Steroids:a Jekyll and Hyde Perspective. By Veeraj Goyaram

Opinion

Steroids: A Jekyll and Hyde Perspective
Researched & Composed by Veeraj Goyaram

DISCLAIMER

"Bodybuilding Mauritius & South Africa does not encourage the use of steroids, neither do we vilify them. Our aim is to educate the public about them, tell you what they are and what they aren't from a scientific perspective. We are not seeking to create sensational news like some in the mainstream media. Our information is carefully researched. If we are uncertain we simply keep shut. We do not work out steroid cycles and neither do we supply them so please don't email us asking to hook you up."

The media has been very successful in unjustly portraying steroids as evil substances to the point that most people consider them as evil. However, it is no secret that the media is miserably ignorant on the topic of drugs and seems unwilling to do proper research.

People would be fine hearing all sorts of ads for booze and cigarettes, often with their kids around, but once they hear "steroid" they go crazy. They are ready to label steroid users with any name conceivable. The truth is people toss around the word steroid without even knowing what the hell a steroid is. 

Believe it or not, most of us has taken a steroid at one point in our lives as a number of drugs, like anti-inflammatories, are steroid-based. Nevertheless, what we normally refer to when using the term steroid is "anabolic steroids", steroids that are able to stimulate growth in tissues, especially skeletal muscle.

Steroids for medical use

Anabolic steroids, which are based on the male hormone testosterone, were developed for medical usage like for the treatment of muscle loss from certain diseases, delayed puberty and to replace testosterone in men whose bodies no longer produce enough testosterone. In many countries testosterone is being used to treat patients with the same diseases (Rice et al., 2008; Haider et al., 2014). Yes, type 2 diabetics are given steroids. No joke, man! 

Not making gains? You don't need steroids
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Steroids use and abuse among athletes
Steroids were never designed for use among the athletic population. The first documented use of steroids is in weightlifting circles in the 50's and eventually these drugs crept into other sports for use as a performance enhancer. 

If you think that bodybuilding is the only sport in which steroids are abused then you will need to come from under the rock you've been living, my friend. Steroids are abused in many other sports but it is just that only in bodybuilding is it so obvious. Because bodybuilding is a minority sport and hard to understood subculture it is a very easy target for finger pointing. Most elite cyclists, for instance, are on steroids. Lance Armstrong admitted to use. 

Steroids when used in moderation and under close medical supervision may in fact be safer than most drugs that are prescribed to people. Don't you dare take for granted that all FDA-approved drugs are safe. A lot of them are unsafe but yet made it to the market. Very often people die because of prescription drugs, way more often than steroid-related deaths. My mom was given anti-hypertensive drugs by the doctor at the community health centre and she started complaining of swollen feet and excessive phlegm in the throat. Just to tell you that side effects of prescription drugs are manifold. Drugs are not that innocent. How they came to the market is another story. You'll be disgusted to know how. 

“We are currently in the midst of an epidemic of deaths caused by the misuse of prescription medications.” Pylkas and Bart (2014) Neurology Clinical Practice.

Not without risks, though
Of course, when abused steroids can be a serious problem. Some people looking for the famous "all kindz of gainz, bro" go on a steroid cycle extravaganza which often includes large amounts of orals for long periods of time, burdening their livers in the process. Some go on cycle, love it, feel inadequate without it and therefore never come off cycle ("Forever on cycle" LOL). Of course, we have all heard about steroid abuse-related heart, liver, and kidney complications and untimely deaths. Therefore, you'd be dumb to believe that steroids are harmless. 

How much their side effects can bite you in the bum is dependent on many factors, mainly 
(a) the type of steroids used
(b) the amount of steroids used 
(c) the duration of use and 
(d) Importantly, your genetics. 

Yes, genetics! Genetics never seem to give you a break, man. Because genetics dictate how we all respond differently to drugs we ingest too (pharmacogenetics). Some people can smoke a 10 cigarettes a day and develop lung cancer at 50 while others may smoke 40 a day and still live to blow their 80th candle. The same for steroids, not everyone will respond to steroids the same way, be it in terms of gains and side effects. Read below:

"Steroids can help give your training partner 20+ inch gunns, a ripped six pack and a lucrative endorsement contract while it may give you a pair of boobs, bad acne, a dead sex drive and an empty wallet.  Some can get away with subjecting his/ her body to chemicals while others simply cannot."

