Side effects of steroids

Are steroids as bad as we think? 

Reached a plateau at the gym? Can’t bench press five more pounds? Some are tempted to 'juice it up.' Government statistics estimate that more than one million Americans use anabolic steroids to increase muscle mass. Are steroid users really at risk from developing dangerous side effects of steroids?

 

Most people are familiar with many of the deleterious effects the media reports when it comes to taking anabolic steroids, such as:

 

• Acne
• Shrunken testicles
• Aggressive and violent behavior
• Liver dysfunction
• Gynecomastia (feminine breast tissue development)

 

While it’s true that steroids can cause irreparable harm to the body, modern steroid users in general are better educated than ‘muscle heads’ of the past when it comes to avoiding side effects. And for those who only take steroids short-term, research indicates that they are not sentenced to a life filled with medical problems. Here are a few examples of what studies say about some steroid side effects:

 

1. Hormone changes. The body’s natural testosterone levels plummet when someone uses anabolic steroids. This is why the testes stop producing testosterone and can eventually shrink. But a study in the Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology says that “the alterations in cell counts, HDL cholesterol, liver function and most hormones of the pituitary-testicular axis induced by a long-term abuse of AAS [anabolic androgenic steroids] were reversible after stopping medication for over one year.”
2. Chronic liver problems. A study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise concluded that rats given anabolic steroids over an eight-week period eventually had normal liver function restored. Most people would contend, though, that zealous human steroid users would take steroids for more than one cycle. But another government-sponsored study, concluded that after a three month withdrawal from anabolic steroids, human liver function returned to normal. 
3. Bad skin. Applying a topical anti-androgenic cream can alleviate steroid-induced acne, suggests a study by the University of Toronto’s Division of Dermatology. That and also knowing which types of anabolic steroids to take can help some users avoid acne.
4. ‘Roid Rage’. Increased hostility and aggressiveness is often associated with illicit steroid usage. But could it be that only people who are aggressive to begin with are the only ones prone to display ‘roid rage’? In one study of 109 men, aged 20-50, who were administered testosterone injections, only five people exhibited manic characteristics.
5. Female-like breasts. Now that most modern anabolic steroid users have access to online forums and a pharmacist-worthy compendium of knowledge, it’s possible to avoid developing excess estrogen in the body by taking anti-estrogen compounds.

 

There are several other potentially serious side effects of anabolic steroid use including impaired immune function, kidney damage, sterility, high blood pressure and more.

 

It’s important to know, however, that not all illegal steroid users are destined to a lifetime of chronic health problems, especially if users quit.

 

Anabolic steroids remain illegal. Human biochemistry is an extremely delicate and complex science and altering your hormones, even if the side effects can be reversed, could potentially affect other systems of the body.

 

For these reasons, anabolic steroid usage should be avoided completely.

Best home workout

Save money and get fit with these exercises you can do at home....

With some personal fitness trainers charging $75-$100 per hour and gym memberships costing at least a few hundred bucks a year, it’s no wonder people are working out more at home.

 

With winter fast approaching, finding the best home workout is a necessity if you don’t want to lose the battle of the bulge.

 

The beauty of working out from home is that you don’t need much space or equipment. Are you a busy beaver? Home workouts also don’t require a lot of time if your goal is to get lean and super fit.

 

Twenty-minute bursts of exercise can be just as effective as much longer cardio sessions; new research has proven that shorter bursts are actually more effective.

 

If you want to use some equipment at home, consider using the following:

 

• Exercise ball (65 cm if you’re an average-size male; 55 cm for females.)
• Jump rope (Unless you have ‘popcorn’ ceiling and don’t know how to skip rope like Rocky.)
• Yoga mat (If you have hardwood floors.)
• Push-up bars (Don’t have bars but do have dumbbells? They can double as push up bars.)
• Foam roller (For core strengthening and massage.)

 

If you’re going to do a short home workout, you should pick exercises that challenge your whole body. Don’t waste your time just doing dumbbell biceps curls. If you absolutely must do them, at least combine it with a full-weight body squat.

 

You’ll also want to pick exercises that get your heart pumping. Those arm curls don’t tax your cardiovascular system nearly enough if you want to get in better shape in less time at home.

 

Because you lack the time to do a standard complete gym workout—warm-up; cardio; weights; cool-down; abs; stretch—your home workout exercises should also incorporate flexibility.

 

Ideally, you’ll want to find exercises that combine at least two of the following three benefits:

 

• Strength
• Flexibility
• Cardio endurance

 

Which exercise combines all three?

