Doping no way to fitness

Fitness instructors play important roles in answering questions from clients and giving advice on training. The Jakarta Post asked fitness instructors in several gyms in Central Jakarta their views on fitness and doping.

When we met Ade Rai at Graha Atrium, Senen, in Central Jakarta he said that fitness is like mathematics, as one plus one always equals two. There is always a reason if you don't make the progress you would like.

"We always have lots of questions in our mind when we are starting out but we have to realize that there are certain ones we can only answer ourselves. These are: Did you eat properly? Did you train properly? Are you getting enough sleep and rest? If you cannot say 'yes' to all three then drugs are not the answer. But if you can say 'yes' to all three and you still don't improve then you should take something!" he said.

Quickly adding that his last remark was a joke. "If you train properly and eat properly then you don't need drugs," he said.

Nano, a personal trainer at a gym who is also a national weightlifting champion, insisted on the importance of balancing correct diet or "real food", rather than substances, with proper workouts and rest.

Overtraining, he said, could do more harm than good.

"I have not had clients who ask about steroids as I don't think that they come to these kinds of gyms," he said, adding that he was aware a wide variety of substances were available in some local gyms but that no one would admit to taking them.

"It's a very sensitive issue," he said.

Andri, a senior fitness instructor at a Central Jakarta fitness center, said that simple weight gain supplements that are legally sold over the counter can make a difference to a person's physical appearance in only two months.

"Many people, though, ask about drugs and they don't really know what they are. They confuse supplements sometimes with illegal substances," he said.

"I don't think that people have good information about that. They also take jamu (traditional herbal tonic), but not really for muscles but to get fatter quickly... to put on weight."

Darwin, a fitness instructor at an upscale apartment complex, said that he knew of gyms where anabolic steroids were used by people working out.

"They say that they can go for two or three hours of training instead of one hour like usual," he said. "But they will not say it openly."

Clients in reputable gyms often ask questions, he said, about what they can take to get more muscles.

"There is a lot of confusion about this. From my studies I am aware that steroids are unsafe but there needs to be more information on what is dangerous and what is not"

-- David Kennedy and Claudia Octora