Like alcohol it's all about how you use it
"Alcohol can cause people to beat up their entourage, get their butt kicked or even kill people through drunk driving. Alcohol may cause some to lose their job, assets, friends, wife and mistress. On the flip side, there's no harm if it is alcohol in the form of a toast at a wedding or special occasion, a glass of wine before sex with your partner or enjoying one cold beer at a braai with your friends. It is not the alcohol that’s good or bad, it’s how it’s used. The same goes for steroids"

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References

Haider A, Yassin A, Doros G, Saad F. Effects of long-term testosterone therapy on patients with "diabesity": results of observational studies of pooled analyses in obese hypogonadal men with type 2 diabetes. Int J Endocrinol. 2014;2014:683515

Pylkas AM, Bart G. Prescribing controlled substances during a prescription drug epidemic. Neurol Clin Pract. 2014 Apr;4(2):99-105.

Rice D, Brannigan RE, Campbell RK, Fine S, Jack L Jr, Nelson JB, Regan-Klich J.Men's health, low testosterone, and diabetes: individualized treatment and a multidisciplinary approach. Diabetes Educ. 2008 Nov-Dec;34 Suppl 5:97S-112S;

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My Bio: I am a Mauritian originally from Roche Bois, Port Louis and now based in Cape Town, South Africa where I am busy with my postgraduate studies in molecular biology of exercise. My research, supervised by Prof. Edward Ojuka and Dr. Tertius Kohn, looks at the influence of nutrition and exercise in gene expression in muscle, research which is relevant and applicable to exercising individuals, sports persons and diabetic individuals. The knowledge that I share with you stems from my 18 years of experience in bodybuilding and 8 years (and counting) of university education in the field. I have also published work in the American Journal of Physiology: Endocrinology and Metabolism (2012, 2014), International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism (2013) and co-authored two book chapters on exercise and diabetes. I also presented my research work at the 2012 International Sports and Exercise Nutrition Conference (UK). I am grateful to each and everyone at the UCT Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine. "Knowledge without sharing is worth nothing"

_________________________________________________________________________

©,2013, Veeraj Goyaram, Bodybuilding Mauritius. Any reprinting in any type of media is prohibited.

Disclaimer: The Content on this site is intended to be used for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as medical advice or a diagnosis of any health or fitness problem, condition or disease; or a recommendation for a specific test, doctor, care provider, procedure, treatment plan, product, or course of action. BODYBUILDING MAURITIUS is not a medical or healthcare provider and your use of this site does not create a doctor / patient relationship. We disclaim all responsibility for the professional qualifications and licensing of, and services provided by, any physician or other health providers posting on or otherwise referred to on this Site and/or any Third Party Site. Never disregard the medical advice of your physician or health professional, or delay in seeking such advice, because of something you read on this Site. We offer this Site AS IS and without any warranties.  Correspondence: vicgoyaram@gmail.com

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Steroids and performance enhancing drugs in Sports Supplements? By Veeraj V. Goyaram

Steroids and Other Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports Supplements?

Researched and composed by Veeraj Goyaram
Article published 27 July 2013

It is not uncommon for over-the-counter health and sports supplements to contain steroids and other  classified substances that improve performance. Most of us have certainly heard of several cases in the media about products that have been found to contain controlled substances or athletes who have been tested positive after the consumption of over-the-counter supplements. Although I have been an avid follower of the sports supplements scene for nearly 17 years now I did not fully realise the severity of this problem until I attended a lecture by Dr. Hans Geyer last year. It was one of the key lectures at the International Sports and Exercise Nutrition Conference that took place in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, England. Dr. Hans Geyer is from the Cologne Doping Control Laboratory Center for Preventive Doping Research (German Sport University Cologne) and is heavily involved with doping control in athletes. He has masterminded research into analytical tools for detecting controlled substances in athletes, over-the-counter and black market sports supplements and therefore a lot of Dr. Geyer's work is cited in this article. 

This article aims to give you a lowdown on the situation of performance enhancing drugs in over-the-counter supplements. We will also provide a few interesting case studies, including an update of the issue of methylhexanamine (DMAA), the popular pre-workout energy ingredient which we are sure may interest you. Finally, as we are editing this article we just read a fresh news release by the FDA of a vitamin B supplement found to containing steroids. This will be covered as well. 

Dr. Hans Geyer

How can classified drugs find their way into supplements?

Sometimes, supplements contain "more than what's listed on the labels". Below are the two major ways by which controlled substances can find their way into supplements.

