Since the beginning of time, human beings have always looked for ways to be thinner, taller, stronger and faster. As a highly competitive species, we have constantly evolved into ways of being more athletic and better than our rivals.
It is interesting to note that even before the advent of the use of Anabolic Steroids in sports, many ancient civilizations relied on natural herbs to provide the stimulus needed to be successful and excel in physical activities.
Australian Aborigines, considered one of the oldest civilizations in the world, were known to chew on pituri, a plant native to their region. The Viking warriors of Scandinavia consumed mushrooms with hallucinogenic properties, while the Greeks ate huge amounts of sesame seeds.
All of these civilizations used plants to make potions which they believed improved their performance by giving them divine strength and exceptional endurance .
When it comes to excelling in athletic competition, the use of anabolic steroids has not escaped athletes. In the history of the use of anabolic steroids in sports, many cases of athletes have been recorded as early as the mid-XIXth century using a variety of steroids to improve their overall athletic performance.
I. Use of anabolic steroids (1800 to 1950)
In the history of steroids in sport, the very first case of anabolic steroid use was recorded in 1860, when swimmers participating in a swimming event in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, actually used stimulants to improve their performance in order to swim faster than their competitors.
International sporting events may have been hampered by the world wars, but that hasn't stopped the use of anabolic steroids in other areas. It is now known that scientists in Germany and even for Allied forces during WWII participated in many clandestine experiments on steroids and their effects on soldiers.
La Testosterone, a sex hormone secreted in microscopic amounts by the testes in men, the ovaries in women and the adrenal gland in both sexes, was first synthesized in 1935.
As World War II raged on, German soldiers were known to see each other inject synthetic testosterone to increase their aggressiveness in combat and provide them with exceptional energy, strength, speed and endurance.
By 1940, the use of testosterone in competitive sports was very pronounced. Athletes in all kinds of sports were known to freely use testosterone to improve their performance.
Athletes in the Soviet Union of the time literally served as guinea pigs to test a variety of steroids. In 1952, wrestlers and weightlifters from the Soviet Union were completely dominant during the Olympics of that year. It will be revealed later that these athletes were put on a cocktail of anabolic steroids, with synthetic testosterone being one of the steroids used.
II. History of anabolic steroids (1950s to 1970s)
The history of anabolic steroid use has been synonymous with sports for obvious reasons. The pressure exerted on men and women in competitive sports to consistently perform at a very high level has been one of the main reasons so many athletes have turned to steroid use.
The general thought process of researchers and scientists who developed new steroids in the early, mid and late 1950s was to produce drugs that would make users superhuman.
However, little attention has been paid to the possible short and long term side effects of steroid use. Laxity and, in many cases, lack of restrictions on the part of health and regulatory authorities have not helped either.
Even the habit of smoking cigarettes was not considered a health hazard at the time, so the relevant health authorities really had no idea what steroids were used and the inherent dangers they posed to the disease. user health.
Athletes from all sports have rushed to try new and improved anabolic steroids, without understanding the likely side effects or even the dosage and safe cycle they need to follow to avoid the dangers steroids can cause to their health.
The use of Anabolic Steroids was becoming really popular among strength athletes, including strong men, weightlifters, and professional bodybuilders. In the more recent history of steroids in sport, these strength athletes as well as Olympic shot puters are believed to be the first athletes to use, abuse, and even abuse a number of anabolic-androgenic steroids.
This trend would continue until the 1960s. In 1964, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) published its list of prohibited drugs. The IOC expected full adherence to its policies and complete abstinence from the drugs it had listed.
Although athletes were fully aware of the IOC's strict provisions on the use of performance enhancing drugs, the use of anabolic steroids by high performance athletes
Even though athletes were fully aware of the IOC's strict provisions on the use of performance enhancing substances, the use of anabolic steroids by high performance athletes was still widespread until the mid-1970s.
III. History of steroid use (1980s to 1990s)
Many legendary bodybuilders, like the seven-time winner of Mr. Olympia, Arnold Schwarzenegger, have openly commented on the rampant use of anabolic steroids by bodybuilders, especially in the 1970s and 1980s.
The bulging biceps, delts and triceps of the oiled bodybuilders in Mr. Olympia's events weren't all produced naturally. The dangers of sharing needles hit bodybuilding and society in general with the high prevalence of HIV / AIDS in the 1980s.
Fear of contracting HIV / AIDS has led many athletes to switch from steroid use Injectable to the use of anabolic steroid pills. In the 1990s, the benefits and dangers of certain anabolic steroids were better understood.
The Anabolic Steroids Control Act 1990, passed in the United States, provides severe penalties for anyone possessing or using non-prescribed anabolic-androgenic steroids.
As many pharmaceutical companies that previously marketed anabolic steroids have gone out of business, especially in the United States, many people have turned to the European and Asian markets to get their steroids.
The black market for illegal steroids was going to flourish, with many pharmaceutical companies and many dealers in Eastern Europe and Asia selling a number of genuine injectable and anabolic steroid pills. These drugs are said to be sold in large quantities without a prescription.
The huge demand for anabolic steroids in the 1990s inevitably resulted in the proliferation of adulterated bogus anabolics on the black market, sold by unscrupulous dealers.
IV. History of anabolic steroids (2000s to present)
With the introduction of the Internet in the late 1990s, the commerce of Anabolic Steroids and performance enhancing drugs would change forever. The black market for illicit steroids has moved from street corners and bathroom toilets to online stores.
Today, you just need to search the internet for a site that offers real anabolic steroids and make a transaction without having to meet the seller. In addition, these sites use legitimate payment platforms and courier services to receive and deliver orders respectively.
The market for real steroids is huge in Asia and Eastern Europe. Feeling left behind, many sites in the United States now offer legal steroids which are in fact supplements with flattering names that mimic the well-known anabolic names. For example, you can get “D-bal” which is a legal steroid and which is supposed to be an alternative to the real steroid called Dianabol or otherwise known in the middle of Bodybuilding under the name “D-bol”.
Nowadays, with a good sum of money, athletes can get their hands on “designer steroids,” which are personalized drugs, made to meet specific user needs while avoiding detection in testing. mandatory screening.
V. In conclusion
In the history of the use of Anabolic SteroidsThe sports world has been the biggest beneficiary of the use of anabolic steroids. From the 1950s until today, athletes around the world have used a variety of anabolic-androgenic steroids to achieve peak and top performance in their respective sports.
Even with the strict regulations put in place by virtually all international sports organizations like the IOC, this has not stopped the demand-driven supply of anabolic steroids by pharmaceutical companies located in countries with less strict regulations.
Many observers have suggested legalizing the use of steroids in sports as a means of controlling and regulating steroid supply. Either way, one thing is clear: Anabolic steroids are here to stay.
