Calum Von Moger is an Australian bodybuilder which having the nickname: Arnold 2.0 and that’s because this dude is looking very and very similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger, so many call him Arnie’s clone. I can’t say that those people are wrong because the photo I have shared above does prove it to be true. In addition to his very similar look-alike to Arnie, he is also having a very similar voice/ accent to the one in the Terminator and that’s mostly because of his Australian heritage. In fact, this dude is looking so similar to Arnie that he has even got cast as Arnold Schwarzenegger in George Gallo’s Bigger. In addition to that, like Arnold, Calum is trying to keep the classic bodybuilding look where the bodybuilder is having the huge upper body mass, a tiny waist and balanced proportions. That’s pretty different from the nowadays bodybuilders to my opinion and that’s because the monsters of today don’t have the tiny waist anymore, instead they look so big as if they are pregnant women with huge muscles.
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Old School Bodybuilding
Calum Van Moger is pretty famous as he has also won the Mr Universe competition which is a title that Arnie also won back in his days (as much as we can see, there are more and more similarities between the 2). Generally, we can notice that Calum is being passionate by the old school bodybuilding philosophy which seems to be very different from what it looks like today as the nowadays philosophy mostly seems to be “bigger is always better” while it doesn’t seem to be so for Calum Van Moger. Calum never competed for the Mr Olympia and there’s something that tells me that’s because of his philosophy.
Plus, although not a Mr Olympia participant, this guy still got a really big number of fans. Since he is a famous bodybuilder, youtuber and actor, this guy is very famous having over 2 million of fans on his Facebook page alone and nearly 3 million of followers on Instagram. That’s a huge number, in fact, this is more fans than any Mr Olympia contestant excluding Kai Greene and Phil Heath. But as said, Calum never competed with these guys, he would need to gain approximately 70 lbs or so in order to compare him to monsters like Phil and Kai, but because of his philosophy he doesn’t seem to want doing it. plus to that, Calum said that has never been interested in competing in the IFBB.
Although Calum tries to keep his natural look it doesn’t actually mean that he is natural that’s why, although he is not as huge as the nowadays monsters, there are still a lot of people who speculate if he is natural or not. What do you think? Is Calum Von Moger a guy who has the world class genetic and along with hard work he managed to get this physique being all natural? Or this guy is taking steroids in order to become Arnold 2.0? Based on evidences, I am going to try to answer these questions and make a good conclusion. Until then, let’s take a look at his stats: Calum Von Moger is 28 years old (Born June 1990) with a height of 6 ft 2(187 -188 cm) and a weight of 235 lbs (on season) – 260 lbs (off season) which is anywhere between 106 and 117 kg with a measure of 21” at arms.
Gains Timeline
One of the very best methods to determine if a person is taking steroids or not is to check their gains timeline (of course, except for actually drug testing them). Checking the gains timeline we often can determine if the person is using anything or has ever used at any point in their life. This is usually discovered if that person had a sudden huge gain in muscle mass out of nowhere after they have plateaued from newbie gains. Let’s check what the gains timeline looks like for Calum.
According to the information that I have managed to find while doing research for this article, I managed to find info stating that Calum started to lift weights when he was 14 years old only, in 2004. He has added a progress pic on his Facebook with him in 2008 and 2013. The progress is very easily noticed.
As much as we can see, he has got HUGE in these 5 years as he has blown up quite a lot to my opinion.
But as said, we do know very well that natural bodybuilders who are having world class genetics are blowing up really really fast when they are firstly starting to lift off weights but after that, they cannot grow in size any more. The gains are still possible, but they are very little and over a big period of time. That’s why they gain as newbies and then they stay pretty much in the same size.
As much as we can see in the “before” photo, Calum has already been big, and that’s because it was taken in 2008 which means that he have been lifting weights consistently for 4 years in the end it means that this progress Calum had between 2008 and 2013 isn’t thanks to the newbie gains which he would have already experienced by 2008 if he have lifted weights for 4 years.
As much as we can see, Calum’s gains doesn’t sound to be very natural or at least I can’t explain how a natural guy could lift weights for 4 years and keep on growing huge further. But there are other things that we can talk about and it includes the steroidal symptoms or body composition.
Excessive Vascularity
To my opinion, one of the very first thing that you notice about Calum when checking his photos is the fact that he is HUGE and that he is having excessive vascularity. I doubt that you need to be an expert in order to notice it. just browse through some photos of Calum on his Instagram or Facebook account and you are going to realize that this guy has some really big vascularity with veins that can be very easily noticed on his entire body, veins looking as if they are going to blow that are spiraling through his chest, biceps, legs, delts and so on and so forth.
The excessive vascularity is something that can be addressed to a natural bodybuilder as well, but that’s very often a steroid side effect. It is possible to get the vascularity without steroid but often juicers are having this side effect and that’s because the steroids are causing your skin to get thinner. Plus, this excessive vascularity might be addressed to someone who are in their age, but Calum doesn’t even have 30s. The excessive vascularity is specific for someone older because as we age, we produce less collagen which results in less skin covering the body – hence more vascularity.