A. Cross-contamination

Supplements may sometimes be cross-contaminated with controlled substances such that small amounts of the latter may be detected. These amounts may possibly be insufficient to give an athlete any real edge on the playing field but sufficient to have an athlete test positive for particular substances. For example, a number of positive cases for prohormones in athletes who consumed vitamin supplement intake were seen. That was due to nutritional supplements being manufactured on the same production line as prohormones without proper cleaning on the production line between batches.  This can lead to inadvertent doping cases.

In fact, an international research study was carried out in 2001-2002 on 634 different nutritional supplements from 13 countries showed that 15% of the supplements tested contained anabolic steroids that were not declared on the label. Cross-contamination largely accounted for the presence of these substance in the tested supplements which included vitamins, minerals, proteins and creatine etc. (Geyer et al., 2002). The findings are summarised below.

Figure 2:Cross contamination detected in supplements from 13 European countries (Geyer et al., 2002)

Figure 3: Another study in Germany and Spain found traces of classical steroids
in vitamin and mineral supplements. These amounts are enough to have an athlete test positive (Adapted from Geyer et al., 2006)

B. Products "faked" with performance enhancing drugs

On an even more serious note, numerous supplements were detected with high amounts of ‘classic’ anabolic steroids like metandienone (Dianabol), stanozolol (Winstrol), boldenone (Equipoise), oxandrolone (Anavar), dehydrochloromethyl-testosterone (Oral Turinabol) etc. This intentional "faking" of products is done in order to make supplements work better as a means to generate sales. These steroids are either not declared on the labels or are listed under fancy names. These supplements can be easily purchased and pose great risks because of the inherent health risks of steroid usage and the dosages are not listed on the labels so that users have no idea of the amount of steroids that they are ingesting. Additionally, most of these steroids are 17-methylated to make them orally ingestible. The addition of the 17-methyl group increases their liver toxicity and carcinogenic properties. 

As a side note, those in the business know that many steroids are now sourced from Chinese pharmaceutical companies. Underground labs purchase them, reconstitute and dispense them into vials using very basic equipment and oftentimes under non-sterile conditions. You may easily recognise these vials as they differ from the sealed vials of steroids like legit Deca Durabolin from Organon from Karachi, Pakistan. It is worth noting that several products are also faked with other classified substances besides steroids (e.g. Sibutramine and Clenbuterol in weight loss products) as will be elaborated in the case studies below.

"Some companies are really cunning and what they will do is add steroids (or other performance enhancing drugs like stimulants) to the first few batches of a new product in order to "wow" users and get favourable reviews. Then fearing detection they will cease to use these substances so you are left wondering what happened (sometimes you think your body has got used to the product)"

Case#1: Designer steroids and the Novedex XT case 

Designer steroids, as their name implies, are steroids that have been manufactured from existing steroids by small chemical modifications. The resulting designer steroid is thus unable to be detected by doping tests because the doping controllers are not yet aware of these new steroids. In addition, a subgroup of designer steroids are also steroids that have been developed in the 50s and 60s by pharmaceutical companies and universities for a variety of medical conditions but for reasons of safety (among other reasons) were not commercially exploited. There are literally thousands of different such steroids and some of them were given "new life" when steroid suppliers decided to market them. The chemical structure of these steroids may be available fairly easily and pharmaceutical factories, particularly in China, are quite eager to synthesize these steroids. One common example of a designer steroid is Norboletone, also known as "The Clear" because of its ability to fool drug tests. It was marketed by chemist Patrick Arnold who became known as "The Clear Chemist". 

That being said, many designer steroids found their way into supplements marketed as testosterone boosters and aromatase inhibitors. Marketers were able to fool the Anabolic Steroid Control Act of 2004 because these steroids were not on the list of banned steroids. That was until the doping authorities upped their game and began research to develop assays to detect these designer steroids. Perhaps, the most striking case of a common product containing designer steroids was the Gaspari Novedex XT case. Authorities nailed down on Novedex XT after several urine sample testing of athletes showed some signals that indicated steroid metabolites in September 2006. These athletes reported to have taken Novedex XT. After analysis, these positive signals were identified as the "new" steroids androstatrienedione and 6-oxo-androstenedione (Geyer et al., 2007). Novedex XT was advertised as a testosterone booster and aromatase inhibitor and I have heard several reports of the effectiveness of this product. As soon as Novedex would come on the shelves it would disappear and a lot of guys were using it as part of their post steroid cycle therapy. The Rich Gaspari we are a huge fan of is a very decent and nice guy and the products were rapidly taken off the shelves. We can't imagine Rich Gaspari, a highly intelligent man, being silly enough to include steroids in his products. We don't think that he would compromise his reputation in bodybuilding for some easy bucks. Anyway, we now hope that Gaspari's products now conform to WADA regulations.

