Advantages Of Steroids For Bodybuilders

Summary Statement: In short we now know the history behind steroids; the different types admissions of

Abstract:  With the increase of competition has also come the need to become bigger and stronger than the opponent.  The use of steroids among athletes has caused the focus of the game to change.  No longer does an athlete want to win by doing their best, but they want to become bigger and have an advantage over the opponent.  Ultimately, all athletes feel that they need to use performance-enhancing drugs to compete at the same level. Despite all of the warnings and information on performance-enhancing drugs, athletes continue to use them and overlook the potential health risks associated with steroids.

Throughout the history of athletics, humans have pursued new and innovative ways to construct better, faster, stronger athletes. Steroid use is one of the most popular choices among these athletes. Steroids, first created in the 1930s, are synthetic hormones that produce specific physiological effects on one's body (Center for Substance Abuse Research). Although the German scientists who discovered steroids did not intend its use for body building or creating better athletes, steroid use has developed into a controversial subject concerning the health of users and other moral issues. Overall, the use of steroids in athletics is physically and morally wrong because it essentially promotes the deterioration of the health of athletes and

A popular short term fix leads to negative long term effects. “Anabolic steroids work differently from other drugs of abuse; they do not have the same short-term effects on the brain” (Anabolic Steroids). Steroids are boosts of testosterone that can be prescribed by doctors for patients with disorders with their muscles. Some athletes abuse them for higher performance results. Although using steroids is a fast way to gain muscle, they should be taken only for medical use, due to their harmful effects on the human body, the mental health of the user, and they are addictive.

Athletes use substances before or during their performance to increase their ability (Marzilli 12-13). Student athletes will use steroids to increase their strength for a better outcome in their competition. Testosterone is a common hormone in the body that most athletes abuse (Marzilli 12). Testosterone is produced naturally in the body of any animal (“Steroids in Sports”). It creates alertness and aggressiveness to improve performance (“Steroids in Sports”). That is why early athletes used to take some form of medication to boost the production of testosterone in their body. Both males and females will consume steroids to increase testosterone in their body. Due to all the medical advantages that steroids have to an individual, athletes use them to achieve and to sharpen their performance. Apart from fatigue and letting athletes train for hours, steroids also act as a compound to lactic acid which causes muscle pain during physical struggles (“Steroids in Sports”). Steroids also contain the hormones that can increase quickly to recover from injuries (“Steroids in Sports”). Since steroids can increase endurance levels several times, athletes find it simple to run faster and improve their performance in sports. According to Gary Becker, performance enhancers, like steroids and other types of doping, have a negative effect on long-term health ( “Top 10 Pros and Cons”). Athletes will hurt themselves in the long run. Competitors dope and consume steroids to achieve the short term rewards in their teenage years of competitions (Becker). It is not worth achieving something that is temporary than living with a long-term health condition. Student athletes are not educated enough of the effects that drugs have on a

This week’s National Geographic video examine steroids, specifically anabolic steroids, drugs patterned after testosterone that promote masculine changes in the body and increase muscle development (Levinthal, 2013, p. 295). The video looked at steriods and examined important topic such as steroids use in sports, it’s impact negative impact on the body, legality issues with anabolic steroids (it has been illegal and requires prescription since 1990s), it’s medicinal purposes (it is use by doctors to treatment men who loses the ability to make their own testosterone), and the benefits that it does offer to those who use it. It conveys this utilizing example of former athletes, scientists who are examining steroids, and stories of of those steroids have impacted personally by this substance.

However, this is something that I have always found extremely fascinating. Steroid use is something that is obviously very dangerous, but how dangerous is it? That is a question that I really want to explain and answer because I never understood how steroids worked and what the effects on your body were, until recently I found out that my uncle was using steroids and going to the gym twice a day to gain muscle extremely fast for a horse show to benefit brest cancer and he had to ride shirtless and wanted to make sure his body was in the best looking condition that it could be. But he obviously wasn't concerned about the actual physical effects that it had on his body, something that he is now regretting very very much. Throughout this paper I will be discussing statistics, facts, and uses of steroids. Then we will discuss the healthy and natural way to gain

Ergogenic aids are believed to be the miracle working products that help athletes or any physically active person, to enhance their performance (Powers, p. 569). An example of an ergogenic aid is anabolic-androgenic steroids, which are known to build and strengthen the muscle. Athletes who chose to take anabolic-androgenic steroids can choose to either take it orally or inject it within their muscle, to try to enhance their performance within their respective sport. The type of performance that the anabolic-androgenic steroids would likely show improvement in are by increased muscle mass and striated muscle speed associated (Hassan et al. p.273). Also, it can be used to increase the strength of the tendons, ligaments and joints, which could help prevent injuries from occurring within athletes. Although anabolic-androgenic steroids sound like a positive steroid to take, it can have a negative effect on athletes’ heart, such as cardiovascular disease, as well as other serious health risk factors, if it is being overused.

