I recently had a chance to sit down with Steve Horwitz, Chiropractor, Powerlifter, and Bodybuilder and talk about himself, his accomplishments and his views on drugs. Steve is originally from Brooklyn, NY. He grew up in Northern New Jersey, and currently resides in Montgomery County Maryland. While growing up Steve's parents told him that they wanted him to get into medicine and he told his parents to look into it. He really didn't know what he was going to do. He thought about going to Law School as History major. Then he changed his mind and didn't want to do that. His parents were looking through a book for every profession known to man and Chiropractics looked interesting so he looked into it. Steve has been a Chiropractor for 15 years.

As a very highly esteemed Chiropractor, Steve had the opportunity to work with the 1996 United States Olympic team in Atlanta, Georgia. The U.S. Olympic team has a program called the Volunteer Sports Medicine program. Steve was working with George Mason University at the time, mostly with their track and field program but eventually he worked most of the athletes of all sports. He decided to send an application in to the Olympic Committee in 1992 and then in 1994. He got invited to go out to the Olympic Training Center and there he spent two weeks and there he was evaluated. If they like what you do, they invite you back, so in 1995, Steve was invited to perform his services at the United States Olympic Festival. In 1996, he was the team Chiropractor for the US Olympic team in Atlanta, GA.

Steve was very proud and excited to talk about this one time opportunity. He said that one of his most exciting memories of the 1996 Olympics Games was walking in the opening ceremony. He said that it was absolutely incredible and that most exciting and memorable thing about the games was the opportunities that he had to meet the different athletes he treated. He treated the high profile athletes and that is what people like to hear about, but he said that it's really the people like the Judo athletes, table tennis participants, or the weight lifters for instance, that you never hear about that was most exciting to him.

Steve didn't get started in weightlifting until college when he was about 20 years old, so he's been training for about 20 years. When he was in chiropractor school, there were a lot of really good weightlifters. As a matter of fact he went to Chiropractor school with Tom Deters, Editor and Chief of Muscle and Fitness magazine, so he was surrounded by a lot of really good weightlifters. He did powerlifting and enjoyed it, but he was really discouraged when he went to an ADFPA meet and a guy was totaling about 1700. This guy was supposed to be in the 198 pound class and was supposed to be drug free. He just didn't believe it. He just didn't believe that a lot of these guys were drug free and again, it was just kind of disappointing for him. That's when he decided to make the switch to bodybuilding. At the time he felt that he had good genetics, thankfully for bodybuilding, so he switched to bodybuilding and ended up doing very well.

Steve competed in two bodybuilding competitions. One of these was the Mr. Chicagoland, where he took 5^th in his height class. That was a big contest and there were over 15 guys in his class. In the AAU at the time competitors competed in height classes. In 1986, he did the Collegiate Mr. America AAU, and he won his height class, but the fellow that won the overall title was Billy Norberg, who went on to become Mr. America. Steve said that he was a monster.

Steve said that he hasn't competed in a while but that he could cut up more easily now, all drug free. Steve actually has trouble gaining weight and he never gets fat. At 41, he said that he could still stay very lean, meaning well under 10% body fat all the time. He said that if he were to compete in bodybuilding again, that he would do it very differently than he had done before. During the first go round, he didn't focus enough on the posing. As far as the nutritional aspects go, he doesn't think that it's exactly super difficult.

When asked about diet and nutrition, Mr. Horwitz said, "You just have to be very careful to eliminate all the really bad fats, not all fats. I don't buy removing all fat, but if you're eating lots of saturated fats or lots of trans fatty acids, that's no good. Obviously I don't believe in the super carbohydrate restriction. It's the type of carbohydrates that you eat. The glycemic index is an index where the baseline is 100. It tells you how quickly different foods cause insulin to kick out and remove the blood sugar. So foods that are highly rated on the glycemic index or those with a high number cause insulin to kick out very quickly. That means that if you eat a lot of those foods that means that your blood sugar levels are going and down like a big sign wave all day long. You want to keep your blood sugar levels at an even keel all day long."