Figure 4: Gaspari Novedex XT was effective because it contained androstatrienedione
and 6-oxo-androstenedione (Geyer et al., 2007)

Case#2: The Pharm-Tec bust in Germany
The Pharm-Tec bust was a very interesting episode. Pharm-Tec was a German company that was very innovative in terms of the delivery formulations it used for "supplements", namely stamps (paper), powders, pills and effervescent tablets. Two supposedly prohormone effervescent products were busted, namely Stanozolon-S and Parabolon-S (note the similar-sounding name to the classic steroids Stanozolol and Parabolan). These products were tested by a German team (Parr et al., 2006) and were respectively found to contain high amounts of the oral anabolic androgenic steroids stanozolol (14.5mg/tablet) and methandienone (Dianabol, 16.8 mg/tablet). This was a clear case of intentional faking of supplement products.

A quite funny thing also happened with Pharm-Tec: they were selling the product Oxa-17-Dion and the label says that it contains 25mg of 5-alpha-adrostan-2-oxa-17alpha-methyl-17-beta-ol-3-one. That's the chemical name of Oxandrolone (Anavar)! Another product named Testexx listed 1,4-Andro-4-chloro Stadien 17alpha-methyl-17beta-ol-3-one. That's the chemical name of Oral Turinabol! In this case what they used the scientific names of "classical" steroids on the labels as almost nobody understands these names. That's very funny indeed.

Case#3:  Clenbuterol and Sibutramine in weight loss products

Fat loss products are sometimes faked with classified drugs too to make them work better. For instance, German researchers tested a weight loss product named "Anabolic burner" and found that it contained 30mcg of Clenbuterolper tablet (Parr et al., 2007). In another case, Polish researchers (Stypułkowska et al., 2011) found that several Chinese weight loss products contained generous amounts of the the class IV controlled substance Sibutramine and its derivatives. Sibutramine is an anorexic drug that was used to treat obesity until its withdrawal in 2010 after it was found to cause cardiovascular  events and strokes. Of course, Sibutramine was not listed on the labels of these slimming products which could easily be purchased on the internet.  

Figure 6: The Chinese herbal weight loss supplement "Li Da" (Left) was found to contain
Sibutramine. The latter drug was used to treat obesity until 2010.

Case #4: Steroids in B-complex tablets
As I am editing this article I came a "hot off the press" news release by the FDA (26/7/2013) about a vitamin B-complex supplement found to contain the potentially harmful steroid methasterone, and dimethazine. This product is called First B-50 and is made by Healthy Life Chemistry By Purity First B-50. This investigation followed reports of incidents associated with the consumption of this supplement in which 29 people reported effects like fatigue, muscle cramps and pain. Biochemical analyses revealed abnormal liver and thyroid function values as well as high cholesterol levels. Female users reported unusual hair growth and missed menstruation, and males who used the product reported impotence that was confirmed by low testosterone levels. The press release by FDA can be viewed on this link. The FDA runs an online alert program called "MedWatch: The FDA Safety Information and Adverse Event Reporting Program". It can be accessed here.    

Figure 7: One of the products of Healthy Life Chemistry

The Methylhexanamine (DMAA) ban situation

I believe the topic of DMAA deserves an article on its own as I followed the evolution of this supplement ingredient with interest. But here is a brief update of the situation: 1,3 DMAA stands for 1,3-dimethylamylamine. It is also called methylhexanamine. On some supplements you will also find it listed as geranium oil extract (on the basis of its plant origin) and Geranamine, the latter being the trade name held by a company called Proviant technologies. This company belongs to Patrick Arnold, the one who introduced DMAA on the supplements market in 2006, following the Ephedrine ban in 2005. In my personal opinion, it is DMAA which gave the greatest boost to the once-lackluster preworkout business. DMAA worked like a bomb, especially in formulations containing Caffeine. Unfortunately, DMAA has been linked to a number of deaths and subsequently the FDA issued a letter of warning to companies selling DMAA-containing preworkouts.  

