Anabolic Steroids in Female Bodybuilding As A Way To Achieve Men's Results

Anabolic Steroids

Performance enhancing drugs have been a part of sports since their origin. Anabolic steroids have been used in numerous strength sports to increase muscular size and strength. Bodybuilding and weightlifting are given an unfair image of  being the biggest consumers of AAS. Statistics show that more steroid use is not coming from professional athletes, rather people who are looking for a fast solution for weight loss. The use and discussion about steroids causes much controversy. There are side effects and health risks that are associated with their consumption. There are a copious amount of myths that are generated surrounding them. Anabolic androgenic steroids also pose a level of  medical and social problems. Women are criticized more harshly for their use of steroids compared to men. Even though men still represent a higher amount of users, when women do it there is ostracism. The social problems are related to sexism particularly with women's body image and appearance. Depending on the dosage, type of drug used, and total amount of time used steroids can cause virilization  in women. Each person can be effected by drugs differently. Some women may not experience any notable changes. Instead of focusing on the health risks, many condemn steroid use in women because they believe it harms destroys  appearance. Most detractors state this on a sexist notion that women exist only to be beautiful and  be objects to men. Despite what people think women will look like whatever they please. Women are subject to multiple myths about their bodies and athletic capabilities. The post from women's bodybuilding has a number of myths. The idea that women cannot gain muscle without chemical assistance is false. The stages of fitness  is not a correct term for the transformation of the human body through weight training. Anabolic androgenic steroids will not make a person superhuman. Women will not  reach male levels of physical fitness capacity simply based on sexual dimorphism, anatomy, and physiology. A female bodybuilder does not need steroids to be successful, rather genetics and training ultimately determine what physique is produced. 

        Anabolic androgenic  steroids  are synthetic derivatives of testosterone. They can either be taken by pill or by hypodermic needle. Anabolic refers to the process of muscular hypertrophy. Androgens are various hormones that are responsible for male characteristics and reproductive function. Steroids have  beneficial medical properties which are used  to prevent muscle loss in patients suffering from cancer or AIDS. Like any other drug it can  be abused. Simply using it does not automatically mean a person is addicted. Basic endocrinology shows that men produce higher levels of testosterone and women produced more estrogen. The reason steroids enhance performance is because testosterone enables a higher level of protein synthesis. This is critical to muscular hypertrophy. There are multiple steroids that can be made from just the manipulation of  testosterone. Some types include anavar, dianabol, winstrol, anadrol, and deca-durabolin. There is little reliable information on how effective these drugs are. Athletes may do either stacking or pyramid. Some users experiment with using different types simultaneously. Stacking is a method of taking various types of AAS. The pyramid method involves adjusting doses at minimal levels,then gradually increasing them in a number of weeks. Drugs do have side effects for both sexes. Long term use has been linked to kidney failure, liver damage, circulatory system conditions, and the risk of blood clots. The sex specific effects can be growth of facial hair, hair loss, deepening of the voice, menstrual irregularities (amenorrhea), and increasing sizeof the clitoris. Breast size reduction has been documented as a side effect, but this could happen without use if a woman is highly active and has low body fat levels. Men are also effected by use with the possible reduction in sperm count, gynecomastia, and damage to the testicles. It is questionable that steroids alter emotions to an extreme. The so called "roid rage " has never been examined seriously. It is also questionable that steroid use causes gastrointestinal issues. These are just the basic symptoms documented by some users and endocrinologists. 

          Women can build muscle without AAS. Weightlifting and resistance training has shown that women's bodies do experience muscular hypertrophy. Endocrinology does play a role. Boys and girls are at an equal physical fitness level until puberty. At that stage the body composition and size is dramatically altered between the sexes. Men weigh more and are on average taller. Boys have two growth spurts with the earliest starting at between the ages 10 to 13. There will also be a final one in  late adolescence. Between these two growth spurts a strength spurt happens due to the growth of  the testes and a dramatic in androgens. This does not happen in women. However, women have the same muscles and it does not differ at the cellular level. The baseline of muscle mass is less in women. While women can experience muscular hypertrophy just not to the same extent as a man. Women have muscles,they are smaller in comparison. The most muscular woman would still weigh less than the largest man. How much size a person can gain depends on somatotype, genetics, training methods, and diet. Age and sex are factors in terms of muscular gain. The factors listed previously vary from person to person regardless of sex. To see muscular growth intensity of exercise and the amount of food consumed must be done to see changes. Such activities do not require AAS to achieve. Competing does not require drugs either. There are natural competitions that are open to athletes who still have muscular physiques. IFBB shows are not drug tested, but that does not mean every single person on stage is using AAS. The misconception is that women with muscle are on steroids is false. The only way to know for definitely is to test for substances. Unless the more obvious signs of virilization are present such accusations are baseless. Myology demonstrates that women's muscles and anatomy are similar to that of men. 

    The biggest difference is in upper body strength. Men have more muscle and power in that region of the body. Women come closer to men in the lower body. Saying men have muscles and women do not would be anatomically inaccurate. Also the size of the skeleton and bones are factors in strength. A person with larger bones can support more muscle on their frame. There is a basic method of use which involves the time in which drugs are used. Some athletes train to their maximum physical potential and then begin to use. Others start off with AAS. Many may prefer the first option to avoid deleterious effects.    Just taking steroids will not produce physiques of quality. 