One of the best exercises that combines all three benefits is the downward dog/upward dog combo. Matt Furey, a former martial arts champion and collegiate wrestling champ at Iowa is a guru on weights-free workouts. His program ‘Combat Conditioning’ features the downward dog into upward dog.

 

Furey’s version of this exercise is called ‘Hindu Pushups’ and Furey would no doubt be willing to admit that he didn’t invent this exercise; ancient strongmen of India did.

 

Many people are familiar with a downward dog. If you widen your stance by about a foot in the downward dog and then swoop forward into the upward dog and repeat 20 times (7-10 if you’re a yoga novice), you’ll strengthen your arms and core, stretch your hamstrings and core as well as your lower back and calves.

 

And oh yeah, your heart will be pumping as well.

 

For those who enjoy pushups, one of the best exercises to develop strength and get the heart rate up, you can perform a regular pushup and as you reach the peak of the pushup, push yourself into a downward dog.

 

Take a 30 second breather after doing several reps if necessary. Then do bodyweight squats, followed by core exercises like slow-motion/minimal movement (a couple inches at most) crunches either on the exercise ball or on the foam roller.

 

Don’t have either? Hook your feet under your couch and perform a set of 5-7 crunches that take 10 seconds on the return phase (the ‘lowering’ or ‘negative’ phase). You won’t be able to do 100 crunches, nor should you ever try to; abs are physiologically designed for short bursts.

 

Repeat 3-5 circuits of the Hindu pushups or regular pushups to downward-facing dog; bodyweight squats and core and you’ll get a highly effective, short home workout.

 

Do you have 5-gallon water bottles delivered to your home? Use them to do one arm deadlifts.

 

Use your imagination to come up with a home workout that suits your needs and interests.

Why Drinking Just One Can of Regular Soda a Day Will Kill You

Don't you just love those attention-grabbing headlines? They're fun to write once in a while, just to make sure your audience is listening.

The truth is, drinking one can of soda a day will most likely not kill you, though it could contribute to a myriad of other health problems.

But hyperbolic headlines aside, here's an example of how easy it is for someone to pack on the pounds from just drinking one regular soda a day. Before that, though, it's necessary to jump ahead and say what's NOT the moral of the story: Drink diet soda.

Diet soda has more dangerous, toxic chemicals than the periodic table of elements and can leach calcium from your bones, so don't go assuming that after reading this you can chug diet soda until the cows come home.

So here's how one can of soda per day can lead to someone becoming obese:

One can of coke has 140 calories, all of which are from simple sugars. Drink one every day and that's 980 calories per week and 3,920 per month.

There are 3,500 calories in one pound of fat. You do the math. Actually, I've been doing it so far, so I'll finish the fat formula. Just from drinking one can of coke every day, you'll put on over one pound a month, which of course is over 12 pounds a year. After making lifestyle choices like this for a few years, it's easy to see how someone can put on 40 pounds or more in a short time.

This of course assumes that someone's basal metabolic rate (calories burned at complete rest) plus activity level equals the amount of calories consumed, i.e. take in 2,000 calories, burn the same amount. Considering that 66% of adults in the U.S. are either overweight or obese, you can assume that it's not just the can of coke that's tilting the scale towards rapid weight and fat gain.

Most nutrition-illiterate individuals aren't just guzzling one-12 oz. can of Coke; they're filling up their Big Gulps and parking as close to the front door as possible and getting no exercise.

Please do your part in helping educate your friends and family how harmful junk food and a sugar-rich diet is for them and for the country. Almost 20% of the U.S. economy is devoured by health care costs. It shouldn't be only up to wellness coaches to lead Americans towards a health paradigm shift that emphasizes prevention; it should be up to all of every single one of us that gets it.

I think using the can of Coke example is an easy way to show someone how easy it is to pack on the pounds. The Centers for Disease Control predicted that by the year 2050, a full one-third of U.S. adults  could be diabetic. Obesity and diabetes are highly preventable. Now is the time for the U.S. to make a radical shift in consciousness towards health.

How to Get Rid of Belly Fat

You’ve tried it all: ab machines, celebrity detox diets, laxatives, even skipping meals, yet none of these methods seem to help you slim down.

Here’s the real skinny on how to get rid of belly fat.

