coverage to the tested NPC Team Universe Championships than other magazines, but we also report on pro bodybuilding and nontested amateur events. Would we like to see all competitive bodybuilding tested? Absolutely, but that isn't today's reality. We cover nontested contests because they still dominate the sport of competitive bodybuilding'and we're a bodybuilding magazine.
Unfortunately, drugs are a part of bodybuilding'and many other sports as well. It's not surprising that we get a lot of questions about steroids. We've tiptoed around the subject in the past, but now, with the incredible body of misinformation, counterfeits and just plain bad chemicals that abounds, we feel we need to address it. Education is the only possible remedy. While IRONMAN in no way condones or supports drug use, we know that a lot of readers are experimenting with bodybuilding drugs'or thinking about it. That being the case, we've added drug education to our table of contents.
William Llewellyn is the author of Anabolics 2000. His Chemical Q&A, which joins our Bodybuilding Pharmacology section in this issue, gives IRONMAN an authoritative medium for helping to correct the misinformation. William will answer your questions on any drug-related topic. You can write to him at w'[email protected]. Also in Bodybuilding Pharmacology, which begins on 124, Jerry Brainum reports on the latest research on liver damage and steroid use.
At IRONMAN, we usually don't give our columnists specific assignments; we let them choose their own subjects based on their interests. As a result, every once in a while we end up with several authors covering the same general topic, and this issue is a classic example. In addition to Llewellyn and Brainum, Greg Zulak weighs in on the drug wars with a discussion of Anadrol 50 in his Unchained column. It starts on page 50.
One of the reasons you buy IRONMAN is the different perspectives we present. In this issue you get a veritable forum on drug use in bodybuilding. On a sad note, legendary Canadian strongman Doug Hepburn passed away in early December. Despite some physical shortcomings, such as a club foot, he became one of the mightiest men in the world during the 1950s and '60s. Gallery of Ironmen biographer David Chapman will have a memorial segment on Doug next month.
As always, we appreciate your feedback. Contact our staff with your comments and suggestions via e-mail, and visit our Web site, www.ironmanmagazine.com, for archived articles and thousands of contest photos. IM
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