In Sports there is a big question that will always be debated over, Do steroids make you a better athlete? There is no answer to this question but both sides will be weighed against each other in this blog.
In professional sports when you hear one of the athletes have tested positive for Performance enhancing drugs(PED’s) a lot of the time they are using an anabolic steroid which is a synthetic drug that makes you produce muscle way faster than your average athlete. Many people say this does make you a better athlete, others take it with a grain of salt.
The people that say yes.. “According Charles Yesalis, a Penn State professor of exercise and sports science, he feels, Anabolic steroids allow the player to almost hit a second puberty”. A lot of people say that the strength gained from taking steroids is cheating, especially in sports like baseball, UFC, and football, the power and strength used in all of these sports adds another level to them which does in certain cases give the athlete who is taking the PED’s the advantage. In professional sports everyone should be on an even level of play until talent(something that cant be hindered) is what gives an advantage to the competitor.
The people who say no.. “According to professor Norman Fost of University of Wisconsin, if taking PED’s were unfair, then having certain coaches and trainers that are not available to everyone is also unfair.” This is a unique way to looks at it. What Fost said does hold significant truth to it, maybe the steroids are not really a advantage compared to great coaches and trainers.
Many argue whether or not steroids aid you in athletics but one thing that can not be argued is that steroids are terrible for your body. Some side affects of steroids include high risk or heart attacks, shrinking of organs, and many more check out what steroids really do to your body HERE.
(Evangelista 2010)
Above is a graph showing how many players per team had 40 home runs, the biggest spike on the graph is from 1994-2000, this is a time in baseball many like to call the “Steroid Era” many see this as a obvious point to show that steroids do affect the athletic ability.
I personally say that steroids give an unfair advantage in all sports. In baseball and football strength is a huge part of the game its the difference in a fly out or a home run, a tackle or a missed tackle. In mixed martial-arts and UFC fighting using PED’s in a sport like that is inexcusable, because someone else is putting their life on the line and you are cheating to make yourself stronger and faster. Steroid use is cowardly an athlete should be talented and pure, PED’s make him or her a cheater.
http://www.amazinavenue.com/2013/8/6/4582488/steroid-expert-peds-anabolic-hgh-charles-yesalis
I agree with your stance on steroids in professional sports. I don’t think that there is a place in the game for steroid use and feel that all “cheaters” should be removed from the sport completely. Obviously sports such as baseball and football require a huge deal of strength to be successful, and steroids that improve this are unfair to all other players who refuse to use these substances. However, I don’t think that steroids make people better athletes. Professional athletes are amazing at their respective sport regardless of steroids. They are already great athletes. Steroids only enhance their strength which can improve their performance. I think that the natural talent possessed by these professionals is amazing by itself and cannot be taken away from these players whether they use PEDs or not. In an article found here the effects of PEDs are explained in depth and provides further insight into the side effects that these drugs can cause on your body. The question remains intact and I think both sides can be argued as to whether or not steroids can make you a better athlete. I think it all depends on what you are willing to risk in order to get a leg up on your competition.
here
Here is another try at the link to the article, not sure why it didn’t work on my initial comment.