Supplement companies resorted to listing Geranium oil extract or Geranium stem as a source of DMAA on products because these botanicals don't fall under FDA. For that purpose, they cited an article by Chinese researchers (Ping et al., 1996) that found that Geranium oil/ stem contains DMAA. As a side note, the same thing happened with Ephedrine. When the latter was under scrutiny, companies resorted to listing MaHuang extract (source of Ephedrine) on product labels in an attempts to keep the bucks flowing while escaping the FDA. Interestingly, recent studies by (Zhang et al., 2012) found that Geranium oil/ stem contains no DMAA and provided evidence that the Chinese study was a flawed study, thereby suggesting that the DMAA in all products is of synthetic origin. There is an ongoing debate among analytical chemists about the tools they use to detect DMAA in geranium extracts. The current stand is that geranium does not contain DMAA while pro-industry chemists state that some cultivars of geranium contains the substance and these cultivars are what the supplements industry uses in their products. Recently, USP labs destroyed a massive amount of Oxyelite pro and Jack3D and had to reformulate their products. Finally, the amount of DMAA in many products was a best-kept secret, falling under proprietary blends. Zhang et al. (2012), was kind enough to analyse these products and disclose the amount of DMAA. In my opinion, it was the amount of DMAA that gave different preworkouts different strengths. For instance, Nutrex Hemorage had 33mg per serving while Jack3D had 142mg per serving. 

Figure 8: Zhang et al., 2012 discloses the amount of DMAA found in common
supplements. In one case the product contained nearly 15 times more DMAA
than what's listed on the label!

Any responsible companies in the business?

Although the supplement industry is largely unregulated there are still several responsible companies who go the extra mile to a) source ingredients from trusted suppliers, b) have their R&D team constantly evaluating product formulations to see if ingredients conform to World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) regulations and c) have their products tested at an independent laboratory for controlled substances.

Summary and take-home message

• The presence of banned substances can either be accidental or intentional.

• Accidental contamination can lead to enough banned substance in the body to produce a positive drug test.

• There are many reliable companies who push the envelope further to ensure their products don't contain banned substances.

• The biggest danger with products that contain banned substances is that these are not disclosed on the label and therefore you are clueless about the amount of drugs you are ingesting. If you don't mind your creatine product containing some Dianabol because you are already taking steroids then you are in a bad situation because you don't know how much total steroids you are taking.

References

Geyer H, Parr MK, Reinhart U, Schrader Y, Mareck U, Schänzer W. Analysis of Non-Hormonal Nutritional Supplements for Anabolic Androgenic Steroids—an International Study -. In Recent advances in doping analysis (10), SchänzerW, GeyerH, GotzmannA, MareckU. (eds). Sport und Buch Strauß: Köln, 2002; 83. eds).

Geyer H, Mareck U, Kohler K, Parr MK, Schanzer W. Cross-contaminations of vitamin and mineral-tablets with metandienone and stanozolol. In Recent Advances in Doping Analysis (14), Schanzer W, Geyer H, Gotzmann A, Mareck U (eds). Sportverlag Strauß: Koln, 2006; 11.

Geyer H, Koehler K, Mareck U, Parr MK, Schänzer W, Thevis M. Nutritional supplements cross contaminated and faked with prohormones, “classic” anabolic steroids and “designer steroids”. Effectivness of the Antidoping Fight. 2006 IAAF World Anti Doping Symposium. IAAF: Monaco, 2007; 95.

Parr, M. K., Koehler, K., Geyer, H., Guddat, S. and Schänzer, W. (2008), Clenbuterol marketed as dietary supplement. Biomed. Chromatogr., 22: 298–300.

Ping Z, Jun Q, Qing L. A study on the chemical constituents of geranium oil. Journal of Guizhou Institute of Technology. 1996. 25(1):82-85.

Zhang Y, Woods RM, Breitbach ZS, and Armstrong DW. 1,3-dimethylamylamine (DMAA) in supplements and geranium products: natural or synthetic? Drug Testing Analysis. 2012:4(12):986-990. Available here. Accessed January 7, 2013.

About the author: I am currently a PhD student in Exercise Science at the University
of Cape Town in South Africa. My MSc research looked at the regulation of glucose
transporters in muscle by exercise and nutritional factors.  For my PhD I am looking at the influence of diet and exercise on mitochondrial function in skeletal muscle. If you enjoy my articles please feel free to recommend them to others. Your comments and suggestions are welcome. For correspondence email me on vicgoyaram @gmail.com.

_________________________________________________________________________

©,2013, Veeraj Goyaram, Bodybuilding Mauritius. Any reprinting in any type of media is prohibited.

