Anabolic steroids have unfortunately become fairly common among athletes today. These athletes are only looking at the benefits of steroids as opposed to their detrimental disadvantages.
Lance Armstrong founder of the Livestrong foundation was fairly recently found to be guilty of doping. It was Armstrong’s steroid usage that led him to win the Tour De France a record breaking seven times. The Tour De France is one of the most athletically demanding competitions in the world. Through steroid usage Armstrong was able to win it an astounding seven times consecutively between 1999 and 2005. One of the most notorious steroid users ever was an Olympic sprinter by the name of Ben Johnson. Johnson is often credited as the man who showed the world the true power of steroids. During his early sprinting career, Johnson was referred to as just an average sprinter. The Canadian who was battling injuries from 1987 completely shattered the world record for the 100 meter sprint in the 1988 Olympics. Johnson was caught doping after a urine test. Following the race his coach admitted that he had been using steroids since 1981. The story spread like wildfire through media outlets all over the world. For the first time the world was exposed to the true power of anabolic steroids.
Anabolic steroids give athletes a number of advantages when it comes to training for their respective sport. The first element that steroids offer an athlete is the ability to recover and build muscle in unbelievable time. For example, the average adult male who works out every other day needs the one day break for the muscles to rebuild the broken down fibers. If the adult in our example worked out before the muscles have fully rebuilt themselves from the previous workout he would not receive any benefit that days workout. If this same adult male was on steroids he would be able to work out up to two times per day receiving full benefits from each workout. This is because while on steroids the broken down muscle fibers heal within a matter of hours. Because of this affect an athlete on steroids can achieve two weeks worth of results in about two to three days.
Although the benefits of steroids appear to be great it is the side effects that make the drug a banned substance in just about every sport on the planet. The majority of steroid users tend to die at an incredibly early age, some as low as their early 30’s. Steroids make human organs swell, practically doubling them in size. The puffed up organs push the abdominal muscles forward for more room. This is the reasoning behind men with large stomachs whose abdominal muscle show. Steroids are an artificial substance that the body does not tolerate well. The chemicals cause reactions which force users to become hostile, otherwise known as ‘roid rage’. Other side effects also include hair loss, decrease in size of penis and the development of breasts. Because of the chemical reactions most users experience heart attacks and strokes well before they even reach their 50’s. No matter what the goal is there is always a way to get there without the use of steroids. It is simply not worth the risk.
