Today we learned about performance enhancements, in particular performance enhancing-substances. Performance-enhancing substances are any manufactured substance for ingestion or inhalation that contains any substance other than an essential vitamin or mineral (stimulants, amino acids, hormones, herbes, etc.) that are intended to improve one's mental or physical performance. Most of the time, when people think of performance-enhancing substances, they think of drugs that increase athletic performance, such as by promoting muscle growth, inducing weight loss, or increasing endurance.
Some of the substances we talked about in class included caffeine, erythropoietin (aka EPO), gonadotropin (aka human growth hormone), anabolic (androgen) steroids, creatine (monohydrate), and andro(stenedione). Many of these substances are intended to increase performance but come with many risks ranging from cramping to dehydration to hormone imbalance to death. We also discussed other methods to enhance performance, which also range from highly risky, such as gene doping and high-protein diets, to not-as-risky, such as strength training, massages, myofascial release, and carbo-loading.
To emphasize the risks of performance-enhancing substances, we created a satirical "advertisement" for one of the substances. We chose to create this "advertisement" on androstenedione.
One of the things we learned that especially concerned me was the fact that dietary supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and that often the supplements contain steroids, do not contain what they claim to contain, or are contaminated by other substances such as lead, pesticides, arsenic, or mercury.
The bottom line is, do not use performance-enhancing substances, as they can be extremely detrimental to one's health, as well as being illegal. Instead, use more "natural" forms of enhancing one's performance, such as through strength training to build up more muscle, or through getting massages to relax one's muscles.
Some of the substances we talked about in class included caffeine, erythropoietin (aka EPO), gonadotropin (aka human growth hormone), anabolic (androgen) steroids, creatine (monohydrate), and andro(stenedione). Many of these substances are intended to increase performance but come with many risks ranging from cramping to dehydration to hormone imbalance to death. We also discussed other methods to enhance performance, which also range from highly risky, such as gene doping and high-protein diets, to not-as-risky, such as strength training, massages, myofascial release, and carbo-loading.
To emphasize the risks of performance-enhancing substances, we created a satirical "advertisement" for one of the substances. We chose to create this "advertisement" on androstenedione.
 |
| we used Steve Rogers (Captain America), who used performance-enhancing substance(s) to gain his physique, in our "advertisement" ; though it turned out well for him, it did not go so well for Johann Schmidt (the Red Skull) |
One of the things we learned that especially concerned me was the fact that dietary supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, and that often the supplements contain steroids, do not contain what they claim to contain, or are contaminated by other substances such as lead, pesticides, arsenic, or mercury.
The bottom line is, do not use performance-enhancing substances, as they can be extremely detrimental to one's health, as well as being illegal. Instead, use more "natural" forms of enhancing one's performance, such as through strength training to build up more muscle, or through getting massages to relax one's muscles.
No comments:
Post a Comment