Disclaimer: The Content on this site is intended to be used for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as medical advice or a diagnosis of any health or fitness problem, condition or disease; or a recommendation for a specific test, doctor, care provider, procedure, treatment plan, product, or course of action. BODYBUILDING MAURITIUS is not a medical or healthcare provider and your use of this site does not create a doctor / patient relationship. We disclaim all responsibility for the professional qualifications and licensing of, and services provided by, any physician or other health providers posting on or otherwise referred to on this Site and/or any Third Party Site. Never disregard the medical advice of your physician or health professional, or delay in seeking such advice, because of something you read on this Site. We offer this Site AS IS and without any warranties.  Correspondence: vicgoyaram@gmail.com

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Beware of Fake Dianabol. By Veeraj Vic Goyaram

Beware of Fake Dianabol

Researched and composed by Veeraj V. Goyaram

Bodybuilding Mauritius does not encourage the use of steroids. The information we provide is for educational purposes only. Our articles on the topic of drug use in bodybuilding can be accessed on this link. In this article we report one case of counterfeiting for the popular oral steroid Dianabol.

In a recent article published in the Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, Italian scientists (Favretto et al., 2013) analysed Dianabol tablets of the blue heart-shaped variety and found that the concentration of active ingredient methandienone (dianabol) was only 1.5mg per tablet, much less than the 5-10mg/ tablet in licensed products. Furthermore, another steroid, methyltestosterone, was also detected in the tablets at a dose of 1.7 mg/ tab. The scientists report that these doses are enough to give a feeling to users that the steroids "are working" but insufficient to produce any anabolic effect.

Click to read article on Science Direct

Conclusion

The above paper is one of the many reports of steroid counterfeiting which serves to tell you that by buying gear from non-legit sources you run the risk of:

a) Getting less than what you pay for, meaning that the steroids may contain only a fraction of what the label (or dealer) says it contains. 

b) Getting more than what you pay for, meaning that some steroid products contain other steroids that you don't know about or don't intend using. In this example, the "Dianabol" tablets contained Methyltestosterone which has been added intentionally (as it is present in a 1:1 ratio to dianabol)

References

Favretto D, Castagna F, Maietti S, Boscolo-Berto R and Ferrara SD. When color fails: Illicit blue tablets containing anabolic androgen steroids. J Pharm Biomed Anal 83: 260-264, 2013.         

By a Scientist who lifts!! Click here for more details

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©,2013, Veeraj Goyaram, Bodybuilding Mauritius. Any reprinting in any type of media is prohibited.

Disclaimer: The Content on this site is intended to be used for educational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be and should not be interpreted as medical advice or a diagnosis of any health or fitness problem, condition or disease; or a recommendation for a specific test, doctor, care provider, procedure, treatment plan, product, or course of action. BODYBUILDING MAURITIUS is not a medical or healthcare provider and your use of this site does not create a doctor / patient relationship. We disclaim all responsibility for the professional qualifications and licensing of, and services provided by, any physician or other health providers posting on or otherwise referred to on this Site and/or any Third Party Site. Never disregard the medical advice of your physician or health professional, or delay in seeking such advice, because of something you read on this Site. We offer this Site AS IS and without any warranties.  Correspondence: vicgoyaram@gmail.com

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Thinking of going on Steroids? Read this first. By Vic Goyaram

Thinking of going on Steroids? Read this first

Researched and composed by Vic Goyaram
Exclusive for Bodybuilding Mauritius

We do not advocate steroid use

Bodybuilding Mauritius does not encourage the use of steroids and performance enhancing drugs. Every member who has been on our Facebook group since its inception can attest that we have never encouraged the use of steroids but rather preached the development of your natural potential by proper training, nutrition, supplementation and the necessary lifestyle modifications. Once you master the basics whatever else you do falls under your responsibility. Steroids do not make up for a lack of these aforementioned  bodybuilding "ingredients". Contrary to what may sometimes be said, steroids do not make up for a poor diet, lack of sleep and sloppy training. Neither are steroids the killer that the media portrays them to be but they are not without risks. Some people are more prone than others to experience the side effects of steroids while some can simply get away with it. 

The reason why I am writing this article is because through the Bodybuilding Mauritius group and my personal inbox we have obtained a number of queries regarding steroids from people who were not ready for this step.  In this article we present you some cases in which you must not go on steroids. 

No Steroid Case #1: Do not use steroids if you are still young.

Most of those interested in steroids are still very young. Some are still in their teens. At a young age steroids are not advised because your natural testosterone levels are still reasonably high although not as high as it would be if you were taking steroids. However, this can still allow you to make very solid gains naturally. In your teens and early-to-mid 20s your focus should be on building a natural foundation of muscle. I understand that at this age impatience is very common especially when one or two years of age difference can have a major impact on your natural growth. You see your friends are bigger than you, you see massive junior bodybuilders and you want to emulate them. I know that at this age you want to prove yourself, make a statement. I have been there too. Taking steroids at such a young age can mess up your endocrine system and this is definitely not worth it for a few pounds of extra muscle.

