A lot of athletes and bodybuilders who take anabolic steroids use it as a training drug. It is rarely used as a stimulant before or during a competition because it offers no benefits and it is too risky. They use anabolic steroids during the off-season because there is lesser risk in getting caught during a drug test, which is usually held before the competition. Some sports federations, however, counter this practice by holding random drug tests even during the off-season. But the smaller federations as well as school or amateur leagues cannot afford to do this because steroid testing is quite expensive.

Early retirement and comeback

Some athletes who take steroids train in other countries to avoid detection by random drug testing. An extreme measure for some athletes is to take an early retirement from the sport but actually continue with training and taking steroids. While this means loss of funding from the organization that sponsors the athlete, it is a risk some take to be able to train with steroids and then make a comeback later on.

For instance, an athlete can retire after one Olympiad, train with steroids in the next few years, and then come out of the retirement and rejoin the team in time for the next Olympiad. In this way, the athlete will not be subjected to the random drug tests during the off-season.

Counter-measure to drug testing

In addition to random drug testing, sports organizations use a testosterone to epitestosterone ratio test to combat drug use among athletes. This type of test is very effective in detecting the use of anabolic steroids long after the injection of steroids or long after the steroids has been out of the athlete’s system. However, there is a simple but effective method that athletes use as a counter-measure to the testosterone to epitestosterone ratio test. What drug testers do in this test is they look at the ratio of testosterone to the epitestosterone in the person’s body. If the testosterone level is more than six times than that of the epitestosterone, it can be safely concluded that some form of testosterone was induced in the body and was not produced naturally. To pass the test, all the athlete who uses steroids has to do is inject pure epitestosterone to bring back his or her testosterone to epitestosterone ratio level back to normal. Injecting epitestosterone an hour before the drug test will usually produce a negative result.

Eliminating steroids from the body

There are many ways that athletes can eliminate steroids from the body to avoid being detected during a drug test. The time it takes to eliminate traces of steroids in the body varies from person to person and on the particular steroid. Many factors influence the rate of excretion of steroid matter from the user’s system. Using other supplements such as vitamins and other medications can affect the liver’s ability to process the steroids and inhibit its absorption, and consequently a longer time for eliminating the steroids is needed.

Other important factors to consider in determining the clearance time include the method of administration, the time of use, the amount of water in the body, the body-fat level, the dosage, and where the steroids is injected in the body.

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