Steroids and Responsibility

[Tsar]

I know that steroids has been in the news in the not too distant past. Steroids have different properties. Some cut fat, others build muscle, and some do a combination of both.

Would anyone take steroids for a few weeks to aide in toning or muscle building? I know that they are illegal. From a Libertarian standpoint steroids that used by average people and used responsibly shouldn't be a crime. The government shouldn't use the excuse they are protecting the person's health because it's hypocritical. Every drug has it's potential for abuse. Responsible use is the key word. Sometimes water intake must be upped, vitamins added to daily diets, or supplements to support the liver. Sometimes another drug should be used to responsibly ease the body into normal operations. Sometimes blood pressure readers are recommended. The most important aspect of responsible usage would be awareness and knowledge about the steroid.

Some people get motivated and excited when they notice a difference in their appearance. A six pack, defined muscles, and a good physique is something that attracts girls and can add bonus points. Short-term steroid use as an occasional boost shouldn't be too bad in terms of health. Any person with common sense would know not to drink alcohol when taking steroids. I know steroids is a controversial issue because they are illegal.

A regular person using steroids isn't cheating by artificially enhancing performance like an athlete. It's more like a powerful fat burning and muscle building supplement.

Would anyone temporarily use steroids as a way of enhancing physical appearance and the rate at which they gain strength?

[Cornfed]

I don't think you should do this, because there are long term down sides and addictive qualities that may not be at first apparent. You can get most of what you want in a reasonable amount of time by proper training and dieting. If you don't have the discipline (or money) to do that then you should not use steroids either. People in particular professions or with medical conditions benefit from the use of steroids, but they do seem to f**k people up in the long term. I was going to use them, but having learned about the down side, I think I'll wait until I am so old as to not have much natural test.

[magnum]

Avoid steroids the effects don't last, once you stop taking them your testosterone will come back down ot normal levels and from what I hear, most people lose 99% of the gains they on the stuff.

With that being said, HGH aka Human growth hormone will literally make you younger, help you recover and even cause your skin to become younger to put it in simple speak.


And the effects are a constant, in other words if your younger for longer, you don't just lose the extra healing factor it gave you for the last 3 months, you'll have aged slower and probably put on more muscle because of your ability to heal and exercise and regenerate.


So if you know how to take HGH, and you know where to get it as it's super expensive, I suggest you take it after the age of 25, You'll be 30 at the age of 50.


Wish I had the funds, I'd probably do this my self, be warned though, using it incorrectly can cause cancer organ overgrowth heart attack ect...

[Adama]

The real key is managing your calories and adjusting them to your body type.

If you are an endomorph, you know you have to increase your calories very slowly to avoid fat gain.
If you are a mesomorph you really dont have to worry so much about calories, for the most part.
If you are an ectomorph, then you face an uphill battle with calories, but it can be done. Luckily for ectomorphs, it is hard to gain weight period. Just make sure you are taking in more than enough calories to support muscle growth.

Watch the scale weekly and try to watch what your percentage of bodyfat is as you try to gain weight. Dont let the BF% increase dramatically, or then you'll have to battle weight loss.

Some good forums to visit are bodybuilding.com and other related forums.

[magnum]

I felt it worth mentioning, once you've been fat, the fat cells have a far easier time coming back because fat cells never vanish they simply "empty" so it's very easy to gain it back if you don't watch your diet macros and exercise correctly, and like he said, body type has a lot to do with it.



Once I get back to china, Im going to try to do a small surplus in calories to gain muscle mass on the natural non-gmo food in china, to see if it has a drastic effect on the quality of weight I gain, aka muscle rather then fat.



I went from 300 lbs to what I am now 165, though I've been as low as 155 *horrible time of learning the hard way about diet vs exercise* so I had to kick my ass to get my muscle mass back, and even then I'm only 165 at 6'0, though I'm lean at around 8% to 10%

Depends on your goals too, the average guy can probably get acceptable body with average muscle mass but far lower then average body fat, so in other words cardio and eating clean.


Sadly due to being fat before, I'm the skinny body type that gets fat easy and doesn't build muscle very well, so I'm in for a hell of a ride when I attempt to put on mass, I'd like to be 190 lean, that's basically 25 lbs extra of muscle, that kind of mass would take probably take 2 to 3 years just to give you a example of how long it takes, depending on your body type.

[onethousandknives]

I think a man using steroids just to look cool is the male equivalent of a girl who gets breast implants.

