One of the mosaic that has eaten deep into the root of world sport is Doping. Urgent attention need to be given to this bane among sport men and women to get rid of it in the society.
Today, the use of performance-enhancing substances in sport is internationally known as doping and refers to the use of drugs by athletes to gain a competitive advantage and to include any substance, natural or synthetic, food or supplemental, legal or in accordance with the National Commission for Sports and Addictions of CASA, the illegal introduction of the human body gives the user a competitive advantage.
Annually, top athletes earn millions of dollars in compensation and millions of sponsors and supporters. The lure of success, tremendous financial and social rewards, create an incentive to win at any cost, including fraud. The benefits of fraud outweigh the penalties by far. A six-month to one-year ban on competition is a low price when multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts are at stake.
In simpler term, doping means using drugs or other substances to improve an athlete’s performance, making athletes faster, stronger or more enduring than usual. Anabolic steroids are probably the best-known drugs, followed by human growth hormone (HGH). Other drugs and substances have also been used, such as testosterone, dianabol, furabol, cocaine, thimble, amphetamines, ephedrine and even strychnine.
Essentially, doping means that athletes use illegal substances to improve their performance.
There are different types of prohibited drugs known as doping classes. Most common are stimulants and hormones. Although they improve performance, they are hazardous to health and banned by sports federations.
Some Olympic sports such as track racing and swimming, baseball, football, bodybuilding, weightlifting and cycling have experienced their share of doping outrage in past and recent time.
What are the different types of doping?
The most common type of doping in athletics are androgenic agents such as anabolic steroids. These allow athletes to train harder and build more muscles. However, they can lead to increased aggression and kidney damage. Other side effects include baldness and low sperm count in men and an increase in facial hair and a deeper entry for women.
Anabolic steroids are usually taken in tablets or injected into the muscle. Some are applied on creams or skin gel.
Anabolic Steroids: Physiological / Secondary Effects
Amongst the major doping experienced in world sport is the anabolic steriods. The anabolic steroids used by athletes are synthetic derivatives of the male hormone testosterone. Athletes use steroids to increase muscle mass and strength and / or improve recovery after exercise by reducing tissue breakdown. Anabolic steroids act by binding to specific receptors in a cell to improve or inhibit the expression of specific genes. Adverse effects of steroid use include: liver tumors, testicular atrophy, abnormal breast tissue development in males and masculinizing effects in females (increased hair, increased voice).
Human Growth Hormone (HGH): Physiological / Adverse Effects
Growth hormone is a peptide hormone secreted by the pituitary gland. The release of hGH is controlled by many factors including diet, exercise, diet, medication, and various mechanisms of biological feedback. Growth hormone is for athletes who are trying to increase lean body mass and shorten recovery times, but to date there are no well-controlled hGH studies that show effective improvement in strength and endurance. Side effects that have been reported include headache, swelling of the vegetation with snoring, and persistent growth of the hands, feet, and face.
Erythropoietin (EPO): Physiological / Adverse Effects
EPO stimulates bone marrow stem cells to produce red blood cells, which in turn transport oxygen from the lungs to all organs in the body, including the muscles, and increase aerobic power. The EPO has found its place in sport as an alternative to blood doping, the practice of intravenous infusion of blood in an individual, to induce a high number of red blood cells and increase their overall aerobic power by increasing transport from oxygen to the blood working muscles.
The abuse of EPO increases both the number of red blood cells and the thickness of the blood, which can stimulate the effects of certain blood diseases and increase the risk of strokes and heart attacks. Athletes do not use them for therapeutic purposes. They call out their madness and use them in large quantities. A normal dose can be 10 and can last 100 or 1000. According to Dr. Wadler, a member of World Anti-Doping Agency, in addition, they combine medications – a term known as “stacking”.
While recounting his ordeal after been caught in the web doping shortly after he throw in the hat as a cyclist. “For two years, I’ve been taking EPO, Growth Hormone, Anabolic Steroids, Testosterone, Amphetamines, Almost everything it was part of the job” – Erwan Menthéour, Former Cyclist.
It is very pertinent that athletes take cognizance of the fact that the use of drugs that increase performance, or doping, is not without risk. All athletes should take time to learn about the potential benefits, health risks and the many unknowns about so-called performance-enhancing medications such as anabolic steroids, androstenedione, human growth hormone, erythropoietin, diuretics, creatine and stimulants. You could decide that the benefits are not worth the risk.
Athlete Cheat Athletically, But It can Change.
The Sunday Times and a German broadcaster in an investigative report claim that a huge database revealed the extraordinary prolongation of the betrayal of athletes at the most prestigious events in the world – Olympics.
