So what age should I wait until? And why? In my opinion I would say about 21. When you are a teenager, boys will have a naturally high testosterone level anyway, which is why we see growth spurts at that age in males. At that age the body is not fully matured. Bones, muscle tissue, internal organs etc are all still undergoing their natural maturity.

The administration of steroids and other hormones at an early age can cause havoc in a body that is still at a development stage. Primarily the major problem would be the premature sealing of the epiphyseal bone closure process, which consequently does not allow your body to grow to the extent that your genetics would allow it to. Tests are available which show whether your growth plates have sealed or not, but it is normally safe to say that at 21, natural growth has stopped.

At puberty, antigonadotropic effects of steroids are much more potent. People know that adult hpta (hormone axis) recovers but no one knows what happens with teenagers. What if you have permanently lower testosterone levels for life as a result of taking exogenous sources at 15 when your hpta is not in full swing yet? Obviously you don't have as much testosterone at 15 as you will naturally have at 21.

I started to train hard at 15, but although I was aware that some of my friends were already taking steroids, I decided upon the natural route to muscle growth. Just like most young trainers, I was ignorant about the taking of and effects of taking steroids. I had only come across the horror stories that come out of the press so I just carried on with natural supplements until at 18 I began listening to some of the more serious bodybuilders at the gym.

So they told me about the basics which encouraged me to find out more. If I was going to take steroids then there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to do it safely. And as you do, I bought a few muscle mags with articles on steroids and I also talked about it with my father who is a Clinical Biochemist, inorder to get an unbiased opinion.

I realised at that time that I would really be wise to wait until I was at least 21 so that I could maximise on my bone growth (if I had any left) as well as keeping myself as safe as possible. I was at the time 5'11". It was difficult, especially seeing lads my own age growing huge with what seemed like no effort. As I got older I saw younger lads juicing and growing.

There was me, working what I thought was 10 times harder than anyone else (and I probably was). I was determined to get big but thought more in the long term than right there and then. I knew I would have my time, when I was ready. I just kept my head down, trained hard and spent the next three years doing as much research as I could. I went out and read many books including Mick's Layman's Guides as well as The Anabolic Reference Guide and the couple of books out by the late Dan Duchaine. Coming soon Part 3