Young but not making decent progress
If you are not making the desired progress it is unlikely to be due to a lack of anabolic hormones in your system. The problem is more likely to be in your nutrition or training. You should get someone who is experienced to evaluate these for you. One more time, steroids won't make up for improper training or nutrition. 

If you are not making progress get a trainer to assess your training
and nutrition rather than jump on steroids

Bodybuilding is a marathon, not a sprint
Young people often want things to happen fast. Unfortunately, building muscle is not an overnight process. Building muscle takes time. This process may happen faster or slower in some people. Thus you may see your friends grow bigger and stronger at a faster rate than you. Bodybuilding itself is a long-term sport. You have all the time in the world to compete unless someone is pointing a gun at your head and forcing you to compete, which is very unlikely. You must devote your initial years as a teen bodybuilder to building a solid foundation of muscle rather than be in a hurry to go onstage and possibly considering steroids as an ally to help you achieve this. A guy of the age of 30 is considered young in bodybuilding, unlike most other sports. Just look at Toney "X-Man" Freeman who is still a top contender at the age of 48. Just look at Dexter Jackson who just won the Arnold Classic at the age of 42. 

Bodybuilding is a marathon, not a sprint. You can compete
at any age. Pursue health and longevity, not just massive muscles
(Pictured: Doug Brignole, NABBA Mr. Universe)

No Steroid Case#2: Adult with little training experience 

You must not use steroids if you are new to bodybuilding. You must bust your behind in the gym a good number of years naturally before even considering to go on steroids. You need to use your natural potential as much as possible by means of hard training and proper nutrition before considering to go on steroids. The latter should be the icing on the cake, the final piece of the puzzle as we say. You should not build your body on a foundation of steroids. Don't gear up too soon. 

Build a natural foundation before considering steroids

No Steroid Case #3: Diet is inadequate but want to do steroids

If you are not eating properly then it is very unlikely that your problem can be solved with steroids. Steroids won't make up for what's missing in your diet. Therefore, you can make good gains if you bring whatever is missing in your diet. You need to get someone experienced to analyse whether your diet is appropriate for your goals. You may think that you are eating a lot or sufficient macro-nutrients but on careful analysis there may be shortcomings. 

Let me take myself to illustrate an example. Currently I am able to afford only 150g of protein per day and 2000 calories total. In South Africa a 10ml vial of testosterone (250mg/ml) costs about the same price as 2kg of whey protein. What do you think I want to do? Buy the steroids or try to get the extra 50-75g of protein and 1500 calories that my body requires daily? I will go with the extra protein and 1500 calories because they themselves will "act like a steroid" once I bring these to my body. Meaning, they will give me good gains.  No matter how much I want to get really big and add more muscle, surprise people at how bigger I can get, out-lift everybody in the gym I know my aim cannot be achieved using testosterone when my body isn't getting enough nutrients. 

I must also wait before going on steroids

At the same time, once you decide to go on steroids don't only plan your cycle and post-cycle therapy (PCT). You need to plan your nutrition. You need to have a solid nutrition plan and know beforehand what you are going to eat and whether you will be on the money to ensure that your nutrition can be maintained. If your diet is off then doing a steroid cycle will be a mere waste of your money. The pain in the ass and delts from injections won't be worth it as well. 

Diet is key, on and off steroids

No steroid Case #4: Insufficient knowledge of steroids

Going on steroids is not about only popping a few pills or some weekly injections. I am not going to tell you how to do it but you must do your research beforehand.  A steroid cycle must be carefully planned rather than haphazard. You must know how long you will run the cycle, what your post-cycle therapy will be and what side effects you are likely to experience such that you have the proper remedial drugs handy. All these must be carefully planned. If you don't know about all these then please don't do steroids. Study more first. 

There are many good resources on steroids and your best bet would be publications like William Llewellyn's book titled "Anabolics". I am sure many of these books are available online and  you need to use these resources that back in the old days people didn't have. 

