High School Kids and Steroids

[Sainters7]

Just listenin to Sirius NFL radio and the host(Brian Baldinger?) was telling a story about how recently a couple approached him and said that their son - a junior in high school - "really, REALLY wants to play pro baseball", and they are weighing the idea of giving him human growth hormone. He went on to say that as of right now, there is an estimated one million high school students on steroids or some type of HGH in the U.S., and also said that HGH use is seen as early as junior high.

I dont know about you, but I was shocked when I heard that number.

[socalwingfan]

They previewed the starting lineup for the varsity football team for one of the local high schools this year in the paper and 3 offensive linemen were 275+ and 1 was over 300 pounds!! I can only imagine what it's like in a football crazy state like Texas!!

[Burninator]

Steroids may make you stronger, but they won't improve your skill. I think people look at Bonds and think,"wow, steroids made him a fantastic baseball player" No, he was already a great baseball player, they just pushed him to the next level physically. Steroids aren't a magic elixir that make you amazing at sports, there has to be a great skill already there to make the most out of them.

[killer_carlson]

I first saw/heard about roids in calgary in grade 8. I won't use names but I don't think it was any secret. It really bothered me though when this idiot at another school told my buddy that he "had connections" in case he ever wanted a boost in that way.

Having said that, being in high school and 275 pounds isn't that big of a deal and I'm not sure it is directly related to steroids. We had three or four guys at Grandin who were at least 240 or bigger without really trying to gain weight or train at that time (including two of my best friends). One was a tremendous wrestler who steamrolled through the superheavyweight provincials in grade 9 but refused to wrestle for the wrestling coach in high school - the same coach who I consider to be in the top 5 biggest losers I've ever met. Had there been someone without some serious personal inadequacies coaching the team then things would have been different and there could have been a 275 pound monster playing football and wrestling at Grandin.

THe other thing to think of is that kids in the US tend to be about 1 year older than their counterparts up here in Alberta (or at least that was the case when I went down for b-ball tourneys down there).

[Azure]

Thing is, HGH won't do anything for those kids.

Well, not much.

Teenagers, especially boys already go through a tenfold increase in testerone levels once they hit puberty, and their body naturally produces the equivalent of 300 mg of testerone per week. Thats more than enough 'growth hormone' to rapidly build muscle if one takes the time to workout and eat properly.

But then again, the average teenager isn't taught this stuff in high school, and when they read muscle magazines its really no surprise that they feel taking steroids will actually 'help' their growth.

Numerous reports have also said that actually using anabolic steroids when your natural testerone levels are THAT high will restrict your growth hormones from responding correctly to the amount of physical activity you do.

So not only is it 'unhealthy' to take steroids for these kids, its also downright stupid as it won't help them anyways. Considering of course that taking 300 mg of testerone per week, which is what the average teenager will produce in that time, is considered illegal and VERY unhealthy for say, a body builder.

Once again, the lack of understanding in regards to how the human body works comes to the forefront. What are they teaching these kids in health class?

[corporatejay]

When I was in high school (during the height of the McGuire andro scandal) kids were using that stuff like crazy.....no word of a lie, when people found out that BigMac was on Andro, that week people were going out and buying it.

Athletes don't realize how much influence they have over young kids. Sure it's not monkey see, monkey do, but guys looking to bulk up, and see athletes using the stuff assume it's safe.

Also, I find it hypocritical of all these sports stations condemning the use of HGH by athletes all the while sellling early morning weekend ad time to these same people (unlesss they've stopped doing it recently).