Interesting article "WTF doc says Muscle turns into Fat!"

[Dionysus13]

Chasing glory: Big buildup — Players' push to add pounds today may bring grief tomorrow

By Dennis Romboy
Deseret Morning News
A 185-pound center, Cody Larsen decided he'd better bulk up after getting knocked around by some big boys in a varsity football game his sophomore year.
Jason Olson, Deseret Morning NewsJordan High School football player Cody Larsen lifts weights at the school's weight room. In two years, he gained 55 pounds. "I just saw how big they were and knew I had to gain a couple of pounds to compete with those guys," he said. The Jordan High defensive end went to work in the weight room and at the dinner table.
Two years and 55 pounds later, Larsen, who stands 6-foot-4, is one of the big boys. But he's not done yet. College recruiters have told him they'd like him to get up to as much as 257.
"I'm competitive right now at this level," Larsen said. "If I move up to the college level, I have to gain pounds and increase my speed."
Back in the day, teams were lucky to have a couple of 200-plus pounders on the offensive line. Now boys that size are carrying the ball.
Greg Shepherd had a 235-pound lineman when he coached at Granger High School in the late 1970s. "That was considered a really big guy," he said. At Hunter High School where Shepherd is now the strength coach, the offensive line goes about 270 pounds.
Ask any coach the difference between GenY athletes and those of past decades, and the answer is the same.
"You'd be an idiot not to know they're bigger, faster and stronger," said Jordan High coach Alex Jacobson.
Consider: In 1992, the average weight in the largest school classification for the Deseret Morning News all-state football team was 199.8 pounds. Last year the average weight was 213.8.
Is there something in the Gatorade? Genetic engineering? Evolution?
Coaches interviewed for this story generally attribute the super-sizing to year-round weight training. Calorie-laden, protein-rich diets also play a large part.
Steroid use and proliferation of dietary supplements can't be discounted as contributing to the phenomenon, either. How widely Utah high-schoolers use them isn't known. But coaches and players say they're out there.
Becoming a big man on campus is the literal quest of many Utah prep athletes, particularly among those aspiring to play beyond high school, although very few do.
"They play their senior year, then what?" said Russ Toronto, a Salt Lake doctor of sports medicine. "They're all buffed out and nowhere to go . . . The muscle turns to fat."
The combination of heavy lifting and eating, health experts say, poses the potential for obesity and its long-term health consequences.
"You can go down the list. Arthritis, especially osteoarthritis, would probably be at the top of that," said Richard Bullough, Utah Bureau of Health Promotion program director. "If you don't get your weight down after competing in sports, you're at much higher risk of arthritis."
Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers also make the list, he said.
Chad Lewis, an Orem High grad and, most recently a Philadelphia Eagles tight end, shakes his head at the size of prep players today. "Kids are huge. Linemen in high school, I just think, 'Holy heart muscle.' That thing is working overtime."
Lehi fullback Tyler Berry was big but not strong in ninth grade. "He was a fat kid," says teammate Mike Dumke.

