# drug testing in powerlifting feds



## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

Hello one and all... At the risk of sounding like a blatant cheat I was wondering if someone could tell me what drugs you are tested for in the drug free feds... Is it just steroids... Or can they test you for GH and other peptides at the same time??? Also when and how does testing take place??? Thanx in advance for replies


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## nelly1972 (Jun 15, 2010)

Join a drug free fed, from what i hear testers can turn up at your gym/house and demand a urine sample..


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## Lukeg (Mar 6, 2011)

GH is hard to test for. it only shows up for 24 hours after its been taken.

i know with the BOA (british olympic association) they can turn up at your gym, work, house at any hour and you have to provide a sample, otherwise its a fail.


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

I'm only looking to enter small local meets surly it would be overkill to test all competitors???


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## NovemberDelta (Apr 17, 2011)

1982chris1982 said:



> I'm only looking to enter small local meets surly it would be overkill to test all competitors???


FFS if you are not natural why are you planning on competing against naturals? This makes me mad. Go and compete on a level playing field. Competing on peptides and HGH in a natty fed IS being a blatant cheat.


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

Yes I can certainly see your point niall01 and honestly carnt argue against it... But if you believe that everyone that enters a drug tested powerlifting/bodybuilding comp is going to be 100% drug free year round then I'm afraid your being a little naïve. Rightly or wrongly there's always going to be competitors that are going to seek that extra edge...is this person a cheat?..yes he is!...but the bottom line is he will probably escape detection and go on to win the comp!!! Is this unfair? Yes it is..but that's just the way the cookie crumbles!!!!

I can see your point though and it is certainly valid... I just have to make my mind up whether I can truly justify it in my own mind or whether I should just do the good honest thing and enter the correct fed... Thanx fr the food fr thought


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## NovemberDelta (Apr 17, 2011)

1982chris1982 said:


> Yes I can certainly see your point niall01 and honestly carnt argue against it... *But if you believe that everyone that enters a drug tested powerlifting/bodybuilding comp is going to be 100% drug free year round then I'm afraid your being a little naïve*. Rightly or wrongly there's always going to be competitors that are going to seek that extra edge...is this person a cheat?..yes he is!...but the bottom line is he will probably escape detection and go on to win the comp!!! Is this unfair? Yes it is..but that's just the way the cookie crumbles!!!!
> 
> I can see your point though and it is certainly valid... I just have to make my mind up whether I can truly justify it in my own mind or whether I should just do the good honest thing and enter the correct fed... Thanx fr the food fr thought


I don't believe that for one minute. Of course people cheat.

"Seeking an edge" by taking drugs in a tested fed is wrong, there can be no debate about it. What gets me is it isn't like you can't compete in your sport AND take drugs, just do it fairly.

But let me ask you this - would you feel satisfied beating a bunch of natural trainers if you were not natural? Do you really feel that would be an achievement? There are plenty of untested feds out there where you can compete against people with all the advantages you have.


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

That is a good question niall and you are right, at the end of the day even I can see that its pointless winning if I have the niggling little voice in my head saying.. U only won because you cheated...there is defiantly food for thought there m8..thanx!!! I supose ill just have to work on my lifts a little bit more to be able to compete in the untested feds


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## kingdale (Nov 2, 2010)

i think id compete well was on cycle in tested cos if you can get away with it chances are most of the people there are doing same


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

kingdale said:


> i think id compete well was on cycle in tested cos if you can get away with it chances are most of the people there are doing same


That was my initial out look m8...but upon having my ear bent a little  I can see tht it is morally wrong despite getting away with it... I personally just wanted to compete asap and made the presumption that the totals in a tested fed are going to be substantially lower thn tht of an untested fed... I suppose what it essentially comes down to is if somthing is really worth doing in life thn its worth doing correctly!!! I've got a good 15-20 years of lifting left in me so plenty of room for improvement


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## Wardy211436114751 (Jan 24, 2011)

I actually think there are enough untested fed/comps around for pretty much everyone who using to go for as there are les tested feds/comps for the people who dont use. I for one am entering my first comp drug-free at the end of the month and I've not used anything so why should you think everyone else is using...


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

Wardy21 said:


> I actually think there are enough untested fed/comps around for pretty much everyone who using to go for as there are les tested feds/comps for the people who dont use. I for one am entering my first comp drug-free at the end of the month and I've not used anything so why should you think everyone else is using...


