This has become the most talked about subject as of the last few days in professional bodybuilding. Unless you’re living under a rock then you know that Derek Lunsford is our reigning Mr. Oympia. He is the number one bodybuilder in the world. He is also one of only two men that has won the title, lost the title, and won the title back. He is a fan favorite, a US based champion, and he is incredibly active on social media, the Expo circuit, guest posing and the gym world. For all intents and purposes, he is everything that bodybuilding needs to grow and everything that it wants at the same time. He is somebody that is seemingly very genuine and someone who although arrogant at times is probably the best person to hold the title. He is a family man, a Christian – like I said he offers a lot of the attributes a lot of sponsors want to see in athletes they work with.
This is not to say that Christianity is the only path, but bodybuilding has become largely a United States dominated sport and the dominant religion in the United States happens to be Christianity. I’m sure that Buddhism, Confucianism, and Hinduism are all phenomenal religions – among others – but they are not the majority here in the United States. And even though bodybuilding has always been marketed as an international sport, the United States calls the shots. There’s a reason why the biggest three shows are all in the United States. There is a reason why Olympia has not gone overseas in decades. It’s not because the other countries don’t matter, but bodybuilding has become a United States based sport. English is the dominant language as well. And whether we want to admit it or not, Christianity has a tremendous amount of influence in the sport of bodybuilding. Therefore, for all of those reasons and even some more that I don’t particularly want to get into, Derek is the best person to have the title to grow the sport. And as a result of that he gets a lot of differences. As a result of that he doesn’t get scrutinized nearly as much as other Mr. Olympia champions before him have. But with regards to PMMA, that’s a first. We have often heard about accusations of site enhancing oils (e.g. “Synthol” with the top bodybuilders in the world, but the PMMA subject has always been somewhat taboo. So, let’s talk about it here.
Now if you’re looking for me to give you a definitive answer with whether or not the champ is using what is known as bone cement in the medical world, I can’t give you that answer. I will weigh in with hunches, but ultimately this is merely speculation. I’m not going to say yes or no with any level of assertion. What I’m going to do is put my finger on the bodybuilding pulse. That is what I try to do here at IronMag. I don’t always weigh in with my personal opinions because it really doesn’t amount to very much. My opinion is no greater than your opinion. I don’t know any more information than you do. So then why do I write the article? Why does IronMag publish the article? Why do I get paid to write about these types of subjects? Again it all goes back to what people in the sport are talking about. It all goes back to what is trending at the time. That’s my job here. So before you shoot the messenger just understand that my role here is to report on what is hot and what is not in bodybuilding. And right now the question of whether or not Derek is using PMMA couldn’t be hotter than a red supergiant star. Everybody is talking about this and everybody wants to know what the hell is going on. The mere suggestion that the best bodybuilder in the world is using something like this or even an SEO commonly known as Synthol is enough to be headline news.
Now that being said, Derek could put all of this to rest with one simple procedure. He could go get an MRI and he could have his medical charts looked at by every Tom, Dick, and Harry in the sport of bodybuilding. Every independent media site could analyze the results. Everybody with a webcam and an internet connection could dissect the champion’s most private medical records. If he did that and it showed there was no bone cement or oils in his physique, then that would put all of the critics to rest. But should he have to do that? Would you want to do that? A medical file is perhaps the most sacred thing to an individual. It is the most private information that anyone could possibly conceive of. Would you want to shut the critics up so badly that you’d share such information with the world? That right there is a hard pass for me. Nobody has even suggested Derek take an MRI or share the results with the world, but I am only saying that that would be the one definitive smoking gun to put this issue to bed. Since I don’t think he’s going to do that and since I don’t think anybody that would have a reasonable disposition would do such a thing, either, then we’re left to the various articles that abound in the bodybuilding world.
I for one will say that I don’t see anything super suspicious about muscles/muscle groups in his physique. There are physiques however that I find to be questionable, but a lot of people are talking about this issue because bodybuilders honestly don’t know any sort of limit. There is no bright line. There is no line in the proverbial sand of any sort for that matter when it comes to enhanced bodybuilding. If this were natural bodybuilding we would know the answer very quickly. That is because natural bodybuilding federations test for everything and scrutinize their athletes to no end. This is because they have a commitment to every single athlete that competes on their stages that they are truly competing on a level playing field. But once you start talking about enhanced bodybuilding, untested bodybuilding, there really is no limit to what these guys are willing to do. And since the Federation has not issued any directives (that I’m aware of) then it really is no one’s business. I don’t want to say that the Federation would allow the use of PMMA or sight enhancing oils but the fact is I don’t believe that there is any rule against them, either. I am not aware of any screening process that would test whether or not someone had these substances in their bodies or not. If there are such protocols, if there are such rules, if there are such tests, I would be happy to retract this position but I’m also not taking a position of assertiveness. I am just saying that I’m not aware of any type of test or protocol in place. And that is not necessarily just a shield for this website or myself from any kind of liability, it comes from a genuine place of uncertainty. I have done my due diligence and I have searched the web and I have searched various publications and I have not been able to find anything that would even suggest that there is a protocol in place to work against the possibility of competitors using these substances.
