Hormones do a lot in your body as they make sure that you function properly with optimal health. They are responsible for mood and behavior changes, growth, fertility, and digestion. Steroids are human-made hormones, which are the same as testosterone hormones.
Testosterone, a naturally occurring male hormone, has both anabolic and androgenic impacts. The anabolic effects help maintain bone density, encourage muscle growth, and speed muscle recovery from injury. The androgenic effects help develop and sustain the male characteristics.
Although human-made steroids are prescriptions, which help manage some conditions, many people use them to build muscles and improve performance. Nonetheless, are they illegal?
Yes, steroids are illegal, particularly without a doctor’s prescription for some medical conditions. It is against the law to sell, distribute, or possess anabolic steroids.
Effect of workout and steroids
Workout and steroids help improve one’s strength and muscle mass. Professional athletes and bodybuilders use drugs to gain a competitive edge. The injection of steroids helps increase your energy levels and build strength so that you spend more hours exercising.
With the increased energy levels, you can lift heavyweights, which help create micro-tears in your muscle tears. Your body will then repair the tears and over-compensate them by adding bigger cells to enable you to build stronger fibers. With time, the repetition of this process leads to muscle growth.
The consumption of the product like Testosterone Cypionate encourages cell growth. The steroids will travel through your bloodstream to the muscle tissue where an androgen receptor draws them to interact with your cell’s DNA and help arouse protein synthesis process.
Different types and quantities of anabolic and androgenic steroids might cause distinct reactions to produce either better athletic muscles or massive bodybuilding physical types. Some athletes try different combinations (staking) or pyramiding (regimens) to fine-tune their final results.
It is important to note that steroids produce results when you also workout. Engage in different weight lifting workouts and be ready to win that competition.
Steroids adverse effects
Steroids use in bodybuilding, and athletic reasons lead to side effects. They can affect your relationship because they may cause mood change, a higher sex urge, and sometimes lead to violent behavior when you consume alcohol. Positive tests in sporting careers lead to fines, suspension, or even bans.
Other adverse effects are; insomnia, water retention, more recurrent colds, depression, high blood pressure, liver damage, and prostate cancer, among others. Long time use of the drugs may lead to stroke, heart attack, and death, mainly amongst young men in early 30s when they combine the products with stimulant drugs like ecstasy.
How to keep a perfect balance?
Having your health in mind when using steroids helps you use drugs wisely, to minimize adverse effects. Using higher doses of the product do not always help create larger muscles because it only saturates your muscle. Therefore, increasing the dose will lead to more unfavorable effects than providing you with needed benefits.
Fortunately, there are several steps that you can take to reduce the product’s adverse effects. They include:
- Ensure you use lower doses of the drug.
- Avoid injecting the drugs directly into the biceps, pectorals, or calf muscles to help prevent permanent nerve damage.
- You should limit anabolic steroids cycles to about 8 – 10 weeks so that you rest your endocrine system, liver, and kidney. It ensures that your organs are healthy and work well for a better working person.
- Make sure that you use a clean needle that is from an unopened wrap up with every injection. Also, avoid sharing needles or other injecting equipment with your friends. It helps prevent the spread of a blood-borne virus like Hepatitis C or HIV.
- Avoid injecting the same area of your body with anabolic steroids.
- Consult with your counselor the need for you to use steroids.
- Make sure to discuss the steroids use with your doctor to help you know more about these drugs. It will help you make conscious and healthy decisions.
- You should inject the drugs in a sterile area.
- You should avoid combining the medications with diuretics like alcohol, caffeine, and other drugs such as speed and ice.
- Consume more milk products to help sustain a sufficient amount of calcium to help build muscles even when you are not using steroids.
- Steroids may lead to loss of potassium, mainly via urine, and this leads to irregular contractions in your muscles and heart tissue, and cause fatigue. To counter this, consume a well-balanced diet rich in potassium.
Conclusion
As a bodybuilder or an athlete, make sure that you seek safe ways of improving your performance. Do your research before using steroids and other performance-enhancing or bodybuilding drugs. It helps you settle on a drug with fewer adverse effects.