 I never meant it to come across that every participant is secretly hammering the gear m8 and I apologise if that is the way that it came across to you... What I infact meant was a lot of powerlifters/bodybuilders especially those at the higher more competitive level will claim to be natural when infact they are using everything in the muscle enhancing/diet meds ****nal possible to get them into peak condition for the comp ahead of them the only difference being they are spot on with timing the esters to be cleared b4 the big day...you might not of been using anything to help u along but dnt fr 1 minute think that will be the case fr every competitor there that day and therefore u MAY be at a disadvantage from the word go!!!! Like I've said though the higher the level of competition the higher the chance of substance use...!!!!


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## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

my first thought was that if your on the gear go into an untested fed simple .

however if you honestly think being on gear and beating natty guys is a worthy achievement and one to be proud of then i hope you can live with yourself .

yes some guys might be taking the edge like you are willing to but its not something to be proud of , entering a comp and winning as a natty then finding out 50% of the guys were taking gear would be a great achievement one you could be proud of .

or you could tak all the gear you want and go into an untested fed and smashing up the other guys that also take it .

all i know is that if you won a trophy by cheating that trophy will shake its head and boo you every time you go near it .


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

I completely agree with you uhan fairs fair at the end of the day... like I've said above I'm just going to work on my lifts and hopefully one day win something that I can be proud off and win if fair n square...on reflection I feel some what ashamed of my opening post now  but u live n learn aye m8!!! I've just got this little day dream in me head of wining and me missus n kids are all sat proud clapping as I'm rewarded the trophy...I'm willing to put in the effort for that one moment so hopefully one day it will pay of


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## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

1982chris1982 said:


> I completely agree with you uhan fairs fair at the end of the day... like I've said above I'm just going to work on my lifts and hopefully one day win something that I can be proud off and win if fair n square...on reflection I feel some what ashamed of my opening post now  but u live n learn aye m8!!! I've just got this little day dream in me head of wining and me missus n kids are all sat proud clapping as I'm rewarded the trophy...I'm willing to put in the effort for that one moment so hopefully one day it will pay of


post up your lifts so far and your routine also diet if you can , you might aswell get it down now so tomorrow you can sweat .


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

My dead lift was 190 last attempt hopefully about 195 now!

My squat 180 and again I'm hoping fr 185 in the next couple of days!

And bench 150 last 1rm hoping fr 155!

Bearing in mind Ive made all these lifts on different dayz and have never hit all 3 lifts on the same day..!!!

My routine is some wat unorthodox but I am gaining every session so I will maintain until gains stall and it is as follow;

Day1 BENCH warm up sets thn 5X5 bench press adding 1kg every session

Day2 DEADLIFT now I will start with a 5rep max first session 4rep max 2nd session 3rep max 4th session, 4rep max 5th session, 5rep max 6 session, then attempt new 1rep max. then I will start again with 5rep max adding 1-2kg, thn next session add 1-2kg to my 4rep max n so on so forth...I will do warm up sets b4 all rep maxes

DAY3 day of!

DAY4 SQUAT warm up sets thn 5X5 squat adding 1kg to every session

DAY5 over head standing shoulder press warm up sets thn 5X5 adding O.5 to 1kg every session!

DAY6 day of thn repeat from day 1....!

Now I know I will get flamed for tht routine but after a little trial and error it defiantly with out doubt is working for me at this moment in time so I will continue with it till gains come to a halt...I defiantly respond better to low volume high intensity workouts on a more regular workout!!!

As for diet I'm not ashamed to say I could never nail the pro bodybuilders diet (let's face it if it was that easy we would all be pro's) but I do have a healthy diet which I believe is completely adequate for me


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## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

lol i like your honesty .

routine does have couple flaws but suits you best as ive seen to many guys folloing bodybuilding splits but meant to be powerlifting .

things i would change .. do 6 week cycles of the above then a DE (dynamic effort-speed) week then back on to your routine also hit your core 2x week planks and stuff and make a point of stretching .

as for diet as long as your under your weight limit who cares 

btw what is your bw ?


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

Cheers m8 no point in dressing things up as something there not  ... Iv been reading a lot of sh1t on westside barbell of l8 and thy interchange max effort days with dynamic effort days...I will defo be interchanging the two when my gains halt but can't see the point at the moment as like I've said I'm adding to my lifts week in week out albeit probably not the most effective method but I am happy with the gains and the short intense workouts suit me down to the ground as I have a busy lifestyle...as for body weight I have some mad complex (probably from being called a skinny cvnt through my skool years) but my dilemma is this if I drop my bodyfat below a certain level I get a really skinny face which I h8 cos it makes me look like some sort of crackhead... In other words I'm more thn happy carrying abit of fat as long as I keep it some what under control... My bodyfat last time I used the machine at boots was 17 per cent...which I'm happy with to be honest


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## MRSTRONG (Apr 18, 2009)

so what is your bodyweight ?