Red/ Flushed Skin
Except for the fact that excessive vascularity is a sign of using steroids, the red/ flushed skin is another sign of taking steroids. it is obvious that people are getting a pinkish/ red skin color when their blood are spiked up by doing some hard working. However, there are many of Calum’s photos which you can check, then again, anywhere online, when he is seen having a red / flushed color to his skin. Usually, steroid users are seen with this color to their skin when not even working out. The anabolic steroids are increasing the blood pressure even more than normal and that’s because it raises your temperature. The body increases the blood pressure trying to cool it down. This red appearance is being caused due to the fact that the persons blood vessels are getting dilated and this is allowing more warm blood to the surface of the skin, hence the person is getting more red than usual. Our body is doing it due to the fact that it prevents the overheating by doing all of that. It mostly prevents the internal organs from overheating and that’s how the excess heat is possible to be lost in the air (as it is being located closer to the surface).
Here’s a photo below with Calum with both side effects being shown extremely well.
So, what’s the conclusion?
With all of this being said – is Calum Von Moger on Steroids or not? it does seem so, based on all the evidence that I have managed to find of his gains timeline and body composition (side effects), it does seem that he has been taking steroids. and checking his gains and side effects I think that the possible steroids stack he had are: dianabol and testosterone. Dianabol and testosterone are some bulking compounds that are being used to get huge, pretty much as Calum is. But I am pretty sure that he is very likely to take these steroids at some very low doses (especially dianabol) in order to avoid the excess bloating and the water retention side effect.
Later Update: Calum actually Admins to Take Steroids
Calum Von Moger in an early interview has confirmed that my conclusion is correct – he does take steroids, he has publicly admitted to take them. Calum has been at a bodybuilding expo where he has been openly talking about his steroid use where people out there were brave enough in order to ask him this question. And I do respect Calum for being honest and admitting that he does take them, especially because he has done it in a closed circle.
By talking about steroids publicly he still admitted doing it, but in another way. He has done a video interview with Generation Iron, there he has been asked what does he think about the steroids. in that video he has claimed that he has only started to be juicing up after his first bodybuilding show (which is Junior Mr Universe). As he has mentioned, the reason that he has started to use them is that this way he could be competing in the senior Mr Universe Division, which as much as it it seems, it would have been near to impossible if he would have had remained all natural.
In the video, you can hear the Calum’s words, but the part I loved the most is this: “I never claim natural and I never den that I took them (talking about steroids), I just don’t talk about it publicly because it’s something that I don’t want to promote”. He has all my respect. He did admitted that he takes them in a closed circle and he never lied publicly that he never touched them as many bodybuilders are known to do – he just doesn’t want to promote them as it seems he knows this is a taboo topic and that steroids can be dangerous if not properly used. Here is the video below where you can see Calum admitting to take steroids:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=372&v=WxvzX8hiCDM
I have started to check his older photos and taking a look at what Calum has been looking like in the Junior Mr Universe competition (where this guy has been all natural by that moment, from his words and from as much as it seems), it is pretty fair to mention the fact that he has already been huge even before he has ever started to take steroids. nonetheless, he got much bigger. This is what he has been looking like before he’s ever been natural.
Pretty much as I already noticed it when checking Calum’s gains timeline – as I said, you can’t lift weights for 4 years and get jacked, then lift weights for 5 more years and continue growing as if you never stop – without steroids.
That’s why, it is fair to say that his amazing look is a result of some incredible genetics and hard work, but his huge size and mass is a result of both incredible genetics and hard work but steroids as well.
So, we do know that Calum is taking steroids based on all the evidence that I have shared plus his own words. Nonetheless, many people may wonder: how is he able to keep a tiny waist and so little/ unnoticed side effects despite his taking steroids? that’s a question anyone would ask, of course. One of the very first thing that I need to mention here is that using anything (and I mean anything at all) you have to do it reasonably. Many people start “losing their heads” by taking a compound in an irrational way. But I also should mention here that the reason why Calum and many of the old school bodybuilders (such as Arnie, Franco, Zane and others) are looking so aesthetic and natural it is mostly thanks to the fact that they are not using human growth hormone along with insulin, which is a very famous compound that many prefer but it is also responsible for the “steroid guts” that many of them are having today. This is also known as the “ pregnant look”.
But the other reason is because even though Calum and other aesthetic bodybuilders are taking steroids, they are doing it responsible and knowledgeable – in low doses, in comparison to the modern IFBB pros which use huge doses trying to get their bodies huge. But as much as we know – taking huge doses of anything gives huge side effects. I think that not taking HGH along with insulin and using some steroids but in low doses are how Calum manages to keep his natural and aesthetic look and not get bloated like a hippo.
Tell us what do you think about Calum Van Moger? Do you share his bodybuilding philosophy or you would rather go for the “bigger is better”?
Random Fact about Calum Van Monger for those interested: Calum Von Moger’s net worth is rumored to be around $2 million.
Lots of thanks to the following sources:
https://www.instagram.com/calumvonmoger/?hl=en
https://fitnessonsteroids.com/category/bodybuilders/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calum_Von_Moger
https://wealthygorilla.com/richest-bodybuilders-world