Prohormones - A Safe Alternative to Anabolic Steroids?

Natural or synthetic substances that have little influence on body functions by themselves, prohormones are the building blocks or precursors the body uses to make its own anabolic, muscle-building hormones. Prohormones have recently surged in popularity among the body building community. This is, in part, because other steroids are illegal, while prohormones made for a nice alternative.

Just because prohormones aren't illegal, doesn't mean they are completely safe. What do you need to know about this muscle-building hormone and how it may effect your body? Is there maybe a safer way to build muscles that doesn't include taking any hormones?

Prohormones and Body Builders

Over the last ten years, since anabolic steroids have been declared illegal and enforcement of the laws has strengthened, many athletes have turned to prohormones to enhance their body building efforts. Recently in the USA, the Food and Drug Administration has begun to crack down on prohormones, too, further limiting enhancement options for body builders and professional athletes.

 

Everybody uses prohormones

As the building block of hormones, prohormones are found in the bodies of every human being on earth. The classic example of a prohormone is proinsulin, the storage form of insulin made in the pancreas. Insulin moves sugar out of the bloodstream into the cells that need it. Since we actually eat for just a few minutes every day, most of the time there is not a lot of newly digested sugar in the bloodstream requiring insulin for transport. Right after a heavy meal is digested and leaves the stomach, however, a flood of sugar enters the bloodstream, requiring more insulin than the pancreas can make at one time. To keep sugar flowing into the muscles for fuel and tissue building, the pancreas “unzips” the proinsulin molecule to make the massive amounts of insulin hormone the body needs for short periods each day.

Androstenedione used to be the athlete's prohormone of choice

The now-banned natural supplement prohormone androstenedione is the natural building block of testosterone, the male sex hormone that fuels muscle growth and mental agility in male athletes. It can be taken as a supplement, but it is also made in the body itself. After testosterone injections became illegal for professional athletes, “Andro” became the popular alternative. In men, the enzyme 17-beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase (which is supplied by the body itself) turns androstenedione into testosterone. In women, the enzyme aromatase turns the supplement into estrogen. Mass-produced by San Francisco chemist Patrick Arnold, dozens of American professional baseball players, notably hitting phenomenon Mark McGwire, started taking this supplement when testosterone itself was banned in the 1990's.

The Banning of Androstenedione from Professional Sports

For about 10 years, Andro was legal and available over the counter for professional athletes and amateurs alike. In 2004, however, the US Controlled Substances Act was amended to list androstenedione as a “Schedule III” controlled substance. This classification meant that it was considered less dangerous than methamphetamines, heroin, cocaine, and pain killers, but still a substance that could cause physical or psychological addiction and that now can only be prescribed for a doctor, and for no more than six months at a time. Since “growing bigger muscles” is not a medical condition, doctors cannot legally prescribe the drug in the USA for training purposes.

A highly undesirable but seldom publicized side effect of using Andro

Even though the amended US Controlled Substances Act mischaracterized androstenedione as an anabolic steroid (it's not actually anabolic in itself, the testosterone the body makes from it is), there is another serious problem with casual use of the supplement that has to do with dosing. Taken in doses of 50 to 100 mg, in most men, the prohormone has no effect at all. Taken in doses over 300 mg, in most men, the prohormone is turned into testosterone. Taken in doses between 100 and 300 mg, however, androstenedione is metabolized into estrogen, the higher the amount of body fat, the more likely the man using the supplement is to suffer estrogen-induced effects. Instead of building muscle, Andro can build “man boobs,” induce impotence, and encourage weight gain on the hips. Prohormones are not a safe alternative to anabolic steroids!

Feminizing side effects are also a problem with other products related to androstenedione

The feminizing side effects are not just a problem with Andro. DHEA (dehydoepiandrosterone) and androstenediol, both of which are converted in the body into androstenedione, and both of which are still on the market, both can be converted into estrogen when taken in the wrong dosages. This is also a problem for 19-nor androstenedione and 19-nor androstenediol supplements. Tribulus, horny goat weed, ginseng, passionflower, and other herbal alternatives also have little or no effect on training. There simply is no stack of supplements for you to take to bring up your testosterone levels. Fortunately, taking a supplement is not the only way to build up testosterone and build up muscle, and building up muscle is not actually dependent on keeping sex hormone levels high.

 

Building Up Testosterone Levels to Pump Up Muscles without Shots or Supplements

The single most important thing any male athlete can do to build muscle and to maintain healthy testosterone levels is to stay at a trim body fat. Even in men, fat cells are factories for aromatase, the enzyme that converts naturally occurring androstenedione and even testosterone itself into estrogen. If you don't overfeed your fat cells, you don't give them the fuel to upset your hormonal balance.

On the other hand, it's also important to avoid starving your muscle mass. Exercise expert Dr. John Berardi tells us that the average weight lifter actually has lower testosterone levels than the average non-lifter. Big muscles certainly do not require big doses of testosterone. In fact, dedicated body builders often work out so hard that their bodies burn more calories than are consumed. When a workout causes a calorie deficit, stress hormones are produced, and these hormones are the enemy of testosterone.

Further, in their quest for six-pack abs, many exercisers try to eat a diet that is too low in fat and cholesterol. The body makes all of its hormones from cholesterol. At least a little cholesterol and a little fat, maybe just 10 to 20 per cent of calories, is essential each and every day.

So before you schedule a trip to Tijuana to see an illegal testosterone vendor and risk spending several years in jail, try two simple, sensible, and completely legal things. First of all, make sure you eat enough good, wholesome food each and every day. Time your post-workout meals so that your muscles get sugar and protein to rebuild themselves in the 90 to 120 minutes after you exercise.

Secondly, don't be afraid to eat olive oil, peanut butter, avocados, cold-water fish, egg yolks, and red meat. Don't eat too many calories, but be sure to get some of your calories in the form of fat to keep your testosterone levels healthy and your muscles growing. You will boost your libido, enhance your well being, and add muscle mass.