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Berry spent the past four years building his body for high school football. "I love football. I don't play any other sport, dude. I love football."
Berry pumped iron almost daily since his freshman year. He supplemented the weight lifting with protein drinks and glutamine. He now carries a muscular 200 pounds on his 5-foot 9-inch frame. His high school career ended this month. He likely will not play in college.
Deseret Morning News graphic "I want to keep lifting. I've seen what happens to people when they stop lifting," he said.
What happens is they join the rest of increasingly fat Utah and America.
In 1999, 7.5 percent of male public high school students in Utah were overweight. In 2003, the rate increased to 8.3 percent, according to the Utah Department of Health. Weight picked up in adolescence often carries into adulthood. Overweight teenagers have a 70 percent greater chance of becoming overweight or obese adults.
Mitch Arquette entered Davis High School at 6-foot-2 230 pounds. He graduated at 6-foot-5 280. Now a junior offensive tackle at the University of Utah, he tips the scales at 312.
"I just kept growing. Part of it was working out. I just kind of multiplied, I guess," he said.
A hearty appetite and plenty of powerlifting help him maintain size and strength. He has thought about how that will effect his health when his playing days end.
"I definitely have concerns. I'd have to lose 30 or 40 pounds as fast as I can. It's just not that healthy on your frame. I want to be able to bend my knees in 30 years," Arquette said.
The University of Utah's 24-member recruiting class in 2005 averaged 221.8 pounds (225.4 pounds at Utah State, 216.7 pounds at BYU). Seven U. recruits were 250 pounds or more.
This season, according to rosters of 42 Wasatch Front high schools, 16.3 percent or 418 players weigh at least 220 pounds. Thirty-two check in at 300-plus pounds.
Hunter High leads the way with 20 players — one-third of its varsity roster 220 pounds or bigger. Bonneville has the fewest with six. Cottonwood High has 12, including twin brothers Teancom and Budda Tuinei packing 360 pounds each as well as two other 300-pounders.
"I can almost guarantee that when you look at those body weights and heights they would be classified as overweight or at least at risk of being overweight," Bullough said.
Shepherd, who founded the Bigger Faster Stronger training program, says the "Big Gulp society" has consumed teenagers, including athletes, with sugary snacks, fast-food combo meals and bottomless soda cups.
"We're just inundated by huge servings," he said.
In the 1970s, most high school football players approached Shepherd looking to gain weight. Now, he says, half need to get lean and lose weight. "They're too fat," he said.
That's not to say all husky football players are fat. They might be overweight, but the weight might be muscle, Bullough said.
The challenge comes in maintaining a healthy weight when pumping iron is no longer a priority and large eating habits are hard to break.
"It takes years to change that. The issue is we expect change to occur in a fast manner, and it doesn't," said Bullough, who has doctorate in nutrition. "It's not an easy thing to do. If you want to maintain it, it has to be sustained for the rest of your life."
At 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, junior Tim "Scooter" Bickmore is undersize for a starting defensive and offensive lineman. His coaches at Highland High School want him to put on 25 pounds for next year.
Eggs, waffles, bacon and sausages fill Bickmore's morning plate. And, for the most part, he cooks it himself.
"I've just been trying to eat a lot. I eat a lot of breakfast," he said.
After this season ends, he intends to keep eating, lifting and downing protein shakes. He is also contemplating adding another ingredient to his beef-up stew: dietary supplements.
"I'm thinking about it during the offseason, just so I can bulk up," he said. "My mom is kind of against it."
An athletic family, the Bickmores have discussed supplement use among themselves and with coaches and trainers.
Anne Marie Bickmore, a registered nurse, worries products like creatine will interrupt her son's natural growth spurt by making him too big, too fast.
"With some protein shakes I'm willing to do it. Other than that, I'm not willing to do it. He's 16," she said.
Mom's arguments have proven persuasive so far. "What it boils down to is he decided a quick fix was not it," she said.
Creatine is the most popular supplement on the market today. It delivers short energy boosts to muscles and allows users to add bulk. It is found naturally in the body, and the muscles need it during quick, high-intensity exercise. When muscles run out of creatine, they rely on carbohydrates for energy, causing them to tire.
Common side effects are muscle tears, kidney disorders, dehydration, diarrhea and cramping. Long-term effects are not known.
The Utah High School Activities Association discourages dietary supplement use. "We are not creatine fans," said Dave Wilkey, assistant executive director.
But that doesn't prevent individual schools from dispensing information about it. Shepherd left pamphlets about the dangers of creatine use on a table after a team meeting at Hunter. All of them were taken.
Olympus High School has a section on its football Web site titled "Guidelines for creatine supplementation."
"That disturbs me," Wilkey said.
More disturbing is steroid use.
East High coach Aaron Whitehead in a game this year saw what he thinks was 'roid rage.
An opposing linebacker chased one of his players out of bounds without making much contact. Rather than jog back onto the field, he looked for someone to hit. He leveled a scrub on the sideline, his own sideline.
"It's out there," Whitehead said, vice president of the Utah High School Football Coaches Association where the steroid issue is discussed.
Nationally, about 2.5 percent of 12th-graders used steroids in the past year, according to the University of Michigan "Monitoring the Future" survey. The rate for 10th-graders is 1.5 percent.
Toronto has done hundreds of physicals for high school athletes over the years. He can immediately recognize a body built on juice. Stretch marks are a dead giveaway.
"I just know it's being done," he said, estimating usage among his patients at about 5 percent.
Chances of steroid use increase when players train in gyms outside school, away from teammates and coaches, Shepherd said.
There is no evidence of Utah coaches advocating steroid use, but they often tell underclassmen that bulking up during the offseason will give them a better chance to crack the starting lineup.
"Coach is king," said Toronto, a former U. baseball player. "Whatever they say, those kids will do."
The expectations can be unrealistic and unhealthy.
"Can an athlete put on 30 pounds over the course of a summer? The answer is probably no" said Katherine Beals, U. nutrition center director. "If he does, what is the composition of the weight and how was that done? With some sort of drugs?"
Toronto sees many injuries such as stress fractures and herniated disks as a result of overtraining. "They shouldn't have back injuries at that age," he said.
Weight rooms, he said, aren't always supervised, so young athletes end up using improper techniques. There also is the notion that if a little is good, more must be better. And always looming is that chance to be a starter.
Coaches are overconditioning their players, Toronto said.
"Someone has got to put the brakes on somewhere," he said. "They're basically beating the kids up. That's across the board. That's not just football."
Northridge High graduate and current New Orleans Saints linebacker Colby Bockwoldt said it took him years to get to his current 245-pound playing weight. His advice?
"At that level, it's important for young men and young women to learn how to lift properly so they don't get hurt . . . Take it slow and easy and do it right."
"If you're doing it wrong, you're not going to work right" later in life, he said.
In the end, Toronto says, how much does size really matter. "Natural ability is what counts, not going from 180 to 220. If you got it, you got it."
For most athletes at this age, Beals said, it comes down to genetics. "If they're gifted genetically, they could eat garbage and still outperform their peers."


