Steroids: An Historical Perspective – Iron Game History – April, 1990

Some years ago, during my annual visit to the home of David P. Willoughby, he and I were comparing the lifting and the physiques of the pre-steroid and post-steroid eras. In that discussion, one of several we had on the subject over the years, Dave told me that he found it increasingly hard to take real interest in the accomplishments of strength athletes since 1960. (Many people close to the game know that 1960 was the year in which Dr. John Ziegler convinced Tony Garcy and Bill March of the York Barbell Club and Lou Riecke of the New Orleans Athletic Club to begin using a form of training called isometric contraction and to begin taking a pill called Dianabol, and that the dramatic success of these three athletes ushered in the steroid era.)