Stronger Without Steroids?

This short episode of Believe in People Extra features a focused clip from our conversation with Adam Maxted - UK wrestling star, personal trainer, and two-time Love Island contestant.

Adam speaks openly about steroids, testing cycles, image and performance enhancing drugs, cutting through myths around quick results and explaining the real difference between use and abuse. He reflects on gym culture, body image pressure, and why many people turn to these substances without fully understanding the risks.

Adam also discusses the mental and physical impacts he experienced, including unwanted body changes, changes to libido, and the longer-term consequences that are rarely talked about in fitness spaces or on social media.

This short episode is designed to be honest, accessible, and non-judgemental - offering insight for people who may be curious about steroids, gym-goers, and professionals working with image and performance enhancing drug use.

You can listen to the full conversation with Adam here:

https://www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com/adammaxted/

#believeinpeople #believeinpeoplepodcast #believeinpeopleextra

🎧 Enjoyed this episode? Please take a moment to leave a review — it helps others find us.

🔗 Then share this episode with someone you know who could benefit from it.

Browse the full archive at 👉 www.believeinpeoplepodcast.com

This podcast is a toolkit for recovery & resilience. Whether you’re in recovery or seeking to understand addiction, there’s something here for everyone.

If you want to change your direction, grow as a person, and live life to its full potential, Change Grow Live is here to help you. We’re here for you if you need help with challenges including drugs or alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse, or your mental and physical wellbeing. Change Grow Live services are free and confidential. Click the link below to refer yourself to your local service.

https://www.changegrowlive.org/local-support/find-a-service

📩 Podcast Contact: robbie@believeinpeoplepodcast.com
🎵 Music: “Jonathan Tortoise” by Christopher Tait (Belle Ghoul / Electric Six)

🔗 Listen & Subscribe
Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/4Cr4wzZ6bxku1cRcoYKbGK
Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/believe-in-people/id1617239923

...

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Series Purpose
• 0:27 Adam Maxted On Steroids And Image
• 2:03 First Encounters And Early Side Effects
• 4:06 Training, Consistency, And Natural Progress
• 5:10 Cycles, PCT, And Misconceptions
• 6:08 Using Versus Abusing Performance Drugs
• 7:08 Blood Work, Sourcing, And Safety
• 8:16 Goals, Education, And Individual Response
• 9:00 Natural Path And Final Advice
• 9:00 Subscribe, Share, And Resources
• 9:15 Consequences, Vanity, And Long-Term Risks

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:00

This is a renewed original recording. Hello and welcome to Believe in People Extra, the companion miniseries to our award-winning podcast about all things addiction, recovery, and stigma. I'm Robbie Lawson, the show's producer, and each week I'll bring you highlights, exclusive recordings, extended cuts, and powerful moments from our iCalve. This series brings together the most impactful conversations and recovery-focused insights, from dense into short episodes to support and inspire those on their journey. In this clip, we talk with Adam Maxstead, UK wrestling sensation, personal trainer and two-time Love Island contestant about steroid use, gym culture, and the pressure to look a certain way. We unpack the difference between using and abusing performance-enhancing drugs, the side effects people don't always talk about, and why quick physical gains can come with long-term mental and physical health consequences.

SPEAKER_02: 0:49

When did you first get introduced to steroids and what were some of the circumstances that led to steroid use?