At the end of the day, I wouldn’t even know how they would be able to test for something like this unless the Federation provided MRIs or required athletes to get them done. This is an incredibly invasive procedure and again I don’t think that legally the Federation could require any athlete to share their medical information. That being said, I think that it would be very obvious if such substances were being used. And although there are people that are pointing to certain body parts and certain muscle groups and raising concerns, I have not seen anything that warrants any kind of serious thought with regard to this. I will say that the champ is not engaging the critics very aggressively. He is brushing them off and his video response didn’t sit well with many. The fact is, his almost nonchalant reaction has caused more people to doubt in him than believe him. But that’s the world of public opinion for you.
It was rumored for years that Rich Piana, the late great social media influencer that we all loved dearly, was using PMMA, various S.E.O.’s, and other types of agents. I will tell you that as much as I loved and respected Rich, his physique did not look anything like Derek’s. Nothing about Derek’s physique suggests to me that he is walking around with bone cement in his arms or in his pecs or in his delts. Nothing suggests that he is shooting up oil to make his muscles bigger than what they are. I think that if that were the case it would be a lot more obvious. But there is a glaring difference between site enhancing oils and PMMA.
I do believe that S.E.O.’s are prevalent at least with the top guys and have been prevalent for many years. Site enhancing oils have been a thing since the 90s – possibly even before that. And the idea is to use so little that it’s almost impossible to prove. The morons that we see on social media that are using kitchen oil and various types of alcohol and other homemade brews are not professional bodybuilders. They’re not even amateur bodybuilders. They’re not competing anywhere. And many of them look beyond comical at first sight. That being said, there are higher quality S.E.O.’s that I believe are more prevalent, but PMMA? I would be shocked if anyone at the Big 3 level were using it. Especially the top champion in the world. Whoever initially asked this question must have known that it would go viral because it is just so outrageous and so shocking that it goes hand-in-hand with the clickbait culture in which we find ourselves in.
It should also be noted that we are during a lull in the competitive season. I have often caught Flack for this but I have always believed that the period between the Mr. Olympia and the Arnold Classic is reserved for crickets. Nothing really happens, there are not any major shows taking place, and most of the bodybuilders are enjoying the holidays. With regards to the media side of things, they need something to report on. Whether it is factual news or created out of thin air. I’m not going to say that questions about Derek’s PMMA use are totally fabricated for content, but I will say that I personally do not believe that the champ is using bone cement. And I will also say that none of the pictures that I have seen suggest to me that he is using it, either. Nobody really knows. And nobody can actually make an assertion without factual data. The only way that I know would be an MRI. Even a lie detector wouldn’t give us the total truth because those tests can be beaten. It’s rare, but possible.
What this becomes is a talking point. The fact that Derek has addressed it – even just to brush it off – suggests that he can’t ignore it. The Federation is unlikely to say anything because I said I don’t think they have an actual position on PMMA and even if they did, I don’t know how they would be able to screen for it. It’s not going to show up on a urine test, it’s not going to show up on a blood test, it would almost have to require some sort of an MRI which is extremely expensive and nobody wants to foot the bill for that. Also medical insurance isn’t going to cover it because it’s not for medical purposes. It would be simply to compete on the bodybuilding stage. No insurance company is going to cover that. It’s not even cosmetic. It’s literally a hoop to jump through to compete in a sport that most mainstream people have no idea about. I mean body building is still a niche sport and it probably always will be.
And even if it wasn’t a niche sport, even if it was like major league football or basketball, why would an insurance company cover any portion of that? That would be private pay all the way. And could you imagine every competitor having to undergo that sort of rigmarole just to be able to compete and possibly earn $10,000? Because not every show pays half a million dollars or $750,000. So if they would have to screen for it at the Olympia or the Arnold they would have to screen for it for every professional show. And why stop there? They might also have to test for it at amateur shows. It’s just not plausible that this could ever be done. So really, Derek could lie, tell the truth, at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter. Nobody will know for sure either way.
To wrap things up, I’d like to ask you what you think. What do I think? I don’t know. I would like to think that this is bullshit, but ultimately, I don’t know. I appreciate you reading my article here, at IronMag. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. As always, I encourage you to copy and paste a link to this article for all your social media feeds. It is bound to generate lively conversation.
Author Bio:
Christian I. Duque is the owner StrengthAddicts.com, a physique and strength website founded in 2008. He has worked for a number of bodybuilding websites, including RX Muscle and Muscular Development. Christian has written nearly 1,000 published articles for Iron Magazine, as well as articles for StrengthAddicts, RX Muscle, and others. By day, he is also a licensed attorney practicing in the areas of family law, immigration, and criminal defense.
