WHY STEROIDS AND WHAT IS POSSIBLE?

The body is in a constant state of “protein turn over”. Two terms the reader should be very familiar with are catabolic (catabolism) and anabolic (anabolism). Catabolism is a tissue wasting state and anabolism is a tissue rebuilding or growth state. The “protein turn over” is a balance between the two. Many scientists believe that a 154 LB adult turns over about 280 g of protein daily. Of course not all of this is muscle protein, but some where around 30% is the general accepted amount. Guess what? This figure group is for a sedentary adult, not an athlete, and refers to basal protein anabolism/catabolism. Using 30 % as a qualified representation of the amount of muscle proteins turned over, we see about 77 LBS of the amount of muscle was both gained and lost in one year. This means that this sedentary adult could have actually gained half again his body weight in lean mass tissue without a single work out all year. Also a note of interest is the fact that he actually gained and lost a total of 225 LBS in lean protein tissue in one year. By the way, this is all fact established by research done by W.E. Mitch and published in the New England Journal of Medicine (96-335:1897). To find your own daily protein turn over rate (PTOR), simply multiply your body weight in pounds by 1.818. (154lbs x 1.818 = 279.972g). This is your potential daily mass gain! (What?) Yes, if you could control all metabolic factors this is the amount of protein based tissue you could gain in one day.

But being cheesy is not always easy.

Anabolic and catabolic hormones control the body’s PTOR. The balance between gain and loss is called homeostasis and basal. If our adult reduced catabolism by 50% without altering the anabolic rate, our 154LB adult would gain 38 LBS of lean muscle in a single year. Weight training accelerates both anabolism and catabolism. If he trains in a manner which accelerates catabolism more than anabolism he loses muscle. This is over training. If he trains in a manner which accelerates anabolism more than catabolism then he gains muscle. Studies have established that training induced catabolism destroys 80% of the training induced anabolism. This leaves us with about a 20% growth differential.

Most bodybuilders actually reach a point very quickly where anabolism is equal to catabolism and they stagnate. Now you know why you are stuck in your training efforts so often. You lose what you gain.

Let’s take a look at the actual break down of a 20% differential using a 200

LB bodybuilder who trained properly, ate properly, and maintained this 20% anabolism differential for a year:

**Protein tissue gains from basal (normal resting) protein synthesis = 100 LBS

**Protein tissue gains induced by training = 55 LBS. Total muscle gain =155 LBS

**Protein tissue lost due to basal muscle catabolism =100 LBS

**Protein tissue lost due to training induced protein catabolism =44 LBS

**Total muscle lost yearly = 144 LBS

**Total muscle gained yearly = 11 LBS.

Our bodybuilder beat homeostasis by 11 LBS!

Any questions about why athletes reported use of anabolic chemistry or anticatabolic chemistry should be clearer by now.

I have utilized pretty much every available chemical muscle enhancing technique there is at one time or another on myself or monitored the results upon those who (of their own volition) did so. This would of course traumatize many of my peers, but so what. Mine is not to judge others who make informed choices of their own. Many of these so-called peers have or will die from alcohol and tobacco. Sad, but their choice. My blood tests always look far better than most of these peers… and I am pretty cheesy! The reader should again note that this is not an endorsement of such practices. It is simply a fact.

I once personally (once? Ya right!) pushed the envelope to see how much of this scientific data (most of which was available 15 years ago) could be validated in the real world. I suppressed my cortisol (chemically), increased anabolism (also chemically) and increased metabolism (of course chemically) for 30 days. I ingested protein (complete) levels based upon basal plus 20%, and ate 2.5g of carbs (mostly maltodextrin and veggies) per LB of bodyweight while allowing fats to fall where they may. 30 days later I was 33 LBS heavier with a slightly lower body fat level. Ya pretty cheesy, huh?

So, though I seldom directly quote research, I do have a great deal of personal interest in the subjects which follow as well as anecdotal information collected from literally hundreds of athletes over the years. This of course would mean nothing if not for clinical information for validation as well. At least to me! And it pays the bills.

WHAT ARE STEROIDS ?

Before reading the following chapters it is vital the reader has a basic understanding of natural testosterone production and its actions. I realize that it is probably pretty boring for many readers but I have also found it is quite necessary foundational knowledge. Besides the obvious, it is kind of fun to find out what else “the boys” can do anyway. I wish to warn any sensitive readers about my writing style:

Though some may take offense at my candidness concerning any topic including sexuality (yes, I said the “S” word) I apologize to no one who chooses to read beyond this point. Simply stated, it is my right to freedom of expression and your right to choose not to read on or agree. (Yes, I once received a letter declaring me “perverse” for the words…”the boys became raisins no sun could shrink worse”).

There are several sex hormones. Some such as estradiol, estrone, and progesterone are sex hormones referred to as estrogens. Androstenedione, androstenediol, and testosterone are referred to as naturally occurring endogenous (made inside the body) androgens. The former group is the prominent hormones in females responsible for the formation of female pattern fat deposits such as in breast, hips, and buttock areas as well as the formation and maturation of the female sex organs. The latter group, Androgens, are the prominent hormones in males that are responsible for characteristics such as a deeper voice, increased muscle and bone mass, facial hair, increased body hair, male sex organ formation and development, and aggressiveness.

*You would think that last characteristic was true of estrogens too, since PMS is a defense

for murder! (It is) 

Both men and women produce androgens and estrogens. Women’s dominant production is estrogens, and men’s dominant production is androgens. Reverse this and each will take on their counter-parts characteristic to quite some extent. Our main focus for the following chapters is the male androgen testosterone and its almost endless derivatives and esters.

On average, men produce 4-10 mg of testosterone daily. This means that an average male can synthesize 28-70mg of endogenous testosterone weekly.