William Llewelyn's book is a good resource 

There are so many resources now but people get really lazy to dig into them for knowledge. There are many forums on the internet discussing steroids and you need to be really careful with these. Not everyone dispensing advice on steroids knows their stuff, some are knowledgeable while others are trying to push a certain steroid brand. Very likely on forums whenever you have a question concerning a cycle you need to be very specific and the members will expect you to have done your research first. Don't go and ask them "I want to take Deca. What do you advise?". You will be booed off the forum. You must be very specific in your question. Nobody will write you a cycle if you give the impression that you don't know the basics of your stuff or lazy to do your own prior research. Nobody will lay everything down for you unless maybe he is willing to date your sister. You must do your homework.

Steroid websites are numerous. Proceed with caution

You may also ask some of the big guys at your gym. Remember that not all big guys who juice are knowledgeable. You get some who are really dumb and who can write you a cycle that can kill your balls. Approach someone who seems to know his stuff very well and don't forget to do your research first and give him the impression that you are serious in your business and not just a kid who wants to take shortcuts. Again now if some guy is writing you insane cycles like 1000mg testosterone per week for your first cycle then drop him. Back off. 

No Steroid Case #5: Someone trying to sell you your first cycle without any advice
Given the massive demand for steroids, the latter is a lucrative business which has attracted not only bodybuilders but also dealers who previously had nothing to do with bodybuilding.  Most of these people may have little knowledge of bodybuilding and thus will not be in any position to give you advice about steroids. The same applies to dealers who are familiar to the bodybuilding world who may not have the time to attend to your questions because their main aim is record sales in record times. If someone sells you something without explaining to you how to use it, how to stack it and who doesn't even care whether or not you are ready then ditch that person. Do not buy his stuff. He is trying to make money off you. If you are, however, knowledgeable and know what you want then you are free to buy from who you want as long as you know his gear is legit. 

Not all dealers sell legit stuff. Most want only your money

No Steroid case #6: Peer Pressure and wanting to do like others

Learn to say NO if someone offers you steroids

Just because your friends or your training partner are using steroids doesn't mean that you  should use them too. Do not succumb to the need to do like others just to be accepted or for any other reason. Look deep into yourself and ask yourself what your aim is in bodybuilding. Is it to better yourself or to compete against others? Do your finances allow you to do like others? If your friends are taking steroids and eating 1kg of meat one day are you able to do the same if you take steroids like them? I personally don't care if I may be the only quite serious natural bodybuilder in my gym because I take massive pride in being one. I don't feel the need to do like others and do my first cycle although steroids are readily available to me. I will do so only when I am ready for that step in terms of both my bodybuilding goals and bank balance. Most of my bodybuilding friends are on steroids but they are also on 6-8 meals a day and are a dedicated and educated bunch. Neither my natural status nor their non-natural status change anything at the level of respect we have for each other. Think well whether you really need steroids. Sit down and reassess things. 

No Steroid Case #7: Steroids for the wrong reasons
Deca durabolin is not for joints and Anavar is not for fat loss. Do not use Deca-Durabolin because you have joint problems. Deca helps with dry and painful joints but it doesn't mean that you should use Deca just because you have these problems. I am mentioning this because I have sometimes received questions from people with no prior experience in steroids who have been advised to take Deca for joint problems. It would be very silly to run steroids just for joint lubrication, in my opinion. Maybe if the guy was a regular user an advice to also run Deca in his cycle would be understandable. You don't tell a beginner who is experiencing joint problems to run Deca, period.

Leave the Anavar for those who are experienced.
Don't use it as a first resort fat burner. You must be nuts to do so. 

Similarly, while there are reports of Anavar and Winstrol working as a fat burner this doesn't mean that you should run these for losing some fat if you have no prior experience in steroids. You will be better off fixing your diet and then enlist the help of some over-the-counter thermogenics before considering to run these steroids. In most cases if you only need to lose some fat you won't really need to run any steroid. If you are a fat beginner don't think steroids will get you lean and jacked. You should be able to cut without gear. Cutting steroid cycles are for those who already know their business and have nailed down on their nutrition/ training and want that extra edge.

No Steroid Case #8: You have mental issues

Steroids have potential psychological effects and can affect your mood and emotions. If you are naturally an unhappy or depressed person then you will feel good for some time on steroids but will crash when you come off the steroids. Furthermore, if you have a short fuse and get angry easily then steroids may make this worse. Therefore, please make sure before going that route. You don't want to end up like a maniac and lose friendships and relationships. Whether or not the media has blown the psychological effects of steroids out of proportion, steroids have been shown in numerous studies to have psychological effects. 

Think well before sticking your first needle
Get your info and basics right

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©,2013, Veeraj Goyaram, Bodybuilding Mauritius. Any reprinting in any type of media is prohibited.

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