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Devon Larratt – northeastboard.com:

” I think this is a very interesting thread, and i feel that this is a time in history where perhaps preformance enhancing medications will get some light shed on them. I feel that during my life these medications have been somewhat of a taboo subject, but as time goes on, people get braver, and the amount of evidence that piles up makes the entire community curious and want open discussion and information. 
I believe that testing is a massive issue in armwrestling. Most people start down the road of physical/strength/health improvement and it leads them to armwrestling or some other activity. Armwrestling at a high competitive level is NOT healthy… for many reasons.. but it doesn;t stop us from doing it. THe modern question i believe is … 1) if you do this activity are you actually going to be healthier if you use medications? (like after a car crash) 2) How does one put in a testing plan that actually works. financially and is effective. and is this what the sport needs?

More back to the topic, since i heard my name.
I am a natural athlete. What i have done can be accomplished without medicines. at about 18-19 years i was a very hungry very very skinny 205. my first 2 tournaments i cut to the 198 lb class. I shortly afterwards got a unique job that gave me 2 interesting nutritional plans. sometimes it is an all you can eat buffet every meal, and then for long periods of time you are way under caloried and way depleted. as soon as i got this job i went to 220-225 lbs. i stayed at this weight for a few years, dieting down to 220 for most tournaments. this became harder, and i started to go after heavy weights anyways, so it crept with time to 230 235 and then i was done going after the weight class 220.
During this time frame (ages 20 – 34 about) i was focused on gaining size and strength. I would at times get to eat all i wanted, i would always eat a massive meal before bedtime. I would use creatine monohydrate before most competitions or a period of 3 to 6 weeks. i have used other supplements – vasodialtors, amminos, protien, but i think for the most part creatine is the only one that made any real difference. so you could say that at 21 yrs i was a ripped up 225 lb guy who was very healthy, at about 25-26 i was 235 very healthy, and i was able to get my weight to settle at 240ish for the rest of my life so far. with intense trainning, limitless calories, and creatine i was able to get to 253 lbs for a short time (i think i was a bit fat). the heaviest i ever competed was 247 against John Brzenk i think i was 33, i normally compete around 240-45, depending on how much food and how much trainning i can get. 

I am drug tested periodically, but i have never been tested for competition. I have said before that i am willing to test at any time, competition or not. I think it would be a good thing for the sport.
It is a great step that the WAF is testing. Unfortunatley for many athletes, financially speaking the WAF is a completely unresponsible choice…. provincials, nationals, worlds, all unpaid, expenses, time off.. if your country doesn;t recognise the sport and you go… in my opinion.. your crazy. Countries need to get armwrestling recognized and their athletes taken care of.

to summarize – I don;t have any great answers. I am not a promoter, i do not fully understand their struggles and their responsibilities. I do feel as an athlete if you armwrestle at a high level your body will pay for your fun one way or another. THe bigger the match, the bigger the glory the bigger the pain. you can reach the top clean, but you will hurt. maybe more than the guy who takes medicine, maybe less in other ways, either way.. it would be great if some doctors really took a good un biased look at what we do. “

Devon Larratt – northeastboard.com:

” Sorry Las for the slow response. Just a tired dude sometimes, and takes me a while to get back.
I;ll just hit my opinion 2 things
1) on weight gain/protein retention/non specific excrecise (ie crossfit or anything not armwrestling related). Like Curtis said, i think your body can only retain x amount of protien. with hard trainning/nutrition whatever you can can increase your retention. which means more strength. for the most part, armwrestlers don’t care about the protien they are retaining outside of their armwrestling chains. This becomes limited by your nature/lifestyle, and i believe by your balance. I believe that your body will not let you fall too far out of balance. If you work opposing muscle groups, bring balance to the body by working legs you will obviously hold more muscle, and i believe your body then allow you build more muscle in the chains you want. this – in a taper is even more compounded, because i believe your organs can build up enough steam by working hard to heal the whole body, and then for a short period you can get way way strong in whatever you want, your organs still used to healing the whole body. anyways… just ideas, but i am a huge fan of armwrestlers puting weight on their legs to get stronger. (easy to say for super heavywieghts, but i would still say do it regardless of class)

On the doctor point and everything. i would just say a few things. All these medicines need to be more studied.. there is lots of data out there, it is just for the most part underground i believe. guys should just know what your getting yourself into in regards to the “level” that you are armwestling on, take small steps, regardless of the athlete your pulling.. i think it is ok for guys to pull in this sport doing whatever they want to do, just so long as there is honesty, cause this is sport.. not win at all costs, and if your gonna disapprove of R.C. for pulling tournament, but its cool for her to pull supermatches cause everyone knows the deal, its no different then a dude pulling in a tournament if he’s got more in him.

anyways. i feel like it is still the dirtiest subject in sport, but light does need to shine on it otherwise it will never heal. “

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