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Hello friends. After my trilogy, where I talked about the importance of Mind Power in your training, as well as what are the best memory and mind supplements, today we will talk about the most controversial topic in the bodybuilding scene. Drugs VS. Natural! When someone starts a topic like that, it is certain that he will hear many positive and negative comments. I know that maybe some of the things I will say and analyze, you won't all agree with.
I won't start this article by giving exaggerated facts, or by warning that "steroids are evil" or "if you take them you will immediately die". My point is to give the best scientific references of what they can do. I won't tell you also lies friends, by telling you that you won't have a better performance if you use them, and you can have the same results if you just eat good, train hard, recuperate enough, and take your normal supplements.
Anabolic steroids are synthetic derivatives of the male hormone testosterone that are taken to build muscle, enhance performance, and improve appearance. The drug’s anabolic or "muscle-building" effects help the body retain protein, a necessary building block for the growth of muscles, bones, and skin.
Now don't misunderstand some things here. You won't get huge if you start injecting yourself every day with one of the many "testosterone treatments" or with GH (Growth Hormone). If you don't eat huge quantities of food and train like a real warrior in the gym, nothing good will happen to you, no matter what. The best thing that steroids can do is help those who use them to recover from their workout much faster than a natural bodybuilder. When natural bodybuilders need at least 48 hours rest before they train again in order to continue increasing their muscle bodymass, steroid users need just a few hours! When most of us should not train more than 3-4 times per week, and every time we train we should not spend more than 1 hour in the gym, people that use steroids can easily train 6 times per week, splitting their sessions in morning and afternoon training, as well as they are able to spend easily 2 hours in the gym, getting stronger and bigger, week after week. (That's something that would make any natural bodybuilder get overtrained in no time!)
Consequently, these people are able to train longer and recuperate faster, making it much easier for them to increase their muscle mass as well as their strength. I would like also to present to you some facts about what else steroid use can produce. The major side effects of anabolic steroid use include liver tumors, jaundice (yellowish pigmentation of skin, tissues, and body fluids), fluid retention, enlargement of the heart, (a precursor to heart failure), high blood pressure, atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, (a precursor to coronary heart disease) elevated cholesterol levels, heart palpitations, heart attack, and finally steroids can impair the kidneys leading to kidney stones and kidney disease. The most common side effects are severe acne and trembling.
For men - shrinking of the testicles, reduced sperm count, infertility, baldness, development of breasts. For women - growth of facial hair, changes in or cessation of the menstrual cycle, enlargement of the clitoris, deepened voice. For adolescents - growth halted pre maturely through premature skeletal maturation and accelerated pubertal changes. Most Noticeable Changes
a) Quick weight and muscle gain
Finally you should not forget that some physiological effects of steroid use can have profound effects on the mind, causing temporary personality changes in some. Users may exhibit uncontrolled aggression and violent behavior called "roid rage", in addition to severe mood swings, manic episodes, and depression.
The facts and the scientific evidence that we have to support how hazardous the use of anabolic steroids can be for your health is plenty. But I would prefer to present to you 5 of the most profound examples. After searching a lot and spending a lot of time trying to find the 5 best, here they are! My first two facts will be based on the most important muscle in the human body. The heart! When one uses anabolic steroids, they do because they want their muscles to grow right? Ok, as we said, steroids do make your muscles grow more (that's the good part), but they affect ALL the body's muscle growth (including the heart of course, and thats the bad part). The heart is a muscle that is also affected by steroids and the health consequences can be very very serious.
 A group of bodybuilders who used steroids were compared to
bodybuilders
who had never used steroids. The men's hearts were examined using echocardiography, (a type of sonar picture that allows doctors to see the heart without having to use any invasive procedures). They found that during steroid cycles the users had left ventricles (the main pumping chamber of the heart) that were 25% greater in mass than the non-users! This increas in mass caused the walls of the steroid user's heart muscle to be almost 20% thicker while on steroids! Although the heart was bigger during active steroid use, the cardiovascular fitness of these individuals was nearly 18% less than non-users. When the steroid users were off the steroids, their heart size decreased, but never fully returned to its normal size!(1,2) Now, if some of you think that it was just a "coincidence" and nothing more, read the second fact very carefully.