Some ways to help you burn stubborn fat around your midsection involves:

• ·       Avoiding sugars and starches as much as possible
• ·       Getting enough essential fatty acids in the diet, which can help metabolize body fat
• ·       Tweaking your exercise routine
• ·       Managing stress levels
• ·       Correcting hormonal imbalances

By now, hopefully you realize that gimmicky gadgets that target your abs won’t help you get rid of fat around your midsection. Ab machines may help somewhat in strengthening your rectus abdominis muscles (the ‘6-pack’ superficial layer in the front of your core), but they won’t burn fat.

And by extension, it’s impossible to do what’s called ‘spot reduction’ fat burning. Running on a treadmill for 45-minutes at a high intensity may indeed help you burn fat, but there’s no telling where on your body Mother Nature plans on burning up your fat stores.

It could be in your saddlebags, buttocks, back or chest; there’s just no telling.

The Aerobic vs. Anaerobic debate
So what’s the best method of exercise to burn belly fat (and fat circulating in the bloodstream)?

For decades, exercise gurus and scientists recommended sustained (at least 30 minutes) aerobic exercise in the so-called ‘fat-burning zone,’ which is often regarded as approximately 50-70 percent of your maximum heart rate.

There are still plenty of aerobic advocates who claim that aerobic exercise is king, but recent research and new fitness training schools of thought have a different opinion.

Several repetitions of high-intensity, short-burst exercise of 30-60 seconds, followed by a recovery period will burn significantly more calories than a steady-tempo jog on the treadmill.

Really want to burn belly fat? Then train like an Olympian
It’s no wonder that Olympic athletes like track and field sprinters are chiseled Adonis’s with virtually no abdominal fat. You don’t have to be a world-class athlete but you can train like one (if you’re physically fit) if you want to burn belly fat. 

Try raising the treadmill to the highest incline and sprinting at the highest speed (on most machines, this will be 10 m.p.h.) for 30 seconds, then lower the treadmill all the way down and reduce the speed to 3 m.p.h. until your heart rate recovers. Repeat several times.

If you’re not into high-intensity training, you’ll still want to implement cross-training into your routine, whereby you mix weight/resistance exercises with cardio exercises. Pick exercises that involve virtually every muscle. 

For example, do any variation of squats or deadlifts, followed immediately by a round of jump roping or jumping jacks. Doing 10 sets of this will boost your metabolism and hopefully burn fat around your midsection.

Mix it up
Another vital tenet of belly-fat burning exercise is to frequently alter your training routine. Ever notice that people who walk on the treadmill for 2 hours at the gym rarely make any improvements to their physique? Though long walks can help stave off disease, they most likely will do little to burn body fat.

You must train at a higher intensity and constantly trick your body to prevent routine adaptation. Keep doing the same thing and your body won’t burn fat as effectively.

Got stress? It may show on your belly.
Some adults who exercise regularly and claim to eat healthy still have trouble getting rid of that extra 5-10 pounds of love handles and belly fat. Stress is the likely culprit.

Stress of any kind—including exercising too hard and failing to refuel the body properly and getting enough rest—leads to adrenal fatigue and floods the body with the hormone cortisol. 

When excess cortisol courses through the body, it can have a negative effect on DHEA production, a hormone that is one of the precursors to the sex hormones like testosterone.

If you’re testosterone levels are low, you’ll have a harder time burning belly fat and gaining lean muscle. Consult your physician or wellness practitioner to test your hormone levels.

Home remedies for insomnia

Did you toss and turn in bed last night, robbed of a rejuvenating deep sleep? Counting sheep didn’t help? Here are some natural home remedies for insomnia that will hopefully help you enjoy a more restful sleep.

Though insomnia is the most common sleep disorder, it’s a symptom (usually of some form of stress) rather than a disease. Of all the people who suffer from it — more than 60 million a year, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Services — relatively few people with chronic insomnia discuss it with their doctor. For those who do, usually the only treatment suggested is sleeping pills.

Sleeping pills might help you fall asleep in the short term, but their efficacy usually wears off over time. Also, sleeping pills typically don’t induce a natural deep-sleep cycle that helps our body’s multitude of systems get a fresh start for the next day.

More natural treatments for insomnia include:

• Controlling the sleep environment
• Eliminating stimulants
• Maintaining a strict sleep schedule
• Natural herbal supplements
• Winding down at night and meditation
• Exercising

Watching television before bed: A no-no
Although suspenseful cable-TV shows about serial killers can be entertaining, especially after a long, monotonous day at work, watching TV right before bed can release adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormones) into your bloodstream.

