Steroids are synthetic variations of human male hormone that encourages growth of muscles, enhanced strength and overall a lean physique. Other than that, it plays a huge role in treating diseases such as cancers, aids, physical disabilities and more incurable diseases.
Steroids are considered the last resort for a treatment of incurable disease. For instance, during this time in the pandemic, critical Covid-19 patients are being treated with Dexamethasone. Though, the steroid has shown significant improvement in the patient’s condition, it cannot be considered as a cure. And that’s how steroids are used in the medical field.
However, its usage amongst the athletes, to improve their performance, physical strength and outlook has created a huge market opportunity for unregulated markets. In easier terms, you can call them black market where these steroids are sold illegally. Steroids are prescribed under a medical expert’s prescription and there are lengthy legal forms that are presented in front of the patient to read and sign. The side effects of steroids are considered so dire that the doctors or hospitals are absolutely not taking any risk to put their professional careers on an edge for a 1 in a million-case scenario where the side effects are actually out of control.
It is 2020, the research medicine has made significant achievements and now we have drugs that can regulate the natural hormone count after coming off of steroids. There is a solution to almost all the problems but it may take some time. With all the if’s and but’s, the licensed experts have tried to establish a monopoly over the administration of steroids by creating this whole bubble that steroids are extremely harmful for your health. Many people have been taking steroids without the consultation of a doctor and they are working perfectly for them.
The only thing to be careful about is the dosage just like other medicines. Keeping the dosage to a minimum or a standard is the path here to follow. If obviously, you take more than what is necessary, it will cause you harm. And maybe, possibly, that’s why steroids are unhealthy because the system wants to regulate them through a single channel and to make as much profit as possible.
It is also because steroids are a last resort for treating many incurable diseases which inevitably increases its value amongst the people. That is why, some people consider steroids unhealthy because they believe they are being ripped off of their hard-earned money and on top of that, they have to bear the burden of taking the responsibility for any mishap.
Now that we know how steroids are regulated around the market, let’s not ignore some actual facts. These facts are regarding the literal elements that makes steroids unhealthy. Are their any? If so, what are they? Let’s dig into it. Steroids are like roses with thorns, they are beautiful but if you are not careful, you will prick your finger. To understand better, lets list out some of the side effects that athletes or bodybuilders had to go through during their steroid cycle.
· High blood pressure
· Stroke
· Severe acne or cysts
· Decreased sperm count
· Shrinking testicles
· Enlarged male breasts
· Virilization in Females
· Aggression
· Delusion
These are just the main side effects that will appear if the user is not too careful of their dosage and has not performed an extensive homework on their body and its condition that needs to be factored in while starting their steroid cycle.
If you have any underlying conditions such as high blood pressure, hepatitis or diabetes etc., it will aggravate your condition in an unpredictable way. It is absolutely essential to be sure of how the steroid is going to perform for your body and what goals, as a bodybuilder, you would want to achieve.
So, to say, these side effects makes steroids really unhealthy because they fluctuate the natural count of hormone in order to fulfill the goals you require. However, there are Post Cycle Therapy drugs that are as necessary for you cycle as the steroids themselves. Starting a PCT will help you fight the chances of having any sort of side effects attached to steroids. PCT will restore the natural count of hormones in your body and keep your physical, as well as mental health in check.
To begin with your first cycle in order to extract the healthy benefits of steroids, surround yourself with experts who have the right knowledge to help you gain muscles and double your strength. Steroids are not something to mess around with. You need to know your game-plan and focus on your goal.
Once you achieve your goal, stop taking steroids and work on sustaining the gains through natural training and through your body’s own strength. Some athletes during their steroid cycle, tend to get greedy. That is not a healthy way to pursue your steroid cycle. Make a proper schedule while consulting with your coach or an expert.
Factor-in all the elements that you might need to evaluate the best anabolic steroid option for you. These can be injectable steroids or oral steroids. Your trainer or the expert you are consulting, will know best way to advice you based on your unique physiology.
Usually, a professional athlete, who seeks success in the long-run has more chances of achieving a sustainable muscle mass and strength because they rely more towards their diet and training.
Steroids play a 30% role in their overall physique and success but this 30% is as crucial as the rest because steroids help the athlete unleash the maximum limits of their body and show maximum strength without damaging the natural gains.
Your first cycle, should consist of a standard dosage of that particular steroid and should not exceed more than 4 weeks. And before you get on it, make sure you have a healthy diet plan that supports your training sessions.
Try and achieve all your gains through the natural training process, it might take years but they will all be worth it once you start your cycle. When you bring steroids into your training, remember that at every point you will be consulting the experts around you to help you understand what your body needs.
Your first cycle will determine your next cycles and by that time, you will have a good enough sense regarding the impact of steroids on your body.
Whenever a bodybuilder is looked at, many would assume he is just on steroids and that’s why he has such a lean muscle mass all over his body. It is sad, yet the general perception. Let me break it for you, bodybuilders are not loaded with steroids. Yes, they use steroids but it helps them intensify their already existing gains. They work hard and put themselves through hardcore training to build all the muscles.
To help in building all the muscles, your body requires fuel and the fuel is generated through food. Just like you make sure to go for high-quality fuel for your car, you need high quality fuel for your body too. This in no way means that you should consume literal fuel. Food is the fuel in this case and a specific sports nutrition is absolutely necessary to drive your body towards growing muscles and decreasing the body fat percentage.
Steroids can and will only help while you are well away on your journey to growing your muscles and eliminating body fat. To make it simple, steroids will only accelerate the process of growing muscle and burning fat.
So, the key is to look for a suitable sports nutrition plan and once you have a sustainable diet plan, put yourself out there for training and after gaining a significant amount of muscle mass, you can start taking steroids to shred off any stubborn fat or build muscles in areas that aren’t showing improvement any longer.
Now that want is an unhealthy factor that might lead you towards taking steroids that are not suitable for your body. So, consider the fact that, only take what your body can ingest and digest.
If your body fat percentage is static even after training hard on caloric deficit diet, you can take fat burning steroids to help you accelerate your fat burn.
These are some healthy options for you to consider as a bodybuilder because nothing is as important as your health. Compromising it just to gain some muscle mass that you might lose in the near future is no way of living a life. Many lives have been lost in the past due to the misuse of steroids and it badly reflects on the bodybuilding industry.
So, it crucial for you, as an athlete, to make sure that you are not racing too quick into starting your steroid cycle, rather, you sit and plan your goals and how you want to achieve them without it getting unhealthy for your physical health as well as mental health.
Consider building muscles, in an organic style.
No matter how much anyone criticizes the bodybuilding community, one thing is a straight fact and that is steroids work. They give you exactly the gains that you need as long as you are giving your time at the gym and consuming a proper diet that compliments your daily training sessions.
It is a fact that when you take too much steroids or totally rely on them to gain muscles, you are bound to fall into the depths of side effects and it will probably be a regret for life. Therefore, take your steroids in a timely manner, schedule it under an expert’s supervision and work on all the details that are required for the expert to determine what kind of anabolic steroids your body needs.
At the end, it depends on your unique body and its needs for steroids.
Another important factor is that you need to go through Post Cycle Therapy right after your steroid cycle. Just as you get done with your steroid cycle, start taking PCT drugs such as NOLVADEX to help your body restore all the fluctuated levels of hormone. It will basically help your body in restarting the natural hormone production much quicker in order to avoid the risk of facing side effects.
It is one of the healthiest ways of taking steroids and assuring that your gains remain in place and you do not cause any potential damage to your body. Through PCT drugs you can altogether avoid the risk of having any side effects.
With such an extensive detail and knowledge shared above, you can gather it up in your own sense that steroids are not really that unhealthy. They are good as long as you are not misusing them or depending on them to give you most of your gains.
Steroids can be taken without causing any health issues as long as you have done your research because any careless move will compromise your health and that is not the goal.
Staying focused ahead on this journey is the key to completing your steroid cycles in a healthy way so that when you are preparing for a competition, you will be ready for any obstacle that might question the legitimacy of your gains.
In short, yes, there are ways to take steroids without it being unhealthy and now you know it as well.
FAQs
What Are The 5 Negative Effects Of Steroids?
When used for bodybuilding purposes, steroids not only bring unlimited health benefits but carry some side effects also. The 5 major negative effects of steroids include
Risk of liver damage
Increased cholesterol and heart rate
Acne and hair fall
Facial hair growth and reduce breast size in females
Infertility
What Is The Safest Steroid To Take?
Testosterone is the safest steroid to use and speeds up the bodybuilding process. Though it's not 100% safe, it carries minimum health risks which can be easily avoided by buying legit testosterone from a credible store and strictly following the dosage and cycle instructions.
Do Bodybuilders Use Steroids?
Yes, the use of anabolic steroids to gain strength and streamline the bodybuilding process is quite popular among professional bodybuilders and athletes.
Can I Safely Use Steroids?
Yes, you can safely use steroids. Picking the right and legit product from a credible store, following dosage instructions and steroid cycle, consuming healthy food, and doing regular exercise can help you to go hassle-free through your steroid cycle and bodybuilding journey.
Do Steroids Cause Hair Loss?
Yes, hair loss and pattern baldness are one of the most common side effects of anabolic androgenic steroids. However, it happens only when using poor-quality steroids in bulk amounts and for a long duration.
What Happens After Stopping Steroids?
After stopping steroids, the testosterone level starts dropping rapidly due to the excessive production of estrogen which results in losing muscle mass and other threats to the physical, mental, and sexual health of the users. Therefore, going for PCT or post-cycle therapy is crucial to repair the body and neutralize the natural hormonal production in the body.