If you under 21

[Krzna]

Sure the pressures of looking good - looking strong - getting chics - performing at the gym is hard. Trust me - been there - screwed up quite a bit of mistakes when I was there too. This is not something I would wish for ANYBODY. Remember there is WAY more to life and health and looking good. Bodybuilding IS NOT LOOKING YOUR BEST AND FEELING YOUR WORST!

Please take a minute to read what I have posted below. It is a humble request. There were times when I got pissed and irritated, seeing tons emails and pm's of people totally stranded after what they had done. But then out of nowhere I got an email from a boys dad yes - from one of these VERY forums, who REALLY messed himself up. I am not a doctor but I did talk to him more from a perspective of someone who also has made mistakes.

Responsibility and maturity are relative. Everyone has to take responsibility for their actions. But keep in mind no two people are the same - mentally and physically. Information is all that we can provide. And I hope this post will not be forgotten in the volumes of data this board contains.

Thank you!

Krzna



This article is being published in hopes of reaching some of the younger people, involved in our great sport of body building, reach their goals without making the great mistake of using steroids too early in their long lives. The problem with this is that most young bodybuilders (BBs) cannot grasp the concept of the future and how long the road ahead really is even with the use of steroids. How do you convince a 14 year old that it will take years before he can look like the Pro BB's in the magazines, and that he may never look like that even with all the drugs available in the world. Well that is what I hope to accomplish within this article.

At what age should you be, before you consider using steroids? This question is not as easily answered as you may think it is. You cannot randomly just pick an age and say that this is the point at which you can now start to consider using steroids.

Between the ages of 12 and 26 a male's hormone levels are on a steady rise until the age of 26. This is when these levels slowly start to decline until they are almost nonexistent by the ripe old age of 40.

When puberty starts in males at the age of 12 there is a huge flux in hormonal patterns in the body, which cause the growth of male characteristics, (deepening of the voice, growth of body hair, growth in height, etc.). These hormone levels increase by themselves so much that they can be compared to that of a mild steroid cycle. Therefore trying to add to what the body is doing on its own by adding in exogenous (outside) Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) is very counter productive.

Whenever any extra amount of AAS is added to the body, the body recognizes this extra level through a feedback loop in the human body known as the Hypothalamus. Once the Hypothalamus recognizes the increase in hormones which happens usually between 14 and 21 days, the body will shut off its own production of hormones until these levels decrease, along with increasing hormones to decrease these extra levels in the body (cortisone, estrogen). Cortisone and Estrogen are 2 hormones in the body that BBs do not need any extra. The easiest way to try to explain this without getting to complicated, is that the more AAS you put in your body, the more your body will try to lower those levels. When this happens BBs get all the side effects that are normally associated with AAS use, gynecomastia (growth of fatty tissue underneath the breasts in males), hair loss, kidney damage, liver damage, and high blood pressure, just to name a few).

Before you consider the use of AAS you should have already reached your genetic potential. What is your genetic potential? To figure this out you should first look at the weight, height and build of other members in your family. Is this exact, no, but it is somewhere to start. If every male on both sides of your family is approximately 5'7" and weighs between 150lbs and 170lbs and they are all bald by the age of 25, then it would be a good guess that you will also fall somewhere in those ranges by the time you stop growing. Now with working out and eating correctly for 4 years lets say, you would be able to put on 15 or more pounds of muscle tissue (that would mean you now weigh 165-185 lbs.). This is what your genetic potential would be. Now if you started to use steroids at that point, 165-185 lbs you may be able to put on another 15-20 lbs (180-200lbs). If you had started using when you were 125 lbs., and gained 25lbs through the use of steroids, you would still be well short of what you could have gotten naturally (150lbs as compared to 180-200lbs), and now it will be much harder to try to gain another 30-40lbs.

