Right or more often the case wrong, athletes have been taking anabolic steroids since the early 1960’s. Many competitive bodybuilders go to excess in taking steroids in order to compete citing that ‘extreme sports require extreme measures,’ using a plethora of various forms for different effects — one might increase muscle hardness while another will improve mass, strength or endurance — thus becoming human walking chemistry sets.

Synthetic anabolic steroids are potent medications designed to mimic the function of testosterone which can even perform better at promoting muscle growth than equivalent levels of testosterone.

Often coined as being juiced or juiced up amongst those who use the drugs, some say “steroids are as American as Apple Pie.”

Hazards of Steroids for Men and Women
While it’s not as common to suffer critical or life-threatening effects, steroids are far from safe, causing potentially harmful side-effects with some being irreversible.

Both genders can experience increased acne on the face, chest and back.

Depending on the drug, anabolic steroids can cause a person’s behavior can change with increased aggression and irritability. Some of this aggression has caused people to commit armed robbery, use force to obtain something, and physical fighting. This would not happen to a naturally calm person but someone who is naturally aggressive would become more aggressive by taking steroids.

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Anabolic steroids have also been known to cause behavioral effects including euphoria, increased energy, sexual arousal, mood swings, distractibility, forgetfulness, and confusion.

Bad side-effects on blood pressure and the cardiovascular system can cause heart attacks, enlargement of the heart’s left ventricle and people younger than 30 to develop Cardiovascular disease.

Blood chemistry can change causing blood clots in the blood vessels and potentially disrupt the blood flow, damaging the heart muscle so it doesn’t pump blood effectively. Heart disease can develop because it affects the cholesterol levels — over a period of time the cholesterol builds up and clogs the arteries. Steroids affect the heart only if you have a heart disease to begin with, so it’s very wise to stay away from them if you have a heart problem.

Anabolic steroids are especially dangerous for teenagers, interfering with the normal effect of hormones on a growing body, and premature development of the epiphysis — the end of the bone — resulting in stunted growth.

Tom Platz. fitFLEX

Tom Platz. fitFLEX

Officer Ronnie Coleman. Body Building Universe

Steroids can be taken orally, by injection, with gels, patches and nasal sprays. For the squeamish afraid of needles, it’s not possible to get a doctor to inject you since steroids are illegal, so some resort to the oral method which has the greatest number of side effects.

They have to pass through the digestive system and the liver in order to get into the bloodstream, so they’re designed to survive the process, and require large amounts to ensure that there’s enough left afterwards to have an effect.

The liver’s job is to remove such substances from the body which puts a great deal of strain on the liver and can result in significant liver damage and tumors which in turn can cause internal bleeding.

Some oral steroids can cause stomach distention — the lower abdomen becomes irritated and swollen, you can experience chronic constipation, water retention, and intestinal gas — the latter of which is not pretty if you want to keep your friends.

Franco Columbu. IFBB Pro

Nasser El-Sonbaty. Inside Bodybuilding

Nasser El-Sonbaty Photo Grizzly Boots

Taken in high doses, steroids can also develop jaundice, peliosis hepatitis, and cancer.

Injected steroids are put directly into the blood stream, making them far easier on your liver, but there is much concern over safe injection practices.

Depression is further aggravated if and when steroid use stops with rebound causing extreme depression, fatigue, apathy, and the likes.

Dorian Yates. Photo Muscle-Pro

Dorian Yates. Muscle-Pro

Coleman Cutler pozedown. Flexonline

Steroid Hazards for Men
Men can experience a short-term increase in the sex drive, followed by a suppression of natural testosterone output and potential shrinkage of the testes.

They can lower sperm count thus making men infertile, as well as develop gynecomastia — deposits of estrogen in the area of the nipple which can also grow breasts.

Steroid Hazards for Women
A very dangerous irreversible side-effect for women is masculinization due to the effects of testosterone and androsterone, including deepening of the voice, menstrual irregularities, development of facial and back hair, clitoral enlargement and even male-pattern baldness.

Kim Chizevsky. Doctissimo.fr

Kim Chizevsky. Doctissimo.fr

Kim Chizevsky. IFBB Pro

As one man reported to BodyBuilding of his former 3-year relationship with a woman who used steroids, “After my girlfriend made her decision to juice it up, with me as an up-close personal witness to all of her transformations during this time, it changed my mind about women on the juice forever. I saw her go from a hot hard body to a bloated, mental mess.” says Josh.