Anyway, there's no point in steroids unless you wanna be a competitive class kinda bodybuilder, are an athlete training hours and hours a day and your body is breaking down and without steroids you'd be injured and broken, or are somehow sick (AIDS, etc.) I do agree having them illegal is a bit dumb and in most other countries they're decriminalized or legal. There's a lot of conditions and problems doctors should be prescribing anabolic steroids for but won't because of the stigma, but will prescribe catabolic ones no problem. For example, Derek Jeter vs Alex Rodriguez, A-Rod took growth hormone, and Jeter took cortisone shots. Both allow you to play longer with injuries/stress/etc. Except now Jeter has a messed up ankle as the cortisone ate his connective tissues way. This I believe is not right, and I do believe in athletics more TUEs should be granted for anabolic steroids.

Anyway, as far as the "ethics" go of a person using steroids, here's a good video.

Around 3:40 on is the most important part for your original question of morality of it.

EDIT:
Another video...

[gsjackson]

I had a friend who was a miler on the '72 Olympic team. Was very surprised to learn the other day that he died at 58. He took steroids in the early '70s -- thought it would help increase his upper body strength and give him a stronger finishing kick.

I don't know if the steroid use caused his early death, but nothing else in his profile pointed toward dying at 58. Personally, I wouldn't go anywhere near the stuff. Even using creatine felt all wrong to me. When you're young results are easy enough to get in the weight room without supplements, if you just stick with it.

[jtest28]

Ive been on gear since I was 20 (39 now) at any doses you can imagine and any combination. People, stop believe the Zionist assholes who run the media. Might as well believe in feminism. . . Theres more side effects in cough syrup than any gear I've ever seen. And for one of the above posters, I also use GH and have since I was 31. GH is a waist though if you're in your 20s, which I think the poster of this thread is.

Yes, for a six pack, diet is the way to do that. Nothing, and I mean nothing known to man will make you lean like a good diet will. I lost 85 or so pounds, in I think it was 8 months, just by dieting,and most of that time I didn't even do aerobics. And if I knew then what I know now, I could have done it in 4. . . Thats the kicker, KNOWING how to do it. I spent years experimenting with it. Its not as simple as calories in calories out. But if you can get the hang of it, you can stay dieting and stay lean all the time. A really good diet will be one that is so nutritious as to allow you to stay on it without it driving you down. Thats key. . .

[icarus]

Did my first cycle at 19, I'm 36 now.  The heaviest cycle I've ever done was Tren stacked with Test-E (to prevent loss of libido).  IMHO the best thing to do is go as far as you can without them (yeah 19 was probably a little young to start), so probably mid 20's, and if you're not into competitive bodybuilding or powerlifting, use them just to enhance your look before a vacation, spring break etc. A couple cycles of deca or test a year isn't going to kill you!I stopped reading Flex magazine years ago because the guys started to get too freakishly huge and I always preferred the more aesthetic bodybuilders' physiques.  That said, f**k the holier-than-though self-righteous panty-waist limp-wrists who complain that it's 'cheating', or are so deluded that they think "yeah the only difference between the guys on stage and myself is the juice." Much of their 'moral objections' are just rationalizations for their own lack of effort and determination - or they are overly obsessed with 'fairness'.  I mean, if they really want fair then they should relinquish their own gym memberships at state-of-the-art clubs with the newest equipment, refuse to drink easily digested protein why isolate, and forgo any and all supplementation (including multivitamins) because some people don't have the money to partake in all of these advantages. As for the guy who died at 58 after taking roids more than 40 years ago, I'd really like to know your qualifications and justifications for proclaiming there was "nothing else in his profile" that would indicate his early demise.  I could easily list a host of bodybuilders from that era who undoubtedly did far more steroids than your friend and are still alive in kicking now.

[tre]

The previous two posters know what they are talking about.

I WILL say that one should NOT try anything hormonal until they have had a blood test that tests:

1) Total Testosterone
2) Free Testosterone
3) Estrogen

If you have high testosterone naturally then DON'T supplement it. If you are naturally low, then there is nothing wrong with supplementing it and you can even get a script for it...it's called HRT. It's much more legit that mainstream media would have you believe. They'd rather you take anti-depressants and other harmful drugs instead...

[Mr S]

'Steroids turned me into a man!': The female bodybuilder whose drug habit left her with male 'bits' and facial hair

Candice Armstrong, 28, has a man's body because of her steroid abuse
She says she won't stop taking the drug and thinks it has improved her life
Side effects include body hair, acne, and a tiny penis instead of a clitoris
Armstrong features in new TLC documentary, Jodie Marsh On... Steroids

By Ruth Styles

PUBLISHED: 15:58 GMT, 22 October 2013 | UPDATED: 07:10 GMT, 23 October 2013

For many, Hollywood actors and bodybuilders among them, anabolic steroids have become a regular part of life.

But with side-effects that range from excess body hair to liver damage, using them can result in serious health issues as well as bigger muscles - as the stars of a new documentary fronted by former reality TV star Jodie Marsh prove.