He competed in his first powerlifting competition in 1984, which was the Badger State Open in Shyboygen, Wisconsin. Steve hasn't done that many powerlifting competitions. When he was younger he competed in the United States Powerlifting Federation (USPF) and the American Drug Free Powerlifting Association (ADFPA) in late 1984. He then switched gears and did two AAU bodybuilding shows in 1985. In 1986, he won his class in the AAU Collegiate America competition. Then he had a long lay off and he didn't compete again until 1999. He started competing in powerlifting once again with the AAU and then competed in a new "Raw" Organization at the 100% Raw World Championships in December of 2000.

In his comeback, Steve has made great strides. His best lifts in competition were accomplished in his last meet in December 2000. This was a major accomplishment because it was the Raw World Championships. Raw lifting takes on a whole new dimension and in this competition, there is no equipment allowed, only a lifting belt. There are no tight suits, bench shirts, wrist wraps or knee wraps. This is pure strength. During this competition his biggest lifts were a 430 squat, a 315 bench, and a 580 deadlift. Steve said that he enjoys lifting raw. He also said that it would be difficult for him to train with equipment because he doesn't have a training partner to train with. He said that he would rather see what he could do without the gear. He did say that if he could get his total up to 1400, raw, that he would be tempted to try a "gear" meet.

Steve said that he's always liked lifting raw. He said that you hear a lot of different things like, if you don't compete with the equipment that you're hurting powerlifting because you are not supporting companies that provide the gear. So he understands that, and that's really where the money comes in powerlifting. On the flip side, the gear certainly inflates the lifts. When you lay down and bench press and then you put on a bench shirt, you put on a shirt, you get anywhere from 20 to 60 pounds, so he could bench 365with a shirt and 315 without. Thinking realistically he asked, "How many times am I in a bench shirt in the real world? It's just your real world strength without equipment. So I prefer it."

In comparing the two sports, Steve said that he loves powerlifting because you lift what you lift. Nobody can take that away. Whether you win or not is irrelevant as long as you improve yourself. That's the name of the game. At least it is for him. Of course it's fun to win something, but as long as he improves, nobody can take that away from him. He said that bodybuilding is great and it gets you more attention. People get more excited about it than they do with powerlifting, which he thinks is unfortunate. He said that he probably will shoot for a bodybuilding show again at some point, especially now that he can compete in the Masters division. For now though, he I likes the powerlifting better.

Steve talked about his feelings on drug use or steroid use. Being a "drug-free" athlete, he was to have encountered other athletes, especially during the Olympics who weren't "drug free." Here is what Steve had to say.

As a chiropractor, Steve has had the opportunity to work with different athletes in different sports, many with inspiring stories. He has also had to deal with patients and drug use during his tenure as a Chiropractor. Steve said that because he cannot prescribe medicine, so that it cuts him out of the loop as far as him providing athletes with drugs. He told me a very good story. He said that when he was practicing in New Jersey he had a fellow who was a weightlifter who wasn't competing. He was on steroids so Steve gave him the whole lecture. Steve was baffled because he really didn't understand why a person would use steroids, especially if they're not competing. Steve said that in competition he can understand it, even though he may not agree with it. This individual was starting to get side effects and he was getting nauseous, a little vomiting, so Steve told him to bring in what he was using. He brought it in and it was mythandrastenalone, which is Dianabol. Dianabol is usually blue these were kind of blue and white speckled. Steve said that he happened to know a guy that was a really good weightlifter who was also a pharmacist. So he brought these drugs to his acquaintance and he told him that he made a good call. He said that they usually are blue but these are produced in England, and were blue with the white speckles on them. Naturally, Steve went back to this person and told him that these are bad and that they had to flush them down the toilet. They both walked in the bathroom in his office, poured them into the toilet and flushed it. Steve really strongly believes that this individual never went on it again. He thinks that he got really scared. Steve said, "Whether those effects were due to the drugs, I don't know. But I just wanted to convince him to get off of it."

Steve said that he talks to his patients about this all the time. He said that in order to succeed that you first have to be focused and committed to training. He said that a lot of people want results. A lot of people want to look a certain way. A lot of the guys will come in a say that they want a six pack in their abs and they are not willing to put in the time that it takes to do it. Steve said that he gets frustrated sometimes as well. He wants to be encouraging, yet people have to be very focused, very committed, and be consistent. Steve's words of wisdom: