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I am always disturbed to find out how little many steroid
users and steroid dealers actually know. Although I'll cover
steroids and other performance enhancing drugs in more depth
- use, legal status, abuse, use within sport, training drug
free, how steroids are dealt etc. - amongst other articles,
below is some basic information about steroids.
There are three commonly known types of steroids - androgens
(dominant male hormones), estrogens (dominant female hormones)
and cortisones (often used as an anti-inflammatory drug).
The most abundant androgen in men is testosterone. Increased
testosterone is seen as beneficial for athletic performance
because it influences our metabolism (body's processes) to
increase muscle mass, strength, recovery & regulates less
accumulation of body fat. Subsequently, men will typically
display a greater muscle mass, strength & lower body fat
percentage than women, although I know many women that would
argue our ability of greater recovery:-).
The mention above of testosterone aptly brings me to the
reason the majority of us, certainly those that follow a gym
biased article publisher like me, will associate the name
steroid with anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids (a subgroup
of androgens) have primarily been designed as a synthetic
copy of testosterone, albeit typically lower in androgen properties.
So, encompassing all the "good" aspects that testosterone
brings - muscle growth & recovery - while downplaying
the "bad" aspects - oily skin, acne, baldness, body
hair etc. This is not to say that users of anabolic steroids
will not experience androgenic side-effects, as androgen levels
will still be increased and, certainly if higher doses are
taken, the risk is greater increased.
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