It is a fact that most bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts rely on supplements and steroids to beef up their bodies. Spending hours in gyms and following a training regimen for several months may not entice a lot of health conscious people. Most of them look for something that would aid them fast track muscle development and gain strength and stamina in just a very short time. This is where anabolic steroids comes in. These substances became the drug of choice for most bodybuilders because it gives them instant results.

However, a lot of bodybuilders and fitness conscious people become the usual victims of unscrupulous businessmen. There are many instances where local fitness centers and health clubs offer their clients with supplements that were not approved by the FDA or supplements that were made by fly-by-night manufacturers.

Illegal manufacturers and distributors of bodybuilding supplements targets fitness centers because they can easily make a sale. Illegally imported or manufactured steroids pose great health risks to the users because most of them did not conform to quality standards. According to studies, most tainted supplements contain too much or too little of the substances advertised in the label. Some contains harmful chemicals such as lead and arsenic.

Bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts should only buy supplements or steroids from licensed distributors to avoid these risks. Authorities are also doing extra effort to curtail the proliferation of these steroids in the local market. According to some bodybuilders, buying steroids is as easy as buying a can of soda. The FDA and the DEA have been in the forefront to stop the illegal distribution and sale of anabolic steroids and other dietary supplements containing illegal substances.

The country is not alone in this problem. European and Middle Eastern Countries also have the same problem. GulfNews recently reported that local authorities in Abu Dhabi raided several fitness centers and health clubs in the capital because of unlicensed steroids and other banned drugs. An inspection conducted by local officials revealed that these fitness centers also offer these products to their clients.

The drugs seized from them include growth hormones and steroids. The local health officials did not disclose the amount and types of steroids confiscated during the surprise inspection. These drugs were sent to the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD) for further lab analysis.

According to the report, there are several health risks that can be associated with steroids use. It can increase the risk of cardiovascular and liver diseases. When used improperly like using unsterilized syringes, it can lead to other diseases such as HIV, hepatitis and infections. Public Health Director Khalifa Al Rumaithi advises the public especially the teens to refrain from using steroids and other drugs without valid medical prescription. Anabolic steroids are not illegal but users should have prescriptions to use it. “The municipality will continue to raise awareness about the risk of using such items, as well as take legal action against any violators. We therefore urge the public to report any fitness centres or suppliers of steroids that they come across,” said Al Rumaithi.

The fitness centers caught selling steroids and growth hormones were facing disciplinary actions because they were only licensed to operate as fitness centers. The municipality also provided a hotline number so that the general public can report any supplier of steroids and other banned drugs, or fitness centers selling these product to customers.

Everyone will agree that Hulk Hogan is an icon in the wrestling industry. He is one of the wrestlers who made the WWE flourish in the 80’s and 90’s. However, the sport was marred with the rampant use of performance enhancing drugs during that time. The steroid era in professional wrestling only ended when the WWE implemented a wellness program that would at least address the problem of steroid use. Critics have already blamed the McMahons for the deaths of several wrestlers.

Many sportswriters are looking into this area in the second autobiography of the Hulk. The new book “Hulk Hogan: My Life Outside the Ring” talks about Hogan’s personal life and chronicled some of the most difficult times in his life. It touches more about his personal life like how he was brought up as child, his family and close friends. The Hulk also talks about his life after divorce with his wife, the career of his daughter and his return to wrestling.

Slam Wrestling quoted some of Hulk Hogan’s recollection of his work in a Tampa bar with Ed Leslie, a.k.a. Brutus Beefcake. “After working out and running the gym all day, Brutus and I had a pretty standard routine. We’d open up the bar and get everything settled, and then we’d come back and watch David Letterman’s Late Night show. Man, we laughed our asses off.” Those ripped muscles of Hogan should not only be associated with steroids. He described how he took protein shakes to gain more muscles. “While we watched, we’d drink these power shakes. I’d take the most fattening protein there was, called Metabol, and dump it in a blender with half a cube of vanilla Haagen-Dazs ice cream, a banana, and two huge wads of peanut butter. Probably the most fattening shit you can eat. We’d drink two blenders of that crap, watch Letterman, then go back to the bar and stay until closing at 4:00 a.m,” Hogan wrote.

