Anabolic steroids have long-term positive effects for bodybuilders and power lifters; this is what a team of researchers from Umea University in Sweden found out.  Anabolic steroids, synthetic hormones derived from the male hormone testosterone, are banned substances in the sports world and for use as a performance enhancer.  Professional baseball and football players have been using steroids to build their muscle strength. This is also true for body builders and power lifters where building muscles is more important than endurance.
   
Anders Eriksson and Lars-Eric Thornell from the Department of Integrative Medical Biology, University of Umea, Sweden, examined the impact of anabolic steroids years after power lifters have ceased taking the drug.   They found that while traces of the drug can no longer be found in the system, the changes that steroids had on the user’s quadriceps and shoulder still gave the lifters quite an advantage years later.
   
The nature of power lifting

Power lifting involves lifting heavy dumbbells while performing three repetitions including squats, bench presses, and dead lifts.  It is a strength sport that is somewhat similar to weight lifting. The difference is that weight lifting is a dynamic sport while power lifting is more of a static sport.  Power lifters focus more on body strength and rely heavily on their muscles.
  
Type of muscle fiber used in power lifting

Human muscles occur along different fiber types. The body has three main types of muscle fiber: type I, type IIA and type IIB.  Type I is the slowest and weakest but has the most endurance. Type IIA is the fastest and strongest but has the least endurance.  Type IIB is the most powerful and is the most frequently used muscle fiber by power lifters.   Anabolic steroids enhance muscle fiber size by adding more nuclei to the muscle.
     
Muscle fiber comparable to high-intensity trained athletes

The researchers focused on the two muscles most used in power lifting: vastus lateralis in the quadriceps and trapezius in the shoulder-neck muscles.  What they discovered was that several years after the withdrawal of anabolic steroids and with little or no current strength-training, the muscle fiber area intensity of the individual was still comparable to those who were currently performing high-intensity training.  This meant that the nuclei per fiber in the quadriceps were virtually the same for both groups.   They also found that the trapezius area was comparable to athletes under high-intensity training and that the number of nuclei per fiber in that area was even higher than for those who were currently using steroids.
          
Dr. Eriksson says that it is possible that he high number of nuclei per fiber found in the muscle might be beneficial to athletes who resume or continue strength training because it can increase protein synthesis which can translate to more muscle mass.  He adds that between power lifters who were steroid-users and non-users, the period of anabolic steroid use is an advantage in the competition of power lifting even after several years after the user has stopped taking the drug.   

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