So for a starting point lets say that you need to be at least 18 years of age before you consider using steroids. Now that we have a starting point, lets look at a few other factors that should be considered. Steroids DO NOT IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM makes up for a good diet and workout program. Most people who use AAS feel that this is the time where they can be a little more relaxed in their workouts and diet. Actually this is when they should be even more strict. So before you can think of using at the age of 18, you will need 3 more solid years of good training and eating habits. Minor changes in diet and workouts can result in great gains in mass and muscle as well as strength.

No matter how much assistance you get from AAS, without proper nutrition and workouts you will be lucky to have any gains at all, let alone keep them after the cycle is over. The goal of using any substance, legal or not should be that after you stop using it you don't loose all of that which you have fought to get. What would be the point of spending all that money (steroids are not free) to gain that 30lbs when you will loose it after the cycle is over anyway?

So the better question to ask instead of when can I take steroids, should be, what can I do to get all that I can out of my body without needing steroids?. In order to calculate my progress, I need to talk with my family and doctors, before I try to make a choice like that.

We will start with the age range of 14-16; this is when your hormones are raging. Your body is in full swing of making the best steroids that you can ever get, and it does all this without you even needing to do a single thing. At this point you should start with a solid exercise plan and a basic supplement plan in addition to the regular food that you need to be eating on a regular basis.

For workouts focus on the basic compound movements (Bench Press, Squats, Deadlifts, Barbell Curls, etc.) Working out 4 days a week with at least 8 hours of sleep a night is a great start. Add to that the extra protein that you should be taking and you will definitely start seeing a difference in your body. As for supplements, at this point all I would suggest is a good Meal Replacement Shake, multi-vitamin and creatine. Any shake will work, just add 2 shakes a day to the 3 solid meals that you should already be eating. Creatine has more benefits then I could start to explain in this article, but what I can say is that it will help your strength, muscle, speed, and recovery without any negative side effects.

By the age of 16-18 you will have had most of your growth spurts and you will be ready to change a few more things in your overall plan. You workouts can become a little more specialized as you start using different exercises. As for your nutrition program, all that I would think of adding now would be something such as extra glutamine before bed and maybe a ZMA supplement. You still don?t want to take anything that would alter what your body is doing on its own, so using ZMA and glutamine is just what you need.

Somewhere between 18 and 21 you should be just about done growing, so what should you do differently now? Add more protein! You should be getting at the very least, your body weight in grams of protein per day! And that?s at the very least! By now you will have been working out consistently for quite a while and should know your body very well. What will work and what won?t work should be old news. There isn?t really anything new to add to what is already a great program, other than Tribulus and maybe a pre-workout supplement such as Ultimate Orange. After this point, you can start to consider the use of steroids. What about them? Are they as terrible as everyone seems to think they are? As long as they are used correctly, I don?t think so. When considering their use, I feel that orals should be used as late as possible. These are most harmful on the body and therefore should not be used for a very long time.

Another thing to consider, other than the side effects I have already spoken of, is your sex drive. Some AAS will make your sex drive almost nonexistent and will have a big effect on your sperm count. These drugs in particular should try to be avoided. That leaves mild anabolics. Although they are the safest to use, they are expensive, illegal, and require the use of a needle. Which most first time users do not want to use.

I told you that this is not something that should be passed off very easily; you shouldn?t have to make the mistakes that most of us make by using steroids to early in your life. If used correctly, I think they are fine, but look at what it takes in order to use them correctly. Have you been working out for 5 years straight without more the 2 weeks off every 6 weeks? Do you eat every 2-3 hours, 6 times a day without missing a meal? Do you get 8 hours of sleep every night? This is something that can have a huge effect on your body for the rest of your life, so don?t make that choice in 10 minutes. Good luck and keep growing.


Thx to Brandon Walsh.

[Rivendell98]

Nice Info and I agree the most important is your weight in grams of protein. If there was anything else considering a person to add to training would probably creatine and the products would end there.

[dan12]

nice post man

[Musclefever]

Should Be Sticky

[ForceLineBacker]

good post

[nkroc]

great post!.

