Doping and Testosterone

Testosterone doping

Testosterone doping is a popular phenomenon in sports today.

While this androgenic hormone is found naturally in the body, several studies have proven that the production of synthetic testosterone has a more favorable impact in sports. It is used to gain advantages in muscle, power and speed.

But it all started when Eugen Sandow’s success in bodybuilding brought up the question of testosterone doping for the first time.

Synthetic testosterone could be found in nearly all of the homes of athletes in the 1960s. Many have said that it flowed like tap water and was 100% legal. Bodybuilding was one of the disciplines most known for using testosterone to gain muscle mass. Legendary bodybuilders like Sergio Oliva and Larry Scott took pride in their musculation while directly referencing testosterone. However the glory days of bodybuilding served as a test lab for testosterone doping products that would very quickly travel around the world to different sports and bring accusation on all who used them.

Dwayne Chambers, Marion Jones and Alberto Contador are all athletes who at some point in their career hit a wall in their performance. Like many others, they used testosterone and other doping products. At first, they had trained non-stop until exhaustion. Then they consumed shakers of protein several times a day to keep progressing until once again they found themselves hitting a performance wall. The first cycle of testosterone was necessary to get their confidence back and remain competitive. Whatever they said to defend themselves, their muscle mass, their performance and their speed did not fool anyone. They made a choice. They tried and experienced it and suffered the consequences.  

Side effects of testosterone doping

Most individual reports concerning testosterone in sports recount almost the same side effects. In the 1980s, East Germans attacked their coaches and federations for pushing them to take testosterone injections; they all exhibited similar side effects including sterility, hypertension and liver and kidney problems. They revealed that they had suffered headaches for years and most complained about the virilization of their body. Since then, other athletes around the world have revealed the same phenomena, adding aggression, muscle tears and chronic tendonitis. Some men even confessed that they have suffered from testosterone dependence, and claimed to have heart problems. Today many others suffer from prostate cancer.

Side effects vary from athlete to athlete. However, it is still unknown whether they are caused by assimilation problems in the body or dosage issues.

Conclusion

Whatever you might think of testosterone doping in sports, it is impossible to ignore its advantage to deliver endless performance results. Athletes’ physical and mental improvements are proof of the undeniable effectiveness and quality of this hormone. There would not be as many bans on testosterone in the world if these spectacular effects had not also demonstrated so many fast and easy performance gains. Using the correct administration and dosages helps prevent side effects.