Testosterone: Natural vs. Supplements

Steroids have been a main supplement in the live of pro body builders since they started showing up in the market back in the seventies. Many pro body builders, including some Mr. Olympia title holders, admit openly that they used them, and some admit "abusing" roids.
If you are going to be in the game you'll need to make up your mind now on which side are you taking regarding steroids. And to help you decide I'll show you some facts about steroids that you will need to keep in mind while making your decision.
The first fact is that your body manufactures these steroids. The main steroid needed for performance and growth is testosterone. It's a hormone that both men and women produce. Because men have testicles they produce more testosterone than women, and that's part of being a man.
Taking testosterone supplements (testosterone itself or it's derivatives, not something that boosts your own body's production of the hormone) will signal your body to stop producing it. This means you'll need to keep supplementing your body with external testosterone if you want to stay in the "manhood".
Naturally testosterone is in balance with other hormones that mainly make the man a man and the woman a woman. The lack of testosterone produced by your body will disturb this balance, giving the upper hand to oestrogen (produced by both men and women, but women produce more and that makes them women).
You can expect the outcome of the decrease of your production of testosterone, like looking more feminine instead of the beast you wanted to build by taking the supplements in the first place. But this is not it.
Shifting the balance towards oestrogen is a cause of osteoporosis, and cancer.
This is what you are doing to your body when you decide to take steroids. The problem is that some body builders who admit abusing steroids are still their and living a happy life. What they are not admitting is that they need this supplement all the time to stay "men" and healthy.
And here comes a bigger problem. The continuous consumption of external testosterone is linked to heart diseases, stroke, and death. There are many examples in the body building community of fatalities linked to the use of steroids, like the late Benaziza. Nasser El-Sonbaty is another example, although it is also said that he died with Malaria in Egypt.

Late Nasser El-Sonbaty and Momo Benaziza

So here is the question you need to ask yourself before you decide on which side you want to be:
Are you in the game to be, and stay, a strong healthy man (or woman)? Or you want to be a professional who earns living showing big masses of lean muscles on the stage?
If you are the first one then by all means stay clear of any steroids or hormonal supplements. There are alternatives that enhance your own production of these hormones, including some life style and dietary changes. These changes should not be a problem for someone who decided to change his life style and become a body builder.

Samir Bannout now

On the other hand if you decide to compete then you need to know that there are competitions for drug-free body builders that you can consider instead of the mainstream ones. Also remember those champions from the past like Sergio Oliva who made it before steroids were known, Frank Zane, and Samir Bannout who chose not to go down this path.
If after reading this article you still want to use steroids then please keep it under medical supervision. If you can not do it this way then don't. Sudden death is not really sudden, it's just they didn't know what was actually happening in their bodies.

Frank Zane at 72