Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye
A retrospective of John Ziegler,
one of the men who invented steroids
By Nelson Montana
Edison had it. So did Leonardo Da Vinci, Ludwig Von Beethoven, and even a couple of bicycle repairmen named Wilbur and Orville Wright who in their spare time figured out how to make a machine to fly. All these men had the ability to go beyond having mere talent. They surpassed excellence. They are among the elite few that truly deserve the title of genius.
Although he's not a household name, John Ziegler was also a genius. His contribution, arguably, may not be as significant or spectacular since its appeal was more esoteric. It's also shrouded in controversy whether or not his discovery has caused more harm than good. But in many ways, that's irrelevant. Einstein's theory of relativity is considered the most significant scientific discovery in the history of the world yet it contributed to the development of the atom bomb. Likewise, Dr. Ziegler's discovery is both the greatest aid in the advancement of physical performance and paradoxically, one of the greatest threats to the health and well-being of athletes the world over. What Dr. John Ziegler did (either alone or with his colleagues—the jury's still out on that) was discover a formula for the then unheard of molecular manipulation of hormonal receptor sites. Its chemical composition was 17alpha-methyl-17beta-hydroxyandrosta-1,4-dien-3-one. The chemical name for the formula was methandrostenolone, better know as Dianabol.
Oddly enough, the development of a substance that would increase strength and accelerate the body's ability to recover from trauma was not what Dr. Ziegler set out to do. His early work consisted of utilizing elements of electricity in the treatment of crippling diseases such as muscular dystrophy and polio, while at the same time maintaining a general practice complete with up to fifteen housecalls a day. To better understand how the miracle drug called anabolic steroids came to be, we would have to go back to the year 1940. The place, Nazi Germany.
As Adolph Hitler set about molding the tiny bankrupt nation of Germany into the fiercest fighting machine the world had ever seen, German scientists were given a choice between contributing to the cause of the Third Reich or paying the consequences of not cooperating. Besides incredible advancements in weaponry and aerotechnology, Hitler wanted to perpetuate the notion of Aryan supremacy. His "dream" was to create, at any cost, an infantry that could withstand a workload so far beyond that of "mortal" men that no opposing army could stand a chance against them.
The Nazi medical establishment set out to create a drug that would allow a man to withstand torturous physical demands, as well as tolerate a lack of food—something that would also accelerate healing in case the soldier was wounded. Every soldier would be bigger, stronger, and faster, physically superior in every way. It didn't matter if the soldiers developed side effects years down the road. Lives were expendable. Victory at all cost was the objective.
Fortunately, many of the doctors involved in this project were, for the most part, a bunch of quacks. Most made little headway in the area of genetic engineering. The steroid project didn't go anywhere, and the Nazi army was unable to withstand their ascent into the subzero tundra of the Russian front. They couldn't overthrow England, which vowed never to surrender despite constant bombardment. Once the US entered the war, it was all over for the "master race." One can only imagine if the outcome would have been different if they had been first to discover the recipe for anabolic steroids.
What was unknown at the time was that Russia had similar ideas. By the war's end, Russian scientists had successfully developed a synthetic form of testosterone and an altogether different type of "cold" war was about to begin. The superiority of one nation or another would no longer be settled on a battlefield but on a playing field. The Olympic games were a "friendly" international competition with the underlying suggestion of national supremacy. By the 1950s, it was obvious that Russia was dominating any event that employed strength as the main criteria. United States hopefuls were getting their heads handed to them by a new crop of Russian "supermen."
The government stepped in and asked physicians for the US Weightlifting Team to research the inexplicable advantage the Russian athletes had so that the United States could be better equipped to level the playing field. After all, the pride of the nation was at stake. One of the doctors working for the team at the time was a young man by the name of John Ziegler.
According to Ziegler, the answer was simple. He and a small group of fellow scientists did some studies on a Russian athlete who had defected to the United States. They noticed that the young man had an extraordinarily enlarged prostate. Further testing showed that the 22-year-old man's dihydrotestosterone levels were almost twice that of a 65-year-old man! It was apparent to them that exogenous administration of synthetic testosterone was involved. I doubt any of the athletes found reason to complain since their performances were improving so rapidly. The Russian coaches knew that this primitive form of testosterone therapy might be damaging to the athlete's health but the objective, one more time, was victory at any cost.
Attempting to increase testosterone levels was nothing new. The basic molecular structure was deciphered in 1903. As far back as the nineteenth century, there's evidence that doctors tried injecting humans with everything from horse sperm to ground bull's testicles (a tactic that was later resurrected by the supplement industry).
American scientists went about using the initial findings of the Russians to attempt an alternative. The key was to first realize why testosterone did what it did. As unfathomable to others as it may have been, Ziegler realized that the testosterone was latching on to a "receptor site" which increased protein synthesis and creatine phosphate absorption. Going with this understanding, he experimented with the distribution of testosterone's molecular structure and came up with a formula that eliminated some of the androgenic properties and increased the nitrogen retaining properties. In short, a "kinder," "gentler" testosterone. According to sources, he submitted his discovery to the Ciba Pharmaceutical company and they agreed to purchase the formula. He was paid $100.
The irony of all of this is that it wasn't very long after America rebounded with their own group of supermen that the Olympic committee decided to test the athletes for performance enhancing compounds. This caused a lack of continuing studies on the subject since, presumably, no one would be using them now that they were banned in sports competition. (Surrre!) The studies did continue, however, in Europe where many new steroids were developed into the 1970s and 1980s, none of which would have been possible without Dianabol as the prototype.
Dianabol is the paradigm for all steroids. Even though European research brought about many advancements in the field of performance enhancement drugs, none have ever matched the strength and size promoting capabilities of Dianabol. To this day, Dianabol is still regarded by most steroid users to be, milligram per milligram, the most effective steroid, bar none. With all the exotic "stacks" that bodybuilders experiment with today, it's most likely that Dianabol is among the milieu; in fact it's often the "main ingredient."
Dianabol is also one of the few steroids that will exhibit great results when taken alone. Its anabolic/androgenic ratio is almost ideal, but perhaps a bit too powerful. Coincidentally, it was the East Germans who developed a less androgenic version of Dianabol. Higher dosages were possible without the suppression of endogenous testosterone production. This "milder" Dianabol was called Turinabol and it had the added advantage of being completely undetectable in a urine test three days following administration. Unfortunately, the lower androgenic ratio of Turinabol meant it didn't exhibit as dramatic an increase in strength. Therefore, it was considered a "failure" by its manufacturers, Jenapharm, and production was discontinued. Too bad. Nevertheless, if it weren't for Dianabol's overly potent androgenic properties, as well as its propensity toward toxicity, there would be no reason to take anything else. Dianabol always works. And it works on everybody.
Although John Ziegler had no financial interest in Dianabol, he felt that his discovery had considerable merit in the field of regenerative therapy. He used Dianabol himself and realized that besides its ability to increase strength and muscle growth, it also generated an elevated sense of "well-being." It seemed that Dianabol also prevented osteoporosis, anemia and degeneration due to the ravages of cancer. Not to see his discovery go to waste, he went to where his product might be appreciated: the York Barbell company. As you may have guessed, the response over Dianabol was overwhelming! The news of these amazing little pills flourished and before long every bodybuilder in the country wanted to get their hands on this miraculous new compound. Doctors were prescribing Dianabol on a daily basis. The demand for Dianabol was nothing short of incredible.
After observing the effects of what had affectionately been nicknamed "D-Bol," Ziegler had issued a caveat concerning his brainchild. It seemed that the process of 17-alpha alkalation caused a considerable strain to the liver. The alka process is necessary to prevent the liver from destroying the active ingredients. As it turned out, there was word that the Europeans were working on a less toxic injectable anabolic called nandrolone decanoate; brand name, Deca Durabolin. It was around this time that Ziegler issued a warning to the bodybuilding community: continual dosage without allowing liver functions to "normalize" can result in serious damage.
When he became aware that many athletes were altering the prescriptions he wrote for them by changing them to read "PRN" (as many refills as you want), he stopped writing scripts. He began research on manipulating hormonal changes in the body strictly though diet and exercise. He, along with John Grimek, were among the first to recognize that short intense workouts with compound movements had an anabolic effect. Ziegler was also a proponent of isometric and static contraction principles. "If you want virility, work out hard, but don't kill yourself!" he said. He was also concerned with the liberal distribution of hormonal therapy and believed that birth control pills would cause permanent sterility in women. The contraceptive pills used by women today are considerably less harsh than those used in the '60s, but many women that have been on the pill for most of their adult life are experiencing precocious menopause. Ziegler warned that if you...
"...tamper with Mother Nature for too long, something is going to get upset. These are basic facts, but these fools today want to complicate every damn thing!"
