Coaching by Shawn Bellon

Emma Jarman
11.30.20

PED’s, gear, gym candy, ‘roids, juice, skittles, pumpers, stackers; there are a million words for steroids and other performance enhancing drugs in the strength sport community (and others) and their use is an accepted part of powerlifting and bodybuilding in untested competition (and tested, but that’s neither here nor there) … for men. Women, on the other hand, haven’t quite reached the “acceptance” stage yet. We’re still stuck somewhere between denial and bargaining, trying to become and remain competitive in high-level competition while also battling the stigma of virilization (both actual and perceived). Along with the “they’ll turn you into a man” chorus echoed by uninformed women and fragile-ego’d men, women also battle the stigma of our choice to denounce the ideal of “feminine purity” imposed by a male-dominated sport, society and world, not only by competing in strength sports to begin with, but by…