Joseph peach
12/8/2009
Athletes and bodybuilders who wish to gain an advantage over others often face the choice of whether or not to use androgenic anabolic steroids. The difference between a legal natural athlete and one who uses illegal anabolic steroids can often be just a few chemicals in a supplement. In fact most people, from the casual lifter to even professional athletes, often have trouble distinguishing natural supplements from steroids. Whether people choose to use or unknowingly use steroids does not change the potential danger of using these steroids and they can be a major health threat later in life even after only one use and can even sometimes kill in the first use in the worst cases. Although these anabolic steroids can usually create better results than natural supplementation, the risks usually far outweigh the benefits. In fact most doctors would attest that most people should not take anabolic steroids ever in their life unless they are medically prescribed to do so. there are many reasons steroids are a bad way to approach training when compared to natural supplements. for one they have many unatural symptoms some of which can be very deadly and demoralizing. also steroids are illegal and give an unfair advantage to their abusers and also are usually frowned upon by sporting bodies all around the globe. and finally they can be sometimes very counterproductive to training and even deadly for abusers. Natural bodybuilding is a safer, more productive, and much healthier alternative to anabolic steroid use. The main reason athletes and bodybuilders take anabolic steroids is to gain a competitive edge over their opponents in their respective sports, and the truth is they work, they boost an athletes testosterone levels considerably and cause massive amounts of muscle growth and hypertrophy. They not only increase an athletes aesthetics they also greatly increase an athlete’s strength and ability to recover from an injury or workout . if steroids work then why is it bad to use them? Well while they are busy increasing your bodies muscle growth steroids are also increasing your chance of heart attack by thickening the heart wall, there are also a number of other less serious side effects as well such as male gynocomastia . there is also one of themost dangerous side effects which is called”roid rage” roid rage is when the hormonal imbalance causes the steroid users to become anxious as well as violent. (tingtstedt,dopingjouren) This can cause steroid abusers to harm themselves and even their loved ones and can sometimes result in the death of innocent people through violent acts which were not completely the intention of the attacker. one example of this recently is the professional wrestling superstar chris benoit who murdered his family and then took his own life. it is speculated that these deaths were all attributed to anabolic steroid use because steroids were found littered all over the house where the murder-suicide took place. it was also shown that at the scene of the crime chris benoit had extremely high levels of testorone, levels that could not have been possibly reached without the use of illegal steroids.(associated, wrestler) this is one of the worst side effects of anabolic steroids because it can not only kill steroid abusers but also completely innocent people who have done no wrong Natural supplements which have no hormonal effectors however have none of these effects besides the muscular hypertrophy and growth with correct use and diet and training to go along with it. In fact the three most common supplements which are protein powders, creatine supplements, and multivitamins have no effect on hormones whatsoever (angell, supplements) and plenty of professional athletes use just these supplements and get along fine without ever using anabolic steroids and they usually have longer careers and lives because they lack the health risks associated with steroids. Steroids while in use also come with a plethora of nasty symptoms which can be detrimental to an abusers state of mind as well as their body. a study of 100 anabolic steroid users by Jane Copeland in Australia showed that 94 percent of the people who used steroids were male. 54 percent of these steroid users claimed unwanted water retention which is about the least worrisome symptom of them all, 57 percent of the steroid users reported frequent and recurring acne as well as 40 percent of the male users reported gynocomastia which is the development of breast tissue in males. and perhaps the most scary of the statistics in this study were that 42 percent of the users reported noticable increases in aggression and irritability(study, Jane Copeland)(see appendix A). it has also been shown that steroids can cause in increase in the risk of injury because of the bodies inability to support itself under periods of massive growth. muscle tears are also common among steroid abusers because steroids cause a user to lose fat while bulding muscle at the same time (which is impossible with out hormonal influence) this means the body can sometimes in extreme cases not have enough fats to lubricate its joints and support the muscle underneath it causing a muscle tear which is definitley counterproductive to a training athlete. these problems are not at all experienced by natural supplement users because they do not stress extremely low even unhealthily low body fat percentages (with the exception of professional bodybuilders who always have to deal with that problem) and they never reach unhealthy body fat percentages without trying like one could while using anabolic steroids. Natural supplements also have the benefit of being legal and accepted by almost all major sporting associations and do not impede professional athletes and bodybuilders from actually competing which is the whole reason that they would be taking steroids in the first place. Another reason steroids should not be taken is that they are completely illegal under United States federal law and can sometimes have additional punishments for specific states as of 4/26/1990 the library of congress states refer to anabolic steroids as such. Steroids under the anabolic steroid control act of 1990 are a class III drug and simple possession can have a fine of at least $1000 and a year in prison. A second possession penalty can have a doubled sentence and fine. Trafficking steroids can have a fine of 250,000 dollars as well as 5 years in prison and a second offense also doubles the fine and sentence.Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990 - The New Act Amends the Controlled Substances Act to: (1) establish penalties for physical trainers or advisers who endeavor to persuade or induce individuals to possess or use anabolic steroids; (2) add anabolic steroids as a schedule III substance under such Act; and (3) define "anabolic steroid" as any drug or hormonal substance that promotes muscle growth in a manner pharmacologically similar to testosterone, including specified substances. (hughes, library)it is also illegal under almost all professional sporting bodies to use steroids and usually results in either a fine or a suspension or possible lifetime ban. organizations that look down upon and punish anabolic steroid use include the NCAA, National Football League, National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, and the Olympics to name a few. this means that athletes who were so dedicated to getting better at their sport that they would risk their health to get better at it could lose the chance to play their respective sport at the professional level completely. natural supplement users don’t seem to have this problem at all because the use of natural supplements is almost wholly accepted by every sporting organization (with some exceptions for the case of creatine (locke, creatine)) in fact a lot of coaches will encourage their athletes to practice the use of legal supplements and in some cases even supply the athlete with said supplements. and the reason is that these natural supplements truly help, they help with almost every aspect of training from recovery to muscle growth and can even help an athlete overcome injury. in truth natural supplements really are a miracle. the reason that most sporting body associations decide to ban steroid use is the fact that steroids give a very unfair advantage to those who wish to break the law and put their health at risk to become better at their sport. and in truth they should be banned, it takes no skill to use steroids only a syringe and a supply, this means that basically an athlete could become more proficient at a sport than an opponent who at one point was better than the steroid user and the anabolic steroid user who did virtually no work besides using steroids while the hardworking athlete who did not use steroids can fall behind in the competition just because they are not willing to sacrifice their morals as well as their well being just to become better at the sport. This is the biggest reason that most sporting leagues ban steroid use and heavily frown upon and punish it, because they just want to have an even playing field for all players and keep all their athletes in good sport. a major example of this is in high school and collegiate athletics which all ban steroid use because they wish to keep their sports wholesome and safe for all competitors. (Anabolic, Margolis Simeon). This is not the same as saying all high school and collegiate athletes do not use steroids in fact in a survey done in 2008 2.2% of seniors across the nation reported having tried steroids at least once in their athletic careers and almost none of them get caught over 30,779 steroid test were issued to high school students that year and only 20 of them nation wide came back positive (few, associated press) meaning school-wide testing is ineffective and most collegiate and high school athletes who use steroids will never be caught meaning they have a complete unfair advantage over all of their competitors and statistics show that more and more high school students are starting to use steroids meaning this problem will only get bigger in the future (few caught, Mulvihill Geoff) the worst part about steroids is that they are very dangerous and possibly deadly and can drastically shorten a bright young athletes career. They can cause severe liver and kidney damage because the kidneys and liver have to literally work themselves to death because they have to filter all of the hormone byproducts of the steroids out of the blood stream. This can cause jaundice which the yellowing of the skin and eyes because of the toxicity of the blood, it can also cause liver and kidney failure which almost always cause death. they also can cause sexual dysfunction in normal healthy adults ranging form decreased sex drive to testicular atrophy in males and menstrual irregularities in the rare case of female anabolic steroid users. steroids can also cause severe clinical depression due to hormonal imbalances affecting serotonin and brain function which can cause some steroid users to commit suicide.(tingtstedt, dopingjouren) all of these serious symptoms can cause an athlete to die before their time this can majorly affect whole sports teams and cause sever personnel losses which is another one of the main reasons that most professional sporting leagues ban steroids. but there are also the non professional "casual bodybuilders" who take steroids just for a good looking body. it is just as dangerous and morally wrong for these "casual" steroid users to use steroids, not just because of their illegality but also because taking steroids just once can often be just as dangerous as being a heavy user because sometimes it only takes one dose to kill. it is also just as dangerous for a "casual" user to use steroids as a professional athlete although some believe otherwise. The best part about natural supplements is that they have none of these risks. Natural supplements will never cause any type of liver or kidney damage and will never cause brain dysfunction the only thing naturally supplements ill do is make u a stronger faster better athlete and make you look good in the process with none of the side effects of anabolic steroids in conclusion it is not only illegal to use anabolic steroids whether you are a linebacker in the NFL looking for a spot in the hall of fame or work as a lifeguard and are looking to get big for the summer, it is also extremely dangerous and possibly life threatening. it is also a very distinct unfair advantage in sports at any level even high school. and there’s really no reason to take steroids because there are so many negative connotations to them that natural supplements do not have and natural supplements really do produce results even if some steroid taking muscle heads would have you believe otherwise. Along with good diet and training regimen natural supplements can often produce the same results as that of an illegal steroid user so there is almost no reason at all to use anabolic steroids at all because they are dangerous illegal and unfair.
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