Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
I'm doing what I can to slow the onset of decrepitude. HMB is produced in our own bodies. It's a byproduct of the breakdown of leucine. "HMB works to help repair the structure and function of your muscles." A main reason that we lose muscularity as we age is that our blood levels of HMB drop. I take a quantity which brings my blood levels back to where they were some years ago. Sure, one can be pure and reject that sort of supplementation. I'd rather be strong and healthy. I also take creatine. I don't take banned substances. Other than a ruptured Achilles tendon and a slightly torn meniscus, I've never been injured, and I want to keep it that way. Strong muscles, bones, and connective tissue helps. Lifting as heavy as one can for reps is also huge. I got into gym work when I was in college and mostly have kept at it. It's all about trying to stay fit, slowing the physical aging process. One can't stop it, but almost. I should be back to being able to squat my bodyweight for reps by New Years. Age will win in the end, but I'll fight it all the way.
My post was mostly a speculation about which fifty-plus cyclists here who take various performance-enhancing supplements also did recreational drugs in the past. I can understand choosing to avoid addressing that topic, though.
My own current performance-enhancing regimen consists mostly of cutting back on my daily mileage (from doing upwards of 20-plus hours per week of training-level rides last year and the first half of this year) and getting much more rest. I haven't felt this strong in years. If I'd started taking PEDs and supplements, I'd be attributing the improvement to those, probably.