Since cycling is all about endurance, and has absolutely very little to do with muscle mass..would taking steroids to increase one's muscle mass be beneficial at all?
Would steroids really help someone like Lance?
- Thread starter Syringer
- Start date
Lance is a genetic freak. His heart is so well conditioned that it is 2X the size of the average human heart. At rest his heart beats about 30 beats per minute, thats how efficient it is. His VO2 max test results show that his lungs are 4X more efficient than the average human. Sure sterioids would help and he probably has doped, however I think his success is due to his work-ethic and super genes.
There are performance enhancers that do things other than build muscle. I don't know if they are called steroids.
JulesMaximus
No Lifer
- Jul 3, 2003
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Anubis
No Lifer
wasent it a mutual divorce, thats what i gather from all I have heard, and even if he doped his huge lungs and heart is what let him do what he does
his heart beats once every 2 seconds, because its so strong, thats insane
I think that somebody else in the thread referenced 'doping' which, I believe, refers to other techniques to improve performance. For example:
The normal average world class cyclist performs like s/he does, with a certain % of hemoglobin in the blood stream. In short, hemoglobin is what takes oxygen to the muscle tissue. The more oxygen that is available, the better an athlete can perform.
So, there was a time where athletes would go through periods of doing something like a negative transfusion, to siphon their hemoglobin off and save it for a later date. The body would naturally replace the depleted hemoglobin in a period of a couple of days.
Come time for the event, the athlete gets an infusion of hemoglobin, which can enhance performance by making more oxygen available to the muscles than any of his competitors.
So, how do you detect if an athlete has more than normal hemoglobin in the bloodstream.
Originally posted by: Harvey
Steroids might re-stimulate his cancer.
Steroids might have caused his cancer. Steriods have negative effects also, one of which is increased risks for some forms of cancer.
The hot drug in cycling for some time has been EPO, it's not an anabolic steroid, it's a drug used to stimulate red blood cell production. Growth hormone is probably also used by some in cycling just like it's used in other sports. There are also plenty of recovery benefits from synthetic testosterone, i.e. steroids.
Steroids don't have to be used for all-out bulking and muscle growth, in fact maybe their greatest attribute according to some pro bodybuilders is that they allow you to retain muscle while dieting at very extreme levels, or perhaps hang onto muscle while burning thousands of calories per day pedaling your ass off on some grueling cycling tour and dipping down to incredibly low bodyfat levels. They're also used in some AIDS patients who are wasting away from the disease. I don't know how common their use is in cycling, but there would definitely be some benefit.
Steroids don't have to be used for all-out bulking and muscle growth, in fact maybe their greatest attribute according to some pro bodybuilders is that they allow you to retain muscle while dieting at very extreme levels, or perhaps hang onto muscle while burning thousands of calories per day pedaling your ass off on some grueling cycling tour and dipping down to incredibly low bodyfat levels. They're also used in some AIDS patients who are wasting away from the disease. I don't know how common their use is in cycling, but there would definitely be some benefit.
yeah that was what they did. from what I've read EPO has more or less replaced blood doping.
I assume the governing body establishes a maximum allowable level and tests for it, like other sports do for testosterone ratios.So, how do you detect if an athlete has more than normal hemoglobin in the bloodstream.
You can't siphon off your hemoglobin............but you can transfuse/store your red blood cells and then reinfuse them later.....called autofusion, common practice these days prior to elective surgery with the AIDS fears and hepatitis fears. Unfortunately, the storage time for packed RBCs isn't terribly long, so when EPO's development for cancer patients came about (an artificial stimulant for causing the body to overproduce RBCs within the body), aerobic-challenged athletes began to use it to produce an overabundance of RBCs in the body and along with it a higher oxygen-carrying ability of the blood. (There is a medical condition that is a problem for some persons of Mediterranian descent......thalassemia....an overabundance of RBCs to the pint the blood's viscosity is so high that proper circulation is impared. The "cure" is siphoning off a pint every couple of weeks or so for life.)
The ICU, among other sports bodies, finally developed and continue to develop tests to check for metabolites of EPO and/or its aftereffects on the body. The ICU, for example, limits how high one's hematocrit climbs over a prolonged bike race like the Tour. The hematocrit is a ratio of the solids/liquid of the blood represented as a percentage...........the higher the percentage, the higher the concentration of solids which would naturally include RBCs and their associated hemaglobin.
I believe the upper limit of HCT concentration allowed during the Tour is 55%. While all the cyclists do have their HCTs climb over the three weeks due to continuous dehydration/rehydration cycles, cycles that usually leave them a little more dehydrated each day, climbing over the magic number will disqualify you.
Lance's blood never has spiked higher than the limit nor has his bodily fluids ever been found to have a trace of metabolites of doping, no matter the test performed or when it was done on any sample. If he does, he and his doc are good. And if you subscribe to the theory that "He must because everyone does," then his doping just creates a level playing field for him.
The ICU, among other sports bodies, finally developed and continue to develop tests to check for metabolites of EPO and/or its aftereffects on the body. The ICU, for example, limits how high one's hematocrit climbs over a prolonged bike race like the Tour. The hematocrit is a ratio of the solids/liquid of the blood represented as a percentage...........the higher the percentage, the higher the concentration of solids which would naturally include RBCs and their associated hemaglobin.
I believe the upper limit of HCT concentration allowed during the Tour is 55%. While all the cyclists do have their HCTs climb over the three weeks due to continuous dehydration/rehydration cycles, cycles that usually leave them a little more dehydrated each day, climbing over the magic number will disqualify you.
Lance's blood never has spiked higher than the limit nor has his bodily fluids ever been found to have a trace of metabolites of doping, no matter the test performed or when it was done on any sample. If he does, he and his doc are good. And if you subscribe to the theory that "He must because everyone does," then his doping just creates a level playing field for him.
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