Effects of steroids

Anabolic steroids are performance-enhancing drugs, which means that they can improve competitiveness and physical performance of athletes without a clearly defined training program. They help build lean muscle mass, increase body weight and obtain a good physical appearance. If you ask yourself how do they work then the answer is as follows: they act facilitate the muscle synthesis through the metabolism of ingested proteins. By that they contribute to the muscle mass increase and to improvement in the physical performance. Of course, steroids have many other effects on the body, which we will discuss later on. As a general description of steroids, one has to understand that steroids are synthetic versions of testosterone. This means that they can supplement the body with the necessary quantity of hormone. However, depending on the steroid, these may work in an opposite way, and specifically on the suppression on the natural hormone levels. Such a reaction depends on the steroid cycle, how strong the anabolic effect is and how the body reacts to it. Considering the fact that there are two major types of steroids: injectable and oral steroids, they all act differently on increasing muscle mass and strength. Besides the various benefits the steroids carry, one has to understand that without following the cycle properly and taking the right dosage, no significant results can be obtained.

Benefits of steroids

We already mentioned some effects of steroids, most of them are rather positive than negative, because in case of steroids, side effects are rather a choice than a possibility. We will refer to that later. It is important however to know that anabolic steroids carry many benefits, this is why they have become widely spread and very popular among athletes, bodybuilders and not only. The main benefits of steroids are the following:

·Increase the muscle mass and strength;

·Increase the testosterone levels, as during a steroid cycle the endogenous hormone levels decrease, in the post-cycle therapy the use of testosterone helps body recover and get back to normal.

·Improve physical performance;

·Increase competitiveness. Anabolic steroids are a means of enhancing physical performance even in athletes with a poor genetic structure. The use of steroids alone helps achieve great results, however if combining a steroid cycle with intensive training programs, correct diet and nutrition, the obtained results are way above simple training.

Despite all benefic effects on the physical performance, one has to understand that the results will not show over night. It is important to also take into account the possible side effects when abusing steroids.

Possible side effects

Anabolic steroids may cause side effects. As we already mentioned, these can be controlled and most of the time they can be referred as a choice rather than a possibility. The most common side effects with steroids are decrease in sexual function, increased aggressiveness, increased cholesterol and blood pressure, acne, water retention, gynecomastia and others. More serious side effects are impaired liver function, male pattern baldness, heart diseases and stroke, depression, addiction and others. The enumerated side effects depend on the steroid cycle, dosage and period of administration of specific steroids. As we already said, these can be controlled if following the steroid cycle smart. Other side effects depend on how each individual tolerates steroids. In any case, they can be controlled