The information released after this thorough and insightful investigation is based on 12,000 tests of more than 5,000 athletes between 2001 and 2012. It was called “the biggest loss of data on blood tests in the history of the sport”.
The data shows that more than a third of the medals – including 55 gold medals – were won by suspected athletes at the Olympic and World Championships. Russia accounted for 415 abnormal tests, followed by Ukraine, Morocco, Spain, Kenya, Turkey and others.
Prominent Cases of Doping among Athletes
Football, soccer, basketball, tennis, swimming, cycling, athletics, bodybuilding, baseball, weightlifting, boxing, wrestling, ice hockey, rugby and other sports have all proven themselves. Every year, more than 3,000 athletes around the world are positive for banned substances.
The seminal moment in the world of sport doping was the case of doping which came about at the 1988 Olympics, when Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson won the 100-meter victory in record time of 9.79 seconds. But after the race, he failed a doping test when stanozolol, a synthetic anabolic steroid, was found in his urine. He was stripped of his world title which was later transfer to Carl Lewis, who finished second in Seoul.
In subsequent years, the news of doping which involved British athletes Dwain Chambers and Linford Christie as well as the American sprinter Justin Gatlin and Marion Jones broke the internet and came as shock in the world of sport. They were also banned.
In 2013, Lance Armstrong was deprived of his seven victories in the Tour de France and banned from sports for life. More recently, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned Russia from bringing the national team to the Pyeongchang Winter Games in South Korea in February 2018. This decision was a sanction for the management of a sponsored state doping program. If the Russian athletes prove on their own that they are clean, they can participate in these games under the Olympic flag.
Increasing Performance without Doping
Athletes can increase their strength in a little ‘psychic training without using drugs and banned substances, it is likely athletes can improve their overall performance to better understand the relationship between their minds and their body and intense sports psychological methods.
Rocky D’Amico a dietician elucidate more important part of sports training without the use of steroids and also increase performance and win. He noted that, sports nutrition promotes a healthy body and gives athletes the chance to get the help to do their best. There are a variety of sports conditions on the market that have different benefits. Add them to your daily sporting diet, and you’re sure to have better results.
Creatine: The Benefits of Your Sports Training
Creatine is naturally found in red meat and fish. Your body also produces creatine. It’s easy to keep in the heart, muscles, brains and other areas.
Prepare your workout creatine benefits have useful benefits. If used, creatine helps in the production of ATP. Education requires energy efficiently, right? This is the function of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). This can improve performance when athletes lift weights or perform eg sprints.
In addition, the use of creatine reduces lactic acid production. Lactic acid is a waste that causes muscle fatigue. Less lactic acid means that the muscles are not so tired during or after the exercise.
Benefits of Protein Powder
There is no shortage of protein powder. The many varieties can be overwhelming. Protein powder is used to supplement training activities. For the most part, it is almost impossible to try to replenish what your body needs with food only if you want to keep the total number of calories under control.
The protein helps maintain muscle and gives the necessary energy. Protein powders can increase metabolism and reduce hunger. Help an athlete stay on track. They want to build muscles and maintain an unhealthy weight.
Taking a protein powder supplement helps your muscles recover after exercise. Nourish your muscles and not your body, which feeds on that muscle to restore energy. If you train but do not feel the muscle tone you should take, you may not eat enough quality protein. These powders also promote natural muscle growth to improve an athlete’s performance.
What about Glucosamine and Chondroitin Supplements?
An athlete wants to move forward regardless of age or training, right? Another important part of a sports diet are glucosamine and chondroitin supplements. Your joints are stressed during each workout. So make your muscles. The beauty of these supplements is that you get the benefits of joint support.
If you choose a sports lifestyle, you must pay attention to every part of your body. This includes the joints. Glucosamine and chondroitin supplements help maintain healthy cartilage and joint tissue, so athletes are not hampered by pain or joint damage. This supplement also has anti-inflammatory effects to treat the body after intense training.
Benefits of Fish Oil
Fish oil is another good supplement with many benefits. Relieves muscle inflammation and helps athletes to heal pain quickly. Fish oil has also been shown to increase pulmonary performance. The healthier lungs mean more resistance. You do not want to leave the game because you’re out of breath, right?
As an athletes, do you want to get rid of this belly fat? The belly fat that just wants to get out? So fish oil has a nice advantage for you. A healthy core will work wonders for your overall athletic performance.
This is just a highlight of some of the available sports supplements. The best nutritional supplements use the latest nutraceuticals to give you a safe anti-doping formula for your workout.
