WARNING: this article is more than 50 years old. Think twice before using its advice.

Win With STEROIDS

The complete truth about the anabolic, growth stimulating drugs...their use and abuse by weight trainers.

By Gene Mozée, Research Editor

This special Research Project is to expose the TRUTHS about ANABOLIC DRUGS. . . their advantages, disadvantages, and the proper method of evaluating the research and results. The recorded history of the use of growth stimulating drugs is somewhat clouded by the fact that much of the original research was hidden by unscientific evaluations based on unsubstantiated facts.

The first reported use of steroids was in 1959 when a veterinarian trying to improve the breed of thoroughbred horses discovered a compound he named NILOVAR. The researcher noticed the strength, muscularity, and endurance was greatly improved with the administration of the proper amount of Nilovar.

Millard Williamson, a student of biochemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, applied the drug to humans with equally impressive results. His training partner, who had been vainly trying to win physique contests, improved his bench press 60 pounds, added one full inch to his arm size, lost two inches off the waist, and got more size and muscularity in six weeks than he had ever had before. He won four physique titles in a row! Other bodybuilders in the Bay area began reporting similar results.

(Musclememory note: there is lots of evidence that bodybuilders and weightlifters were using steroids in the 1940s)

The use of anabolic steroids then began to spread to Southern California, then across the country. Their use has become so widespread now, that I would venture to guess every major physique contest winner has employed them as useful aids. Almost every athlete in every sport is either aware of their use, or has used steroids to improve his size, weight, and strength.

The most popular of the anabolic drugs is DIANABOL. Three 5 milligram (5 mg.) blue tablets seem to produce the most favorable results. The more you take, the less efficient your body is at utilizing their benefit. Some athletes have used as many as 12 per day. One bodybuilder that I know of tried six 5 mg. tablets three times daily (18 per day). After 3 days, blood began appearing in the urine-a sign of massive liver and kidney damage. He quickly eliminated them.

Other popular steroids are Winstrol, Anovar, Maxobolin, Durabolin, and Deca Durabolin. After years of research, the current feeling among medical men is that DECA DURABOLIN, administered in the form of an intra-muscular injection of 50 cc., once weekly, produces the best results. The literature which appears on the label of this product makes the following claims:

1. Durabolin is a long acting anabolic agent.
2. It is an intra-muscular injectable fluid in a sesame oil base.
3. It promotes tissue building, increased appetite, increases vigor, and aids in bone reconstruction.
4. It tends to lift the mood and the feeling of well being and helps eliminate depression.
5. It reverses the CATABOLIC (tearing down) degeneration of certain diseases.
6. It fills the need for a potent, long acting anabolic (building up) agent.
7. It induces a weight gain-the weight gain is retained after administration is stopped.
8. In combination with a good diet and a well devised training program, it will promote rapid improvement in both muscular size and strength.
9. It will promote maximum tissue growth.
10. It is completely safe to use under the care of a medical doctor.

That's about as convincing a reason to consider using DURABOLIN as any athlete or bodybuilder could ask for. Let us examine the possible negative effects.

1. When not used under a doctor's care excessive liver and kidney damage could occur in a minority of subjects who are genetically weak in these areas.
2. Deliberate overdoses (more than 50 cc. per week) could result in some alteration of the prostate gland.
3. Kidney and liver function, as well as some destruction of their cells is likely with prolonged usage.
4. Regular medical checkups are urged, and a urinalysis should be taken frequently.
5. With any growth-promoting agent, the danger that in those individuals with dormant cancer cells could possibly become activated (a rare occurrence).
6. A noticeable increase in the loss of enzymes stored in the liver will manifest on prolonged usage (over six weeks). This condition would be classified as a low level liver disorder.

Now that you have an idea as to their possible benefits and detriments, let us examine in more detail just exactly how the ANDROGENIC AND ANABOLIC STEROIDS function.

Primarily, anabolics cause the body to retain more NITROGEN (protein) than normal. This results in a condition known as POSITIVE NITROGEN BALANCE. This condition is ideal for muscle growth because the body is retaining or storing more nitrogenous materials than it is expelling.

When an individual is fasting, or in some instances (when ill) there is a shortage of NITROGEN (NEGATIVE NITROGEN BALANCE), a loss of strength and muscle tissue occurs. When the body is in perfect balance and is neither storing more nitrogen than it is eliminating, this condition is known as being in a state of NORMAL NITROGEN BALANCE. To gain muscle size rapidly, a state of POSITIVE NITROGEN BALANCE must be obtained.

