Renowned fitness expert Samir Becic urges NFL athletes to avoid unauthorized use of anabolic steroids. Side effects of athletic enhancers and steroid use can lead to dire health consequences.
“If steroids were good for your health, then I’d be the first one using them – but they’re not,” Becic said. “And until then, I’m warning everyone to stay away from steroids.”
The effects of steroid usage can lead to drastic, unwanted effects on the user’s body. With the advent of the NFL season starting soon and the start of the academic year for students looking to go professional or get recruited for their athletic talents, Samir Becic, founder of Health Fitness Revolution and renowned fitness expert, warns all athletes to avoid the unauthorized use of steroids.
“If steroids were good for your health, then I’d be the first one using them – but they’re not,” Becic said. “And until then, I’m warning everyone to stay away from steroids.”
A few of the short and long-term health effects of using steroids results include infertitlity, heart and circulatory problems, mood swings, and increased risk for ADD and alcoholism. Despite this, Becic says he and “every single fitness expert and those who work in athletic circles know that steroid abuse is rampant among athletes.”
As a result of league rules and play suspensions and increased competitiveness, many athletes will discretely use steroids. It doesn’t help that they are under an undue amount of pressure to preform well.
“A majority of athletes will vehemently deny using steroids, yet fitness professionals can easily determine whether an athlete is using steroids or not,” Becic said. “The athletes who are training naturally have a longer playing life and will be healthier as they age. It’s not just about the money, but about long-term health as well, because no money can buy your health in old age.”
Regardless, very often, athletes have injuries related to torn ligaments and tendons. A 2009 article from Scientific American revealed 9 percent of anonymously surveyed former professional football players participated in steroid use, particularly positions that required athletic strength and muscle size such as linemen. Roughly twice as many steroid users suffered herniated disks or elbow injuries versus non-steroid users.
Becic revealed a list of health effects of steroid use:
-Aggressive behaviors, rage or violence
-Psychiatric disorders, such as depression
-Increased risk of tendinitis and tendon rupture
-Liver abnormalities and tumors
-Increased low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (the “bad” cholesterol)
-Decreased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the “good” cholesterol)
-Testicular Shrinkage
-High blood pressure (hypertension)
-Prostate gland enlargement
-Drug dependence
-Joint pain
-Muscle weakness
-Fluid retention
-Carpal tunnel syndrome
-Impaired glucose regulation
-Cardiomyopathy
-Infections or diseases such as HIV or hepatitis if you’re injecting the drugs
-Inhibited growth and development, and risk of future health problems in teenagers
“I wish the NFL would place more stringent testing for steroid use within the sport, because their athletes are not only destroying their health, but they are also cheating the system and not playing fair,” urges Becic.
