Has Vin Diesel used steroids? We look at the facts

With the use of anabolic steroids among the general public at its highest levels in history it seems strange that there is still such a taboo surrounding the topic.

Accusing a person of taking steroids is treated the same as accusing that person of murder.

But taking steroids should be seen in the same way that smoking marijuana is seen. Maybe not something that you would admit to in church, but not that big of a deal.

We can understand why a bodybuilder would avoid the topic, their income is largely based on supplement deals. We can also understand why athletes should be avoiding them, by taking steroids they are cheating and bringing disrepute on their sport. But an actor? It’s not really a big deal, is it?

Arnold Schwarzenegger admitted to taking steroids and he was one of the most popular action movie stars in history, and he later moved into politics!

But this is the world we live in. People want to know whether Vin Diesel has taken anabolic steroids or not, but if he has he isn’t allowed to say.

This is where we come in. In this article, we are going to look at what steroids are, how they work, what benefits they offer, and how to tell if someone is using them.

We are then going to use this information to decide whether Vin Diesel (in our opinion) is likely to have taken steroids in the past (or now).

But before we do that we should probably talk a little bit about who Vin Diesel is, and why you should care about whether he has taken steroids or not during his career. Let’s get started.[toc]

Vin Diesel: A (brief) Biography

Vin Diesel (real name Mark Sinclair) was born in Alameda County, California in 1967.

At a young age, he moved with his mother to New York City. It was here that he got his first break, playing a small part in a stage play.

In 1990 he managed an uncredited role in a film, before directing and starring in his own film called Multi-Facial. His first big film break came when he acted in Saving Private Ryan, an Oscar-winning film directed by Steven Spielberg.

Since then he has gone from strength to strength, starring in films such as The Chronicles of Riddick, XXX, The Fast & The Furious films, and Guardians of the Galaxy.

Diesel is now seen as the quintessential action movie star. In the mould of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and similar muscular yet charismatic movie frontmen.

What are Steroids?

Before we start rushing around accusing people of steroid abuse, we should probably explain what steroids are.

Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids (AAS) are synthetic hormones that are made to replicate the male sex hormone testosterone.

They are purposefully designed to offer maximum anabolic benefits (tissue building – mostly muscle) and minimum androgenic changes. This is to minimise the changes to the body that are unwanted: body hair growth, acne, enhanced libido etc…

It’s impossible to completely remove the androgenic properties of anabolic steroids, but the more you can limit them the fewer side effects you will experience.

There are different types of steroids, firstly there are oral steroids and injectable steroids.

Oral steroids usually come in pill form but there are liquid versions available as well. These tend to be more powerful but also come with more side effects. This is because oral steroids need to be taken more often due to a short half-life.

Injectable steroids, although they sound scary are actually safer. This is mostly because they last longer and therefore have to be taken less often. This is easier on the liver and tends to produce better long-term results.

There are different steroids for different goals. You have steroids such as Clenbuterol which works as a fat burner as well as a muscle builder.

Then you have steroids like Winstrol which can be used for cutting or bulking depending on what you want to achieve. Finally, there are steroids like Trenbolone which are amazing for bulking and building large amounts of muscle.

Steroids are used in the medical profession to treat certain disorders. Particularly cancer patients and AIDS patients who have lost a lot of muscle mass and need to increase their appetite.

They are also given to men who have very low testosterone levels.

But they are most commonly used (illegally) by bodybuilders, athletes, and gym-goers. The doses that they use though are much higher than any doctor would prescribe.

Benefits of Using Steroids

There are many benefits of using steroids, firstly the most obvious benefit is an increase in muscle size, strength, and recovery. A study by Nordstrom et al (2012) found that athletes who used anabolic steroids had higher muscle mass levels and lower body fat around the hips, chest, and legs [1].

Another study found that long-term use of AAS led to significant increases in muscle fibre size and density [2].

Steroids can also increase bone density, help improve mood, reduce stress, improve mental focus (cognition), and improve libido.

They can also make a big difference in recovery time. Allowing bodybuilders and athletes to train longer and with better results than a non-assisted lifter.

One final benefit of steroids is reduced injury time.

Downsides to Steroid Abuse

There are numerous downsides to abusing steroids, which is what bodybuilders are doing. They are taking massively high doses of drugs that aren’t prescribed for them.

Some of the negatives are relatively minor (for example a little acne or body hair), while others can be quite serious.

Frequent steroid use can lead to your body stopping production of testosterone naturally. It can also lead to an increase in the production of an enzyme called aromatase which converts excess testosterone into estrogen. This can result in raised levels of estrogen, causing fat accumulation, fatigue, bad sleep, and an increased risk of prostate cancer. Many bodybuilders take aromatase inhibitors to prevent this from happening.

Signs that Someone is Using Steroids

A lot of the signs of steroid abuse are not visual, which can make it difficult for even the user to know about.

For example, steroid use can affect cholesterol levels but you’d only find that out if you took a blood test. Similarly, steroid use can lead to lower sperm count and fertility.

