Are Steroids Bad?

Do you ever feel “small” while looking at professional bodybuilders? Do you want to look like them? Well, don’t be too jealous, because their looks are not natural, but rather enhanced from steroids.

Anabolic steroids are prevalent in bodybuilding and athletics. Around 10% of professional athletes in sports and 75% of professional bodybuilders use some kind of PED (performance-enhancing drug) to enhance their performance or looks, BMC Public Health states. 

Before you decide to use steroids, you should know the facts. They are strictly banned in organized sports, as well as banned for use without a prescription in the United States. The Mayo Clinic states there are 32 different types of anabolic steroids. The most commonly used are Testosterone and Trenbalone. The main purpose of steroids is to build muscle by raising the testosterone levels of a person’s body. Natural testosterone levels range from 300 to 900 nanograms per deciliter, but with steroids, men’s levels are found to be greater than 1000 nanograms per deciliter.

Many men with naturally low testosterone levels are prescribed testosterone boost their levels to obtain a normally functioning body. On the flip side, when people with normal to high testosterone levels take testosterone enhancers it naturally stops producing as much testosterone as before leading them to need TRT(testosterone replacement therapy) Based on prior research and extensive knowledge.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s idol, Steve Reeves, also known as Mr. Olympia said in an interview with the bodybuilding magazine, “I don’t believe in bodybuilders using steroids. If a man doesn’t have enough male hormones in his system to create, a nice hard, muscular body, he should take up ping pong.” This proves that steroids aren’t the only way you can get “big”, and world-renowned bodybuilders are “big” without them.  

Anabolic steroids are like taking the easy route to get “big”. They are also very harmful and have many negative side effects to go along with them. Some side effects are the natural production of testosterone dropping tremendously, hair loss, and acne. 

The next time you feel “small” at the gym, take comfort in knowing that you are not killing your body with steroids like the other bodybuilders and are earning the muscle.