The Alternative to Steroid Use for High School Athletes
The Alternative to Steroid Use for High School Athletes Sam was just a normal kid who loved to play basketball. He did pretty well in junior high and made the high school team later on. He was excited to play and loved working out with the team. His coach introduced each of the players to steroids to help them get an edge in working out. Sam and a friend on the team were the only two that would not take these dangerous supplements. As a result the other kids became stronger and faster and Sam found himself on sitting on the bench most games.
The staggering part of this story is that only two players out of a twenty player squad decided to not take steroids. Now that’s not the percentage country wide but the number is still way too high. In 2003, “The reported rate of use among U.S. high school age males [was] 6 percent to 11 percent…” That number is even higher today. Using steroids is extremely dangerous for growing high school athletes because of the physical and psychological effects it has on the body. To prevent this dangerous use, high school students can be entered into a program that teaches the dangers of steroid use, as well as be tested quarterly. So why is steroid use so dangerous for high school students? When we lift weights, our muscles literally tear. The small tears are patched up over time which then allow for the muscle to lift that weight more easily. When this tearing occurs there are chemicals released into our muscles and this is the sore feeling we get after a hard exercise. “Steroids can block and even reverse the catabolic effects of glucocorticoids (at the glucocorticoid receptor) that are released in abundance during and after significant physical exercise.” (Rogol and Yesalis, 1992, p.4) Glucocorticoids are hormones that, when triggered, inform the body of a problem. In this case it tells when muscles are sore. You might wonder why that would be bad. Wouldn’t the athlete have the ability to work out more frequently if he wasn’t
The staggering part of this story is that only two players out of a twenty player squad decided to not take steroids. Now that’s not the percentage country wide but the number is still way too high. In 2003, “The reported rate of use among U.S. high school age males [was] 6 percent to 11 percent…” That number is even higher today. Using steroids is extremely dangerous for growing high school athletes because of the physical and psychological effects it has on the body. To prevent this dangerous use, high school students can be entered into a program that teaches the dangers of steroid use, as well as be tested quarterly. So why is steroid use so dangerous for high school students? When we lift weights, our muscles literally tear. The small tears are patched up over time which then allow for the muscle to lift that weight more easily. When this tearing occurs there are chemicals released into our muscles and this is the sore feeling we get after a hard exercise. “Steroids can block and even reverse the catabolic effects of glucocorticoids (at the glucocorticoid receptor) that are released in abundance during and after significant physical exercise.” (Rogol and Yesalis, 1992, p.4) Glucocorticoids are hormones that, when triggered, inform the body of a problem. In this case it tells when muscles are sore. You might wonder why that would be bad. Wouldn’t the athlete have the ability to work out more frequently if he wasn’t