Muscletech Hypocrisy Regarding Steroids in the New York Times

Muscletech probably thought they succeeded in managing damage control when they fired Christian Boeving for talking about his steroid use in what was (at the time) a little known, low budget, independent documentary about steroids that just appeared at the Sundance Film Festival.

They probably didn’t expect that the movie would be a critically acclaimed hit. They probably didn’t expect bodybuilding websites to hear about Christian Boeving’s firing months ago and start blogging about it. They didn’t expected director Chris Bell to be asked about Muscletech’s hypocrisy and Christian Boeving in interviews. They probably didn’t expect Magnolia Pictures to buy the film and distribute it nationwide. They probably didn’t expect Christian Boeving to speak so proudly about telling the truth and vocally about Muscletech’s hypocrisy regarding anabolic steroids.

Muscletech certainly didn’t expect their hypocrisy about anabolic steroids to be exposed nationally by the New York Times (“A Self-Described Steroid User Loses Job as Fitness Model,” June 9)!

But I didn’t think I would get into that much trouble, because I thought it was pretty apparent that the top people in the industry use steroids to look like we do.

A company whose products he endorsed, Iovate Health Sciences, apparently did not think so, and promptly severed Mr. Boeving’s contract. Iovate Health Sciences did not return calls for comment last week.

Mr. Boeving had represented over-the-counter dietary supplements in Iovate’s MuscleTech division, including Hydroxycut, which is meant to burn fat, and Nitro-Tech, which is meant to build muscle. But the type of performance-enhancing steroids Mr. Boeving referred to in the movie are legal only with a doctor’s prescription; he said in an interview that he had a prescription for testosterone.

While he may not been breaking the law, Mr. Boeving was apparently breaking a taboo in the bodybuilding world, one that Mr. Bell’s documentary was aiming to expose. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve been looking at muscle magazines, Mr. Bell said in an interview. I would see these guys that are huge, and they’d say, take this pill and you’ll look like this. We know that’s not the case.

About the author

Millard

MESO-Rx | Website

Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.