If you have chronic troubles sleeping at night, try not to watch TV of any kind right before bed. You’ll also want to completely power down your computer, smart phone, iPad and all other wireless devices. Although there’s no concrete scientific evidence that WiFi devices can induce insomnia, it’s common sense that these devices won’t help you wind down at night, unless you have an app that mimics the sound of a babbling brook or migratory songs of whales.

Other environmental factors to consider include turning off all lights by 10 p.m., the hour that your cortisol levels should start dipping way down.

That cup of coffee you had at 3 p.m. could be keeping you up

The half-life of caffeine lasts for several hours. That means the effects of that big cup of coffee you had at work — which you gulped down perhaps because you didn’t eat enough throughout the day and now you’re feeling sluggish — lasts well into the night. By 9 p.m., several dozen milligrams of that cup of coffee is still active in your system. Sure, you may be able to fall asleep, but most likely you won’t enjoy a rejuvenating deep sleep.

Alcohol also can disrupt deep-sleep cycles. Although it can help you fall asleep, you’ll most likely wake up wide-eyed in the middle of the night if you have too much to drink.

Ben Franklin had it right
For those who work graveyard shifts, it might be impossible to live the motto: “Early to bed, early to rise,” but even those who have to work in the middle of the night can benefit from maintaining a strict sleep schedule, going to sleep at the same time every day. For those who work normal hours, try to be in bed by 10 p.m. with the lights out.

Try taking a hot shower or bath around 9 p.m. Add some all-natural bubble bath, Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) and light a candle in the bathroom. Lavender, for reasons that are not completely understood, has also proven in some studies to promote more restful sleep. Purchase some lavender and an essential oil diffuser and place near your bed.

Popping pills is OK, but try to take natural ones
Tryptophan is the amino acid found in turkey and is possibly the reason that millions of Americans get a restful catnap after a Thanksgiving holiday meal. Tryptophan is broken down into 5-HTP, which is then converted by the body into serotonin, which in turn is converted into melatonin, commonly known as the sleep hormone.

Melatonin as well as 5-HTP can be purchased at most natural markets that sell supplements. Consider starting with 5-HTP as it is converted into serotonin, the pleasure chemical that many people with depression don’t have enough of. Most of melatonin production occurs in the gut. Have your doctor or someone trained in lab diagnostics to check your melatonin levels. If they are low, it’s possible you may have a chronic gastrointestinal infection that you may not be aware of, which could lead to sleep disruptions because of low melatonin.

Exercise and meditation

Try to get regular exercise most days of the week. You can split up exercise routines into smaller segments during the day. But don’t exercise at a high-intensity late in the day, as you may have trouble winding down. The more stressful your life is, the greater the need for meditation, which ideally should be done every morning and night for at least 10 minutes.

Sleep journaling and CBT
According to the National Institutes of Health, a type of counseling called cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) can help relieve the anxiety linked to chronic insomnia.

Cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia includes regular, often weekly, visits to a clinician, who will give you a series of sleep assessments, ask you to complete a sleep diary and work with you in sessions to help you change the way you sleep.

How much cardio should I do?

With so much conflicting information about fitness in the media, maybe you're wondering "how much cardio should I do?"

The short answer: it depends.

The amount of cardiovascular exercise you'll want to engage in should be predicated on your goals.

• Are you training for a marathon or other race?
• Is weight loss your goal?
• Want to fit both strength training and cardio in your routine?
• Don't have a lot of free time to squeeze in a 45-minute run?
• Just want to get in better shape?

For general guidelines, the American College of Sports Medicine recommends 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity exercise three to five times per week.

What does moderate intensity mean?

If you can't carry a conversation during a jog, swim, bike or other aerobic activity that gets your heart pumping for a sustained period of time, you're working out too hard. This is especially true if you're new to exercise or concerned about flooding your body with the stress hormone, cortisol. 

Moderate intensity is generally viewed as, after a proper warm up (think: brisk walk for five to 10 minutes), elevating your heart rate to about 50 to 65 percent of your maximum heart rate.

There are more scientifically precise ways of determining your maximum heart rate. The best method, especially for those who are around 40 years old or older and overweight is to do a treadmill stress test administered by a medical professional.

One formula that's often used for the general public is to take your age and subtract it from 220 and then multiply that by anywhere from .50 to .65, which will give you a heart rate guideline for moderate intensity.

The Karvonen formula is also cited as more reliable, though you'll have to know what your resting heart rate is to figure out your moderate intensity training range based on this formula. 

I'm training for a marathon. How much cardio should I do?

