The Facts About Anabolic Steroids
by
Rick Mitchell
zone3
Anyone involved in the world of bodybuilding, and competitive sport
generally, will understand the pressures that go with striving to achieve
optimal performance. Sometimes athletes feel they cannot reach their peak
without artificially enhancing their powers of recovery from intensive
training. One way to speed up this process is through the use of anabolic
steroids. In this article we'll examine what anabolic steroids actually
do. In a second article we'll focus on the dangers associated with steroid
use.
The main active ingredient in steroids is testosterone which
is well known as the major male hormone. Testosterone affects the body in
two ways, either as an anabolic or an androgenic influence. The anabolic
action helps build body tissue by increasing lean muscle mass and bone
density. The androgenic actions are those that affect secondary sex
characteristics in men.
In recent years research has provided some
interesting information in relation to testosterone:
1. It affects
muscle size through muscle fiber hypertrophy with an increase in the
cross-sectional area of muscle fiber.
2. It takes a dose of at
least 300 milligrams of testosterone to raise the body's level above
normal.
3. It acts directly on the muscle itself.
4. It
stimulates the release of growth hormone.
5. It has an
anti-catabolic effect.
From these facts we can deduce that
testosterone is an effective aid to muscle building and that it must be
taken in significant quantities to have this effect. As far as
bodybuilding is concerned the science beyond this is somewhat limited as
most users base their steroid regimes on little more than trial and error
or the advice of 'veterans'. Due to the illegal nature of steroid use
little scientific data exists to confirm the effectiveness of the many
steroid supplements in use.
It is perhaps the tendency of some
bodybuilders to use a combination of powerful steroids and other drugs
that presents the very real dangers that have sometimes led to tragic
conquences.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Mitchell is the creator of the bodybuildingadvisor.com
website that provides guidance and information to athletes at all levels
of bodybuilding experience. Go to Bodybuilding
Advice to learn more about the issues covered in this
article.
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