There should not be a controversy over anabolic steroid use in athletics -- non-medical use of anabolic steroids is illegal and banned by most, if not all, major sports organizations. Still, some athletes persist in taking them, believing that these substances provide a competitive advantage. But beyond the issues of popularity or legality is the fact that anabolic steroids can cause serious physical and psychological side effects.

In light of these hazards, measures to curtail the use of anabolic steroids are escalating. One of the nation's foremost authorities on steroid use, Dr. Gary Wadler, is part of a concerted effort to educate the public about the dangers of anabolic steroids. Dr. Wadler, a New York University School of Medicine professor and lead author of the book Drugs and the Athlete, serves as a consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice on anabolic-androgenic steroid use. He has also won the International Olympic Committee President's Prize for his work in the area of performance-enhancing drugs in competitive sports. He joined us to address the issue of steroids and sports.

What are anabolic steroids?

Anabolic steroids -- or more precisely, anabolic-androgenic steroids -- are the synthetic derivatives of the naturally occurring male anabolic hormone testosterone. Both anabolic and androgenic have origins from the Greek: anabolic, meaning "to build," and androgenic, meaning "masculinizing." Testosterone's natural androgenic effects trigger the maturing of the male reproductive system in puberty, including the growth of body hair and the deepening of the voice. The hormone's anabolic effect helps the body retain dietary protein, which aids in the development of muscles. "Although there are many types of steroids with varying degrees of anabolic and androgenic properties, it's the anabolic property of steroids that lures athletes," says Dr. Wadler. "They take them to primarily increase muscle mass and strength."

How are steroids taken?

Steroids can be taken orally or they can be injected. Those that are injected are broken down into additional categories, those that are very long-lasting and those that last a shorter time. In recent years, use has shifted to the latter category -- shorter-lasting, water-soluble injections. "The reason for that is that the side effects associated for the oral form were discovered to be especially worrisome for the liver,"says Dr. Wadler. "But the injectable steroids aren't free of side-effects either. There is no free ride and there is a price to be paid with either form."


Who takes anabolic steroids and why?

It is not only the football player or weightlifter or sprinter who may be using anabolic steroids. Nor is it only men. White- and blue-collar workers, females and, most alarmingly, adolescents take steroids -- all linked by the desire to hopefully look, perform and feel better, regardless of the dangers.

Anabolic steroids are designed to mimic the bodybuilding traits of testosterone. Most healthy males produce less than 10 milligrams of testosterone a day. Females also produce testosterone but in minute amounts. Some athletes however, may use up to hundreds of milligrams a day, far exceeding the normally prescribed daily dose for legitimate medical purposes. Anabolic steroids do not improve agility, skill or cardiovascular capacity.

What are the health hazards of anabolic steroids?

"There can be a whole panoply of side effects, even with prescribed doses," says Dr. Wadler. "Some are visible to the naked eye and some are internal. Some are physical, others are psychological. With unsupervised steroid use, wanton 'megadosing' or stacking (using a combination of different steroids), the effects can be irreversible or undetected until it's too late." Also, if anabolic steroids are injected, transmitting or contracting HIV and Hepatitis B through shared needle use is a very real concern.


Additionally, Dr. Wadler stresses that "unlike almost all other drugs, all steroid based hormones have one unique characteristic -- their dangers may not be manifest for months, years and even decades. Therefore, long after you gave them up you may develop side effects."


Physical side effects

Men - Although anabolic steroids are derived from a male sex hormone, men who take them may actually experience a "feminization" effect along with a decrease in normal male sexual function. Some possible effects include:
Reduced sperm count
Impotence
Development of breasts
Shrinking of the testicles
Difficulty or pain while urinating

Women - On the other hand, women often experience a "masculinization" effect from anabolic steroids, including the following:
Facial hair growth
Deepened voice
Breast reduction
Menstrual cycle changes
With continued use of anabolic steroids, both sexes can experience the following effects, which range from the merely unsightly to the life endangering. They include:
Acne
Bloated appearance
Rapid weight gain
Clotting disorders
Liver damage
Premature heart attacks and strokes
Elevated cholesterol levels
Weakened tendons

Special dangers to adolescents

Anabolic steroids can halt growth prematurely in adolescents. "What happens is that steroids close the growth centers in a kid's bones", says Dr. Wadler. "Once these growth plates are closed, they cannot reopen so adolescents that take too many steroids may end up shorter than they should have been."