Among the performance-enhancing drug users to feature on Jodie Marsh On...Steroids, is former barmaid Candice Armstrong, 28, from Walthamstow in London, whose steroid abuse has effectively turned her into a man.

Candice before she started taking steroids
Not stopping: According to Candice , things would be worse if she stopped because she would lose her muscles

Candice (left) before she started taking anabolic steroids, which led to her developing facial hair, acne, and various other male
characteristics, including a one-inch penis.

Candice (right) as she is now

Irreversible: Candice Armstrong's steroid abuse has left her with male characteristics such as facial hair

Irreversible: Candice Armstrong's steroid abuse has left her with male characteristics such as facial hair

Candice says that bulking up has opened the door to a whole new world of opportunity

Because Candice is insulted in the street when she dresses as a woman, she has been forced to wear men's clothes

Insults: Candice is the target of comments on the street because of her looks and has to wear men's clothes

Once a slender, pretty blonde, Candice is now a hulking brunette with muscles that wouldn't look out of place on Arnold Schwarzenegger and body hair that sprouts from her back, chest and upper lip.

Candice had no intention of becoming so masculine when she began taking the drug, but says that it's too late for her to stop.

'No, it wasn't my plan,' she tells Marsh in a scene from the documentary. 'You could argue that when I wanted big arms and broad shoulders, a bigger back and small hips, that that was a masculine look but I didn't consciously decide I want to change from a woman into a man.'

The side effects have been severe. Along with excess body hair and acne, her clitoris has swelled so much, it has become a mini penis.

'That has gone significantly bigger, yes,' she reveals. 'About an inch [long] and it's shaped like a little penis. It looks like a little penis, you can roll back the foreskin...'

Her breasts have also suffered and now hang lifeless from her hugely overdeveloped pectoral muscles.

The bodybuilder says she will continue taking steroids


Dangerous: Candice is at risk of complications including heart attacks and liver failure thanks to the steroids

Dangerous: Her steroid use means Candice is at risk of heart problems and even liver failure

Surprisingly, Candice is sanguine. 'They've gone empty and they're not particularly nice but I'm cool with that - they were never my best feature anyway.'

What's more, she has no intention of putting an end to her steroid use. 'I think it would do more harm than good,' she explains.

'I'd lose all the muscles but I wouldn't lose all the masculine qualities like the facial hair and the deep voice... It doesn't really go back.

'If I was to try and reverse that, I'd need the same sort of procedures as a male becoming a woman.'

Despite her drastically altered appearance, Candice says the pros outweigh the cons and have allowed her to do something else she loves - a drag act.

'It's opened doors and enabled me to develop myself the way I want to,' she says.

'It's given the opportunity to live out one of my dreams. I've started doing a bit of drag and I love it. I've always wanted to do a bit of drag!'

She adds: 'If I get called a tranny and a faggot when I walk out on the street anyway, I think why not make something of it!'

Not stopping: According to Candice , things would be worse if she stopped because she would lose her muscles

Addiction: According to Candice, things would be worse if she stopped because she would lose her muscles

Shocking though Candice's appearance is, she's by no means alone in her abuse of anabolic steroids.

According to veteran personal trainer Happy Hill, who helped Jake Gyllenhaal and Ryan Philippe bulk up for roles, up to 20 percent of Tinsel-town's leading men are using performance-enhancing drugs to get a buff body.

Another elite trainer, Mark Twight who trains Man of Steel star Henry Cavill, has spoken out against the use of steroids.

'The guy who uses steroids and admits to it earns more respect from me than the guy who uses but insists he doesn't and wants his fans to believe he did things the hard way,' says Twight.

While lying to fans isn't particularly edifying, worse are the dangerous effects steroid use can have on the star's body.

One man who knows this all too well is former stuntman and bodybuilder, Ed 'Spyk' Gheur, who lives with his wife in East Sussex.

'The thing with steroids is that it messes with your mind more than anything,' says the softly-spoken muscleman.
Steroids: Former California Governor and movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted in the past to using PED's - a type of steroid
In 2007 Sylvester Stallone was caught with vials of HGH at an Australian airport

Drugs: Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone have both confessed to using anabolic steroids

Man of Real Steel: Henry Cavill, the star of the new Superman film, Man of Steel bulked up 100 percent naturally for his role in the 2013 blockbuster

Man of Real Steel: Henry Cavill bulked up 100 percent naturally for his role in the 2013 blockbuster

'It makes you feel invincible and you think the more you take, the bigger you're going to be, the faster you're going to be - and that's what's so dangerous about them.'

But for Gheur, the consequences would prove to be more terrifying still. 'One day, I felt like I had a pain stabbing through my heart and I shouted to my wife to call an ambulance,' he remembers.

'She found me on the kitchen floor. I was ice cold, had no pulse and I was clinically dead. She called the police and said my husband's dead on the floor and they arrived with an ambulance like they always do.

