Bodybuilding and Steroids: The reality exposed
The world of bodybuilding is a very complicated yet exciting one. First of all bodybuilders are athletes in every sense of the word; they have to train as hard and maybe even harder than some other athletes to get their bodies in perfect shape for competition.
On the other hand, bodybuilding is a complex sport. It requires a lot of dedication and determination and the willpower to keep at it. Bodybuilders have to train for many years to get their bodies into just the right shape and size to be able to win events. Some people use their minds to earn an income, some a certain skill they have and bodybuilders are those few people who try to earn a living through their bodies.
There are other professions where people use their bodies to earn a living but since this is a family friendly article we will leave those professions out of it. What is very odd about the sport is the almost widespread and very prevalent use of steroids in the world of bodybuilding. Steroids are a strange drug, because along with making a bodybuilder’s muscle mass increase by large amounts it also can have serious health side effects. This fact of ill health effects from using steroids is disputed by many websites which say that a lot of health effects are usually just media hype and steroids do not actually cause any harm if taken correctly.
We all know why the use of performance enhancing drugs like steroids are banned from professional competition but they don’t seemed to be banned from bodybuilding. The biggest reason behind their use is banned in professional sports is that they can give an athlete an unfair advantage over his/her rivals.
It is claimed that there are a lot of myths surrounding the use of steroids and one thing, which they do caution against, is the use of steroids in younger athletes who have not fully matured yet. The website has whole articles dedicated to not using the drug until the body has fully developed. One particular article which caught my eye was on Anabolic Steroids and the health effects or as they claim the so-called ill health effects from their use.
There is a pretty extensive list of side effects and a rebuttal for each one is given in this particular article which include Inhibition of natural hormones, liver damage, Gynocomastia (Development of breast tissue in males), Roid Rage, Cardiovascular Problems, Virilisation (Development of male characteristics in women), stunted growth, prostate enlargement, and many others. There are 14 possible side effects mentioned in the article.
Now that is a long list of side effects. Most medicines have one or two major side effects and those side effects are clearly mentioned in the accompanying literature. The side effects from medicines are more understandable because a person takes a medicine to get better from something that is wrong with them. The issue with steroid use is that it is purely for enhancement purposes. People don’t take them to get better from something ailing them; they take them to make themselves bigger and stronger.
That could be the problem with bodybuilders though; maybe the desire to become bigger and win tournaments and competitions is so great that in order to reap the rewards they are willing to put their bodies to the test of something that has so many side effects. It seems to be that only very few bodybuilders can get that big without the use of steroids and this seems to be particularly true for women bodybuilders. Even men’s bodies weren’t meant to carry that much muscle mass. If a bodybuilder gains a very large body without the use of steroids then that is very good for that person, but to those who do use steroids, they should certainly give a very serious cautious thought to the mentioned side effects because even if one of them is true it can effectively ruin an athlete’s life permanently.
Disclaimer: The writers' opinions are his own and do not represent Bettor.com's editorial policy.
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