Behavioral side effects

According to Dr. Wadler, anabolic steroids can cause severe mood swings. "People's psychological states can run the gamut." says Wadler. "They can go from bouts of depression or extreme irritability to feelings of invincibility and outright aggression, commonly called "'roid rage. This is a dangerous state beyond mere assertiveness."

Are anabolic steroids addictive?

Recent evidence suggests that long-time steroid users and steroid abusers may experience the classic characteristics of addiction including cravings, difficulty in stopping steroid use and withdrawal symptoms. "Addiction is an extreme of dependency, which may be a psychological, if not physical, phenomena," says Dr. Wadler. "Regardless, there is no question that when regular steroid users stop taking the drug they get withdrawal pains and if they start up again the pain goes away. They have difficulties stopping use even though they know it's bad for them."a

My six favorite mass exercises: why I like them, and how you can use them!

Let's get right to the guts of the matter. I could run through my list of favorite workouts, principles, techniques and combinations of exercises, but it all comes

down to one basic old-fashioned "best" exercise for each bodypart, without which you cannot reach your maximum mass potential. That exercise is not the

only one in the workout, but it's the foundation movement. It works more of the muscle harder, heavier and more thoroughly than any other. Not every

workout has to start with one of these favorites, but your training program should be designed around them.

My favorites will come as no great surprise. You've probably been doing them all along. I just want to emphasize their importance and persuade you to give

them even more prominence in your workouts by reiterating why they are the best and how to get the best out of them.

CHEST: BENCH PRESSES

WHY | No other exercise synergizes the entire complex of chest muscles as efficiently as barbell bench presses. This movement is so compound (requiring the

coordination of pectoral muscles with all ancillaries and tie-ins to shoulders, traps, arms and midsection) that every chest muscle is developed

proportionately. Bench presses facilitate the only position from which maximum compound power can be applied, which produces maximum overall mass.

The horizontal position also allows the chest muscles to move through their greatest range of power.
HOW | Your mind plays a big part in getting the most for your chest from bench presses. "Think" the contractions into your pecs. As the bar is lowered, resist

with your pectoral muscles. Press by contracting your pecs. I use a fairly wide grip, beyond shoulder width, to accentuate the spread of my pec muscles.

Unfortunately, today's popular style of benching is the opposite of the correct style for chest development, in that the bar is lowered not across the chest, but

to the bottom of the rib cage. The body is crunching inward, rather than expanding upward to meet the bar. This is done for leverage, but it removes the chest

from the exercise.

Precisely the opposite motion should occur. The chest should rise to meet the bar, as your scapulae contract together under your back, forcing your chest

muscles through their greatest range of motion.

Always pyramid your sets gradually. I get in a couple of warm-up sets, then pyramid up through five sets, starting with 12 reps and finishing with eight.
SUGGESTED CHEST WORKOUT

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Warm-up sets 2-3 20-25
Bench presses 5* 12-8
Incline barbell presses 3 12
Flat dumbbell presses 3 12
Flat dumbbell flyes 4 10

* Pyramid up through weights while decreasing reps

LEGS: SQUATS

WHY | I never think of any specific muscle operating independently of any others. Each muscle has to accommodate stress vectors from every direction, in

order to balance moving weight and apply variable power. This is especially true for legs. For those reasons, squats produce the greatest overall and

naturally proportioned development, because all of the thigh muscles--quads and hamstrings alike--must coordinate their support, stability and strength

duties throughout the ever-changing dynamics of each repetition. You're putting more into it, so you get more out of it.

HOW | Use a comfortable stance; not so wide that you'll shear your hips, but wide enough for stability. Maintain an upright position, so the weight is directed

through your hips and thighs, not into your lower back. Keep your head up, flex your traps and abs, tighten your glutes and then squeeze all the way down to

"hams on calves."