Androgenic and anabolic steroids present a complex problem of assessment. Androgens are those hormones normally produced by the testes which are responsible for growth of the accessory sexual organs and development growth of the secondary sexual characteristics. These hormones also produce the anabolic effects that make men, in general, larger than women and their musculature heavier. Removal of the testes causes atrophy of the accessory sexual organs. Although in many animals, including man, this does not lead to regression of secondary sexual characteristics, such as growth of beard, once they are established. The compounds which restore the size of the sexual accessories in such castrated animals are referred to as androgens, whereas those that produce the larger muscles in males have generally become known as anabolic agents. The natural steroids have both properties. In a stricter sense, anabolic agents are those compounds which are capable of creating retention of nitrogen. It is generally accepted that the clinical effects of nitrogen retention in muscle tissue is at least in part responsible for certain increases in strength and muscle size.

Testosterone itself was synthesized before it was known to be the major hormone produced by the testes. The oral activity of the drug is limited, although its usefulness both as an anabolic and an androgenic agent has been steadily increasing when given by injection. However, the induction of straight testosterone has its undesirable side effects. They are deepening of the voice, excess facial hair, acne, and diminished sexual capacity, to name a few. The need to find oral medicine which has a very low androgenic/high anabolic effect was indeed a problem. This dilemma was solved by the combined efforts of chemists working around the world. Today, strictly muscle building drugs are available which are safe to take if one follows his doctor's advice.

Much evidence exists that stimulation of nitrogen retention in man, within the limits of metabolic study, seems to be an all-or-none phenomenon. In other words, there does not appear to be a dosage response curve. If sufficient material is given, nitrogen retention occurs. Increasing the dosage increases neither the amount of nitrogen retained nor its duration, provided the diet is kept constant. This simply means that if you ever are to get the strength-building effects from the steroids, then you will get it from the prescribed dosage level and that the further ingestion of the steroid will only be useless. Not only will it be useless, it will also be dangerous. If one should overdose on the steroids for too long a period of time, the liver function levels begin to rise along with an increase in thyroid activity. The liver will become infected and you will get very tired and sluggish. Also the thyroid will become hyper-active and you will begin to lose body weight. Chances are good that you will panic because you are noticing the weight loss and then you will begin taking more steroids. The best thing to do would be to go off them for a few weeks or months.

The documentation of the effectiveness of the steroids has been made in many volumes and other works and will not be discussed here. If you don't think they work, think harder. They do work, and they work well when under the care of a physician. Chances are good that he will order a periodic blood test and a urinalysis. These are done merely as a safeguard and they inform the doctor just how the liver and other internal organs are functioning.

To complete this discussion, three questions still remain:

1. Is it moral to use these drugs for increased advantage in sport?
2. Who should use these drugs-or who would get the best advantage from their use?
3. Should I use them to build added muscle tissue more quickly?

To answer the first question, I won't use the cop out that just because the communist athletes use these drugs, then I should use them. However, I would subscribe to the notion that what the public came to see was a supreme athletic performance. The following day, when the results are published, the public is not going to say, "Well, Joe Blow didn't win the discus throw because he didn't take his steroids, but he is a better person for not taking them." When Joe loses, the public simply wants to know who won and how far the winning distance was. We are not interested in excuses. You either do it or you don't.

In conclusion, if you are contemplating the use of steroids, do it under the care of a physician. They should always be obtained through a medical doctor, and you should have a physical before starting to use them. The consensus of opinion among physique stars is that anabolics are not for beginners. You should wait until you have 18" arms and want that last little bit of muscular size to reach the top. Dianabol, administered orally. . . one blue 5 mg. tablet 3 times a day. . . is the most popular steroid in use by bodybuilders and athletes. Using the steroids for a period of about six weeks, then resting for 3 weeks before resuming use, is a good policy. It allows your vital organs and glands a chance to re-cycle and regenerate. You must be on a good training program and be careful not to over-train. You must be on a good diet of well balanced foods, that is high in PROTEIN. Additional food supplements (CRASH WEIGHT, MUSCLE DENSITY, etc.) help speed results. EXTRA-B-complex, Vitamin E and Vitamin C are also recommended. The use of alcohol is NOT recommended while using steroids. Too much B-complex is lost metabolizing the alcohol. Do not increase the prescribed dosage. The results will be no greater and the potential undesirable effects will be magnified.

Anabolic steroids are used by almost all athletic champions, and top bodybuilders. If you are interested in reaching the absolute level of human performance, then consider using steroids. But do so under the care of a physician. Try to achieve your absolute best at whatever you do . . . if for no other reason than to let those that follow you have something to shoot for.