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Prep football is coming on strong in Utah, long considered a basketball state, like a running back loose in the secondary. Attendance and enthusiasm for the state football playoffs currently under way is running high.
Deseret Morning News reporters interviewed dozens of high school football players, parents, coaches, school officials, doctors, boosters and community leaders across the state to explain Utah's increasing fascination and sometimes obsession with high school football.
"Chasing Glory" is a four-day series that will examine controversial claims of "recruiting," the ever-increasing size of today's players, football dynasties, and a special visit to a distant Utah town where life is simpler and football the center of their universe

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Supplements promise bulk

Why would prep athletes use steroids?

Blake Sebring bsebring@news-sentinel.com


As the owner of four Healthkick Nutrition Center stores in Fort Wayne, Bob Morris puts his mouth where his money is. Using workouts, a new diet and supplements he sells, Morris, 30, has transformed his body over the past six months into something any high school football player would envy.

He doesn’t understand why players would use illegal steroids to enhance performance when he sells natural testosterone boosters, such as Animal Stacker and Muscle Juice.

“All this stuff is legal,” he said. “They can use the natural stuff and get the same results… A lot of the better high school athletes are using these items to enhance their playing abilities.”

While these alternatives to steroids are legal, many high school coaches preach against using them as much as they do steroids.

“When the kids do talk about supplements…,” South Side football coach Matt Land said, “I just tell them, ‘All that does is give you expensive urine.’ ”

One catch is that an athlete using natural products would test positive for steroids, which is why Congress is looking at banning these products as it did androstenedione, a natural hormone which is a direct precursor to testosterone, last year. Indiana high schools do not test for steroids in athletes.

Many area coaches say they are more concerned about Creatine, the grandfather of all sports supplements, than they are steroids. Creatine is found within the body and in steak, hamburger, chicken and most prominently in fish. The product advertises itself as promoting muscle growth, improving athletic performance and accelerating muscle recovery after strenuous exercise. Coaches are wary because Creatine can quickly lead to dehydration. It costs between $19 and $39 a bottle, and Morris estimates he sells close to 125 bottles a month at his four stores combined.