       The stages of fitness do not exist. There are different levels of muscular development. Physical fitness simply defined is the ability to perform an exercise activity. This means all women can attain a level of fitness. If there is a discussion of fitness competition and bodybuilding there is a difference. All the women no matter what category are of a certain physical fitness capacity. The element of muscular strength and development there is a gap. Female bodybuilders compared to fitness competitors are bigger in muscular development. While the fitness category was created mostly for women who did not want to have higher levels of development, there is a men's physique category that came after. Female bodybuilders starting out will at some point resemble fitness competitors in terms of size. When body transformation happens over a number of years the body will look different from training and diet. This is not "soft development." Building muscle takes time or even decades. Athletic massiveness is just another term for bulky. Bulkiness is not a real entity rather a term used to describe the look of a physique. Based on cytology bulky and toned muscle do not exist. Placed under a microscope one would not be able to distinguish the difference. Advocates always assure women they will not "bulk up  " and they can "tone."   Women can get muscular,but the idea of athletic massiveness is relative. Some fitness competitors may be too big for certain people's taste. 

The added category of physique only complicates terms. Most women may train with a certain level of intensity to get a certain body. To say that the larger women do it only through drugs is a distortion. Fitness models, figure competitors,  and physique athletes could be using various substances which could include fat burners, estrogen blockers, or HGH. The size of the muscles is not an indicator of use or non-use.  Anabolic steroids at may become obsolete with more powerful and efficient drugs emerging in the future. Selective androgen receptor modulators  may replace steroids as an alternative. All the women who compete are fit, it is just the muscular development varies. The idea that women cannot get big without drugs is not correct. The large women that are on stage weigh less than the average man. Exercise physiology has produced these bodies,rather than supplements or drugs. It has never been examined fully,but performance enhancing drugs may not be as effective as one would assume.
          Women's hormonal physiology does have a limitation in terms of muscle mass gain. Estrogen and progesterone increase fat levels. The use of anabolic steroids provides a woman with more muscular growth potential than by simple lifting or exercise. Women gain the strength spurt that boys get during puberty,however the secondary sex characteristics may emerge as part of virilization. This depends on the dose and types of anabolic androgenic steroids used. Results depend on other factors. A mesomorphic body type would experience greater gains compared to an ectomorph. Endomorphs would struggle to keep weight off, but steroids with exercise may do this to a degree. Women through natural means can reach the strength level of at least an average man with no training. Yet,a woman on steroids may not be able to reach the strength level of  trained man. If the male subject uses steroids then it would not be possible. The reason is that men have more testosterone to work with in their bodies produced by the testes.

   

Ovaries do function on a feedback loop, yet the difference is in amount of the hormone produced. Testosterone is present in women's bodies at lower amounts. The pituitary gland controls sex hormone amount. From the pituitary gland follicle producing hormone and luteinzing hormone are given instructions. LH stimulates directs leydig cells to produce testosterone and sperm. LH increases in women trigger ovulation and the development of the corpus luteum. Women could not reach the same total muscle mass levels as a man of similar drug use or training mainly because of physiology. Anatomically women's bodies are structured differently. A wider pelvis means that running speed will be effected. Even if women were to gain enormous amounts of muscle in the legs, this would slow them down. The heart and lungs do not get bigger altering aerobic capacity. Steroid use would not make women's shoulder's broader to a male size. The size and physique difference is related to sexual dimorphism. This refers to the characteristics that males and female exhibit that are not primary sex attributes. Women are smaller than men. This is the product of millions of years of human evolution. The reason males during hominid evolution needed more strength and size  was for the competition for mates. Sex selection may have worked in favor of  males who had more access to resources and hunting skills. These attributes from the sexes were transferred through genes. Steroids are only altering the endocrine and muscular system. They are not changing the genetics of a person. Women achieving men's athletic results en mass would either have to come about through some form  of genetic engineering. The manipulation of the MSTN gene could effect myostatin , which acts as regulator for muscular growth. Myostatin is a protein that inhibits myogenesis. Athletes who have an easier time building muscle have low levels of this protein. Anabolic steroids would not push women to men's physical fitness capacity compared to the future of genetic engineering.
      Taking drugs is not going to produce physiques or performances that are seen in athletic competition. There is no substitute for training or diet. Recovery and rest also is a major part of the process. During those periods the body grows muscle from the microtrauma from the training regimen. Bodybuilders are not only training for size, rather symmetry,shape,and conditioning. A competitor can have large muscles, yet the goal is to produce a physique of aesthetics. There are objections and support for use. The objections are that anabolic steroids provide an unfair advantage to competition. This lacks cogency,because simply taking drugs will not ensure success. The other argument is that their is a level of danger. The health risks are multiple. All drugs are not safe this includes ones from your doctor,in sores, and substances approved of the FDA. Any drug depending on how it is used and harm health. There are several conclusions that can be made from what is known about anabolic steroids. They do not create champion athletes or superhumans. Performance enhancing drugs as they are now only alter organ systems, not genetic structure. Gene doping will certainly become available to athletes more so in the distant future.  CRISPR( clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)   holds many possibilities about altering human athletic performance far beyond training. These concepts may seem like science fiction,but they are gradually becoming a reality. Anabolic steroids will not transform a woman into a man or increase their performance to male levels. Drugs do not negate  sexual dimorphism. Contrary to popular belief  anabolic androgenic steroids may not be as effective as people assume.