Define Performance Enhancers
by Riney on Feb 25, 2010 8:15 PM EST
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PrintI would like to start off by saying, I am not an advocate nor have I ever used performance enhancing drugs. Or have I? I was cursed with an insatiable thirst for knowledge for things I don't understand. With all the recent news about HGH testing and the possible MLB and NFL ramifications, I was curious about how it was going to hurt our beloved sport of MMA. I found a documentary called Bigger, Stronger, Faster by Christopher Bell. It is a movie that presents the "other" side of performance enhancing drugs. This movie is worth the 1 hour and 45 minutes of your life if you are interested in all things performance enhancing.
I came away from with movie with a question about performance enhancers. It wasn't the age old question "Do performance enhancers give athletes an edge?". My question is, what defines a performance enhancer? And more importantly, who decides what is (and isn't) acceptable and why?
Marijuana has caused quiet a stir recently here at BE. It was Nick Diaz and his love of all thing Cannabis that stared the heated debate. Is marijuana a performance enhancer? How about Gatorade? Marijuana seems like small potatoes compared to steroids or HGH but says who? Andro and other supplements were legal (some still are) in MLB til a recent change, why? My understanding is anything that helps the body recover faster, build muscle, or helps with red blood cells is labeled a performance enhancer. Where do we draw the line? Is it with injections? Cortisone is an injected steroid that is legal in the NFL and MLB. Maybe we should have a ban on synthetics, ban lab drugs created by mad scientists. Sure that takes care of designer HGH and takes us back to marijuana and other natural enhancers. I know, maybe we should let people who are not informed, have agendas, decide for us. That hasn't worked very well so far either. And what do we do with caffeine?
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In his film Christopher Bell raises serious questions about who is using performance enhancers as well. Carl Lewis got caught and was slapped on the wrist. US military pilots use them legally when flying, porn starts inject their dicks to keep erections and gym rats use for that extra muscle. Are we to the point where we should just legalize everything?
I don't have a strong opinion either way on this subject. I have come to the realization that a lot of the athletes I admire have used performance enhancers. Do I enjoy their performances less? Nope. Do I look at record books a little differently now? You bet.
If an athletic commission or sanctioning body says it's illegal, don't do it. An athletes personal beliefs have to take a back seat to whatever regulatory body oversees your sport.
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The thing about PED's are
there are many things that enhance performance.
In fact, recent studies have shown that caffeine dramatically improves athletic performance. But when people talk about “Performance Enhancing Drugs,” they’re generally talking about:
1) Androgenous Anabolic Steroids (AAS’s)- you’re classic anabolic steroids, including your Stanozolol, Boldenone, Nandrolone, etc. They help speed muscle recovery & growth, but have a bevy of health risks. Like all drugs (and by drugs I don’t just mean illegal drugs- perscription medication included), AAS’s have pro’s and con’s, and the athletes need to determine for themselves whether those risks are outweighed by the benefits.
2) EPO (blood doping)- Nearly undetectable, EPO’s are basically a way of storing blood (generally) from when the athlete did high altitude cardio training, which when injected increases the amount of RBC’s, and improves Cardio.
and finally
3) Growth Hormone (HGH)- Also very hard to detect, GH is used to increase certain hormones in the body to improve muscle growth/ recovery, and other things. The most common among these are Testosterone.
Honestly, I don’t have much of a problem with fighters who juice because if they piss clean, it at least shows that they’re not using AAS’s to the point where it can be a serious health risk. As for guys who fight abroad (especially Overeem, who has been the center of a ton of steroid allegations), that’s their call and they can make their own decisions.
Just my 2 cents. (and btw, Bigger, Stronger & Faster is a great movie)
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture- "The Best Never Rest!"
Go Gonzaga! G-O-N-Z-A-G-A
by ElliotMatheny on Feb 25, 2010 9:39 PM EST reply actions 3 recs
i’ve seen “B,S,F”, incredible documentary.
if a normal male’s testosterone levels fall between 250 – 800 nanograms per deciliter of blood, that allows for a guy i’m competing against to have more than a 3x testosterone advantage over me. i wouldn’t be against a level playing field. let everyone shoot up roids. its all for entertainment :D
I'm old school hating Lesnar, I've been hating Lesnar since '08
Holy shit I used to love Androsteniodone. I worked at GNC in high school and my senior year consisted of only athletics (P.E., Advanced Weightlifting, Advanced Basketball) and I was taking about 12 different supplements twice per day. My favorite by far were called “Andro Poppers”. They had a citrus flavor and you let them absorb under your tongue.
I also would rub testosterone cream (please keep in mind all of these things were legal at the time) on my biceps and chest and I got up to about 220. The problem was I’m 6’ tall and I was a varsity wrestler at 155 lbs. so the weight cut was extreme. Good thing I had water cutting pills (also from working at GNC).
