In the sporting world, athletes are always striving to get ahead. More success means more popularity, more money, and a greater chance of establishing yourself as a sporting great. A lot have achieved this status through nothing more than hard work, sheer pain, grit and determination. But over the years, many have sought out a bit of extra help.

Juicing is a dirty habit in the world of sports. Juicing is prohibited in pretty much every competitive sport, but there have been many people over the years who have begun juicing in an attempt to get bigger, alter their physiques and essentially gain an unfair advantage. It’s always surprising when we hear about some athlete or other who’s been outed, or admits it themselves. Another thing that’s shocking is how their bodies change, not only when on the juice, but when they’ve supposedly stopped. The majority of people find it hard to keep their gains and their body shape alters dramatically, often to the point where it looks as if they’ve never touched a weight in their lives. People can look seriously deflated after coming off the juice and being off it for some time. Others though have managed to maintain their physiques, and are still ripped. These are 10 athletes who deflated without the juice and 5 who are still ripped without it.

15 DEFLATED: MARK MCGWIRE

When Mark McGwire broke baseball’s home run record in 1998, people were in awe of the man, thought they were witnessing something special. Later, finding out that Mark was a steroid user, must have soured the moment in a lot of people’s memories. Mark McGwire is someone who’s come clean and has openly admitted juicing. Look at how big he got in a relatively short space of time and it would’ve been hard for him to have denied it. But as the years rolled by and Mark got older and stepped away from the game, he lost his gains and actually got quite small. He’s now in his 50s, but looks a decade older. His muscles have deflated pretty drastically.

14 DEFLATED: RAFAEL PALMEIRO

Rafael Palmeiro had a stellar career. He’s a member of the 500 home run club, and 3000 hit club – only four players can claim to belong to both. His 3000th hit should have been a cause for celebration. It should have been, but it was soon discovered that he’d used steroids to achieve these feats. The discovery shocked the world of baseball, and Palmeiro left the sport with his tail between his legs, a disgraced athlete. His enhancement was evident. His body changed massively when he was using, and then when he had stopped. The size went and he became far leaner, some may say his muscles had a deflated look about them, customary for former users. He’s now got a bit of a paunch, which could be down to his former juicing days, and the fact he’s in his 50s.

13 RIPPED: Alex Rodriguez

Alex Rodriguez, aka A-Rod, enjoyed a stellar career in the MLB. He’s widely regarded to be among the greatest to have ever played the game. Look at his stats and people would be hard-pressed to disagree. But it was also his personality, his persona that endeared him to the masses. He has a superstar personality, and the fact that he’s admitted juicing during his playing career hasn’t really held him back. He’s faced some criticism, but he’s still a massive name, a major A-list celeb. A-Rod the A-lister is also in tremendous shape. He’s ripped despite having retired, has the body to match that persona. He kind of has to keep in shape though if he’s dating and hanging with the likes of J-Lo! She wouldn’t let him slack!

12 DEFLATED: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER

Arnold Schwarzenegger basically achieved fame because of his body. As a bodybuilder, he’s regarded as one of the best, the greatest who’s ever lived. He used his body and his unique look, to get into the acting profession, and from there, the rest is history. It all started with his physique. But the Austrian oak built his awe-inspiring physique on juice. Of course, you can’t say they were responsible for all of his success. But it is part and parcel of the bodybuilding industry, and certainly played a part. In his autobiography he states he was juicing as a teenager. That’s resulted in him having numerous health problems over the years. It’s also resulted in his body going through plenty of changes. Due to the size he once was, he was always going to look deflated down the line.

11 DEFLATED: SAMMY SOSA

Sammy Sosa’s appearance has changed dramatically over the years, and I’m not just talking about his physique. But since this is an article about juicing, let’s start with that. In the early 2000s, Sammy Sosa was part of a PED scandal. It plagued him right throughout his career. He had supposedly tested positive for anabolic steroids, and people were quick to jump on the bandwagon and call him a cheater. Who could blame them? Sammy was a massive, seriously jacked individual. He never admitted anything, but everyone kind of had an inkling as to what was going on.

When he retired, he slimmed down, got that deflated look, before gaining weight. His appearance has continued to get ever more peculiar. The Mitchell Report back from 2003 has also played a huge role in keeping him out of the baseball hall of fame.

10 RIPPED: JUSTIN GATLIN

Justin Gatlin is perhaps the most hated man in the world of athletics. Who can forget that fierce rivalry with Usain Bolt, the whole storm created by the media when the two faced up against each other. The megastar sprinter, the fastest man of all time, against the man vying to take his crown. You just had to hear the boos ring out from the crowd to know how popular Justin Gatlin was. The reason for his less than warm welcome, was because Justin is a two-time cheat. He’s been banned twice, and each time has come back and shot straight to the top. You’ve got to say, that that’s in part down to his hard work and determination to succeed. Look at his body, and you can tell he takes competing very seriously. He’s got a body perfect for sprinting, being lean and seriously ripped, and he’s maintained that even after coming off the juice.

9 DEFLATED: ROGER CLEMENS

Roger Clemens has firmly denied ever taking banned substances. But there’s no smoke without fire, and others have implicated him in a doping ring. Those who saw him in his heyday, would probably agree that something was going on, that he was getting a bit of extra help. He supposedly took them during the later stages of his career. For some time after his playing days, he remained built. He looked seriously big, even still spending plenty of time in the gym, was perhaps still juicing. Then came the deflated phase. He lost some size and lost some muscle mass. Then it’s as though someone inflated him. He looked bigger, but not in a muscular sense. He looked all puffy. Perhaps something else was going on post his playing days.