This concern caused many of the "heads of state" of bodybuilding to call for a meeting. The legend has it that famed gym owner and bodybuilding guru Vince Gironda had organized a little pow-wow between he and the top guns of the day; men like Larry Scott, Don Howorth, and Dave Draper. Vince was opposed to external hormonal manipulation but he realized that the pros had to use them in order to stay competitive. Since he was viewed as a mentor to the muscle stars at the time, they were willing to comply with his wishes. They came to an agreement. In an effort to keep the competition among everyone equitable and in the name of maintaining a healthy body, no one would exceed the allowed dosage of two tablets a day! (Now you know Larry Scott's "secret stack" to win the Olympia!)
This "gentleman's agreement" seems too quaint to be believed but the people involved swear that it's true. Unfortunately, the magical properties of Dianabol had already spread like wildfire and the abuse had begun. Everyone from college athletes to high school students who wanted to build bigger biceps to impress girls was using steroids. A young crop of bodybuilders that held no reverence for what the "old timers" thought started upping the ante in an effort to gain the competitive edge. Four tablets worked better than two did. Eight worked better than four. The subsequent increases didn't bring proportionately increased gains but as long as it did something, there were those that were willing to go another step further. Ten, twenty, fifty a day combined with several other steroids was now the norm. Bodybuilding fans reacted enthusiastically to the new generation of mass monsters. The dosages rose still higher. Blood pressure levels that were staggeringly elevated became commonplace. Some men became impotent. Many became enraged and grew increasingly violent due to the enormity of androgen levels in their bloodstream. More and more bodybuilders began reporting negative side effects but it was the freakiest of the freaky that got the big contracts. Again, victory at any cost.
By the 1980s, the situation had gotten so out of control that the FDA declared anabolic steroids a schedule II drug, and their sale was no longer permitted in the United States.
No one was more distraught than the man who started it all, John Ziegler. The "Father of Anabolics" had seen his brilliant work become a distortion of perverse ideals. What started out as something that was meant to be a constructive tool to enhance health was being used for an objective in spite of health. The various political systems exploited their young men and secretly encouraged the use of ever increasing dosages while hiding behind jingoistic banter. Professional sports organizations condemned the use of steroids but it was obvious that a 250-pound linebacker is a greater asset to a team's success than a 190-pound linebacker so they looked the other way. The bodybuilding magazines still touted "health" and "virility" but they awarded the prize money and the trophies to bloated caricatures of what a man should look like. The bar had been raised and it was steroids that raised it. As is so often the case, the act of a genius got desecrated in a mire of false glorification.
Shortly before his death in 1983, Ziegler was heard to say he was sorry he ever found the formula for Dianabol:
"All those young kids. What a terrible price they'll pay. If only I'd known it would come to this."
I wonder what Dr. Ziegler would say now if he saw all the women who are mutating their very gender with over-the-top dosages of androgens.
Still, remember that steroids aren't evil. It's the blatant disrespect of a great invention that's evil, or in the very least, gluttonous. They are meant to be an aid, not a crutch.
The government's attempt at subjugating its citizens is not the answer. Education is the answer—always. But it's going to be an uphill climb getting our society to see this issue with the proper clarity and comprehension. Our community has to lead the way. The better equipped we are at articulating our stance on improving physical capacities through the judicious use of anabolics, the sooner we'll begin to steer the social consensus away from condemnation and closer towards understanding. If we remain ignorant and irresponsible while continuing to abuse these wonderful tools, it'll only perpetuate the stigma of all anabolic enhancements as something sinful.
Much like any invention with powerful applications, once people are aware of it, there's no turning back. Nuclear power can provide the world with energy or it can cause devastating destruction. Steroids may very well be the greatest advancement in the development of physical advancement but they, too, can have disastrous effects. Are you knowledgeable and responsible enough to indulge in something so precarious? Can you draw the line where it needs to be drawn? Or will it be victory at any cost?
A good rule of thumb would be to imagine the man who started it all, John Ziegler, looking over our shoulders. Would he be proud, or disgusted? Perhaps by better understanding the intentions of this great man, we can all answer that question a little more honestly.
Much of the information in this article regarding John Ziegler's personal life and opinions was gleaned from a relatively obscure interview conducted with him just before he died. Although Ziegler takes a lot of the credit for "inventing" steroids, there's some controversy as to whether credit belongs to Dr. Ziegler alone, or his entire team of scientists.