[dmangiarelli]

Great Post!

[kappaz]

Bump, good post.

[vaporxx188]

Stick It!!!

[ny58]

Great article . . heres the original source .. with more info
http://robertaugustine.com/daily_news/

[bbh90]

Should Be Sticky

Stick It!!!

x3 great post

[TrainHardNow]

x4 great article

[J2jud]

Nice! I like the message.

[user23960508710785]

good post but needs to be more condensed/shorter

[who281]

This is a great article and EXACTLY what i have been wanting to see... i was just about to post up a huge rant the other night about underage kids...

at my gym i would say 75% of the kids 18 and under are on sumthin mostly M1T... and yes 14-15 yr olds are taking this **** with no support or PCT what so ever!.. and i usually could care less about what people do to themselves but i mean at 14 this could seriously so damage.. and ive tried to quietly tel a few of them how bad it is but no one listens..

GREAT article man!

[theACEofSPADES]

Yeah Im never gonna do roids, never even crossed my mind. Creatine is as far as Ill take it, if that. I seriously dont know how anybody my age or even older can even consider it. It's so wrong and harmful to your body, disgusting. I wouldnt even feel happy because I didnt put in the real time and effort and cheated. I've been been lifting seriously since Jan 2007 and I've some okay gains. Now Im tightening up my diet and making a strict schedule. All is well

[GAMEOVER-]

Sticky

[MattyH7688]

damn teens and steroids


id rather see an 18 year old use who knows what hes doing than half these idiot adults on cycle

[J2jud]

damn teens and steroids


id rather see an 18 year old use who knows what hes doing than half these idiot adults on cycle

LOL.... remember Jayman!?

[MattyH7688]

LOL.... remember Jayman!?

LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh man..

wasnt he using chrysin as his superdrol pct?

I just remember me getting into a flamefest with him, after him posting the most retarded **** ever

[adrenergic]

noone's posted an Andrew "Andro" Taylor link yet?

[J2jud]

LMFAO!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh man..

wasnt he using chrysin as his superdrol pct?

I just remember me getting into a flamefest with him, after him posting the most retarded **** ever

HAHAHAA!! Yeah, I remember flaming his @ss too. I wonder what came of hime?? LOL... I can only imagine.

[Docta J]

Great advice as always krzna. Repped

[LCking187]

is creatine a steroid

[Wisdom15]

Ahem....Bump.

[mwcharger]

great post needs to be a sticky!

[BlackCoffee]

It's so wrong and harmful to your body, disgusting.

serious lack of understanding regarding the actual risks of RESPONSIBLE steroid use.

[Heatlh_Guru]

Bump. Excellent article.

[Hansolo261]

this should be emailed to every forum member under the age of 26

[DaddyR]

Not sure how best to work it in, but something you really should add is the fact that parts of the frontal lobe of the brain do not stop growing and maturing until the age of 22-24 years and there have been studies suggesting that they are sensitive to sex hormones. Doing steroids even at ages that many folks here consider to be "okay" could therefore potentialy cause emotional and behavioral disorders that could last a lifetime!

Now I need to go find the study I used to cite that said as much...

Eh, I had no luck finding the source article that ties it all together, but a few years ago I remember seeing it in several popular media outlets. You'll find plenty of references that say the frontal cortex doesn't finish maturing until one is as old as maybe 25. That same frontal cortex is well known to be responsive to sex hormones. So it stands to reason that if you go throwing your sex hormones all out of whack by doing 'roids before that part of your brain has fiished maturing, you could cause potentially permament changes in your brain. Not a smart move.

Most people seem to focus on the fact that the rest of the body seems to be just about done maturing by the age of about 19-20. But the fact remains that the brain - prbobably the part of your body that you LEAST want to screw up - is still developing and maturing until you're well into your 20s. I would therefore not advise anyone to even think of starting on steroids until they're at least 25!