The use of steroids is popular to sports, especially to the type of professional sports where building muscle power is paramount. An example of such sports is power lifting. It has been years since steroids use was banned in power lifting. A team of researchers united to conduct an examination of the impact given by steroids to power lifters athlete who stopped taking the prohibited drugs for years already. Surprisingly, results revealed that even though the physical traces of the drugs already disappear, the changes they caused in the quadriceps and shoulders still provide lifters a significant help on their strength.

The research was performed by Lars-Erik Hornell and Anders Erickson from the Department of Integrative Medical Biology; Fawzi Kadi from the Department of Physical Education and Health; Patricks and Winternet Bonnerud from the Department and Health Science; and Chris Malm from Umee University. Dr. Erickson discussed the result of the team’s study at the symposium sponsored by the American Physiological Society (APS) with the theme: “Anabolic Steroids Withdrawal in Strength Trained Athletes: How Does it Affect Skeletal Muscles?” last September 24-27 in Hilton Head, SC.

Dr. Erickson started his discussion with the background of the strength sport— power lifting. Basically, he explained that this sport involves the use of weighty dumbbell to execute three repetitions per squat. Power lifting can actually be likened to weight lifting; however, weight lifting is a vigorous sport while power lifting is a stationary one.

Now, since power lifters focus on muscle strength, the use of anabolic steroids is regarded to be of so much help to support them a significant strength enhancement. Steroids help by adding more nuclei to the muscle of power lifters as well as develop the size of fiber muscle. Essentially, the researchers studied the two essential muscles to power lifting: the trapezius; and the vastus lateralis. The team also used three groups for comparison of steroids effect to different power lifters who used them previously and have stopped now. The first group was compassed of power lifters who used anabolic steroids for a long time but stopped their usage for years already. The second group is current power lifters but never used steroids. The third group is also power lifters until now but is taking steroids. The researchers examined the muscle fiber distribution of each individual composing the group such as the fiber area and the amount of internal myonuclei per fiber.

The findings of the examination revealed that despite the absence of steroids intake for years, with low or no strength-training at all, the intensity of muscle fiber area including the amount of nuclei or per fiber in the quadriceps of previous power lifters who stopped from taking the drugs after years of use are still comparable to the athletes who are still having their rigorous trainings. In fact, these researchers found out that those athletes who previously used steroids got higher amount of nuclei per fiber as compared to power lifters who are still presently using steroids. Based on the traits between steroid-users and non-users power lifters, Dr. Erickson concluded that the long use of anabolic steroids is helpful to power lifters in competition though they stopped from taking the drugs for long period of time already. He also said that resuming training of these former steroid-users power lifters will have the benefit to further increase the amount of nuclei in their muscles.