Anabolic Steroids and Sports

An anabolic steroid is something that athletes use to get an unfair advantage in the sport they play. It can cause the player to gain more muscle mass in a shorter period of time than without taking them.

Today people question how many athletes are actually using these kinds of steroids to improve their game or physical status. To this day, almost anyone who enjoys watching sports knows that steroids are a part of many sports known to man. Some people are fine with it and just enjoy watching the sports that are to the max. They seem to accept this shocking circumstance because the players are more athletic on steroids than without them.

On the other hand, some people disagree and think that not only is it bad for the sport, but it is also terrible for the professionals and the kids watching them play. For people that understand athletes and their use of steroids, well there can be multiple reasons why.

First of all, what is one thing people love watching in sports, specifically baseball? It’s obviously the hard hits and home run balls being hit out of the ballpark. Lately in the national football league (NFL) players have been caught using steroids, too. One well-known player that was caught was Brian Cushing’s "AFC Rookie of the Year". He was caught with anabolic steroids in his system. In return, they had to revote on whether he should still be considered the rookie of the year knowing that he had taken steroids, and of course he held the title. This further proves the fact that people just want to see the most athletic players making the hardest hits possible and don’t care if they are on steroids or not.

Not only are Professional athletes getting caught using steroids, but now it is escalating to high school athletes as well. Texas has taken it out of the hands of educators and is making a test necessary for all athletes to take before they can play in a sport. This is a great reason why parents are becoming angry about the influence professional athletes are having on their children. It is obviously not good when high school athletes are getting caught using steroids more and more. That is a very bad statistic for young people to be taking steroids.

I feel professional players caught using these steroids need to have harsher punishments. Now for other and most people, steroids just hurt the sport, and are a bad influence on kids that want to play sports. If athletes want to increase their body mass and become stronger they should have to work on that without the influence of steroids or even the thoughts of taking them. Not only can an athlete be suspended or even kicked out of a sport for using, but also can extremely risk the state of their health.

Psychological effects appear to be the only consequence of an overdose of AAS, but long-term usage can lead to infertility, testicular atrophy (in males) and disturbances of the menstrual cycle (in females). The severity depends on which steroid or combination of steroids that are being abused. The brain, the skin, and the liver are three main parts of the body that get abused by shooting steroids. In 1994, recreational bodybuilders attending a Welsh needle-exchange clinic completed a survey on feelings of hostility/aggression. Subjects reported significantly higher feelings of aggression towards objects, verbal aggression and aggression during training. During the 6 to 14 week AAS period, other changes included significantly higher feelings of alienation, irritability, anxiety, suspiciousness, and negativism. This shows that there are huge negative effects of using anabolic steroids, not just the glory that we fans get to see.

Players need to start thinking of how they are affecting younger athletes. The suspensions aren’t doing what they need to be doing, someone has to take control and think of another way to deal with these situations. People can be for it and against it but all in all the professional athletes taking these steroids are pretty much saying that it is alright if you take steroids, and that is not alright for young athletes to think at all. They need to get to that high level of play on their own not by taking steroids.