It's a bit of both. Gear WILL get you there but you have to remember that it doesn't define your life. You define your life. You choose your training program, diet, recovery, relationships that affect your wellbeing (and therefore enhance or hinder progress), your mindset, your health and wellbeing etc. You are responsible for how you live your life, not the steroids you inject into your muscle. I've met lots of guys who on the surface seem to be doing really well but you stick around and you see they don't get past a particular point. They come off gear and they lose everything and then come back on and get to where they were before and don't go beyond it. That's when YOU are the weak link in the process. This is when all the gear in the world means nothing (except for wanting to destroy every person of the opposite/same sex you see walk by that tickles your fancy).
Then you see those guys (and girls) that transform everytime you see them. Whether it's 2.5kg on the bench press more than a month ago. Or you take a break from a certain gym and come back a year down the line and the guy who was strong back then is now unrecognizable, and in a good way. That's when it's more than the gear you are taking but again, it also IS because of the gear too. The gear is an accessory. It's YOU who is the core package. That's why I agree when people say they work harder than others, especially when it's proven with what they can and already have achieved. It's the person consistent with their training who always comes out above the rest. That's when it's true in what they say and it's something you can be inspired to implement into your life too. I've met lots of people over the years in my training who do things better than me, some on gear and some not, either way what they do is better because they truly do work on it. I once trained with a semi-pro footballer who very nearly made it pro but due for being injury prone missed the cut. He was the most physically fit and strong guy I've met in a long time. Capable of running well beyond average runners while also having impeccable speed, power and agility (his football training career coming into play) and all the while he was jacked like a bodybuilder and capable of going beyond 100kg on the bench press with ease. All while also being able to destroy most people both on the field and off the field.
That's when hard work is the foundations of someones achievement, not the gear. You can't inject success and achievement. Sure, you can blow up on gear by doing less than those not enhanced but how far can you take it? Are you still at the top of your training potential a year down the line? Two? Five? Are you still making the same gains? Are you still shocking your friends and turning heads at the gym? Is your mindset still driving you forward? The proof is in the pudding and you'll find there are lots of people around who will make those who doubt their hard work due to how easy it was for them to progress while taking gear well aware of the difference between using PEDs and genuinely being a product of all the hard work, committment, passion, dedication and drive. It's only then you will understand there is a difference between the two.
