Ryan Terry is an English bodybuilder, fitness model as well as Men’s Physique competitor who has been competing against some big names such as Steve Cook, Jeff Seid, Sadik Hadzovic as well as Jeremy Buendia on the Olympia stage. While competing there, he has placed number fourth in 2015 and second on 2016 very closely losing out to the dominant and champion of Men’s Physique – Jeremy Buendia.
According to the information that I managed to find out, Ryan Terry has always been athletic, he has always enjoyed gymnastics as well as swimming from a pretty young age. Even though he is having a generally sporty nature, Ryan has admitted that he has firstly started to lift off weights due to the fact that he was having confidence issues and so he tried to solve them. Will share the link to this information at the end of the article. Before Ryan has started to pursue a career in the bodybuilding, Ryan’s amazing physique has earned him a Mr Britain title as well as Mr International title too while successfully portraying an idealistic man in terms of physique. Here are Ryan Terry stats for those who are wondering: at a height of 5 ft 10 he was weighing 187 lbs (which is around 85 kg) and that’s all at the body fat of 5%.
Before checking any evidences if Ryan Terry is taking steroids or not, I decided to find out what his own words are about steroids but doing my research I found out that he is not addressing steroids on social media or anywhere else. In fact, he doesn’t say anything about steroids at all as he doesn’t claim to be natural and he also doesn’t deny using any steroids. By checking his own words, we can’t determine if he uses any steroids or not. Nonetheless, although Ryan does get a few accusations that he may be using steroids, there are only very few of them (I guess it is impossible to avoid them when you become a famous person). Generally, Ryan Terry it is by far not as scrutinized compared to some other bodybuilders out there or fitness models and I guess the reason of that is because he is having an all natural look to his muscles and we definitely can’t say that he is overdeveloped or has a physique that may indicate taking steroids, although he really looks amazing. But in the same time, let’s not forget that there are a lot of guys all around the worlds who are using steroids and yet, they are still not huge as Phil Heath is. That’s why, we started to research and try to determine if Ryan is using steroids.
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The Controversial Picture Ryan Terry Posted
As I said, there are very few accusations that Ryan got that he is using steroids. But yet, there are still people who accused him of doing so and this mostly happened after Ryan has posted a “controversial” photo. Most people pointed out to that transformation picture claiming that those are some unrealistic gains to achieve in such a short period of time unless you are juicing. The time difference is nearly a year while Ryan appears to be more jacked. Here’s the picture I am talking about:
So, as I said, those gains as much as it seems have more or less come in the space of only a year. By the research I’ve done I found out that Ryan has started to begin lifting weights at the age of only 14 years old and therefore, by the April 2013 it means that he would have already been 24 and this means that he has already been lifting weights for the last 10 years since Ryan Terry’s birth year is 1988. That’s why, in March 2014 it means he was lifting weights in his 11 year as a lifter. Yes, this does sound strange as an experienced bodybuilder (who is all natural) gaining that much size in only a year (after previous 10 years of lifting weights) is indeed unrealistic. Nonetheless, one thing that we should take in consideration is that in March 2014 photo is taken in the gym, therefore there’s a very good chance that Ryan has a pump in that pic, therefore it is making his muscles look much bigger. And if you do some research you are going to find out that the picture taken in April 2013 was while he was competing in the UKBFF, against his idol Rob Riches.
For those who are not familiar with their story: Rob Riches beat Ryan Terry for the first place in that competition, however he has later been stripped of his title because Rob has tested positive for a banned stimulant which Rob didn’t know about it in a pre workout. But not knowing he was taking a banned stimulant didn’t save him his place and that’s why, Ryan has become the national champion. Anyway, let’s go back to our topic:
Nattys that are dieting really hard in order to lose body fat for a competition/ show they are much more susceptible to lose the muscle mass and that’s because they are consuming lower calories than they normally should. In addition to that, they are able to appear flat too and that’s due to less glycogen and water in the muscles.
Where I am trying to go with all of this is: here is what Ryan Terry has been looking like several months before the picture taken in April 2013. A picture taken on 5th December 2012 of Ryan Terry:
In the end, what I am trying to say is: even though you can see that Ryan is in a different position, it is still very easy to notice that he is much more bigger in this photo which was taken several months BEFORE the April 2013 photo! It means that Ryan was bigger then he was smaller and then he was bigger again. That’s something very realistic for any natural bodybuilder.
With all of that being said, it is obvious that Ryan has lost some size in the build up to the UKBFF show and then later he has started to regain his normal muscle size / glycogen as soon as he has started to eat normal once again.
Another thing that I have realized which makes Ryan Terry very unlikely to have taken any steroids is that if he DID actually take any steroids for that transformation, then it simply wouldn’t be logical or make any sense and that’s because he wouldn’t had such a transformation from 2013 to 2014… he would have been a lot much more jacked in the photo of March 2014. As much as we can see from 2013 to 2014 photos, Ryan has put on around 5 to 10 lbs of lean muscle, but that’s not normal because taking steroids would make BLOW UP a lot much more with like 30 – 40 lbs. So, if Ryan would have taken steroids he would have put much more muscles.
Has Ryan ever been Drug Tested?