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

Around 100kg'ish mate at the moment


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

Mullet power: John Inzer deadlifts 780 lbs. at 165 lbs. bodyweight. (Photo: Powerlifting USA)

Pavel Tsatsouline, former Soviet Special Forces physical training instructor, has made a name for himself in the world of strength.

He wrote the below article, outlining the simple routine of Russian Master of Sports, Alexander Faleev, for Built magazine, which folded before publication. Pavel contacted me to publish the piece here, and I am pleased to offer it to you as an exclusive.

Though I often suggest training to failure for maximal size gains (see "Geek to Freak: How I Gained 34 lbs. in 4 Weeks"), the pre-failure approach detailed here is excellent for maximal strength development, and the repetitions can be further reduced for relative strength (per-lb. bodyweight) development.

Enter Pavel&#8230;

Total read time: 12 minutes.

Read time for routine only: 7 minutes.

Pavel:

I have read a book that has made an impression: The 4-Hour Workweek by Timothy Ferriss.

The 4-Hour Workweek is not a dubious get-rich-quick scheme but a guide to ultimate productivity through ruthless elimination of non-essentials. "Doing less meaningless work, so that you can focus on things of greater personal importance, is NOT laziness," states the author. "This is hard to accept, because our culture tends to reward personal sacrifice instead of personal productivity. Few people choose to (or are able to) measure the results of their actions and thus measure their contribution in time."

It is no surprise that Russia has borne a number of Ferriss-type strength and muscle building programs, mercilessly eliminating the non-essentials and delivering extraordinary gains. One is Alexander Faleev's system that has gained many followers among Russian muscle heads in the last four years.

Comrade Faleev dabbled with powerlifting for seven or eight years, then took a few years off. He poured over years of his training logs looking for what worked and came back to the barbell with a vengeance. In just six months, he reached the coveted Master of Sports level in powerlifting.

Faleev has summed up his approach as "Nothing extra!" In one sentence, it is about doing only four things: the squat, the bench, the deadlift, and competing regularly. That's it.

The system the Russian had developed for his strength and size breakthrough could have come out of The 4-Hour Workweek. Among Tim Ferriss' tools for getting the most out of life is Pareto's law. The essence of the law is that 80% of all results come from 20% of the efforts. Applied to muscle and strength, it means, if most gains will come from the three powerlifts, why waste your time and energy on curls and close-grip benches?

Before I will move on to the nuts and bolts of the training regimen I will address your objections. I can read your mind: "But I am not a powerlifter, and I don't want to look like one!"

The sport of powerlifting (PL) has an unfair image of refrigerator-sized men whose faces turn red from blood pressure when they bend over to tie their shoes - or rather try to bend over and get stopped by an enormous "uni-ab". To say that all PLers look like that is akin to stating that all runners are thin and wiry.

Look at photos of powerlifters in lighter weight classes. They are as hard as a rock, and many are ripped - without curls and cable crossovers. Take Texan John Inzer who held the world record in the deadlift for years, 780 pounds at 165 pounds of bodyweight or Ukrainian Oleksandr Kutcher, who recently beat that record with 793 pounds. These guys look more like gymnasts than refrigerators.

Tim: Oleksandr Kutcher pulls a light 694 lbs. and then needs chamomile tea.

Faleev's 80/20 Routine

5 x 5 Progression:

For beginners, Faleev offers a straightforward progressive overload workout with 5 sets of 8 reps. Eventually you are supposed to advance to 5 x 5. In my opinion, you should go straight to 5 x 5. Sets of five are the meat and potatoes of strength training.

Start with a conservative weight. If you manage five reps in all five sets, next time add 10 pounds and start over. Not 5 pounds, and definitely not 2, but 10. For reasons that are outside of the scope of this article, Malibu Ken and Barbie jumps with tiny plates are a waste of time.

Most likely you will not bag all the fives on your first workout with the new weight. Perhaps you will get 5, 5, 5, 4, 3. No problem, stay with the poundage until you get all 5×5. Your second workout might be 5, 5, 5, 5, 4, and your third of fourth should get you to 5 x 5. Slap on another pair of "nickels" (5-lb. plates) and work your way up to 5 x 5 again. According to Faleev, the above progression will add 110-175 pounds to your max in each of the three powerlifts in one year, provided you are fairly new to the game.

