Retired bodybuilding standout Zack Khan still keeps a close eye on the sport since stepping away competitively. In a recent Think Big Bodybuilding interview, Khan implored athletes to stop chasing the scale and abusing steroids. Additionally, he detailed past and current bodybuilding cycles he’s used.
Following Dorian Yates‘ epic six-Sandow title run as Mr. Olympia in the 1990s, mass monsters have dominated the Men’s Open division. However, fans and athletes believe a shift might be taking place as judges appear to be favoring shapelier and more aesthetically pleasing physiques.
Last month, the 2023 Arnold Classic kicked off for its 35th event. Nick Walker, Samson Dauda, and Andrew Jacked battled for gold. In the end, Dauda finished first and secured his Olympia invitation for November. In the aftermath, Nick Walker took part in a Mutant & the Mouth podcast, where he suspected that judges favored beauty more heavily than other factors such as hardness and conditioning.
The latest to discuss the state of bodybuilding is Zack Khan, who made a career out of presenting muscle mass and deep separation. He believes athletes today have become too enamored with the scale and steroids.
Zack Khan Says Social Media Is Pushing Athletes to Focus on Size
Khan contends that athletes compromise their health by chasing the scale. He believes the problem is out of hand and causing health problems among competitors.
“Yeah, the problem is like I was saying to Dave, I was saying we are in an era now with social media and everything’s about being bigger bigger bigger. And bigger is not always better. And I will say to Dave and you earlier on that when do we stop chasing the scale? At what detriment to your health and training? There are people out there and they obviously love chasing the scale.
You see it all the time on social media, ‘I want to be in the 300-pound club. I’m 290 now. Oh, I’m 295 now. Oh, I’m 297 now. Oh, I’m 299 now. Oh! I’m 300 now. And then when it comes down to it, they start prepping for a show and all that 40 pounds they’ve gained in the off-season – they have to lose it so at what point was it necessary for them to force feed themselves that much?” asks Zack Khan.
According to Khan, athletes must find a ‘happy medium’ with social media by appeasing fans and not over-indulging with unnecessary posts.
“I think you know, you have to have that happy medium. Where you’re posing enough to show you’re making improvements, keeping your fanbase happy, but not posing every fuc**ng week or every fuc**ng day like some people are. Like every fuc**ng day, like coming up to a show, one week out, seven days out, six days out, five days out, four… you don’t leave nothing to the imagination you know.
The thing about it nowadays is like what even have a bodybuilding show. Everybody just takes their posters in their bedroom under the goon light, mix them together and let’s pick a fuc**ng winner. You know what I mean?”
Note: Fitness Volt does not condone and/or recommend the use of recreational or performance-enhancing drugs. This article reports on information relayed by the athlete. FitnessVolt is not a medical resource and the content provided to you is for informational purposes only.
Khan Talks Athletes Using ‘Crazy’ Doses of Steroids, and Reflects on Current/Past Cycles
After taking his first cycle at 24 years old which was mostly Anavar, Khan said he gained 15 pounds in one month.
“My first cycle was Anavar, yeah. I was taking like five milligrams of Anavar. It took me ages to even want to take Anavar because I was researching it for like two years, three years. Me and my training partner were training together and there was this guy and a website, it was based in Chesterfield,” added Zack Khan. “We ordered our cycles off there. So basically, I started taking that. Basically, within a week, I put on like five pounds. After taking it for a month, I was about 15 pounds heavier.”
Khan says bodybuilders began taking excessive amounts of steroids during the height of Ronnie Coleman‘s Mr. Olympia reign.
“It started to happen [mega dosing] at the time of Ronnie Coleman. When Ronnie was big on the scene, there was sort of a big shift in the dosages around that time. People would have over a 1,000 milligrams of testosterone, some people were using like 800 milligrams of tren, you know what I mean,” said Khan.
“Then you got like people using the same amount – they are building every single thing to 1,000 milligrams with every single compound and they’re using insulin on top of that and then growth hormone on top of that. Crazy cycles. I just don’t understand how somebody could take that much.”
In retirement, Khan revealed he’s using a three-compound cycle.
“Basically, at the moment, I’ve been on 600 milligrams of test, yeah, was on 400 milligrams of prima, and the same with decca – 400. Yeah. Not that much at the moment. Maintaining that easy, easy.”
Other bodybuilding veterans have given their two cents on the topic, like four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler. He shared that coming on/off bodybuilding cycles was very common during his time competing and added that the process always worked well for him.
RELATED: Rich Gaspari Talks Drugs in Bodybuilding and the Late Mohammed Benaziza’s Death
Khan isn’t the only retired pro who has taken issue with athletes overusing steroids. Recently, 1980s standout Rich Gaspari insinuated that bodybuilders are over-using performance-enhancing drugs instead of optimizing gains with intense training and proper dieting.
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