“If a kid makes an incredible gain lifting weights, he’s using Creatine,” Snider football coach Russ Isaacs said. “We don’t support that or encourage it. We tell them not to. We don’t believe in supplements because they are artificial.”

Isaacs preaches hydration, nutrition and multiple vitamins to his players.

“I don’t like Creatine; I don’t even like them taking protein,” Harding coach Sherwood Haydock said. “You can go buy a skinless, boneless chicken breast, and there’s 30 grams of protein.”

Morris said supplements, when combined with a protein bar, can help athletes. When asked by coaches, he gives talks to area high school and college teams about which legal supplements will do players some good based on what their training calls for.

“Kids, like many of us, don’t have the time to make chicken or turkey breast, steak, fish, etc.,” he said. “Going to school, working out and then going to practice makes it tough to keep up on a good diet.”

But questions exist on the long-term effects of Creatine, and more trainers are starting to question its effectiveness.

They said recent studies indicate it is beneficial only if athletes are working out extremely hard and depleting their natural protein.

“How many high school kids go into their summer workout and take their body to the max?” said Dave Kuhn, owner of Indiana Physical Therapy in Fort Wayne. “There’s only a handful of kids who do that, and the other kids just have really expensive urine.”

“The (supplement) industry continues to grow because many athletes have grown to realize that to perform better and feel better, they have supplements to fill the holes in their diet,” Morris said.

Dr. Eric Jenkinson of Orthopaedic Northeast, a specialist in sports medicine that works primarily with high school athletes, said only when he sees evidence of chronic muscle strains will he even talk with an athlete about using any supplements. So what’s one supplement that is guaranteed to work and improve results?

“Water,” Jenkinson said. “All of us are dehydrated, and if we would drink enough water, that would help all our performances.”


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Supplements THAT MIMIC STEROIDS

Steroids are synthetic derivatives of testosterone, a muscle-building hormone. The pictured products, except for the vitamins, stimulate production of natural testosterone.

Muscle Juice: $39.99

Advertises six-hour protein release so muscles are constantly nourished, allowing muscles faster growth. Also says it helps users gain weight.

Impact protein: $39.99

Says it helps muscle recovery and fights weight loss. It’s a protein supplement that’s a blend of whey, egg and casein peptide protein.

Foundation: $36.99

Says it increases energy. It’s a multi-vitamin with minerals.

Universal Creatine: $23.99

Says it helps muscle recovery in post-workout by helping muscles retain water. Must drink water along with it.

Animal Stacker: $49.99

Says it helps the body produce higher anabolic hormone levels for energy when working out.

SOURCES: Prices are from Healthkick Nutrition Center, and descriptions are from product packaging

[giltob]

That's selective journalism at its best...

[Dionysus13]

Never really considered creatine that big a deal.
Have a look at what "regular" people have to say about creatine
Pretty amusing to read this one gurls opinion,
a girl :: 10/26/2005, 7:39 PM
I wonder if guys would still openly use Creatine if they knew that girls think it is gross. I would never get with a guy who uses Creatine.



College Student :: TRAremnants@yahoo.com :: 11/3/2005, 1:33 PM
I dont think that the legality of creatine should be questioned, although I dont feel that it should be made available to kids in high school. As the coach said, young bodies are more capable. Not to mention taking it while you are younger seems like it might cause a sort of dependency to the point where you may not be able to produce the chemical naturally. I think all in all it would be best if the substance was banned on a high school level. It seems rediculous that high school athletes should already have to worry about supplements and performance enhancers.
04 :: 11/2/2005, 8:00 PM
Mind over Matter...you got the mentality..than powder don't matter

I don't use creatine. Judging from the picture..the guy is a good 50lbs bigger than me..but why doesn't he lift more than me?
who cares 07 :: 11/2/2005, 7:36 PM
who cares?
dear :: 11/2/2005, 4:44 PM
dear allie,
you should be glad print didn't get it. they couldn't have covered this topic half as well as online has.
Ian :: 11/1/2005, 7:57 PM
Yes I have taken creatine and it has made me stronger, but I believe too that it is a form of cheating. But look at it this way what else is a college bond athlete supposed to do when his competition is either using the same stuff, or maybe some illegal steroid. The answer is go with a legal boost that can assist you in being physically at the same level as everyone else on it, which is a very large number of football players. When I see people who never work out get on it just because they have no work ethic thats when I think something should be said, but when you work religously for over 2 hours a day for 5 days of the week and gain little increase in months then it pressures you towards using creatine or similar products. It is a way to reach your maximum potential along with all the other natural ways like a healthy diet and proper technique.

