Steroids

Steroids

Today many athletes are very competitive in sports. Many of the athletes train hard to get where they are at today but for some training is not enough, most of them are looking to gain an advantage to be the best and always looking to gain an edge over there opponents. Therefore many athletes engage in anabolic steroids to enhance performance and also improve there physical appearance. The desire to gain that edge exists in all sports, at all levels of play. Successful and hardworking athletes rely on practice and hard work to increase their skill, speed, power, and ability. Steroids are also being used by high school and even middle school athletes to gain an edge to improve there overall performance skills. Anabolic steroids are not only used by men but by women as well. Steroids in general are illegal and are a significant form of cheating; they cause a lot of side affects and health problems in the long run. Many people do not know what exactly steroids are. Anabolic steroids are power drugs that many people take in high doses to boost athletic performance or improve there physical appearance. The term anabolic means "bodybuilding" tissue (The Steroid Bible, June 1997). Anabolic steroids help build muscle tissue and increase body mass by acting like the body's natural male hormone, testosterone (The Steroid Bible, June 1997). There are many common names people refer to that you may have herd of which are roids, juice, hype or pump. Lower dosages of anabolic steroids are used to take care of a hand full of medical conditions, but should not be confused with corticosteroids, which this is used for asthma and arthritis. Corticosteroids are strong but are not able to build muscle (The Steroid Bible, June 1997). Anabolic steroids are the ones abused by athletes who want a quick way to become bigger and stronger.

Steroids in sports-

Here are some rough statistics that I was able to find on the top sports related to drug and steroid use.

Football = 90%

Baseball = 80%

Basketball = 60-70%

Soccer = 50%

Combined Olympic sports = 95%

Professional Bodybuilders = 100%

- Nearly all profession athletes use some sort of performance enhancement drug, either an over the counter GNC type or drug, growth hormones, or the most common, steroids.

- There are well over 400 different types of steroids on the market, and all are designed for different things.

- Common steroid lingo:

- Anabolism= constructive metabolism characterized by the building of tissue into more complex living matter, mainly muscle.

- Anabolic= promoting anabolism

- Anabolic steroid= any one of several compounds derived from testosterone or prepared synthetically to promote general body growth, to oppose the effects of endogenous estrogen, or to promote masculinization effects. They have a chemical structure similar to cholesterol.

- Androgen= any steroid hormone that promotes male characteristics.

- Aromatize= the on take of feminine characteristics or feminization.

- Atrophy= refers to a state of deterioration usually within the muscle or bodily organ due to a lack of use or health.

- This is only a small amount of the terms use when trying to understand the full concept of steroids. (Steroidinformation.com)

Steroid uses and how they work

These many types of steroids are all designed for different purposes.

- Some were originally intended for animals such as bulls and horses for sport performance

- Others for size, strength, and density of muscle fibers

- And some even for endurance and cutting effect, which is the loss of body fat.

Football, baseball, basketball and soccer players usually go for a drug that gives them strength while still allowing them to have endurance to last for an entire game without becoming exhausted.

Bodybuilders go more for size, density and cuts, and endurance is not so much a factor. They only have to be on stage for a few minutes posing so lasting hours is not a concern.

Olympians, other than Olympic lifters usually go for a drug that is more designed for and endurance and cuts so they will be lean and fast, and example of this is an Olympic runner or skier.

Medical care is another reason for the use of steroids in a legal sense.

Corticosteroids- Any of the natural or synthetic hormones associated with the adrenal cortex, which influences or controls key processes of the body, as carbohydrate and protein metabolism, electrolyte and water balance, and the functions of the cardiovascular system, the skeletal muscle, the kidneys, and other organs.

Estrogens and Progestogens- These are the female sex hormones. They are responsible for the development of secondary sexual characteristics

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