Certain buy growth hormone are used in the medical profession to treat certain conditions, but anabolic steroids are widely used by bodybuilders (in gyms) to build defined muscle mass and by sportsman (particularly professional) to enhance stamina or performance. Steroids can be taken orally, injected or rubbed into the skin using a cream or gel.
Lets firstly look at the reasons why people take steroids in order to build muscle mass and what they actually do. People use steroids when weight lifting to quickly enhance their muscle mass and define it. Taking anabolic steroids is of course banned in professional competition and carries a lot of health risks. Steroids make muscles larger and give them definition by artificially raising the amount of anabolic hormones in the blood, this helps stimulate further growth of the muscles. Anabolic steroids are mainly testosterone based and allow athletes to train harder, and for longer periods. However, these benefits can come at a very high price.
Using anabolic steroids (particularly long term) carries a lot of risks to your health. It can have a profound effect on your psychological well-being. You can experience devastating mood swings while taking steroids and suffer from bouts of depression. Some users become very aggressive (a risk of excessive levels of testosterone) and can experience intense periods of anger.
Long term steroid use can also have a damaging effect on your heart. Users are more at risk of coronary disease, heart attacks, and the left ventricle (one of the hearts four chambers) can become enlarged. Any substance that puts at risk the most important muscle in your body, can not be worth the risk.
There is another way, you can choose to build muscle mass naturally. Try to workout between 3 or 4 times a week, lifting heavier weights with lower repetitions. Really push yourself, lowering the repetitions after each set. Your muscles should be burning at the conclusion of each exercise (3 sets). Working out and getting a good physique naturally will really boost your self-esteem and give you far more satisfaction that using steroids ever could. Build muscle naturally rather than using steroids, and avoid all those added health risks.