Should You Use Steroids or Not?

How Do You Make The Descision to Use Steroids or Not?

Alek sent in a very interesting question. He simply asked what are the real objective reasons for not using steroids.

This is a good question because there is much misinformation about steroids in the general media, and the side effects and potential negative effects are usually associated with massive doses.

What then are the objective reasons to avoid steroid use?

First of all any drug taken on a chronic basis will have some side effects to deal with. In the case of testosterone and it’s derivatives the side effects (no matter how mild the drug or dose) are as follows:

Aromatization of some testosterone to estrogen and then estrogen based side effects (development of breast tissue is the most obvious)

Hair Loss (not too many guys would trade a head of hair for slightly bigger muscles)

Raised blood lipids and cholesterol. This is one of the side effects that can directly increase risk of heart disease.

Potential increased risk of prostate cancer.

Acne (it’s person to person, not everyone gets this reaction)

And finally, there is likely a set of completely unknown side effects that the scientific community has yet to uncover or have a chance to study.

This list (while not complete) is a good starting point of ‘con’s’ to using steroids. If a guy wanted to use them he would have to weigh out these vs the ‘pro’s’.

Depending on the dose testosterone can be a benefit to many guys, it’s even prescribed as an anti-depressant and to elevate mood and well being.

It may also be of use for men who are beyond 50 years of age and want to replace some testosterone to restore their circulating levels back to those of a 30 year old. This may actually be beneficial for longevity and quality of life. This is analogous in some respects to hormone replacement therapy for post menopausal women.

In the end it should be up to each individual to decide what they want to do with their body. Collecting unbiased and objective information is the key to making an informed descision.

John

Posted by johnbarban in Muscle Building, steroids

Tags: Muscle Building, steroids |23 Comments

23 Responses to “Should You Use Steroids or Not?”

usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Is it also true that we would lose whatever gains we got from however small or large the dose if we stop? If so, steroids, however small or large the dose we start is a vicious cycle, right?
johnbarban Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Yeah more or less….but so is weight training. If you stop working out you lose the gains that your workout produced. The only difference is a workout doesn’t really have any unwanted side effects.
James Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
Isn’t the possibility an enlarged heart a side effect (and a deadly one at that)? Or is that from something else?
johnbarban Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 5:37 pm
James,

It’s possible, however aerobic exercise can also enlarge the heart to some degree. I’m not sure exactly the extent of the effect steroids would have on the heart long term…I don’t think there is much data on this.

JB
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 6:15 pm
“Yeah more or less….but so is weight training. If you stop working out you lose the gains that your workout produced. The only difference is a workout doesn’t really have any unwanted side effects.”

Yeah, this is my understanding, and precisely why depending on drug-free weight training is better (to put it lightly lol) than steroid use.
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
Correction:

“…better (to put it lightly lol) than depending on steroids.”
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I think that’s important to note because everyone thinking to themselves, “Oh, I’ll just use steroids for a month to get some quick muscle,” will be wasting their time because even if they don’t get harmed by a month of drug use, they’ll those gains when they get off it at the end of the month.

Of course, that’s also ASSUMING nothing bad will happen to you during that month. However, I think Arnold Schwartzenegger admitted to steroid use but in “prescribed” doses so maybe there is a predictable way to use steroids while minimizing side effects. When Arnie got off the steroids though, did he indeed lose those temporary gains?
Kevin Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 6:21 pm
I also do believe that most side effects of Anabolic Steroid use is due to your predisposition to those side effects. EX. Most people I know that break out on steroids already have bad skin or had bad skin earlier in life, hair loss as well seems be be sped up through the use of anabolics in people who are already predisposed to hair loss in their genetics to name 2 examples. I know many many people who use anabolics and experience none of these side effects not to say that there may be an underlying problem which has yet to rear its ugly head. Also know that if im taking anabolics and die of a stubbed toe their gonna call it a side effect and blame it on the Steroids.
Kevin Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Correct me if im wrong John, but in the end isn’t muscle gained just that MUSCLE GAINED and the determining factor to keeping that muscle being the bodys use for that muscle and not the steroids what helped you create it?
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
“Correct me if im wrong John, but in the end isn’t muscle gained just that MUSCLE GAINED and the determining factor to keeping that muscle being the bodys use for that muscle and not the steroids what helped you create it?”

Hmmm, good question.

So why would you LOSE muscle after going off steroids?
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
Given that you continue to stress this muscle of course.

