Is Anthony Joshua on Steroids or Is He A Natural?

Anthony Joshua, the consecutive two-time heavyweight champion has been recently accused of taking steroids. Anthony has denied it himself, multiple times being the straightforward man that he is. When asked by an interviewer about the said rumor, he gave his million-dollar smile before confidently replying “I take it as a compliment, but no, I don’t take steroids.” However, “Is Anthony Joshua on steroids?” is a question that seems to have lingered on.

Contents

Is Anthony Joshua on Steroids?
Verdict – Anthony Joshua is a Natty!

Is Anthony Joshua on Steroids?

It is quite inevitable for these rumors to take place due to Joshua’s appearance and monstrous strength, but do these rumors hold truth? We might need to make some observations and take the information into consideration before coming to a conclusion.

Genetics and Physique

Joshua has often accredited his father for his impressive size and physique, claiming his big muscles to be a product of insanely good genetics. There is no denying that Robert Joshua is a massive guy with an impressive muscle structure for a guy of his age.

Apart from that, black men are also known to produce more testosterone than white men, a hormone that helps with the growth of muscle tissue. Anthony’s physique could be a product of incredible genetics as well as ethnicity.

Moreover, Anthony’s body is balanced, with a continued muscular tone from his shoulders to his torso down to his legs. Boxers like to keep their legs lean and their feet light to bounce around easily, and their torsos heavy and toned for forceful throws and punches. They don’t use weights to train their legs to build them up, and their strength training mainly focuses on their upper body; the shoulders, biceps and triceps. If Joshua was using steroids there would be a huge imbalance between his upper body and lower body, and the disproportion would be obvious.

And even though his upper body is heavy, his arms and shoulders don’t have the rocky, boulder-like appearance like most bodybuilders on steroids have.

Joshua’s body is the epitome of what great genetics and hard work look like, when combined.

Related: Steroids vs Natural Bodybuilding – How to Spot a Fake Natty

Transformation through the years

The most common way to detect if someone’s been using steroids is if they have gained a drastic amount of muscle mass over an impossibly short period of time. When Joshua joined the boxing ring in 2007 and won the Olympics in 2012, he was already pretty buff. He was not a professional boxer back then but he had worked on his body. His body has been developing ever since, the change gradual but notable among his fans and critics alike.

When a person uses steroids his muscles become thick, and appear bloated. Steroids can also produce changes on a person’s skin where it can appear dry, develop acne or appear flushed and red, due to high blood pressure. None of these changes are noticed on Joshua and his body mass seems pretty balanced. No drastic changes have occurred in a short period of time, but his muscles have been developing gradually through the years.

Technique and Training

Hard and continuous training, which remains consistent over the years, is more often than not a contributing factor to a body like Anthony Joshua. He works out twice a day, where each session can last up to five hours. His workout routines can vary from day to day, mainly consisting of strength training to build his muscles and power.

Cardio increases his heart rate, burns calories, and builds stamina, which he does at the start of his day, and of course, a whole lot of boxing and sparring, to make him better than ever.

He goes for a cardio session, after breakfast which lasts for 40 minutes, in which he may go for a swim, runs for miles (preferably outside), or even cycling, anything to get his heart rate up. Cardio exercises hydrolyze the fat (cutting it down) and allow muscles to shine through.

During his afternoon strength training he lifts up to 270 kg, giving an idea of his immense power and strength. It is obvious that you can’t just lift one-third of a ton in one day, and it takes years of practice and training to lift such an amount, hence the great muscles and body.

He also takes a lot of protein in his meals, as well as through supplements, to strengthen and build his muscles. All these add up to the naturally toned and solid appearance of his muscles, which would otherwise appear bloated and blocky if he was on steroids.

Tested clear and natural

Now that his body weight has reduced, it has gained more questions and suspicion among his speculators, than ever before.

His muscle mass has considerably reduced most prominently in the deltoid region and abdomen, raising further suspicion among his critics. He appears a lot smaller and lighter, due to his new training program where his team focuses on bringing his weight lower to increase his agility within fights.

However, he has only lost about 12 lbs which is not a lot considering if he had actually been on steroids. He would have lost the same amount of weight if he stopped lifting weights. Plus, the weight loss is nothing too drastic or occurring over night, so the suspicions might just be suspicions!

Verdict – Anthony Joshua is a Natty!

I have the right to believe Anthony Joshua is not taking drugs, because

To be massive is in his genes, judging by the looks of his father
He works hard for those muscles
He has been tested clear, multiple times by authentic organizations
His transformation has been steady and gradual
He lacks the signs of someone who takes steroids

Despite being the muscular and toned guy he is, Anthony Joshua remains a natural. The records have so far weighed down in his favour, and so would be unfair to judge him of taking steroids until proven otherwise.