To answer the question right off the bat, it’s best to use steroids wisely to avoid detrimental effects on your health. But what does this mean in practice? What are some of the safest practices avid gym-goers undertake?
This write-up aims to provide answers to these questions and help you turn your body into a lean mean beach-ready machine. Plus, you’ll find out more about anabolic steroids in general.
Steroids Disambiguated
The steroids in question are anabolic steroids, which are actually man-made testosterone drugs. Due to their purpose, these are also known as anabolic-androgenic steroids. Namely, the androgenic indicates that the steroids enhance the male characteristics and anabolic refers to the muscle-building component.
Aside from building a perfect beach body, these steroids can be prescribed to treat delayed puberty, AIDS, or even cancer. In fact, doctors may prescribe steroids for any serious disease that results in muscle mass loss.
Common Intake Methods
Steroids can be injected directly into a muscle, taken orally, or applied to the skin in a form of topicals. In general, injections tend to be the most effective method, but this doesn’t make other methods inferior.
Beginner bodybuilders may want to start with less invasive methods because injections require a certain level of skill and familiarization. Be that as it may, the important thing is that some steroids can have a really high dose of hormones – between ten and a hundred times more used for medical conditions.
Therefore, it’s advisable to undergo a thorough medical check-up to determine the intake method and type of steroids.
How to Use Anabolic Steroids
Before you get a better understanding of usage patterns, you should consult with your physician. Regardless of the intake pattern, the steroids affect your metabolism, hormones, and physiology. So, there’s no one solution fits all.Here’s what you need to know about the patterns.
Plateauing
This pattern means you substitute, alternate, or overlap one steroid with another. The goal is to prevent your body from developing a tolerance for one particular steroid.
Cycling
When on a cycling pattern, you take multiple doses for a prescribed period, then take a break. Afterwards, you restart the cycle until you’re satisfied with the results.
Stacking
Stacking steroids should be approached with extreme caution. This pattern involves a combination of different steroids and intake methods. For example, aspiring bodybuilders may mix steroid tablets with gels and/or injectables.
The idea behind this pattern is that the combo provides superior results. In other words, it should allow you to build more muscle mass faster. However, the evidence for this is anecdotal and thorough scientific studies are yet to confirm the pattern’s effectiveness.
Pyramiding
If you’re just starting out, the pyramiding steroid intake might be the safest route. You start with a small dose to see how your body reacts to the hormone increase and ramp up the intake from thereon.
The moment you get to the peak amount, you slowly decrease the intake until it reaches zero. This pattern has two cycles and lasts between six and twelve weeks . The first cycle is when you gradually increase steroid intake and it ends with the peak.
At the onset of the second cycle, the doses become lower until you’reoff steroids completely. It’s not uncommon for people to continue exercising without the steroids for a few more weeks before they enter the cycle again.
Important Note: Many consider this pattern the most optimal because your body has plenty of time to adjust. What’s more, the steroid-free weeks allow your hormonal and endocrine system to revive after the boost.
Things to Consider
In the UK, anabolic steroids belong to the tier of class C drugs. This means only a licensed pharmacist can sell them with a prescription.
You’re allowed to own steroids for personal use, but the law forbids you from passing on the steroids to friends or family members. The fines for misconduct can be sky-high and there might even be a prison sentence.
On the bright side, steroids don’t work like other drugs because there’s no short-term effect on your brain. To be exact, they don’t induce a kind of a high associated with drugs and medications that affect dopamine. Nevertheless, there are certain mental side effects, but more on that later.
With this in mind, steroids aren’t necessarily addictive, but they may cause a substance use disorder. This happens to those who abuse steroids and might ultimately lead to physiological dependancy. And in extreme cases, veteran steroid abusers might resort to other drugs to alleviate some of the side effects.
Steroid Side Effects
Despite the fact that experts advise against using steroids, you can get away with minimal side effects if you play your cards right. Of course, this means consulting with a physician and sticking to the recommended dose and intake pattern.
As for the side effects, they can be divided into two categories – physical and mental. Some of the more serious physical consequences include spikes in blood cholesterol, high BP, and other cardiovascular problems.
When it comes to mental disorders, steroid abuse may cause aggression and heightened irritability. Impaired judgement trails right behind and, in extreme cases, some bodybuilders may become paranoid or even develop a mania.
Luckily, there are ways to minimize or avoid the negative effects altogether. But this topic is quite complex and merits an article of its own.
Kerosine That Pumps the Iron
The drive to make your body perfect might be relentless, but this shouldn’t push you to abuse steroids. Mind you, some may even go for veterinarian variants to up the ante, and you should be smarter than that.
With some help from your physician, steroids may help you get the body of your dreams. But remember, it should never be at the expense of your overall health.
