The image of bodybuilding held by the majority of people whenever their minds cross to bodybuilding are that of muscle-bound, towering men like Lou Ferrigno and Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, the height of later winners are not towering; especially with Arnold being the tallest winner at 6’2. You can read this article for more on this.
Another matter altogether is the width of present leading competitors. This is a proof of the strenuous training involved with the aid of chemical supplements, which in turn has made bodybuilding physically challenging to a greater degree and more inaccessible than it has ever been.
Schwarzenegger is deserving of credit in consideration of his major role in popularizing the aesthetic value of resistance workouts. The time period in which he was actively involved coincides with the fitness industry’s rapid growth in America. Even after he had retired from active participation due to his acting carrier, a lot of folks continued with their body-enhancing exercises –from Hollywood stars to even then American President, Reagan.
Bodybuilding and Steroids
Bodybuilders take an extensive range of drugs and supplements in their bid to achieve a perfect look. These substances are taken for speedy recovery, to boost muscle hypertrophy, prevent issues from excess training, raise aggressiveness and training intensity, control appetite, fat and body water, and more. The popularity of bodybuilding has soared, making it a sport with a high profile.
So many champions of bodybuilding competitions, as earlier mentioned, have ended up becoming international movie stars. A lot of others have made much money in endorsements as they endorse food supplements. There are lots of periodicals that serve the fitness and bodybuilding community, promoting a number of drugs.
Anabolic steroids, fully known as anabolic-androgenic steroids, are artificial creations of testosterone. The hormone that differentiated Adam from Eve. Testosterone, by its nature, produces two types of effects on a person’s body. The first effect is the androgenic effect, which is responsible for the growth of facial hair and other body hair. It is also responsible for increase in voice depth and the healthy growth of male genitals.
The other characteristic it has is its anabolic effect, which brings about muscle mass and bone increase. All steroids come with these two effects –androgenic and anabolic. However, during synthesis, steroids could be made to have greatly reduced androgenic effects. You can get additional information in this publication here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15248788/.
Anabolic steroids do not work in a vacuum. Just taking them does not guarantee bulking for anyone. However, with regular and rigorous exercise procedures, they could bring about great increases in strength and one’s muscle size. This is because they help the cells of the muscle produce greater amounts of proteins, which is the main guarantee for bulking. They also see to greater production of ATP, which may be described as the muscle’s fuel when it has to do with movement.
Some Anabolic Steroids Available
It should be noted that the drugs on this list are in no way exhaustive. Every now and then, new drugs keep being added to the list. So, other sources may have drugs not listed here. One more thing, drugs also come with street names so a drug listed here might be listed with another name elsewhere.
- Quinbolone
- Oxymetholone
- Oxandrolone
- Methandrostenolone
- Nandrolone
- Danazol
- Trenbolone
- Stanozolol
- Mesterolone
- Methenolone
- Furazabol
- Fluoxymesterone
- Turinabol
The way these drugs are taken can vary. Some can be taken orally. With oral usage however comes an increased chance of liver damage as the drug has to pass through the liver. Other oral steroids that end up being broken down inside the stomach and its digestive tract usually end up not working. This challenge to oral intake has made the injectable option very attractive. Despite the health risks of needles, injectable steroids have greater preference. Some other popular alternatives are gels and creams which are made to be applied to the skin and absorbed from there.
Methods of Use
In the use of bodybuilding drugs, various ways of appropriating them have been created. We will be looking at three methods of taking steroids.
Stacking
In stacking, what actually happens is that a user combines more than one drug with the intention of compounding its effect. The drugs involved could be oral ones, injectable ones or a combination of both. In stacking, and other methods of steroid use for bodybuilding, doses vary. However, it is often many times far above what may be prescribed for the particular steroid when for therapeutic purposes in dealing with medical conditions.
Cycling
Beyond stacking, cycling is another way bodybuilders use steroids. This is seen by some analysts as the most popular way users take these drugs. In cycling, what actually happens is the observation of cycles –just as the name appears. What makes a cycle is times of being on the drugs and times of abstaining from it. The idea is to allow the body recovery time from whatever effects that may be associated with the particular drug or drugs. So, in cycling, a person may have two weeks in which he takes the drugs and another two weeks in which he abstains.
Pyramiding
Closely related with cycling is pyramiding. Pyramiding may be done separately or it may be combined with cycling. In pyramiding, the dose taken is gradually increased to a particular peak, and then gradually brought down to minimum. If this is combined with cycling, it means the pyramiding happens within the on period –the period in which the drug is being taken.
You can click here to get a more detailed information on bodybuilding drugs.
In Conclusion
It should be noted that steroids, taken continuously for a long time, especially in high doses, can result in a shutdown of the body’s factories responsible for producing the hormones the steroids mimic. In this case, testosterone produced in the body is the chief victim. This results in a shrunken testes, due to the fact that they no longer producing testosterone. This is something similar to the downsizing of your workforce due to a drastic drop in the demand for your product. As a result, you may end up with enlarged breasts; also known as gynecomastia and a condition that may only be reversed by surgery.
It is therefore very advisable that the use of steroids be done with caution. There may be many reasons to want to use them to enhance your bodybuilding pursuits, just add commonsense as a guide.