When the WWE was caught in the middle of a federal steroid investigation, Hulk Hogan was one of the wrestlers implicated in the investigation. A company doctor was allegedly involved in the prescription of steroids to wrestlers and Vince McMahon was charged. However, McMahon successfully fought this issue in court. When Linda McMahon run last year for a Senate seat, the steroid issues were brought back again by his opponents which affected her campaign. Until now, the McMahons continue to deny that they allow their wrestlers use anabolic steroids.

It is a fact that wrestlers in the WWE needs to be at their top condition all the times. Aside from the hectic schedules, the repeated injuries induce them to take steroids. The Million Dollar Man is one of those wrestlers who have admitted to taking these drugs to help him achieve fame.

And now, Hulk Hogan wants to come clean about steroid use in his latest autobiography. “It’s also weird to think about the fact that I was doing all of this — and the steroids — while telling all of my young fans week after week, ‘Train, say your prayers, and take your vitamins.’ That line was like my own Bob Barker catchphrase.”

“I threw that sentiment out into the world day after day. Not that there’s anything wrong with that message. It’s a great message. It was just a little bit hypocritical that my activities behind the scenes didn’t match the role-model persona I was putting out there,” Hogan wrote.

In Hogan’s assumptions, that message was one of the good things he made during his career in wrestling. “I’m glad I did it, though. Putting that kind of positive message out there to millions of kids is one of the least self-centered things I did in all those years. I put it right up there with visiting kids for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and other charity work I did. Throwing that kind of positive vibe out into the universe can only bring positive things in return.”

Hulk’s admission that taking steroids is not a good example for the kids is a little bit too late. He must have done that at the prime of his career.

A future Hall of Famer, Manny Ramirez will be missed by the Tampa Bay Rays not just for one season but indefinitely. The obvious reason is the failed steroid test of the baseball slugger. Ramirez was given a 50-game suspension in 2009 for violating the steroids policy and the league caught him again recently using a banned substance.

In 2009, anti-doping officials found in his system traces of HCG or human chorionic gonadotropin, a female fertility drug commonly used after a steroid cycle. Under the league’s anti-doping policy, a second offense will send a player to a 100-game suspension. A third offense will be a lifetime suspension from baseball.

Violation of Steroids Policy

The second steroid violation will only allow Ramirez to play at least 50 games in the next season. Why wait for the suspension? The baseball slugger immediately ended his career in baseball. With this decision, the league can’t impose the suspension. Anyway, many were not surprised with Ramirez’ strategy. In an interview with the ESPNdeportes, Manny was quoted as saying, “I’m at ease. God knows what’s best (for me).” He confirmed his retirement from baseball. “I’m now an officially retired baseball player. I’ll be going away on a trip to Spain with my old man,” he told the ESPN during a phone interview from his home in Miami.

Ramirez stats in the field are impressive. He is a viable candidate in the Hall of Fame but the steroid issues tainted his name. He will be suffering like Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmeiro who are still being punished because of their previous use of anabolic steroids.

Some Stats

Though Manny Ramirez dropped his performance in recent games, he is still one of the best players in baseball. He played in the All-star games for 12 times and got the World Series MVP for the Boston Red Sox in 2004. He can boast of his 9 Silver slugger Awards and his Hank Aaron Award as a 2-time American League best hitter in 1999 and 2004.

Ramirez is also a member of the 500-home run club with 555 home runs in his profile. He is the only player in baseball history to hit 29 home runs in the postseason and with a batting average of .285. His overall career average is .312. After playing for more than 18 years, Manny Ramirez played a total of 2,302 games. He had in his resume 2,574 hits, 1,544 runs scored and 1,831 RBI’s.

Another interesting fact about the baseball slugger is how he was paid in the league. According to The Columbus Dispatch, Ramirez is one of the three best paid players in the league. He comes third trailing Yankees Alex Rodriguez (who also admitted to using steroids) and Derek Jeter. Ramirez made more than $200 million in his entire career.

The Truth

Ramirez may be able to avoid the penalty of the league but he will always be haunted by steroid issue. Failing a steroid test for two times is a fact he can’t deny. He already made an apology for the first steroid suspension and the second offense may not be acceptable to baseball fans. Ramirez will be joining other major leaguers who have made baseball a more exciting game with the use of steroids.