Halfway down, start thinking "up," so that your squat movement becomes not "down and up," but one continuous loop. Never shift gears at the bottom; you

should be on your way up before you reach the bottom.

Warm up thoroughly, so your knees are well lubricated. For my counted sets, I pyramid the weight upward through five or six sets, starting with 12 reps and

going all the way down to two.
SUGGESTED LEG WORKOUT

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Warm-up sets 2-3 15
Squats 5-6* 12-2
Leg presses 4 8-10
Hack squats 3 10

* Pyramid up through weights while decreasing reps

BACK :BARBELL ROWS

WHY | Get used to the expression "compound movement," until it becomes a beloved cliche. It's the key to my muscle mass for every bodypart; even more so for

back, since that's the most complex muscle group of all. It needs to be developed simultaneously for thickness, width, drape and detail, and that requires very

heavy three-dimensional weight resistance, which coordinates all of its muscles, as well as those of the trapezius complex. Only the barbell rowing movement

accomplishes this.

HOW | Don't fix your back in a concave arch (swaybacked). That will only hurt your spine, reduce the range of motion for your lats and limit your power.

To hit the lats as low as possible, I try to keep my upper body bent at a 90-degree angle for the initial sets and bring the bar up into the middle of my stomach.

Reps are explosive but controlled, never with a slack point at the bottom. My glutes and lower back are flexed tightly throughout the set. If they aren't, I will

feel stress more in my lower back than in my lats.

As sets pyramid upward in weight, I might have to bend my knees a bit more. This lets me absorb more shock and elevate the angle of my upper body for

balance and maximum power, but my concentration remains on getting a full long pull into my gut; i.e., a full range of motion for my lats.

I do four heavy working sets, from 12 reps down to seven, squeezing every contraction and feeling my back muscles pump with every rep.
SUGGESTED BACK WORKOUT

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Warm-up sets 2-3 10-12
Deadlifts 4* 12-2
Barbell rows 4* 12-7
T-bar rows 3 10-12
Pulley rows 3 10-12

* Pyramid up through weights while decreasing reps

SHOULDERS: SEATED MILITARY PRESSES

WHY | For separation of each deltoid head, I train them individually. For maximum mass and width of my entire shoulder girdle, and for full development of

my total deltoid caps, military presses are the only solution. A free-weight barbell proportionately spreads the stress laterally across the shoulder beam, as

well as distributes it evenly from front to back. A seated position on an upright bench provides more pressing power. A machine barbell press distributes the

stress across the entire width of the shoulders, but not from front to back. Dumbbells are good for isolating deltoid heads, but they do not yield the power of a

free-weight barbell.
This movement can be used in any order during your shoulder workout--first, middle or last--because no other exercise totally fatigues your shoulder-muscle

complex. You'll probably find that you are almost as strong doing these at the end of the workout as you are when you do them at the beginning.

I do four sets of 10-12 reps.
SUGGESTED SHOULDER WORKOUT

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Warm-up sets 2 10-12
Seated military presses 4 10-12
Side lateral raises 4 10
Front dumbbell raises 4 10
Rear lateral raises 4 10

TRICEPS: LYING EXTENSIONS

WHY | This is not necessarily the most important triceps exercise, but it's my favorite for pulling the horseshoe of muscle down the back of my arm, so my

triceps look like a separate bulging twisted-steel bodypart of their own. Lying extensions offer a combined advantage of focusing heavy compound weight and

concentrated stress into the triceps complex, without sapping energy to stabilize the rest of the body.

HOW | It is important to keep your elbows pointed straight up. Do not allow your arms to rotate at your shoulders. Doing so brings your chest and shoulders

into the movement and robs your triceps of the extension. Think only in terms of extending your forearms vertically, with your elbows as the only hinge.