8 DEFLATED: JAMES TONEY

It might be hard to see what I mean by this, because James Toney is a man who’s always been big. When I say big, I mean fat. He really doesn’t resemble a pro athlete, let alone a heavyweight boxer. We’re so used to seeing boxers nowadays all chiseled and ripped. But James Toney never possessed a body like that. At one point, he was strong, and you could see that he had some muscles under those loose layers. That coincided with the period when he was using. When he came off the juice, he lost that hard frame, and just resembled an out of shape man in the ring. Since retiring he’s put on more weight, and really doesn’t look great, like what you’d expect a former world champion who’s only been retired a year to look like.

7 RIPPED: BROCK LESNAR

Look at Brock Lesnar and you think needles. The guy’s just massive, a mountain of a man. He resembles a pro bodybuilder, has huge muscles, but still has that lean and ripped look too. But that’s part of the reason why people love him. You can’t take your eyes off him when he’s in action, whether it’s in the ring or octagon. It’s just an enthralling spectacle when Brock’s around, and that’s in large part down to his powerful physique. Look at Brock and it’s evident that he’s juiced at some point or other. We don’t have to speculate either. He was once arrested for possessing large amounts of growth hormones. He’s also been suspended from the UFC for taking banned substances. For Brock though, his muscular physique is part of his identity, and he’ll always remain in great shape.

6 DEFLATED: LANCE ARMSTRONG

Lance Armstrong is perhaps the most disgraced athlete in sporting history. Due to all of his achievements, the fact that he was once a sporting superstar, and then the fact he was found guilty of long term doping offences, Lance’s fall from grace was massive. It had massive repercussions for the sport too, and was just an all-round sour period for the world of sports.

Again, Lance Armstrong being a cyclist, he was never a massive guy, and he didn’t juice in order to get big and alter his physique. He juiced to enhance his performance. His physique when he was cycling was seriously slim – it didn’t look like there was an ounce of fat on him. But after walking away from the sport, if it’s at all possible, it appears as if he’s gotten even slimmer. His face looks gaunt, and body wise there’s nothing left of him.

5 DEFLATED: MARION JONES

When news broke that Marion Jones had been found guilty of doping, it was another massive scandal that rocked the world of athletics. Marion was once the darling of U.S. athletics, and had a massive year at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. But it was later found that all of her achievements, her five Olympic medals, had been earned with the help of anabolic steroids. If you recall back to when she was winning those golds, you’ll remember she was ripped, lean and incredibly muscular. She had an eight pack of abs and rippling muscles, and really was a sight to behold on the track. But when she stepped away from athletics, she deflated. Her muscles turned to mush and she no longer resembled the lean mean running machine we’d become so used to seeing.

4 RIPPED: KEN SHAMROCK

Ken Shamrock is someone who’s a fighting machine. He’s tried his hand at professional wrestling, professional kickboxing, and MMA, and has been around doing his thing for a quarter of a century. That’s pretty remarkable when you think about it. He’s also one of the fittest fighters around. He never slacks when it comes to his training, always shows up in tremendous shape, ripped, lean and ready for action. Even now that he’s in his 50s, he’s in amazing shape. Perhaps that’s because he’s juicing. He’s supposedly tested positive in the past. Not only that, his brother has said that he’s been juicing, pretty much continuously from the start of his fighting career. Whether he has or not, it’s still amazing what he’s achieved, and the type of physique he still possesses.

3 DEFLATED: BEN JOHNSON

It’s safe to assume that pretty much everyone knows about Ben Johnson and his cheating ways. The disgraced former athlete was once the talk of the athletic world, until he was found guilty of doping and lost his Olympic medals and his records were scrapped. Have you seen what he looked like in his heyday? He was a lean mean sprinting machine, had a muscular body perfectly suited to the 100m event. Well, we now know he manufactured that body.

When he stepped away from the athletic scene, it was only a matter of years later before we began to see the changes. He’d lost his gains and actually looked rather skinny. His muscles had deflated, and then, as he got older – another thing that tends to happen to former users – he put on weight.

2 DEFLATED: FLOYD LANDIS

You might be thinking, how on earth can a cyclists’ muscle get even smaller, get that deflated look? There’d be nothing left of them! But somehow, disgraced former cyclist Floyd Landis managed to achieve that look. On the track, he wasn’t the leanest guy around anyway. But when he was found guilty of doping and was subsequently banned from cycling, he looked seriously skinny. He looked gaunt and actually in a really bad shape. That was also probably due to the stress he was under, the backlash he was facing because of what he’d done. Anyway, now he’s certainly filled out a bit, but not in a muscular sense. He’s put on weight, and is actually quite big, certainly doesn’t resemble someone who used to cycle professionally.

1 RIPPED: DWAIN CHAMBERS

Dwain Chambers has only just walked away from the world of athletics. The British athlete has won numerous international medals and went some way to repairing his once tarnished name after coming back following his doping ban. He was banned for a couple of years way back in 2003, but came back and enjoyed a successful time of it on the British athletics scene. Ever set eyes on this Adonis from the UK? His physique was, and still is, just ridiculous. He’s shredded, is ripped beyond belief, is all muscle, and doesn’t have an ounce of fat on him. He must have one serious training regime, not to mention God-given genetics. You can’t really achieve that look without that…or a little bit of extra help of course, which Dwain has had in the past.