If Barry Bonds was able to get away from a guilty verdict on his steroids use, Roger Clemens may be facing a different situation. The home run king was only found guilty of obstruction of justice but the heart of the case which is lying about anabolic steroid and human growth hormone use was declared by the judge as mistrial.

The jury failed to decide unanimously on the other counts related to Bonds’ steroid use because of the credibility of the witnesses. Some legal experts already predicted that the prosecution will be facing a hard time proving Bonds really lied about his use of designer steroids. “Some jurors said the government provided neither sufficient evidence nor credible witnesses to prove Bonds knew that he had doped, leading to the deadlock on the three counts of making false statements,” said T.J. Quinn of ESPN.

Bonds had in his side the personal trainer who sacrificed for him up to the end of the trial. Greg Anderson, who refused to testify, was cited in contempt and held in custody during the duration of the trial. A legal strategy that was proven effective.

The Roger Clemens Case

The 7-time Cy Young pitcher is facing three counts of making false statements, two counts of perjury and one count of obstruction of Congress. Clemens insisted to testify in a congressional investigation when his name was included in the list of baseball players who allegedly used anabolic steroids. “Let me be clear, I have never taken steroids or HGH,” Clemens told the committee. However, lawmakers believe that Clemens was lying thus the charges were filed against him.

Legal experts say that the testimonies of the two baseball legends greatly differ. Barry Bonds testified in a grand jury that he did not knowingly used anabolic steroids while Clemens categorically denied in front of Congress that he did not use steroids or HGH. “Clemens left no room for doubt in his testimony; he said he never used performance-enhancers, even without his knowledge, period,” said Quinn. It is more likely that Clemens will get harsher penalty than Bonds.

Ally and Enemy

Another factor that could lead to the conviction of Clemens is the testimony of his former personal trainer, Brian McNamee. From the very start of the investigation, McNamee has been the primary source of information that Clemens really used performance enhancing drugs. He is now the key witness of the prosecution. McNamee contends that he injected Clemens with steroids many times and provided the government with significant evidences like used syringes and bloody gauze that were used on Clemens.

In Barry Bonds’ case, the key witness refused to testify. While other witnesses told the jury that they saw Anderson injected Bonds with something or Anderson confided to them the alleged steroid injections on Bonds, the jury still feels that it is not enough to convict Bonds on the charges.

Congress and Law Firm Still Refuse to Cooperate with Clemens

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the DLA Piper law firm, that led the investigation of PED use in the MLB, already told the court that they will not be able to provide Clemens camp with copies of transcript and testimonies of other witnesses during the investigation. The Congressional Committee insists that these documents were protected under the Speech and Debate Clause. They also raise the issue on the separation of the legislative and judiciary department. Meanwhile, the DLA Piper, which was commissioned by the MLB, argued that the subpoenaed documents were protected by client-attorney privilege.

However, the defense is determined to get these documents. In a filing last week, the defense said, “Mr. Clemens does not seek to use any of the materials against the Committee, its Members or its staff.” Their purpose is to pit two witnesses against each other in order to test the accuracy of one portion of a privately commissioned report according to the motion. “This case may be about a baseball player, but that is no reason for DLA Piper to treat it like a game,” wrote one of the lawyers of Clemens.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton set a hearing on April 21 to settle this issue. An initial date for the jury selection is scheduled on July 6.

Other Witnesses

Other witnesses that may be called when the trial starts are former teammate Andy Pettite, convicted steroid dealer Kirk Radomski, former Major Leaguer David Segui, and McNamee’s former wife.

Sports in the collegiate level is becoming immensely competitive and athletes are turning into various measures in order to excel in the competition. Although, training is considered the best path to victory some are indulging into other practices that can boost their efforts and give them a shortcut. That’s why various schools had been very vigilant about the use of performance enhancing drugs and steroids by their school players. But drug testing policies of different schools in the U.S. has been found lacking uniformity and integrated strategy to tie them together according to the Associated Press Survey.

The AP distributed request for information to 76 universities in the US about their respective drug testing policies. Out of the 51 schools that responded, not a single school’s drug policy submitted to the AP read exactly the same as another, even those that are situated within the same conferences and states. The report showed that the majority of respondents are more concerned about restricting the use of recreational drugs than anabolic steroids.

University policies relating to drug testing barely mention performance enhancing drugs. Some policies are only focused on conferences and championships. However, there are also policies just like the one at Florida that implements strict and rigorous test that reprimands athletes who test positive to steroids into Phase IV of its sanction program causing them to miss at least 50 percent of the season.