I get the best pump from these with six sets, 12 reps per set, in the following manner: do one set, release it, take a breath, do a second set, release it, take a

breath and do a third set. After a brief shakeout, repeat that sequence.
SUGGESTED TRICEPS WORKOUT

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Lying extensions 6 12
Seated French curls 4 12
Weighted dips 4 25

BICEPS :PREACHER CURLS

WHY | This may not be the most important biceps exercise, but it's my favorite. For maximum size and overall biceps belly mass, do standing barbell curls, but

for maximum peak, hardness and split, nothing beats the concentrated pump from preacher curls. It packs my biceps so hard that they end up feeling as solid

as forged steel. I credit preachers more than any other exercise for the hardness and cannonball shape of my biceps and for the deep split in their peaks.

HOW | Use heavy weight, but stay tight and don't fully extend your arms at the bottom; you could tear a muscle and/or hyperextend your elbows. Do not

leverage the curl upward by pulling back with your body, no matter how much you're tempted. Watch your biceps pump and harden as they flex. It's a great

motivator, and it helps keep your mind on how the muscle, not the ballast-effect of your body, functions. At the top, get a peak-contraction squeeze. Maintain a

moderate pace, the same during the extension as during the curl.

For every other workout, superset preacher curls with another two-arm curling movement. For the most immediate mass production, I do four sets of eight to

12 reps each.
SUGGESTED BICEPS WORKOUT

EXERCISE SETS REPS

Barbell curls 4 8-12
Seated alternate dumbbell curls 3 8-12
Preacher curls 4 8-12
superset with
Standing cable curls 4 8-12
STRENGTH Constantly push your limits. Always try to become stronger, every time you're in the gym, and don't become frustrated. The stronger you become,

the longer your plateaus will last. That doesn't mean you've stopped growing, only that you're going beyond normal human limits. That's where you want to

be, so keep blasting away. Eventually, you'll break through to a new level.

DON'T CHEAT No matter how hard you work, make sure the muscle is doing the lifting and that you're not cheating. Feel the pump build hard and tight in the

muscle you're working, before you feel it in adjacent muscles.

THE PROPER PUMP Concentrate on building the highest-quality pump possible: a healthy full coursing of blood precisely where you want it in the muscle. The

sensation doesn't have to be painful or numb, just a wholesome tightness in the muscle belly, telling you it's swollen with blood under high pressure.

CONSISTENCY Select a workout schedule and stick with it. Mass gains are a matter of commitment, as much as they are of your workout. Regardless of how

hard you lift, if you're not relentlessly consistent, it won't work. Don't let unscheduled rest days become a habit.



HOW | Use a grip just beyond shoulder width; not so close that your triceps do more work than your shoulders and not so wide as to prevent a full range of

motion for your shoulders. Do not arch your back. Tighten your abs and your grip for stability and control.

Magic Foods:healthy choices for bodybuilders

Had I not tried it I never would have believed it could work. In fact, if someone had suggested the idea to me I would have laughed, dismissing them as some

kind of nut, hippie or new age "tree hugger." ME? What could this possibly do for me? I am healthy, big, strong and young. I am invincible. Or so I thought.

The problem, you see, is that from time I would get annoying colds or sinus infections. The fact that I was developing these infections made one thing clear: I

was not as strong as I supposed. These maladies were not devastating but they did decrease the quality of my workouts and therefore limit the amount of

intensity that I could exert in the gym.

Less intensity equals less muscle growth. So, it was clear that these biological disturbances were more than annoying; they were robbing me of potential

gains. In other words, I was not getting as big as I could; I was not reaching my potential.

So when someone had suggested the "radical" idea to me and told me of the benefits they had experienced I decided to some research, and what I learned was

surprising.

What exactly am I talking about? What could work so well and yet be so inexpensive? I am talking about garlic in general and two special recipes in particular.

Three things are great about these recipes: cost, effectiveness and they are really easy to make. The recipes are below.

Magic Garlic Soup

Ingredients

4 cups water
1 large clove garlic
1 pkg Chicken noodle soup

Directions

Put 4 cups of spring water in a soup pot. Add one large clove of garlic cut into six sections. Put the lid on the pot and bring the water to a boil. Once the water is

boiling add 1 package of chicken noodle soup mix [preferably salt free]. Turn the stove burner down to simmer. Simmer with lid on for 5 minutes. Remove from

heat and let stand with lid off for five minutes before serving.

