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Sports & Recreation Bodybuilding & Weight Training

Death, Drugs, and Muscle

by (author) Gregg Valentino & Nathan Jendrick

Publisher
ECW Press
Initial publish date
Feb 2010
Category
Bodybuilding & Weight Training, Sports
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781550229219
    Publish Date
    Feb 2010
    List Price
    $18.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781554906802
    Publish Date
    Feb 2010
    List Price
    $12.99

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Description

A behind-the-scenes look at the underground world of bodybuilding, this exposé is a tragic tale of drugs, murder, and self-destruction. Detailing Gregg Valentino’s fame as “the man whose biceps exploded,” this portrayal reveals how he quickly rose to the top of the weight-lifting scene, becoming both a spokesman for the sport and a celebrity among fans. This account also discusses how he crossed into the illegal world of steroids and drugs—becoming the biggest supplier of Steris products in the United States—and how his world of sex, drugs, and money came crashing down when his girlfriend died from a drug overdose and he was arrested. A gripping, uncensored story about a muscle-worshipping culture, this provocative, harrowing biography uncovers the dark and dangerous world of steroid use and drug dealing.

About the authors

Contributor Notes

Gregg Valentino is one of the most popular and controversial bodybuilding icons of all time. He is the author of the popular column “Ramblin’ Freak” in Muscular Development Magazine. He has appeared in more than 200 magazines, including ESPN Magazine, the National Enquirer, and Maxim, as well on numerous television programs, such as the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Ripley's Believe It or Not, the Tonight Show, and the Tyra Banks Show. He lives in New York City. Nathan Jendrick is a certified fitness trainer and sports-performance consultant, working with clients ranging from bodybuilders to Olympic gold medalists. He is the author of Dunk, Doubles, Doping and Get Wet, Get Fit. He lives in Lake Tapps, Washington.

Excerpt: Death, Drugs, and Muscle (by (author) Gregg Valentino & Nathan Jendrick)

Most people who become an infamous part of history are haunted by a dark past. Whether it was an uneasy childhood or a traumatic event as a teenager, something led them to a life that is so far off the beaten path that it morphed into something evil. Some people use this as an excuse, while others merely point their fingers and say the person was destined to fail. Even worse, some say the person should never have been born. Humanity calls these lapsed people monsters, psychopaths, or even vermin. The law usually calls them felons.

I am a felon, and this is my story. Nothing herein is trumped up, cushioned for effect, or otherwise overstated for shock value. I don’t justify what I’ve done, but neither do I refute it. I’m a man who had it all and watched it get stripped away in one horrifying, numbing incident. I might be convicted in the courts, but many would believe that I was behind a victimless crime. I never hurt anyone, yet so many people hurt me because of my actions.

For years, I was a drug dealer. People hear the term and picture me slinging poison out of baggies stuffed away in the trunk of a beaten–down car. That wasn’t me; I never sold poison. My Product could even be regarded as medicinal. For many, it is. I sold hormones. Anabolic steroids were my drug of choice.

In the 1990s, if people were indulging in synthetic forms of what makes up the chemistry of men, they probably got it from me. Maybe not hand to hand, but somewhere along the line I was involved. The operation was big, the profits were large, and the risks were high. Like all things, it eventually came crashing down. And when it did, there was no pretty picture to be painted. Tears had been cried, blood had been shed, lives had been ruined, and the ride came to a screeching halt when I found myself behind bars.

When I was arrested, it was all over the national news. Some newspapers put the name Gregg Valentino in the same sentence as drug kingpins like Pablo Escobar and Manuel Noriega. These guys were traffickers of cocaine and heroin, poisons they knew were taking the life right out of people. I’ve never wavered in my belief that I was selling a safe Product. Every night of my life after I started dealing drugs, I slept well, whether on the 1,200–threadcount Egyptian cotton sheets of my New York home or on the paper–thin and stained rag they give you in jail. The one thing that never bothered me was the thought that I had hurt someone.

Editorial Reviews

"A gripping, uncensored story that even contains hush-hush tales from the underground that include a look at a bizarre sexual fetish culture and celebrities as you have never seen them before. This provocative, harrowing biography uncovers the dark and dangerous world of drug dealing."  —FemaleMuscle.com