Deadlift 1x per week; Squat and Bench 2x per week

You will be deadlifting once a week and squatting and benching twice a week, once heavy and once light for the latter two. Your light days are for honing technique, not for burning out your muscles with high reps. Do 5 sets of 4 reps (5 x 4) with weights that are 80% of the heavy day's. For instance, if you did 5 x 5 with 200 on your heavy day, stay with 160 for 5 x 4 on your light day. That's it! The key to the program's success is in doing less.

The Russian recommends the following schedule:

Monday -heavy squat (SQ)

Tuesday -heavy benchpress (BP)

Wednesday -heavy deadlift (DL)

Thursday - light SQ

Friday -light BP

Saturday -off

Sunday -off

If training five days is not an option, four will do:

Monday -heavy SQ

Tuesday -heavy BP

Wednesday -heavy DL

Thursday -off

Friday - light SQ, light BP

Saturday -off

Sunday -off

Not ideal, but if you have to cram your training into three days:

Monday - heavy SQ

Tuesday -off

Wednesday -heavy BP, light SQ

Thursday - off

Friday - heavy DL, light BP

Saturday - off

Sunday - off

Failure and Rest Intervals

Never train to failure! Don't attempt a rep unless you are 100% sure you will make it. Ideally, keep one extra rep in the bank. "Save your strength for the next set," insists Faleev.

Don't get greedy.

Practice one lift per workout, stretch, and get out. Faleev stresses that you must wrap up each strength workout with static stretches. "The benefits of stretching are enormous. Stretching can increase your strength by 10%. It is a lot." The man explains that "when you lift a weight your muscles contract. And after the workout the muscles remain contracted for some time. The following restoration of the muscles' length is what recovery is. Until the muscle has restored its length, it has not recovered. Hence he who does not stretch his muscles slows down the recuperation process and retards his gains." Besides, tension and relaxation are the two sides of the same coin, "if the muscle forgets how to lengthen, it will contract more poorly. And that is stagnation of strength."

Don't rush your sets.

Do a couple warm-up sets if you must, then feel free to take 5 min. and even more between your work sets. Top power dogs take longer; 30 min. is not unheard of. Power loves rest and does not tolerate rushing. You may feel that you are completely recovered in 2 min. but take a full 5 anyway. According to Faleev, an hour is a good number to shoot for in your workout length.

Balanced Development: Biceps and Other Decorations

One common objection is: "But I will not get a balanced development if do only three exercises! What about my biceps and my&#8230;?!"

Faleev sticks to his guns: "For a sharp increase in muscle mass and [strength] results you must do only three exercises: the bench press, the squat, and the deadlift&#8230; when you deadlift a 550-pound barbell think what kind of a huge load is born by your biceps, shoulders, traps, and even neck&#8230; When you squat with a 550-pound barbell, think about the high pressure the athlete's abdomen must withstand. An athlete lifting such weights cannot have weak abs by definition -the midsection is strengthened in the process of training the squat. If you bench 330, the muscles of your arms, chest, and the front delts will be so developed, than any bodybuilder will be envious. One must add an interesting detail-in the bench press it is very important to learn to use the lats when starting the bar off the chest. Perhaps someone will think of this as a paradox but the bench press develops the back as well, especially the lats." Faleev states than the above numbers, a 550-pound squat and deadlift and a 330-pound bench, are "more than achievable" if you focus on these exercises and practice them for years.

And if you have not felt your abs when squatting, it only means you have not squatted heavy enough. "Bodybuilding is a strength sport. Don't forget it," admonishes Faleev.

The only legit reason for additional exercises is correction of a dysfunction or imbalance that puts your health at risk. An example would be a pronounced discrepancy in the hamstrings' flexibility, your knees caving in when you land after a jump, or the failure to activate your butt muscles or "gluteal amnesia". But diagnosis and correction of such problems is not something you can do on your own or even under the guidance or a personal trainer; you need a specially trained health professional. I suggest that you find one through Gray Cook's website. Cook is the country's premier sports physical therapist; in the last Super Bowl both teams were his clients. Get a tune-up from a professional on his team so you can safely focus on the basics and not do stupid things like extra leg curls "to balance out my quads".

But back to our basics.

Faleev stresses that additional exercises are worse than worthless -- they are harmful because they drain valuable energy that your body could have directed towards spectacular gains in the big three. "&#8230;get rid of the excesses and just do what is necessary&#8230; When you give up the secondary exercises, you will feel that you are not training enough. You will be leaving the gym totally fresh. This is it, the energy for an increase in the load in the basic lifts. This reserve is what will enable you to 'shoot out of the gate'!"

