How old are you now?

If you're within the 17-20 year bracket, you're a natural steriod cycle.
anything will result in gains.

You have to take into account that specialize advance programs needs to be accumulated through the years.

Most competitive PL'ers are on drugs + years of training have given them the work capacity to do alot of abuse without digging their own grave.

Then there is technique in mind, tweaking a little goes a long way and given that I see many people's technique or lack of, sometimes it really can change how much you lift.