Miami was recognized by the AP review to have one of the most stringent drug testing policy with a minimum of three urine test a year that firmly implements automatic suspension for those with positive test result. In Michigan, which is considered as the biggest athletic department, the drug test includes not only the recreational drugs but also steroids, abuse of prescription drugs and other drugs considered as performance enhancers by the NCAA.

Findings on the AP review further showed that blood testing was not included in any of the college policies. This had been considered by experts as one a major flaw in their programs. But Mary Wilfert, the associate director of health and safety of NCAA, believes that it has not yet reached the point where it is critical to perform blood testing. The cost of blood testing is also a concern of member schools.

College sports had long been in controversy about the use of performance enhancing drugs and its has been brought to the limelight last year when Waterloo University in Canada suspended its football program for a season after their nine players were found positive for performance enhancing drugs. One of their players also tested positive for human growth hormone. Though, the most recent statistics of NCAA available showed that it had sanctioned 400,000 athletes across all divisions and administered 11,000 tests in 2008-2009 the prevalent use of illegal drugs in sports had not been controlled.

Inconsistency of drug testing policies among universities calls for necessary action by the NCAA in order to address the issue of wide-ranging use of performance enhancing drugs and steroids of college athletes. The guidelines used by the NCAA testing program which is administered by National Center for Drug-Free Sport is somehow different from WADA rules, which are viewed as best practices by the experts.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) aims to continuously upholds its values of respect and integrity in sports by setting new rules such as requiring all Division I schools to designate a staff member who can answer questions about dietary supplements and banned drugs. Unity and clarity in the college sports drug testing guidelines should be initiated to keep performance enhancing drugs out of the sport.

The decision of the jury on the steroid case of Barry Bonds is not a complete victory for the prosecution. After several years of fighting in court and spending millions, the government was able to prove one charge, that Bonds misled the grand jury in the BALCO investigation in 2003. Judge Susan Illston ruled; the America’s home run king was guilty of obstruction of justice.

But what about the other charges? Barry Bonds was also tried for making false statements but the jury, after 4 days of deliberations, could not reach a unanimous decision on the 3 counts. Judge Susan Illston declared a mistrial on these charges. Bonds was accused of lying about his use of anabolic steroid and human growth hormone and about his claim that no one except his doctor performed injections on him.

The defense, led by Allen Ruby, said the prosecution failed to prove that Bonds lied about his steroids use. Though he was convicted of obstruction of justice, the charge did not mention about his use of performance enhancing drugs. Instead, the jury found Bonds guilty of one of the seven statements in the obstruction of justice charge. The former San Francisco Giants was found guilty for not telling the grand jury about his childhood as the son of Bobby Bonds, a major leaguer, and his relationship with Greg Anderson, his personal trainer.

Legal experts predicted that Bonds could be convicted for lying about his use of steroids and claims that he was never injected by any other person except his doctor. However, the evidences and testimonies presented by the government failed to convince the jury.

The home run king showed no emotion when the verdict was read by the clerk of court. Defense lawyers instructed Bonds not to make comments as the case is not yet over. When asked by reporters if they will celebrate the partial victory, Bonds replied that there’s nothing to celebrate. The defense lawyers immediately asked Judge Susan Illston to throw out the verdict but the judge did not heed to the request of the defense. Instead, she set a status hearing on May 20. The sentencing date may also be finalized during the hearing. It is not yet clear whether the prosecution will retry Bonds on the unresolved counts.

Barry Bonds is the last prominent athlete who was charged for receiving designer steroids from the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative. Victor Conte, founder of BALCO and was convicted of illegal distribution of steroids, found the verdict non-sense. “This verdict absolutely makes no sense to me. Of all of these counts, the one that makes the least sense to me is the obstruction charge. Tell me how there was obstruction of justice,” he told USAToday.

Conte contends that the government already sent him to prison. “This is all about the selected persecution of Barry Bonds. This is not fair. I was the heavy in this. I accepted full responsibility and the consequences and went to prison. How is that obstruction? Doesn’t make sense,” he added.

Barry Bonds hold the home run record in baseball with 762 home runs. He is eligible in the Hall of Fame but with this conviction, his fate will definitely change.