I briefly touched the matter of all the new testosterone precursor-supplements earlier, but I limited the discussion to basically say: Stay clear of them! Why? Because no matter what people say, the old saying of "what sounds too good to be true - usually is!" normally holds true. Huge gains out of the ordinary without any side effects should make you suspicious, and let's get it straight: When you're altering your hormonal balance, you're gambling. And if you receive effects in ONE end, such as massive gains, do you believe there's nothing going on in the other end? Think of your hormonal balance as a stick balancing on a rock. One end suddenly gets an artificial push. What does your common sense say about the other end?
Now, don't take it the wrong way here: Over-the-counter testosterone precursors are way weaker than full-blown black market steroids. It's not even the same league - like comparing NFL and your kid brother's highschool football team. And this is probably how they managed to get them through FDA in the first place. They're not really steroids ... At least not until swallowed, and secondly, they're pretty tame. No oil-based injectable megadoses of testosterone that's going to float around in your bloodstream forever right? Just short, controlled spikes right before training that put minimal stress on the body.
But then what? The first supplements of this kind were quickly replaced by stronger, more effective substances, and without going into too much detail you can just look up any bodybuilding mag to see how the manufacturers brag about being hundreds and hundreds of percent stronger and more effective than the others. And a little while ago I saw the final blow: One manufacturer rounded everything up and put it on a convenient, daily chart. That means popping pills throughout the day, from morning to night, with each capsule containing the exact "right" formula to maintain max levels of testosterone in the blood. And it's a virtual parade of substances: Androstenedione, 19 Norandrostenedione, 4-Androstenediol, 5-Androstenediol, 19 Nor-4-Androstenediol, and of course Tribulus Terrestis to enhance the effects even further. What more can you ask? Nice and conveinent!
Hello? Did anybody miss something here?
Back up a few steps and think about it. What is it that counts: Outer circumstances or what actually ends up floating around your bloodstream? How far are we from using mild black market steroids when we're taking these "package"-deals? And is there one single soul out there who believes that the manufacturers are going to stop pushing even better and more effective packages? We're talking about a million-dollar industry here, and there's plenty of young guys out there who wants to cheat without actually cheating, so to speak. They want the edge, but without really crossing the line. And the manufacturers are more than happy to provide them with the gear. You might think I'm enhancing the problem and striking down on it too hard right NOW, but I'm looking towards the future and I don't think I like this trend. What can we expect in two years? How far has the "grey zone" expanded by then? How much has the distance between "real" steroids and supplements shrunk, while still lullying the customer into believing he's buying a 100% safe product?
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Matt Danielson's Weight Training topic, please visit the Discussions page.