My overall point is that it ended up being a vicious cycle. All of the things I was taking were legal and are now illegal. So just because something is on the list doesn’t mean that it should be, and if it’s not on the list, it could be soon.
I would still fuck with Andro if they put it back on the market. Favorite supplement ever.
Have you had any
adverse health problems? In the movie as his brothers cycled off they both stated they would continue to use. I just have ZERO knowledge about use and the actual effects.
Nah
Luckily these things would fall off the market one at a time so i was able to trade each illegal item with something legal. It was always a big deal when they would make something illegal so companies would advertise “as close to andro as u can get legally” etc. and i would just switch to those.
After high school i got into martial arts and slowly cycled off everything one at a time. Mainly because, without working at GNC, i couldnt afford the hundreds of dollars worth of supplements every month.
I did it the “right way” by slowly transitioning off the supplements slowly and switching from weightlifting to martial arts. You use different muscles so i was still able to see gains, just in a different way. I miss benching 350 but it was getting out of control and i feel a lot healthier than I ever did on all of that shit.
by MauiPimpin on Feb 26, 2010 12:54 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
You cut from 220 to 155? If by “cut” you mean severed all of your limbs?
The mat is my church, the ground is my heaven, Jiu-Jitsu is my religion. And once you hit the ground you're in my world. My world is like the ocean, I’m like a shark and most people don't even know how to swim - Draculino
by Patrick Tenney on Feb 26, 2010 11:12 AM EST up reply actions
I'm talking off season. lol
I would still have to cut about 20 lbs. between matches though. Lots of spitting in bottles and steam room workouts. I’m not even one of those naturally skinny guys and so to be 6’ and wrestling at 155 it was a little weird lookin to be honest.
Damn dude
6’ 155 is crazy. That must’ve been torturous I know personally that even just dieting can be very mentally taxing, I lost 50 lbs a couple years back just from running like a spartan and eating like a runway model. Did the whole 5-6 small meals (brown rice + a chicken breast, tuna half sandwhich, peanut butter & banana half sandwhich, protein shakes), and have since packed on like 20 lbs of around half muscle half fat. Right now i’m chillin at around 16% bf at 210, 6’2.
Since I work out I can be a bit more lenient about what I want to eat, but I keep telling myself that one day i’ll get motivated and get a 6- pack going. That’s not happening anytime soon haha
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture- "The Best Never Rest!"
Go Gonzaga! G-O-N-Z-A-G-A
by ElliotMatheny on Feb 26, 2010 5:44 PM EST up reply actions
Honestly
I’m not even sure everyone can have a six pack that wants one. That doesn’t make too much sense, but I’ve worked on my stomach for a long time and I’ve only got the four top ones showing and the bottom two looking like they want to say hi but are kind of shy. I’ve given up on it and just try to stay healthy…..which is difficult enough considering I get insane munchies when I smoke pot.
Yeah the cut was intense. There was nothing healthy about it. Nothing. We aren’t talking about eating a little bit. We are talking about eating nothing while sucking on starbursts to draw out spit while spitting in a bottle all day and then going to the gym after school to do push ups in the steam room with four hooded sweatshirts on and plastic over it after having spent all day in the school gym. I still had to weigh in naked. I thought about getting into grappling tournaments but I can’t get myself to cut weight again and all the guys that I would grapple against at my natural weight (185) are all monsters that are cutting from over 200.
FYI, we have discussed bigger, stronger, faster here at BE in the past. Nate even did a review of the film a while back. Unfortunately our search is having some issues so I can’t get you a link at the moment.
Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
MMA Editor - SBNation.com
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 25, 2010 10:25 PM EST reply actions
Good ol' Google to the rescue
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/10/31/1108385/bloody-elbow-movie-review-bigger
Walking the line between intelligence and ignorance since 1985
@deowade
Not for me but I know
there is a huge debate over marijuana.
At least the PEDs that most folk are using now don’t have effects similar to those that the Norse Vikings used (a type of hallucinogenic mushroom that supposedly made them see their enemies as giants) or like Valkyr in “Max Payne”. But then again, I’m one of those folk who’d rather be physically weaker than schizophrenic.
To be serious though, EPo, HGH, and other steroids like the glucocorticoids are super hard to detect because they are naturally produced in the body at certain levels. Also, the corticoid steroid injections tend to be used as painkillers (like with very painful but not surgery-necessary knee problems) and that’s probably the root reason for their legality. It’ll be interesting to see how the laws get worked up to make PEDs illegal and then how to test for them (i.e. are certain chemical signatures going to have to be used in the synthetics?).
"I love it when a guy is bleeding on top of me." -- Diego Sanchez, post fight interview about his fight with Clay Guida
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