Another recipe that I find tastes very good and that also has immune system boosting properties is Garlicky roasted vegetables. The recipe is below:

Garlicky Roasted Vegetables

6 carrots, peeled and quartered
6 parsnips, peeled and quartered
6 shallots, peeled and halved
2 medium onions, peeled and cut into 6-8 wedges
1 large garlic bulb, broken into cloves and peeled
1 tbs dried rosemary, or 3 tbs fresh, chopped
1 tbs dried thyme, or 3 tbs fresh
4 tbs olive oil

Directions

Oven: Preheat oven to 400?F. Combine all the vegetables in roasting pan, drizzle with oil and stir to coat. Roast for about 1 hour 20 minutes or until tender. Salt

and pepper to taste. Great with meat, chicken and fish.

BBQ: Turn barbeque to medium. Combine all the vegetables into a tinfoil bag, drizzle with olive oil and stir to coat. Roast for about 30 minutes or until tender.

Salt and pepper to taste. Great with meat, chicken and fish.

I enjoy this recipe because it tastes very good when done on the BBQ. The garlic provides good immune system boosting ingredients, and the olive oil is a great

source of healthy fats, which serve to stimulate testosterone production. The spices of thyme and rosemary offset the smell of the garlic, which also goes a

long way to reducing "garlic breath."

Garlic


Although I am not going to go in depth into the science behind garlics immune system boosting properties, garlic is well known as a natural antibiotic. In fact,

it can help lower bad cholesterol and its antioxidants may help prevent plaque deposits and partially restore arties to health (Carper, 1997).

Another thing to consider is this: In petri dishes during experiments garlic was shown to destroy cancer cells!

Its abilities at promoting health are so great that for those unfortunate enough to be diagnosed with tumorous lesions, a diet high in garlic and other

antioxidants is recommended by physicians.

Now of course, this does not suggest that the internal environment of the human organism is similar to that of a petri dish or that garlic can kill cancer cells in

the body; it is only to suggest that garlic, aside from its flavoring abilities, does possess some powerful abilities when it comes to fending off diseases and

viruses. This alone should make it worthy of any serious bodybuilders attention.

I find these recipes especially helpful in the wintertime. When supplementing with glutamine powder and garlic I find that the sinus infections and colds to

which I am constantly prone very rarely rear their ugly heads. It is true, however, that these are not the only recipes that you may use to boost your immune

system.

In the wintertime it is also good to increase the amount of good fats that you ingest, so as to provide an additional buffer against colds and viruses floating

around in the air. When viruses and illness abound you must ensure that your body is not lacking anything that could help it mount a defense against such

bugs.

For this reason in the winter I always eat plenty of italian foods, high in good fats, carbohydrates and garlic. It should be noted that garlic powder would not

yield the same results. Real fresh garlic must be used in these recipes and in other recipes calling for garlic.

"Reverse osmosis is an impossible phenomenon and garlic will not come through your skin. It can't. It's impossible. So don't worry."

A lot of people believe that by eating large amounts of garlic they will begin to smell like garlic. They believe this because it is commonly held that the garlic

can somehow go through someone's skin pores. In response to that I say this: Reverse osmosis is an impossible phenomenon and garlic will not come through

your skin. It can't. It's impossible. So don't worry.

In fact, bodybuilders take in excessive amounts of protein and this can lead to flatulence resulting from protein breakdown in the gut. Farting is not very

popular with significant others, so eating garlic will assist in reducing the amount of flatulence that occurs. This makes eating garlic a win-win situation. On

the one hand it boosts the immune system, and on the other it may even help you get a little closer a little more often to your significant other because you

wont be farting like a blast furnace!

I am not suggesting that you become as fanatical about garlic as the Garlic Guru Tom Reed, but I do suggest that incorporating garlic into your dietary

regimen may help prevent annoying colds and illness, which may result from intense exercise.

