Pros and Cons of Steroids

by Franco Ruggiero

The use of anabolic steroids has stirred tons of controversy amongst professionally athletes, bodybuilders, and guys who hit the gym soley to improve their appearance.

Anabolic Steroids are man-made substances connected to male sex hormones.

The term 'Anabolic' has to do with muscle-building, and 'androgenic' refers to increased masculine characteristics.

Legal Steroids

The only way to get steroids legally is through a doctor's prescription. This usually happens when a young male is in the situation of delayed puberty and hasn't developed the proper amount of testosterone for his age.

Abuse

Other than the reasons named above, anabolic steroids are used and often abused by athletes, bodybuilders, and by guys extremely desperate to look good. Many guys who crave female attention will take steroids as a way to speed up the physique/muscle developing process. They do this to boost their self esteem and confidence because in their mind they aren't secure enough to be able to stay dedicated so that they can achieve gains in muscle naturally.

Steroids Produce Fast Results

Steroids produce fast results and may work extremely well within a short period of time. Steroids will make you bigger, stronger, leaner, and give you a higher endurance level within weeks of starting to use them. You may be lifting with your buddy and both were bench pressing 160 pounds for 10 reps before you started taking steroids. After two weeks, you are able to do 210 for 6 reps. It must seem great, considering your buddy has only progressed to 170 pounds on the bench and you are 40 pounds up from him. Not to mention you may have put on 12 pounds of lean muscle going from 170-182 pounds as well within that 2 ½ week time frame.

Everything seems to be going extremely well. You're confidence is up, you're workouts are more intense, you are bigger, leaner, and stronger, and a certain lady you've had your eye on maybe noticing you.

Steroid Effects

Everything is totally awesome until the night comes when you are in the shower and you see your hair falling out as one of the many side effects of steroids. I am sorry to say this but this is only the beginning steroid use can lead to depression, mood swings, testicle shrinkage, infertility, increased risk for prostate cancer, reduced sperm count, baldness, development of breasts and severe liver damage. You also run the risk of contracting HIV or Hepatitis if you share needles.

With these problems you may destroy relationships, destroy long-term friendships, and end promising athletic careers, decrease academic performance. In essence it can have a rapidly negative effect on all areas of your life. You may have been a star athlete already without using steroids but now if others discover you are using steroids, you may lose your varsity scholarship, eligibility, and be unable to ever play again as long as you are in college. To think, all this because you were insecure and wanted so badly to increase sex appeal.

All these problems may ultimately result in death. You definitely need to ask yourself if these quick and short term results are really worth the price of your life.

You now should think back to your buddy who now has the last laugh because he stuck to the natural way of improving his appearance and has made gains, and now has the ladies. If you are not dead, you maybe an ugly, bald, man with breasts who now suffers from erectile dysfunction, which is also a symptom of steroid use.

Basically, steroids can be considered a tease. They are magnificent in the immediate future and just problematic and counterproductive over the long run. To me, it is best to stay natural and set small short term goals for yourself to eventually get where you want to be. You might gain quick sex appeal with the use of steroids but in the long run no woman is going to want an acne faced, bald, irritable man with breasts. So, keep that in mind.

Franco Ruggiero, age 19, is a fitness expert based in New Jersey. His major in college is Exercise Science and he supplements his lifitng with Pure Protein bars, Protein Plus Bar, Nitrix CEM3, MuscleTech Thermogain, 150 caps, Extreme Body RTDs , and ANAVOL Volumizer. Visit this page to contact Franco.

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