Steroid use is a major part of professional sports that has negatively impacted the game. It has become a standard for a majority of players that feel they need that competitive edge to succeed. Unfortunately, the use of this drug can tarnish the game, including records and cause injury to other players along with the user. It is difficult to test for these performance enhancing drugs due to modern technology that can make them undetectable in standard drug tests. These drugs have been around for a long time, and until they are completely removed from the game there will never be “fairness” amongst athletes. The following sections will look at a history of performance enhancing drugs, the benefits of steroid use, the negative impacts to

The use of steroids does not only risk the ineligibility of an athlete, but it also can negatively affect their health mentally and physically. Anabolic steroid use increases strains and tears of the tendons and ligaments connected to the muscle. These steroids come with a very high price tag. Steroids affect the joints and create a breakdown in the joint area because the muscle that’s being built puts tremendous amount of stress on the joints. So, although the muscles may grow and the athlete may have unbelievable power and strength gains, in the long run, it is just going to put a tremendous amount of stress on the joints (Kuhn). Many athletes do not realize how much strain they actually put on their muscles, and they tend to take larger amounts of these substances.

Taking steroids can have benefits like a increase in body mass, increase in muscle mass, and Healing rate. Typical uses for the following steroids are for building an athlete, when prescribed for healing rate, and just simply getting bigger.

Steroids were developed in the late 1930’s primarily to treat delayed puberty different types of impotencies and wasting of the body caused by infections. Steroids are now being abused by athletes to improve their athletic performance. “Although testing procedures are now in place to deter steroid abuse among professional and Olympic athletes new designer drugs constantly become available that can escape detection (Denoon)”

For years, anabolic steroids have been used by competitive athletes have used to improve performance through muscular size or strength, and by noncompetitive weight trainers for purely cosmetic physique enhancement. In the vast majority of cases, users of that have taken steroids for prolonged periods have reported considerable gains in physical size and strength. However, a large number of side effects and health risks have been linked to extended use of anabolic steroids. Research has indicated that the negative effects of steroid use far outweigh the positive effects. As a result, anabolic steroids are now illegal to use for performance enhancement in professional and competitive sports.

Many patients suffering from muscle-wasting disease, AIDS, and hormone deficiencies benefit from using anabolic steroids. Corticosteroids relieve pain for many patients with arthritis and chronic skins disorders. Medical studies suggest that the risk factors associated with therapeutic steroid application are controversial and require more study. (Quezziare & Sprague, 2015)” Athletes must understand that whether the steroids are use therapeutically or illegally, health risk do exist. “Despite well documented evidence that steroid abuse is dangerous, athletes are willing to risk their bodies, and perhaps their lives, for a competitive edge.” One may argue that athletes do not care what they risk as long as they are the best athlete. “Younger athletes are now testing for steroids and haven taken them to promote growth and enhance performance. (Quezziare & Sprague, 2015)” One may argue that young athletes are using steroids is because they are looking at the older athletes as their role models and they feel the need to do the same as them. “Sports organizations have developed sophisticated drug-testing techniques to catch cheaters, but just as the testing becomes more sophisticated, so do the drugs they test for (Quezziare & Sprague, 2015).” Some may state that they do not know why athletes feel the need to use steroids and why do they think that steroids are the answers in making them the best. Wanting to be the best comes with hard work and dedication and “it seems likely that anabolic that steroid use will remain a controversy throughout the twenty-first century.” The examples that have been used are pure stated facts, as to why steroids can lead to short-term success, lead to ill health, and

According to Harrison Pope Jr. of the Endocrine Society, “PED use has been linked to an increased risk of death and a wide variety of cardiovascular, psychiatric, metabolic, endocrine, neurologic, infectious, hepatic, renal, and musculoskeletal disorders” (Pope). These are all potentially serious issues that change a person’s life. Not only does the use of PEDs produce risks while competing, but they leave long-lasting impacts as well. More specifically, Cynthia Kuhn, Wilkie Wilson, and Scott Swartzwelder state, “Anabolic steroid [natural hormones the body produces to strengthen and build muscles] use increases strains and tears of the tendons and ligaments connected to the muscle” (Kuhn, Wilson and Swartzwelder). She then mentions that as many as sixty-five percent of East German athletes that were given anabolic steroids during their training sessions experienced some type of tendon or ligament problem. These injuries may lead to further, more serious