Doing this, you may avoid having to take unnecessary time off from the gym, and the sessions that you do have you can focus on exerting maximum intensity

rather than focusing on whatever illness your currently fighting.

References
Carper, J. (1997). Miracle Cures. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.

A Primer On Protein Bodybuilding supplements

As every bodybuilder should know, getting enough protein in your daily diet is an absolute must. While it is certainly possible to get enough protein by eating whole foods, most bodybuilders use a combination of red meat, chicken, fish and protein powder supplements.

Protein powder supplements are extremely popular for several reasons. Let's look at a typical 200 pound bodybuilder. Our bodybuilder must consume 1 to 1.5 g of high quality protein per pound of body weight each day. This means he should average 250 g of protein each day. This protein intake should be divided into 5 or 6 meals to be consumed throughout the day. Six meals per day, our bodybuilder needs to consume an average of about 40 g of protein at each meal.

Let's look at the protein content of some common bodybuilding foods:

8 ounces of various steaks: 45g protein, 10g fat

6 ounces chicken breast: 40g protein, 2g fat

6 ounces Turkey breast: 30g protein, 1g fat

8 ounces pork chop: 30g protein, 6g fat

4 ounces hamburger (90%): 15g protein, 10g fat

1 can chunk light tuna (6.25 oz): 40g protein, 1g fat

1/2 cup cottage cheese: 12g protein, 2g fat

1 large egg: 6g protein, 3g fat

Using a combination of these excellent foods, you can easily meet your requirements for 3 or 4 of your 6 meals each day. However, you can imagine how much time it would take to prepare and eat six meals every day using these foods, not to mention extremely expensive!

This is where protein powder supplements enter the picture. They provide you with a quick, convenient, and relatively inexpensive way to add those extra 2 or 3 proteins servings each day. As an added bonus, the better quality protein powders taste excellent! Protein powder supplements come in many different types, formulations, and flavors.

Protein is made up of building blocks called amino acids. There are 22 amino acids, some of which the body can make on it’s own, and some that must be provided in the diet. The combination of the different amino acids in a protein source is called the amino acid profile. Each type of protein has a different amino acid profile. This is why it is best to eat a variety of proteins sources as well as use a variety of protein powder supplements. The most popular types of protein powders are whey, casein, egg, and soy.

Whey protein is by far the most popular and most heavily used protein supplement. Whey protein is cheaper per gram of protein than most other types of protein. Whey protein is absorbed very quickly by the digestive system and reaches the muscles quickly. Whey protein is best used as the first meal of the day because your body has not had any protein for many hours during the night and you want to get it in your bloodstream right away. Use whey protein immediately following a workout because this is the most important time to take in a large quantity of protein and you want to get to your muscles as soon as possible.

Casein protein is a bit more expensive than whey protein, but is absorbed at a much slower rate. This fact makes casein protein the supplement of choice right before bedtime. A generous serving of casein protein can provide your muscles with a steady supply of protein for 5 to 6 hours as opposed to 1 or 2 hours for whey protein. Casein protein is also an excellent choice if you think it may be a long time before your next protein serving.

Egg protein is not nearly as popular as whey or casein mostly because of its cost. It is, however an excellent supplement with a high BV (Biological Value is used to indicate how much of the protein is actually used by the body) and excellent amino acid profile. I would recommend using egg protein to mix with your whey protein or occasionally substitute for your whey protein.

Soy Protein is a plant based protein and is considered by some to be inferior to all other types of protein. While this may be true based upon its incomplete amino acid profile, it is still an excellent way to add variety to your protein intake, and is recommended as an addition to your overall supplement diet.

Protein supplements are by far the most popular supplement in the bodybuilding world. I suggest purchasing from a name brand to be sure you are getting a quality product. If you are new to bodybuilding and supplements, some of the top selling quality brands are BSN, MuscleTech, Optimum Nutrition, Twinlab, Cytosport, EAS, and the list goes on. I recommend trying several different brands and flavors until you find one you really like. I will occasionally switch brands just for variety and possibly if I come across a good sale!