Brock Lesnar anabolic steroid speculation
I guess I had to weigh in on this topic because a.) it’s interesting and b.) it’s relevant to what I do. For those of you who may not follow the UFC, Brock Lesnar, the current UFC Heavyweight champ (and former NFL football almost-player, NCAA Wrestling champ, and WWE performer), has been sidelined because of…something.
Yeah, it’s something. We know it’s something because he was in the hospital and he’s pulled out of his UFC title defense. And we know that the something that he has is H1N1. Actually, it’s the flu. Actually it’s a stomach virus. Actually it’s a stomach infection. Actually, it’s Mononucleosis. Actually it’s a problem with his kidneys. Actually, actually, actually…
Actually, Dana White, the president of the UFC has publicly stated that it was a supposed bacterial infection that had occurred in the Lesnar’s intestinal tract. Prior to that, the Internet (always a great source of reliable information) was alight with reports of his demise – which now appear greatly exaggerated. He had surgery and is recovering…that much is certain.
We know that there have been about a dozen different accounts of the current medical problem(s?) facing the UFC champ. And of course, once the rumor of kidney problems began circulating, the Internet was buzzing with the thought that he had suffered renal failure due to long-term anabolic steroid abuse. The NFL and WWE are certainly not organizations that I would consider “clean” or “drug free” by any stretch of the imagination. Mixed Martial Arts currently has 23 recorded doping violations that I know about.
In truth, until we know what really happened here, we don’t know if his kidneys were even an issue. One of my readers provided this tip:
“A source who works in a Canadian hospital claims that Lesnar is in this hospital in Canada and has kidney failure, possibly due to steroid abuse.”
I can’t confirm this, of course, but I thought it might be interesting to report on the events, mysterious as they are turning out to be, surrounding Lesnar’s hospitalization and surgery. For his part, Lesnar has always denied steroid use, in an often hilarious way:
“I bet you I’ve taken over 60 steroid tests,” he noted. “In college I had 15 random drug tests in two years. I’ve taken drug tests for the NFL , the WWE, the UFC. I must be pretty good at masking steroids. God gave me this body: Are you jealous of it or what? Give me a break. I got the genetics of—not to get into racism or anything—but I’m built like a black man. Would you say so?”
Multiple studies (Pope, et al., Kouri EM, et. al, etc..) indicate that a Fat Free Mass Index (FFMI) of over 25(ish) is a good indicator of anabolic steroid use. I’m far more forgiving and I think we can even stretch that to somewhere in the upper 20′s…perhaps even up to 30, given amazing genetics (or black man genetics, as Lesnar calls them). His height fluctuates (depending on where you get your statistics) between 6’2″ and 6’4″ and his weight is typically between the 265-295lb area. If we average the height out, and use the lowest weight (265) with a 10% bodyfat level (not unreasonable), we find that his FFMI is still over 30 (remember, 25-26 is the cusp of what scientists consider good indication of steroid use).
Has the champ been facing a steroid-related problem, or is this just a really, really good example of poor communication with the media? I don’t know yet, but this has been going on for literally weeks. When I go to the hospital (I went a few weeks ago), I went in, they said I had bronchitis, gave me an inhaler and some medicine, and I went home. I know what happened, and it all seemed relatively simple. I’m always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, but after several weeks and several different stories, I’m far less willing…
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