Other signs are only obvious if you are getting (intimately) close to the user. Increased body hair, acne, atrophied testicles (shrunken balls), and the onset of gynecomastia (breast growth in men).

The most obvious sign, however, is huge increases in strength and size in a relatively short period of time. This is often the method by which people guess whether a certain sportsperson or movie star is taking steroids or not.

Other examples are huge drops in body fat in a short period of time, faster than expected recovery from injuries, and over-development of the trapezius and deltoid muscles.

The Evidence For Vin Diesel Using Steroids

The main evidence for Vin Diesel using steroids seems to be that he is a Dungeon and Dragons playing nerd who happens to have one of the best physiques in the world. Doesn’t check out really does it?

Kidding aside, this is a man who has put on some serious muscle over the years. With each Fast & Furious film, Diesel is looking bigger and with better definition.

Of course, this could be through natural training and diet, but let’s not forget we’re talking about a 50-year-old man in the shape of his life! How common is that?

In 2015 paparazzi photographers took photos of a very overweight looking Vin Diesel. He had a huge beer belly and definite gynecomastia. Just a short while later he had a six-pack and looked a different man [3].

This may be possible without help from steroids, but at the age of 48? It just seems unlikely.

The Evidence Against Vin Diesel Using Steroids

Well, the most obvious thing to point out is the complete lack of evidence that he is!

It’s not like Sylvester Stallone getting caught red-handed trying to bring Human Growth Hormone (HGH) into Australia in 2007 [4]. Vin Diesel has never been caught with any banned substance, nor has he admitted to using it (like Schwarzenegger did).

Diesel has also not really changed in size too much. Yes, he has had periods of being very lean and periods of being very overweight, but his muscle mass doesn’t seem to have changed too drastically.

When you look at photos of Vin Diesel at a young age he was still huge.

It is important to remember that everyone has a genetic potential, a certain threshold that you can reach without steroids.

Taking performance enhancers like steroids or HGH or insulin can take you way past that, but if you have a high enough genetic potential you can end up looking pretty huge without taking anything.

Final Thoughts

This is a really tough one when it comes to some movie stars the answer is pretty straightforward.

You could probably say with some confidence that Christian Bale took steroids when training for Batman, and if the Rock isn’t taking steroids then he is probably not mortal.

But Vin Diesel is hard to work out. On the one hand, he is absolutely huge, with large muscles, and decent strength.

On the other hand, he has very little definition. Sometimes just looking like a bulky guy who’s been on a short diet rather than someone injecting himself with high-class pharmaceuticals.

There does seem to be quite a bit of visual evidence of Diesel using Human Growth Hormone. He frequently has the bloated abdomen that people who take growth hormone tend to get.

So Does Vin Diesel Use Steroids?

Whether Vin Diesel has taken steroids or not is largely irrelevant. He has not cheated anyone in the way that a sportsperson has. Nor has he mislead the public into buying useless fitness supplements as many bodybuilders have.

There is definitely a case to say that he has taken steroids, at least once in his life. While he isn’t as cut and developed as his co-star the Rock, he is still much bigger than an average-sized man.

He has still made very fast transformations between films and packed on quite a bit of muscle over the years. He has been able to survive the rigours of filming high-intensity action films and the training that is required for the sort of part that he excels at playing.

This could all be explained by genetic potential, but it just seems unlikely.

Vin Diesel would not look out of place in many bodybuilding competitions, and clearly lifts weights on a very regular basis. The claim that all of this is due to good nutrition and a solid workout program doesn’t really hold water.

We’re going to say that there is a good chance that Vin Diesel has used some form of performance enhancer in his lifetime.

This is indicated by his size, his sudden transformations, the frequent pictures of a bloated gut we’ve seen (which often indicates steroids or HGH) and the type of job he does. How can you compete with the Rock in terms of size and athleticism if you’re not taking something?

But if it turns out that he’s completely clean we won’t be completely shocked, just a little bit.

Either way, Vin Diesel rocks and has worked ridiculously hard and is living the dreams of every Dungeon & Dragons nerd in history. Best of luck to him!

How to Gain Muscle Without Steroid Use

It is certainly possible to build muscle and strength without the use of steroids.

It will be more complicated than intense training and eating loads, although this would be a good start to your efforts

There are also legal steroid alternatives that you could try. Such as D-Bal for example, a safe and legal alternative to the banned anabolic steroid Dianabol.

D-Bal contains proven ingredients that include numerous BCAAs, Whey Protein Concentrate and Tribulus Terrestris.

These ingredients can help to increase nitrogen retention, which in turn will result in an increase in protein synthesis.

This ensures the following benefits are experienced:

• Gains in both strength and muscle mass
• Increased endurance
• More nitrogen retained
• Extra blood flow due to an increase in oxygen sent to your muscles

There are numerous testimonials available on the Crazy Bulk website. So if you are in any doubt about whether D-Bal works as claimed, you only need to read them to reassure yourself.