SPEAKER_00: 0:55

So it would have been like, so I'm natural now. Like people are like, oh well, if you've taken steroids, you can't call yourself natural man and it's like. It's not true. I don't think that's true at all. Like, do you know what I mean? So I would have first heard about steroids probably when I was younger, obviously, like Flex magazine, you're trying to get bigger, you see like Jay Cutler, all these massive guys on magazines. And I never wanted to be that big, but I really respected and admired like their physiques. And I I remember I had I used to have a stack of Flex magazines that was massive because I was trying to read everything, how do I get big? Like Arnold Schwarzenegger's bodybuilding encyclopedia, I had that, all these Jay Cutler Flex magazines. So my two friends at the time, Ben and Chris, like they were pumped full of steroids, and like looking back now, they looked terrible, like horrendous. They were just balloons, they were just full of water with big puppy cheeks. But to me, as a skinny guy, I was like, fuck, my mates are massive, and they're like the same age as me. How are they so jacked? So that's really probably when I first started. And also being that skinny guy, I was probably like, you know, it'll maybe help me get bigger a little bit quicker. So that wasn't the case though. Like you still have to put the work in in the gym. But that's probably when I first started learning about starries, was when I got found my love for bodybuilding and also had friends. And I took, you know what, like I've I've actually only took taken test injections, right? Twice in my life, I swear. Okay. Once years ago, when I was probably like 19, and then I started getting like these boils on my chest, like these horrible, like pink, purple boils on my chest, which were from like the the gear that I was taking. That's why I got a chest piece to cover them. Yeah, but there's still like scar in there on my chest. So that's one of the things. Like you you've got to weigh up all the sort of side effects. Is it worth it? Like, I made a reel about it the other day. If you just want to be a big guy in a bar and have girls come up and go, geez, your arms are nice, it's not worth the risk taking steroids, the health, the anxiety, the mindset stuff, and kind of probably getting sucked in and thinking that you've got to rely on that then forever. Do you know what I mean? Like, I did then when I was younger, realized that I put on a bit of size, but I've actually maintained size without taking steroids just through hard work, your nutrition, eating right. And also, I knew I didn't want to be a pro bodybuilder. Like, I know I don't want to get on stage and put on tiny little I mean I wrestle in tiny little spectrum. Yeah, I was gonna say but I knew I didn't want to be a pro bodybuilder. There's no there's no money in bodybuilding, yeah. Like it's amazing, it's a great sport, and I do love it, but it wasn't my goal, and I knew the only way you're gonna get that jacked is by taking loads of stuff, and it's not the sort of physique that I want to have. I want to walk out and like look in it like look like an extra man. Do you know what I mean? And I would say the second time I took uh tests was I was a little bit older. I was probably what I'm 32 now, I was maybe 29 when I was in Marbella, and I was kind of like, I'm a bit older now. I was like, you know what, I might hop on something again and just see what happens. And I put on a bit of size, but again, I've never taken steroids and gone, wow, my physique is so much better now that I've done it.

SPEAKER_02: 3:29

And that's that's the misconception, is it? A lot of people think yeah, as soon as you start taking them, you're just gonna be like look like you're on the front of a cover of a flex max.

SPEAKER_00: 3:36

If you're not training hard, if you're not pushing yourself progressive overload, if you're not pushing yourself to failure, if you're not staying consistent, if you're not training for years to give your body time to adapt and actually build good muscle tissue, because people say over time you get muscle maturity and you get that dense thick muscle. If you're not doing that, like jumping on steroids is not gonna give you the answers that you want or the results that you want. If your nutrition's not on point, your sleep, your recovery, your hydration, your water, there's so many things that you need to get right first and give a chance to work, and then you can go, okay, I feel like I've got to a really good place naturally. I'm doing all this stuff, I've made good progress. If I want to get to the next level and actually try and pursue a career or a sport in bodybuilding or someone that you know needs me to look a certain way, now I need steroids.

SPEAKER_02: 4:15

Do you know what talking about steroids and and well go back to like the training routines that you just mentioned there? You did two cycles out of tests. Well, I'm gonna say because you said you used test twice. The cycles aren't they? You've not just you've not just used it twice and then that's it.

SPEAKER_00: 4:30

No, I've gone cold turkey, which that's another thing. I'll be vulnerable. Okay. It definitely has affected my probably libido and sex drive, if I'm honest. Yeah. Because I've gone from taking test and then just coming off it and not taking anything. And that's due to my own ignorance, not wanting to educate myself enough. Like I'm talking about food, I didn't really know enough about steroids. Yeah. I thought, oh, I'm just gonna jump on a little bit of test, make some gains, come off it. But you've got to kind of come off it and do a post-cycle to get that. That's it.

SPEAKER_02: 4:56

So it is a cycle. I mean, because the way you said it, if you've taken tests twice, that's like me saying I've taken cocaine twice. That'd just mean like two lines of cut. Yeah, I've taken cocaine once on a night out, took it another night out. When you when we say you've taken tests twice, that's over a period of like 10 to 8 weeks. Yeah, eight to 12 weeks twice in my life.

SPEAKER_00: 5:12

So, you know, I credit myself for looking how I look because I haven't really taken that much. Compared to how much steroids some people take, some people coast on test all year round.