That’s really important when a competitor has ever passed a drug test and that’s something that definitely should be taken in consideration when talking about that person using steroids or not. So, talking about Ryan specifically then I can say that he has been tested in UKBFF competitions, however only after he has been coming off stage. That’s a drug test that I do not consider reliable or legitimate and that’s because such types of drug tests can easily be beaten up. The UKBFF, unfortunately, is not conducting any random drug tests (random drug tests throughout the year when athletes are not expecting them). So, when athletes are tested after the show it allows them to run whatever steroid anabolics they wish throughout the year and after that to stop in the time before a competition (the drug test). Therefore the steroids clear their system in time and that’s how they are “technically natty” passing the tests – although they may be using lots of steroids.
Ryan Terry also competed in IFBB as I earlier said but this federation do NOT test for steroids in any of their divisions. I doubt that this is a big surprise for any of you… unless you were thinking that Phil Heath or/ and Kai Greene were nattys. But I think it is quite obvious they are not.
Unfortunately, Ryan Terry never competed in those federations with rigorous drug tests such as polygraphs (lie detectors), urinalysis and blood tests throughout the year randomly so this makes it impossible for the competitors to take steroids and not be caught. This is the reason why we can’t find any evidence from Ryan’s competition history which could suggest that he is a natural or is taking steroids. With this being said, there are 2 other and last methods which usually help us in determining that a person is taking steroids or not: checking the person’s gains timeline and his steroid symptoms on the body.
Ryan’s Gains Timeline
This is against the best methods to determine if a person does use steroids or not and a method which giveaway a lot of bodybuilders who were juicing and claiming natty. As I earlier said, the fact he gained muscle size in a year as he posted earlier AFTER he plateaued long ago from newbie gains is something unrealistic. Unless he got smaller previous by dieting hard and eating less calories. So, to properly check Ryan’s gains timeline I had to search for photos of him when he was really young but unfortunately, I couldn’t find any of his photos from back then and when he never started to lift weights.
Even so, what I do know for sure is that Ryan is having quite a similar amount of muscle mass that he used to have compared to his beautiful pageant days. The only big difference is the fact that he has got much more shredded and this has appeared much more ripped and muscular. A person can have the same amount of lean muscle mass but appear much more muscular by getting more shredded. Now, with all of this being said, I know that some people may question: could he have been juicing BEFORE Mr International?
Yes, of course, there are chances, but I think that very unlikely. Why? Well, if Ryan would have juiced before becoming Mr International it would mean 2 things: first – he should have pretty weak genetics to look like that WITH steroids and second: he would have surely used some stuff once again when he decided to compete as a bodybuilder and fitness model where there are guys that are much bigger than him.
However, instead of that, Ryan is bulking in the off season and is putting on some of the extra fat in order to try and to build more muscles. For an experienced lifter that’s very hard, but at least a bit of gain is still possible. This is what made him be known as “Terry Bulk”.
That’s why, if he would have been taking steroids then he could very easily run some more cycles in order to gain size and he could do that very well without his body fat fluctuating that much. And although I could not find any photos of Ryan Terry from his younger years or back when he wasn’t lifting weights, all other details indicate that Ryan is natural.
Steroid Symptoms on Ryan’s Body
Usually, those people who are using steroids are getting side effects that are also known as steroid symptoms. Those symptoms can be very easily noticed on the juicer’s body because it is near to impossible avoiding getting those steroid symptoms. Most people juicing have at least a few side effects but most of them have multiple side effects. So, some of the most common side effects or symptoms that are associated with prolonger steroid use include: bad skin; gyno; balding; flushed skin; acne; androgen dominant muscle groups (androgenic muscle groups include: shoulders, delts); extreme vascularity and bloating (water retention). By checking Ryan’s body in different positions, different times in different photos and videos I couldn’t find any of the side effects that I have mentioned earlier. Especially impossible would be to keep small traps while using androgenic steroids but as much as we can see, Terry has small (natural) traps.
He should be EXTREMELY lucky to use steroids and not get any of the physical side effects that are visually noticed on his body. That’s near to impossible to my opinion.
My verdict is: Ryan Terry is a Natty
There are only a few accusations that Ryan Terry is using steroids and the reason is obvious – there’s very little which may indicate that he is using them. Nonetheless, there are still at least a few people who think he may be using steroids and that’s why I must say that this is a mistake. There is no evidence which could indicate that he is taking steroids and in fact, there is evidence showing he is natural (thanks to no steroid symptoms that can be seen on his body). With this being said:
Ryan’s muscle size is all thanks to have great genetics. Plus, by using steroids with great genetics would end up in Ryan getting a LOT much more bigger. Ryan did have made some small gains in the last few years which is normal for a natural bodybuilder because it is the result of a mild overeating that he is having during the winter period.
I honestly think that his big success he achieved in several competitions can be attributed to his competitive nature which he had in an early childhood where he has been competing in a lot of sports. Ryan Terry, although not having the best genetics out there, is still an amazing example of how much bigger you are able to look if you are going to get leaner. Not everyone can look like him because not everyone has his great genetics, but Ryan can still inspire lots of people around the world.
Ryan has went from 9% of body fat to 5% of body fat and if someone’s going to follow his example you are going to see that this is going to make an extremely huge difference in your physique. As much as I have noticed, if there’s someone who can get their body fat below 6% then your body is already going to be a “wow”.
If you still think that Ryan Terry took any steroids write in comments below the evidences proving it. Also, tell us what do you think about Ryan and if you aspire looking like him? Special thanks to the following sources which greatly helped me in writing this article:
http://www.simplyshredded.com/sstv-ryan-terry.htm
https://fitnessonsteroids.com/category/bodybuilders/
https://www.instagram.com/ryanjterry/?hl=en
http://www.mid-day.com/articles/want-a-body-like-star-bodybuilder-ryan-terry/15191070