I can definitely see how going off steroids will cause you to lose all those gains if you either stop working those muscles or you never worked those muscles in the first place (because your body will grow muscle from just even sitting around if you are on steroids) and you don’t start working it after getting off steroids.
Kevin Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
Im thinking its due to the factor that post Steroid use you may not be able to push the weight you did during their use resulting in the body down regulating the muscle solely to accommodate the weight you are pushing now. I also believe that the majority of steroid users use steroids solely as a crutch and revert back to their non lifting selves post cycle therefor resulting in the muscle dissipating. I wouldn’t blame steroids for this but more so the user and their intensity in the gym.
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
Yeah, I was thinking along those lines too, Kevin, e.g. blame the user rather the cessation of steroid use. There’s also the possibility that the muscles have become dependent on steroid (although my instincts tell me this is less likely just because dramatic physiological changes is more of a stretch than the user just being lazy). I’d like to hear what John has to say.
johnbarban Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 9:00 pm
Muscle size is a transient and dynamic state. They’re not like bricks, they’re like water balloons. Things like weight training and steroids only inflate the balloon (muscle)…it’s not like adding bricks to a pile.

On the flip side think of how fast a muscle shrinks when you put an arm or leg in a cast (even with steroids the muscles will shrink)

But once the cast comes off and you start working those muscles again they quickly return to their full size (inflating the balloon)

there is no ‘loss’ of muscle because it’s not a matter of gaining or losing, it’s a matter of inflating or deflating.

JB
Alek Says:
June 14th, 2010 at 11:30 pm
Thanks for answering, though I forgot to mention another problem with the problems listed. They are often either not objective… OR they are vague, i.e. they mean nothing specific.

For example… “Raised blood lipids and cholesterol.” – Isn’t there a study that says this for just about any good tasting food on the planet? Yet most of us don’t decide to go vegan overnight, simply because we have common sense. We know that eating a pizza a week is not the same as eating 10 pizzas a day, every day for 10 years straight.

So, I wasn’t just looking for objective problems, but also objective real-world quantity problems. Do steroids cause “Raised blood lipids and cholesterol.” at any dosing and with any precaution. For example, can a guy do two 10-week cycles a year, and have no long-term problems. Etc… Etc… What’s the equivalent to “eating one pizza a week”? Or does it no exist at all? Is any dosing small enough to have no side effects, also not big enough to give and maintain a higher than natural physique?
Keith Says:
June 15th, 2010 at 12:47 am
Ok John,
Are u saying then that if you gain one pound of pure muscle in a month, then you will always have that pound you gained forever as long as you do some type of training? Also will that one piund you gained disappear if you get put into a cast or whatever?
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
June 15th, 2010 at 1:08 am
John, thanks for the reply.

What is protein’s role in muscle buildling/inflation then? Why not just hydrate the muscles with more water? Or are you saying the muscles are filled…with protein?
Alek Says:
June 15th, 2010 at 1:40 am
I like Keith’s question too. That’s also a big-factor in guys deciding whether to use roids. Can you use roids to simply get to your natural limit faster, and then maintain it without roids.
Kevin Says:
June 15th, 2010 at 2:04 am
John, thanks for the reply.
usernametooshortnowitstoolon Says:
What is protein’s role in muscle buildling/inflation then? Why not just hydrate the muscles with more water? Or are you saying the muscles are filled…with protein?

EXACTLEY what I was thinking if muscle building is purely an issue of volume of water in the muscle then why go to the gym and why work out if its solely an issue of muscle hydration. I believe what your saying John im just trying to understand. If that’s the case then why even try and put on muscle if all your doing is increase muscular hydration?
Mike Says:
June 15th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
John, I was wondering if you could expound on what the benefits and dangers of steroids would be depending on where you are on the anabolic continuum.
Shaun Says:
June 20th, 2010 at 6:51 am
In many countries steroids are illegal. I doubt jail-house food is very nutritious
Russ Says:
February 15th, 2012 at 3:13 pm
I thought all gains loss was a myth with PCT?
bubba Says:
April 5th, 2012 at 1:36 am
You will lose all your gains, eventually, after PCT. It might take a few months but it will happen. You cannot get bigger than your genetic potential. If you put a turbo in a car, the car will be faster. If you take the turbo out, the car will be slower. Simple shit.

Now, if you are not near your genetic potential, you could theoretically gain muscle size and if you worked out hard after and had a proper PCT and you are over the age of 25, you might be able to retain some of that because you haven’t reached your potential yet. Now, one might ask, then why do them, why not just work hard and earn your genetic potential? Exactly my point.

Genetic potential doesn’t just mean how tall you can grow or how big you will be either. Obviously part of this genetic potential is the amount of growth hormone your body naturally produces and the amount of testosterone it produces. If you have low testosterone your genetic potential will be very limited. Obviously steroids alter your testosterone levels but once you come off, your balls have already stopped producing testosterone because your body sensed an elevated level therefore it shut down natural production. So basically PCT is a pain in the ass and you feel like shit and you lose a lot of muscle, fast. Then if you are lucky, you might regain your natural testosterone back, but it won’t be the same as before because every time you cycle steroids you are damaging your HPTA (hypothalamus-pituitary-testicular-axis). Read about it. Learn it. Do it.

Should You Use Steroids or Not?

23 Responses to “Should You Use Steroids or Not?”

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