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ANDROSTENEDIONE, DHEA AND ATHLETES
Gabe Mirkin, M.D.
A recent study from Harvard Medical School shows that androstenedione, the over-the-counter-food supplement taken by home-run king, Mark McGwire, raises male hormone levels (1) and therefore should help athletes become stronger.
In the 1960s and 70s athletes felt that doctors were incredibly stupid because they told them that
synthetic male hormones, called anabolic steroids, will not help them to become stronger. The athletes
still don't believe doctors who tell them that androstenedione and DHEA do not help make them
stronger.
In the December, 1999 issue of the official journal of the American College of Sports Medicine, an article shows
that the masculinizing hormones, DHEA and androstenedione, do not help middle-aged men become
stronger (2). That doesn't apply to athletes. Training for competition is done by taking a hard workout,
feeling sore on the next day or more, and then going easy until the soreness goes away.
Athletes know how long it takes for them to recover from workouts. IF they recover faster so they can do
more intense training, they know that a new drug or technique is helping them. Athletes train near their
maximum, so they can tell when they recover faster and do more work. Middle-aged men can't possibly
train at their maximum, so this study shows that most gym rats don't gain that much from taking
masculinizing hormones, but competitive athletes training near their maximum, do benefit from these
drugs.
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