They were described in the study as "extremely large with profound muscular hypertrophy". They had won several state and national titles in bodybuilding and powerlifting. The twins had bodyfat levels below 10 percent, and followed the same diet and training regime on a yearly basis.
Both men showed normal blood pressure readings. The drug-free twin showed a testosterone level of 6.2 nanongrams per mililiter of blood, and the steroid twin had a higher than normal level of 11.5 ng/ml! (The normal range for testosterone is 2.8-8.8, and as you can easily understand, the steroid twin had testosterone levels almost 3 times the high normal level)
The heart stiffness that occurs in steroid-using bodybuilders is thought to be brought on by an increased sensitivity of heart muscle to catacholamines, such as epinephrine, induced by steroids. And guess what friends, this scenario may have played a role in the sudden deaths due to heart failure that have occured in a small percentage of regular steroid users.
Ten men used a steroid drug and eight men served as controls (placebo). The two groups were equal in their physical and competitive characteristics. The scientists found that serum lipoprotein (L-a) a genetic determinant of risk for cardiac disease, was reduced. (HDL-C over LDL-C was reduced).
 This fact has to do with GH. Shortly before his death, one
famous
former
pro football player (a big name in 80's), attributed his brain cancer to
a
long course of anabolic steroids which he claimed to have used for
nearly
26 years.
But in other statements, this unfortunate pro footballer, suggested
that
his
more recent use of human growth hormone was the thing that really
kindled
his fatal brain T-cell lymphoma.
More recently, one very famous bodybuilder (I won't say his name but I bet most of you will understand immediately to whom I am refering), said that according to his doctors who treated him for leukemia, it was not his use of anabolic steroids that caused the disease, but rather the growth hormone injections he has also taken! Also you have to know that there is research showing an increased incidence of leukemia in Japanese children being treated for growth hormone deficiency and dwarfism!) (4) Conclusion After reading these 5 facts friends, I hope you have realized that steroid use is totally worthless for you. There is no point in getting a great body, then also a "sick" body. There is no point in looking good now, just to look terrible after 10-20 years. (If you can stay alive.) Every person's priority should be to live longer and healthier! Many bodybuilders now might say that I am exaggerating things. I have heard often: "C'mon John, I am not doing many cycles per year, I am taking great care, I know where to stop", etc.) Well, in my next week's article, I will tell you my personal thoughts, and what I believe will be the future of bodybuilding as a sport. (Also giving some good suggestions to make the sport better). Stay tuned!
References:
1. Melchert RB, Welder AA. Cardiovascular effects of
androgenic-anabolic
steroids. Med. Sci. Sports Exer., 1995:27:1252-1262
2. Sachtleben TR, et al. The effects of anabolic steroids on myocardial
structure and cardiovascular fitness. Med. Sci. Sports Exer.,
1992;25:1240-1245
3. Cohen, L.l. et al. Lipoprotein (a) and cholesterol in bodybuilders
using
anabolic androgenic steroids. Med. Sci. Sports Exer. 28(2):176-179,
1996
4. Blethen, S. (1998). Leukemia in children treated with growth
hormone.
Trends
in Endocrinology and Metabolism, 9: 367-370. Recommend this article to a friend by e-mail here! Visitor Reviews Of This Article!
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But what I want to do,
since
this
site is giving me the opportunity, is to pass on some messages about
your
health! (Especially to teenagers, because something that makes me nervous
is that recent studies have shown
that
6.5% of adolescent boys and 1.9%
of girls reported the use of steroids
without a
prescription!)
Scientific Truth VS. Scientific Fiction:
These
artificial substances were developed in the 1930's originally to help
men
whose
bodies produced inadequate amounts of the natural hormone that is
responsible
for the development of masculine characteristics occurring
at
puberty,
such as lowering of the voice and growth of body hair.
Athletes that use steroids can be identified by:
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