Mark “Smelly” Bell is considered a top-tier powerlifter and entrepreneur, who regularly hosts a popular podcast. In his latest endeavor, he joined forces with Bradley Martyn to discuss the challenges of bodybuilding and his use of performance-enhancing drugs for over two decades.
Having tested his physical limits as a successful powerlifting athlete, Mark Bell is accustomed to preparing his body for intense competitions. During his time competing at the highest level, Bell achieved legendary feats of strength, including a 1,080-pound squat, an 854-pound, bench press, and a 766-pound deadlift.
Whether he is communicating to his audience how to efficiently lose weight or joining industry experts such as Mike O’Hearn for bench press tips, Bell’s insight into weight lifting and strength makes him a treasure to the fitness community.
Mark Bell Says Bodybuilding Is Hard, Opens Up With Bradley Martyn On Steroids and Quitting Testosterone
Given the dietary demands that come with a bodybuilding career, Mark Bell made it clear he wanted nothing to do with it.
“Bodybuilding is hard. Walking around like a jabroni bodybuilder with your Tupperware everywhere, that stuff is really – I bow down to those guys. Those men and women that do that, that is incredible discipline but I want nothing to do with it. I don’t want rotten chicken in my gym bag and everything.”
Specifically, he pointed to the discipline required for consistent meal prepping.
“To stay tethered to your food like that is a discipline, I don’t meal prep,” adds Mark Bell.
As for Bradley Martyn, he enjoyed bodybuilding until he branched out into different business endeavors.
“I loved it
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and I enjoyed the process of it but when I started to develop other businesses and focuses as far as content and things outside of that, I was like I don’t have time to do this.”
Derek Lunsford 
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When it comes to steroid use, Martyn mentioned that while other sports deem them as cheating, that certainly isn’t the case for disciplines such as powerlifting and bodybuilding.
“Take those steroids,” said Bell.
“That’s what they think [gets instant results]. It’s funny. I don’t know, the confusion in it or the ill perception I don’t know. People, I don’t know why, people think it is just that simple, especially when it comes to steroids. Maybe because in sports like historically, people say it’s cheating this and that.
With bodybuilding and all these strength sports, it’s literally just a part of this sport. People have that misconception that, I can’t even tell you how many people who have gotten on and they are like this isn’t at all what I thought it would be like,” Martyn explains.
Bell adds that some people take steroids and still do not reap any extra benefits from the substances.
“They probably got almost nothing out of it because they probably didn’t put much into it,” says Bell.
Wielding years of experience in the field, Mark Bell credited testosterone as a powerful motivator, which could help someone further commit to a more consistent training schedule.
“I do think testosterone is a wonderful motivator. It’s a good drug in those terms and it can be something for someone that feels a little wishy-washy about training and those kinds of things, it can, they call it, sometimes people are like this person just needs a shot in the arm, right? You hear that. Yeah, a little shot of testosterone might boost somebody in a good direction,” said Bell.
Martyn and Bell also discussed the therapeutic value of testosterone for treating depression.
“I always wondered could testosterone be a therapy for something like depression,” asks Martyn.
“There are people that do that. I actually know a guy who is a clinician who utilizes it but he won’t talk to me on my podcast,” explains Bell. “It’s probably studied a little bit, maybe it’s a little more acceptable now. You know who gets depressed when they come off of it? Everybody. I think everybody gets wiped out by that. If your levels were pretty high and you were cruising pretty good and you come off it, you got to be really careful, you’ve got to be really cautious.”
Having used steroids for over two decades, Bell initially quit after the birth of his daughter Quinn.
“I’ve been on steroids on and off for 25 years, since I was 25, I’m 47 so 20-something years. When I had my daughter, Quinn, I came off everything for a few months.
Bell admitted that his first bout of depression came as a result of quitting testosterone.
“Got my wife pregnant and then just went right back to it. But in that time span when I came off, I have never even felt, when someone talked about depression I didn’t know what they were talking about. That’s how raw it was to me. I never really got it never understood what anyone was talking about. I just felt like crap for a handful of days. I was upset. I was also a little angry, which is really rare for me too.”
This wasn’t Mark Bell’s first time discussing his use of PEDs. The 47-year-old star revealed the steroids he used during the prime of his powerlifting career in addition to listing the current cycle he operates on. At the time, Bell disclosed that he was only using testosterone replacement therapy.
For as long as he has been in the limelight, Mark Bell has always valued transparency and honesty. Considering his experience and time as a powerlifter, his insight and wisdom are a breath of fresh air for his audience.
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