IFBB pro Anton Ratushnyi, widely regarded as one of the youngest professionals in bodybuilding history after earning his pro card at just 18 years old, recently sparked controversy after claiming his decision to use testosterone was a medical necessity rather than a competitive choice.
Fitness coach Greg Doucette broke down Anton’s story in a video and concluded the narrative doesn’t hold up.
Anton described a troubling period during his early training years: “When I was starting out as a natural athlete, I pushed myself so hard that I hit a wall.” He went on to say that “my recovery could not keep up with the demands of my training,” which led to serious symptoms.
“I felt low energy, deep depression, and I didn’t know what was happening to me,” he said, adding that after getting bloodwork done, “I found out my testosterone was in the gutters.”
Doucette acknowledged that overtraining, poor sleep, calorie restriction, and competition dieting can all temporarily suppress testosterone levels, pointing to other athletes who have experienced the same. His argument, however, was that the appropriate response for a teenager in that situation would be to stop competing, eat more, and allow the body to recover rather than pursue hormone replacement therapy.
He noted Anton did try this approach: “I tried getting it back up with rest and a lot of work. I was able to stabilize my levels.” The problem, Anton said, was that “every time I would go back to training, my levels would keep plummeting back.”
The bigger issue Doucette raised was what came next. Anton stated in a comment that “I didn’t hop on until right before I got my pro card,” claiming he competed naturally for the earlier part of his career.
Doucette found this impossible to reconcile with Anton’s documented physique at 17 and 18 years old, describing it as among the most developed ever seen at that age, even compared to athletes openly using PEDs.
Adding further contradiction, Anton said in a separate video that he is currently “making progress on the lowest dosages I’ve used in my entire career.”
Doucette pointed out that this statement, taken alongside the claim that he only started using around the time he turned pro, implies his very first cycle included doses higher than what he is using now as a competing IFBB professional. In Doucette’s view, those two things cannot both be true.
Anton is now 23 years old, but his appearance has frequently become a topic of discussion among bodybuilding fans, with many commenting that he looks significantly older than his age. Despite his youth, his competitive rise has been remarkably fast. After earning his IFBB Pro card at 18, Anton qualified for the Mr. Olympia at just 21.
Doucette’s position was clear: Anton’s low testosterone levels as a teenager were more likely the result of using SARMs or other stuff, which suppressed his natural production, rather than training alone crashing his hormones.
The physique, the timeline, and the contradicting statements, Doucette argued, all point to the same conclusion: Anton was not natural during the years he has claimed to be.