The above point cannot be emphasized enough; curls, calf raises, and other miscellaneous non-sense may not feel hard but they drain your adaptive energy!

The Fourth Element: Competition and Parkinson's Law

Focus on the lifts that matter is half of Faleev's power and muscle equation. Regularly competing in sanctioned power meets is the other half. Faleev observes that with a powerlifting meet date looming on the calendar, many an athlete have accomplished more in six months than others have in many years.

In The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss echoes him when he makes use of the Parkinson's law to get results faster.

According to this law, a task will take as much time as you will allot for it. In other words, you will shine under the pressure of an ambitious deadline. Applied to iron, it means compete, and often! You will be forced to focus on what matters - your squat, your bench, your deadlift -- rather than fool around with what former Coach Powerlifting Team USA Mark Reifkind calls "random acts of variety". Subscribe to Powerlifting USA magazine on Amazon. Find a meet near you three months away, and go for it! Look for "raw" meets that require that you compete without special squat suits, bench shirts, etc. AAU is one of the federations that hosts raw meets.

As the meet approaches, cut back from 5 x 5 to 4 x 4, 3 x 3, and finally, a couple of weeks before the competition, 2 x 2. Up the poundages accordingly. After the meet, take a week off, then start over with 5 x 5.

Faleev stresses that maxing in the gym is dangerous. Maxing out tests your strength but does not build it. A max workout in the gym amounts to missing a productive 5 x 5 day that you will never get back.

Tim: 5 x 5 isn't just for beginners: Johnnie Jackson, one of the few champions in both powerlifting and bodybuilding, demonstrates the deadlift. I suggest not slamming the plates. Touch the plates to the floor as if a baby were sleeping in the room.

Faleev offers a formula that will help you estimate your max from your 5 x 5: multiply that weight by 1.2. This is not exact science, but it is much better than those ridiculous charts that claim to calculate your 1 rep max (1RM) from your 10RM.

Just decide what you want: The process of enjoying the pump, the burn, and the variety of exercises? Or muscles and power?

Faleev's secret of success is so simple, it is easy to ignore: practice nothing but the powerlifts and compete regularly. Period. The Russian muscle man walks into the gym, trains one lift, spends a few minutes stretching, and hits the showers. Done!

Since he dropped all the assistance exercises his progress has been nothing but spectacular. Ironically, his gym buddies who sweat for hours wasting time on meaningless exercises consider him a slacker. He does not care, the wily Russkie has the last laugh with his strength and his mass.

# # #

About the author:

Pavel Tsatsouline is a former Soviet Special Forces physical training instructor, currently a subject matter expert to the US Secret Service, the US Marine Corps, and the US Navy SEALs. Pavel's bestselling book Power to the People!: Russian Strength Training Secrets has been published in the US and Russia.


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

All though the routine is different I feel that the above article supports my training methods to some degree... In general outline it states that training little more often as a greater more profound result then training with high volume doing endless assistance exercises where powerlifting is concerned (although I might add I think if somebody has a sticking point in there lift thn it would be appropriate to pay the troubled portion of the lift more time n energy)!!! What is everyone's opinions on the article who agrees and who thinks its aload of sh1t?? Opinions and reasoning would be gratefully received


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## Greyphantom (Oct 23, 2003)

I follow something close to his thoughts on training... actually using a method that is developed by another Russian Prilepin... I train 3 days... Mon, Wed Fri... Mon is ME Squat, DE deads with pulldowns and curls... Wed is ME Bench DE Squats and rows and dislocations... Fri is ME Deads SE Bench and clean & press and Dips... I have recently started using this method and changed from the madcow 5x5 style that worked very well indeed... its working great and allows for eough recovery that I can still train hard and progress... my philosophy is that if it works do it till it stops working then change...


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## 1982chris1982 (Jan 18, 2011)

What are dislocations grey phantom???


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## Greyphantom (Oct 23, 2003)

hold a towel (or bar but my shoulder mobility hasnt been good enough yet) between your hands so its straight then lift it over your head to your back (basically balls to bum) and this really gives your shoulders a good stretching...


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## thetong6969 (Nov 23, 2008)

i competed in natural powerlfiting about 10 years ago and won 4 1 open 2 titles just manchester and district and lancashire and cheshire,the latter i'm pretty sure the lad was using anyway he bombed out so i won

other time was a group effort

i was tested 3 times one of which i'd just been bog as he turned up he waited 3 hrs for the test lol

i know they were strict on caffeine and alcahol also that was one cup of coffee wasn't allowed


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