Zander, who is open with friends and acquaintances about using steroids, is also openly gay. There’s more, however, to Zander’s story than weight gained and weights lifted. (This year, he’ll likely pass me in all the “big three” categories, including the bench press.) He truly became larger than life, packing on the sort of mass most hardgainers only dream of. And that next step amounted to a considerable leap: In a single year, he managed to far surpass my all-time best competitive showing on the back squat and equal my competitive deadlift. He’d already invested in high-level powerlifting coaching and developed good form on his lifts, but wanted to take the next step. Of course, Zander was also interested in using steroids himself, researching a proper dosing schedule that would give him rapid but sustainable results. Like mine, Zander’s interest in the subject was partly academic, since he was fascinated by how steroids could help users express the strength and masculinity of their inner selves.
He and I would exchange messages on Twitter and Gchat about steroids, a subject I’ve covered extensively for MEL and many other publications. I’ve known Zander, a 26-year-old software designer in San Francisco, for more than three years.