SPEAKER_02: 5:21

This is I guess this is this is the thing to to talk about then, because I've known people who have done cycles, yeah. And I always say there is when it comes to steroids, it gets a lot of negativity, but there's a difference between using and abusing steroids. If you do an eight to twelve week cycle on steroids and then you take a post-cycle therapy and you don't touch them again for X amount of time, that's using using a steroid, that's using uh performance enhancing drug. If you're someone like and I don't know, I had a friend who was like this before. I said, How long have you been or when does your cycle finish? He's like, It doesn't. And he's just injection once a week. It never finishes, tablets every day, just constant and no post-cycle therapy, as we were talking about there. Talk to me about the difference between a little bit more about then then about the cycle and your experiences. Yeah, the difference of using something and abusing something.

SPEAKER_00: 6:12

Like abusing is you know, guys, I think, for example, they're gonna have beef with it with the lads, they want to look shredded at the beach club because they think again girls are gonna care that you've got a six pack and you're shredded. And what I've learned is I've got older. Girls really don't give a shit if you've got abs or not. You if you've got no chat and you've got enough no band or body, I don't care if you've got a six pack, you're not gonna you know pull women. Whereas these guys think, oh, I've got to look, you know what I mean? And like, yes, I've been there, but as you get older you kind of mature and realize like what's important. But that would be abusing it for for me is like someone that kind of just thinks, I'll just jump on it for a few weeks, try and get a quick hit at insta gratification, and then doesn't do the safe stuff after. Whereas someone that you know does it right would sit down with someone, probably more experienced than them, even a doctor. Maybe you would go and get your blood works done by a doctor, you would see where your test levels are sitting naturally. If you're in the high, if you're lucky to be in the high range, then you probably don't need that much test, but then they can maybe speak to you and say, look, if you're gonna do this, it's on you, but maybe you only need to take this much. Whereas if you're on the lower scale, you can realise that you probably need to take a bit higher, which before Love Island, they did my test, and I was kind of just about average. So it would tell me that if I was gonna go back on stuff, I would want to go to a doctor, get it done again, and and you know, get it prescribed, get it done by someone that actually knows what they're talking about. And then I would educate myself on what steroids I'm gonna put into my body because you can get a 30 quid bottle of test from some fella down at the gym who doesn't care about you or whether you you know it affects your life going forward. He's just making a quick bit of money. So, and that could be anything, it could be olive oil that you're just injecting yourself. It could be, you don't know where that's coming from. So I would also do your research on what you know what goals you want. Because some steroids, you know, help you put on size, some steroids help you put on strength, some steroids help you strip fat, get you leaner. Like, what is it you're trying to achieve? Do your education, don't just think that, oh my mate, my mate got in great shape taking tests and sus, so I'll bounce on it. You're different to that person, like your your chemical you know buildup is different. So I would really try and educate yourself and then again just look yourself long and hard and think, you know, do I really need this? Like, do you really need steroids? Because like I said before, there's some guys in phenomenal shape and they they've never taken gear in their life. So it's just kind of like again, I can't sit here the whole level and think I can never sit here and judge someone because I've done it before, but just try and figure out why you're doing it. You know, if you're just looking for if you're gonna abuse it, then you know what comes with that is the health risk and is you've got to weigh it up. Every every thing we do in life, every action has a consequence, positive or negative. So if you're just looking for a quick hit, then you might be left with a lifetime of regrets because of side effect. Your hair might start thinning, the acne you might get, you know, you might be on test for eight weeks and get a really good shape. But what about the acne you might develop? That could stay with you for the rest of your life. Scarves, well, scarves, yeah. That's on you. So was it worth it for eight weeks looking good at a pill club for a week's holiday and maybe getting two or three shags if you can even get it up after everything you're putting up your nose and everything you're drinking? Do you know what I mean? If you're just a guy that wants to get in shape, you can do it without steroids. Good nutrition, hit your protein, get the calories in that you need to get in, and just train your fucking ass off, and you will make progress. Yeah. Steroids, you you don't need them. Unless, like I say, you're trying to be a pro bodybuilder, you don't need steroids.

SPEAKER_01: 9:00

And if you've enjoyed this episode of Believe in People Extra, we'd love for you to share with others who might find it meaningful. Don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an episode, and leaving a review will help us reach more people and continue challenging stigma around addiction and recovery. For additional resources and to listen to this episode in full, explore the links in this episode description. And to learn more about our mission and hear more incredible stories, you can visit us directly at believingpeoplepodcast.com.