Steroids and drug tests: how much they help and why testing misses them
October 6, 2026 · 20 min read
Derek of More Plates More Dates details gaps in drug testing and how athletes beat it, the B-Team grapplers discuss how much steroids really help, sprint coach Stuart McMillan and arm wrestler Devon Larratt talk about performance enhancement in their sports, and Terry Bradshaw recalls football's steroid era. The conversations give a frank picture of what drugs change and why clean sport is hard to guarantee.
The rules, numbers and steps worth keeping in front of you.
- Drugs amplify talent and skill; they do not create a champion.
- Grapplers: the main gain is recovery, allowing far more training.
- Derek: testing usually lags behind the methods used to beat it.
- Small doses can pass, by Derek's account.
- Most sports do not store samples; many Olympic positives were caught years later.
- Some drugs are not tested for at all, such as certain heart and nerve medications.
- Derek: heavy steroid use cannot be healthy and safe.
- Jones: relying on strength over technique leads athletes to gas out.
- McMillan: doping is rare at the top of sprinting now because testing is stringent.
- McMillan: positives can come from contaminated supplements, so do not assume guilt.
- Where nobody tests, people use; untested and tested leagues are different contests.
- Looks mislead in both directions, so do not judge by physique.
- Young men risk lasting harm from testosterone they do not need.
- Talk to a doctor before any hormone use; athletes should check with their governing body.
This is the short form. The full insight has every expert's reasoning, their own words and the sources.