P.S. if you don't lift weights or have never worked out you have no right to say anything about whether or not its cheating.
123 :: 11/1/2005, 11:26 AM
dang..that sucks i have had kidney problems before.
Allie :: a.ohora@gmail.com :: 10/30/2005, 11:03 AM
really good article guys. I had no idea high school guys used creatine -- wish print had gotten this one!
:: 10/29/2005, 11:42 PM
It most definately is not cheating. Lifting weights isn't cheating. As "fellow blair athlete" said, is going to a camp cheating? That's usually expensive. But I would never do it. I prefer to do it the old-fashioned way

But I would never accuse those using it of cheating.
hey eli :: 10/28/2005, 1:08 PM
creatine is cheating. did anyone notice that everyone mentioned in this article is white besides me? it definetely is expensive and if everyone doesn't have access to it, then it is unfair and it is cheating. it doesn't matter if the health effects are limited, it's unfair to other athletes who aren't able to afford it. "gotta get big" keep on trucking eli, you still aint got nothin on mr.swoll
sp :: 10/27/2005, 7:30 PM
Cut the fluff! This article is so much wordier than it needs to be.
loyal reader :: 10/27/2005, 4:52 PM
it's been done

http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/inside.php?sid=2177
Anarchist :: 10/26/2005, 11:46 PM
Is it cheating to work out? Some athletes are too poor to afford weights.

On the other hand, the Romantic ideal does not countenance chemical assistance.
fellow blair athlete :: 10/26/2005, 9:16 PM
i think it's stupid to say that it's cheating because some people cant afford it or choose not to use it, because there are many other ways to improve and get ahead that people may not be able to afford or also choose not to particpate in, like clinics, camps, and actual weight lifting itself. no one says going to a more expensive camp to get better at a sport is cheating!
..... :: 10/26/2005, 8:32 PM
I would have taken creatine except, yeah, didn't have the money. It's okay though cause im still more cut than proctor.
a girl :: 10/26/2005, 7:39 PM
I wonder if guys would still openly use Creatine if they knew that girls think it is gross. I would never get with a guy who uses Creatine.
junior :: 10/26/2005, 7:20 PM
I think using Creatine is cheating because some people can't afford it. But then again, I guess there is no way to catch people or point fingers because it's legal.

[image101]

Hahahahahahahahahaha. I'm dying!! "Creatine is cheating." WTF? I'm not even going to say anything else. One of the more ignorant things i've read recently.

"definetely is expensive and if everyone doesn't have access to it, then it is unfair and it is cheating"
Oh...20 bucks for 1000g will definatly make you sell your car to pay for it.

"a girl :: 10/26/2005, 7:39 PM
I wonder if guys would still openly use Creatine if they knew that girls think it is gross. I would never get with a guy who uses Creatine."
I bet she'd get with a guy with AIDS though!!

"but when you work religously for over 2 hours a day for 5 days of the week and gain little increase in months then it pressures you towards using creatine or similar products."
.........

Holy **** man i'm still laughing. Thank you.

[Dionysus13]

Yeah especially the intelligent broke quoting "dear allie,
you should be glad print didn't get it. they couldn't have covered this topic half as well as online has. "
Makes it sound like a huge scandal!

I guess it represents how misunderstood bodybuilding is!
We live in a world full of ignorant critiques

[image101]

They make it sound like those kids who weigh "300 pounds" and are gaining "50 pounds in a summer" are all ripped muscle. Can we say "fatty?" Or maybe "water weight?"

[Dionysus13]

ya cant really imagine a 300 pound teen with ripped muscle!
I would be quiet amused at such a site actually!

[image101]

Well, he'd be ronnie coleman. Although coleman wasn't 300 at this year's olympia.

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