Before answering that question, first ask yourself why you want to train for a marathon. Is it just to prove that you can achieve a monumental task? Make sure you have a thorough understanding of sports nutrition and don't have any underlying health issues (an irregular heartbeat, for example).

If you're cleared by your physician and have studied sports nutrition extensively, you'll want to do cardio at least 5 days a week for several weeks if not months prior to a race. Each session should last well over an hour.

I lift weights and want to keep muscle. Won't too much cardio burn away my muscle mass?
If you're concerned about cardio exercise wasting away your muscle tissue, two to three moderate intensity cardiovascular sessions per week of 30 minutes should be enough.

Keep in mind that it's possible to sustain your heart rate at an aerobic capacity for 30 minutes or more during weight lifting. Full-body exercises like deadlifts and squats use your whole body and will tax your heart. To keep up your heart rate, consider focusing on muscular endurance by lowering the amount of weight lifted and increasing the amount of repetitions.

If you're concerned about staying as strong as possible, don't lift too light but do jump rope in between lifts to keep your heart rate up.

I don't have time to do 45 minutes of cardio at one time. What should I do?
Split up your routine. Performing two 20-minute sessions of cardio per day (jumping rope, climbing stairs or bleachers) a day has been proven to be just as effective, if not more so, than one continuous cardio session.

Cardio conclusion

Elite athletes and endurance exercisers thrive on doing high-intensity cardio for prolonged periods, provided that they supplement with adequate nutrition and rest. The average person would do well getting their heart rate up to at least a moderate intensity level five to six days per week. Striking a good balance between resistance and cardio exercise will be most beneficial. Pick an exercise program that accomplishes both to save time. Get clearance from your doctor before starting any exercise program.

What's the best meal replacement/protein bar?

The short answer: none of them!

I don't pretend to know everything about nutrition but I do know the most crucial component: nutrient density.

There's no need to ever eat a meal replacement bar (MRB) or protein bar, ever, ever, ever. Protein bars and MRBs are nowhere near as nutritious as real, whole food sources.

Who truly doesn't have time to eat real food? Maybe an E.R. surgeon? There are very few of us who can't at least shove a slice of organic turkey breast down their gullet along with a handful of nuts.

Are you that E.R. surgeon who slices and dices for 12 hours straight? Have a nurse hand-feed you; just don't drop any crumbs into the patient's innards.

Are you a traveling salesman or cop, frequently on the road and accustomed to making a pit-stop at the 7-11 for a quick pick me up (though the boost will be artificial and short-lived)?

Bring a small cooler with you in the car and load it will fruit, dried fruit, nuts, seeds, lean protein slices, string cheese, organic beef jerky and of course plenty of water.

Office workers who scarf down a bar after work and then go to the gym would get better nutrition eating a mid-morning and mid-afternoon snack with the above choices. If you don't have time for a real lunch, consider eating a handful or two of these snacks every 90 minutes. You'll keep your energy up and even increase your metabolism.

For those who do plenty of resistance training, you'll want primary protein sources to encourage muscle repair. Nuts are a fine complimentary protein source, but not one to rely on for significant muscle growth. If it was, bodybuilders would be scarfing down cashews after a workout, not egg whites.

Organic chicken legs (drumsticks) are a compact and healthy major source of protein. And they're easy to prepare. Just throw in the oven the night before work. If you're averse to eating them cold, take them out of the fridge in the morning and a few hours later, when it's time for your mid-morning snack, it'll be at a palatable temperature. Don't worry about it spoiling and getting e. coli if your immune system is working fine.

We could go on and on about the actual ingredients in bars, how they are artificial and many even potentially harmful. Even seemingly more health-conscious picks can have lots more sugar than a whole food source. But that should be a given. It's a wonder then why so many people opt for bars. Sure, they're easy and cheap, but just as so is always having a bag of mixed nuts handy. Ideally, you don't wait until you're hungry to have a snack. By then, your metabolism and blood sugar has slowed way down.

So if you're starving and buy the latest organic greens bar, don't be surprised if that's all you eat for lunch doesn't leave you feeling even more lethargic 30 minutes after you eat it.

There's no substitute for 3 meals a day balanced with the right ratio of the 3 macronutrients (fats, protein, carbohydrates). What's the right ratio for you? Well, that's the hard part. That takes food journaling, paying attention to how you feel, and time. But take my word, eating a plate of brown rice, a drumstick and a salad is better than a bar any day, for almost everybody. Even a couple pieces of turkey breast, an apple and a handful of cashews would be, too.

Think about that next time you reach for a bar.