'The paramedics put an adrenaline needle through my heart to get it pumping long enough to get me to the operating theatre, and when I got there, they opened me up and my entire aorta [main artery] had exploded.'

The reason for his terrifying collapse: steroid use. 'I went into a coma for six weeks and I thought my life was over,' he adds. 'I had thought I was invincible.'

Jodie Marsh On...Steroids airs tonight at 10pm on TLC

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... is-facial-

[tre]

^^^That woman is gross...lol. I agree that women should never use steroidal hormones, including Testosterone. However there is a legitimate use for Testosterone in men that have naturally low levels. By age 50 or 60, MOST men have low levels. This will mean that they will start to look and feel old. If they were to get a script for Testosterone, they would start to look and feel younger again. I know, I know...old men should just admit to being old and just prepare to die...right? I disagree 100%.

Steroids were demonized by the US Government many years ago, likely due to sports. However, like most things....they overstepped their authority. Steroids in extremely high amounts, unmonitored, is dangerous obviously. However, a small, monitored dose will not harm you. Many reports of people "dying" from steroids were also taking things such as Oxycontin, Stimulants and other painkillers at the same time (example: Pro Wrestlers). "Roid Rage" is total BS. Guys just like to blame anything other than themselves. More and more doctors are prescribing testosterone to men with great success. Testosterone is needed by men for much more than just sex drive and muscular build. Your brain will also work better, it helps with depression and many other benefits.

The lamestream media demonizes so many things that are helpful and pushes their agenda at the expense of the citizens...don't fall for it.

[HouseMD]

Gear works fine for some but not for others. I had a friend pass away last year from left ventricular hypertrophy that was so severe his heart could no longer pump blood effectively. He was only 26, with no heat problems prior to steroid use. 90% of people can take test safely coupled with an estrogen blocker and some tren at lower doses, but 10% are prone to either uncontrolled cardiac hypertrophy, liver issues, or hormone induced cancers. It is all genetics, whether an individual wants to roll those dice is a personal decision. Also, without proper PCT, you can permanently wreck your sex drive and hormone levels if you were cycling too hard. Be careful.

[Cornfed]

Also, without proper PCT, you can permanently wreck your sex drive and hormone levels if you were cycling too hard. Be careful.

PCT is an interesting issue. An older guy formerly on steroids (and one of the top ten heavyweight powerlifters in the world in the 70s) I used to train with had never heard of it and figured it was an urban legend. He thought you just needed to taper off the dose at the end of your cycles. This is another problem with doing something illicit. The alleged right way to go about it is entirely anecdotal.

[tre]

Most men doing correct TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) never go off of Testosterone once they start. They may take a break for a month and do some PCT (under doctors supervision), but they go right back on. Their natural levels are just never going to be optimal so they supplement until they die of old age eventually.

When we think of Steroids, Steroid Cycles, Bodybuilders, etc...that usually involves very large amounts of Testosterone (much higher than TRT) as well as steroids that are only prescribed by doctors for muscle wasting disease (Anavar, Winstrol, Deca, etc). Many bodybuilders also use Steroids that aren't prescribed for human use anymore (Turinabol) or Vet/Animal Steroids (Trenbolone, Equipose, etc).. Lastly, because Steroids are illegal in the USA, you have Underground Labs popping up all over the place. Who the hell know exactly what is in those bottles? Most Trenbolone and Equipose IS Underground Lab produced. This is due to government regulation and laws....causing more problems as they always do. Many "newbies" have no idea what they are doing either, which can and will cause health problems. They don't see a doctor for monitoring, they know nothing about what they are injecting or swallowing and they mix what shouldn't be mixed. They will complain that they are breaking out with cystic acne, that their moods are terrible and that their hair is falling out. Of course they wouldn't know that all of these side effects can be caused by the unstable levels of hormone in their system. They just flat-out have no idea what they are doing.

There is a big difference between HRT and being a geared-up meat head powerlifter/bodybuilder. The mentality is different and the risk level is much different. A bodybuilder may use 2000mgs of Testosterone per week, while the TRT user would use only 50-200mgs of Testosterone per week. Much of the known side effects are experienced at the higher levels, unstable levels (newbie mistakes or irresponsibility) and when using steroid varieties that are not ever prescribed for regular HRT.

I challenge men who are over age 35 to get a blood panel through their doctor to see how you are doing, especially if you feel old, are tired, unmotivated, depressed, with low sex drive and with cloudy minds/thoughts. Most of the time you will need to ASK your doctor to test your Testosterone (Total and Free) and Estrogen levels. If you test out much lower than a man should test out for his age, I highly recommend TRT. It could literally change your life...no exaggeration. Some doctors are more cutting edge than others in this area so you'll need to do your research once you have those blood test results...