“My girlfriends’ skin became course and dry; a lot of her hair fell out while it grew on her face, her chest, and down her butt; her voice dropped three octaves; her nose grew; her jaw widened; she got spaces between her teeth; she got acne all over her chest, across her shoulders, and down her back, and she stopped having her period.”

Rampant hair growth is an irreversible side-effect, sprouting up on the chin, chest, around the nipples, and the buttocks — particularly the lower inner glutes and around the anus.

Bev Francis. IFBB Pro

Bev Francis. IFBB Pro

Melissa Dettwiller. BodyBuilder

“The first thing you’ll notice if you take up with a juiced chick is her heightened level of aggression. When a woman’s aggression is initiated by testosterone, the result can sometimes get ugly.”

In another irreversible side effect of clitoral enlargement from androgen use, he saw his girlfriend’s grow to be 2 inches long and as big around as his small finger. When a woman in this condition becomes aroused, her clitoris becomes erect and sticks out just like a man’s penis, complete with a little head and all.

While the condition isn’t harmful, many women get vaginal discharge, but it will cease once the drugs are stopped.

Another bothersome yet temporary condition for the juiced up woman is the increase of body odor. Josh recalls lying in bed nestled in each other’s arms after some particularly torrid sex that made him wonder if he was sharing the bed with an entire soccer team after a world championship.

Mustafa Mohammed. Body Builder

Mátra Kupa 2003 Mohammed Mustafa. BodyBuilder

Mr. Olympia 2003 Ronnie Coleman. BodyBuilder

The Wrap-up on Steroids
Unlike training for other sports, the goal in bodybuilding is to achieve a certain appearance. For competitive bodybuilders, strength itself is not as important as size, symmetry and definition.

Steroids do give the advantage over other athletes as it helps to train with a higher intensity and for longer periods, and can speed up recovery time for the stress on the muscles.

A popular way to take steroids is by cycling, starting the dosage at very small amounts and increasing the dosage weekly, then decreasing it over a 6 to12 week period. Bodybuilders then train without the drugs for 4 weeks and repeat the cycle all over again.

Perhaps the worst mistake most steroid users make is to become steroid abusers. It’s very common to overuse steroids which results in a wide range of health problems, some of which you will be living with for life.

It’s critical when considering taking steroids to do as much research as possible.

Via - Life In The Fast Lane

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Pathological Consumption

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The burglars will think you’re at home watching TV: FakeTV Burglar Deterrent Device.

FakeTV accurately simulates the light output of a real television. The effect of scene changes, fades, swells, flicks, on-screen motion, and color changes look just they came from a real TV. From outside the house, it looks just like someone is watching a real television. The potential burglar thinks the home must be occupied, so he moves on to an easier target.

Is $40 too much to pay for peace of mind?

The New Homeless Of America - Middle Class

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For Wall Street Workers, Ax Falls Quietly

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1. Biggest Beer Selection

In 2002, Dave Alexander of the Brickskeller, Washington, DC, received a Guinness World Record certificate for having the largest selection of beer in the world, a total of 1,072 different beers.

2. Most Beers In One Setting

Since the Guinness Book of World Records no longer tracks drinking records, we’re not positive this is the record. But Andre the Giant drank 119 beers (standard 12-ounce) in a 6 hour stretch. For those keeping track, that’s one every 3 minutes. Afterwards he passed out in a hotel hallway and for some reason no one could move the big man.

3. Biggest Beer Collection

Ron Werner of the USA was bestowed a certificate in 2002 for his collection of 11,644 different beer bottles accumulated since 1982, including 7,128 that remain unopened. Among this collection are 1,704 brands. He has sampled almost every one of these brands.

4. Fastest Liter

On June 22, 1977, Steven Petrosino broke the World Record for drinking 1 liter of beer in 1.3 seconds at the Gingerbreadman in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, USA. The previous record was held by Peter Dowdeswell of the United Kingdom, who drank 1 liter in 2.3 seconds.

5. Fastest Beer Mile

Jim Finlayson of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada holds the record time of 5 minutes, 09 seconds, set on 08 December, 2007 for completing the fastest Beer Mile. Competitors must consume a 355 ml can of beer before running each lap, for a total of 4 laps, or 400 meters. The fastest time wins. A penalty lap must be run if the competitor vomits before completing the 4-lap requirement.

Source - Madconomist.com

Unusual Business Ideas That Work: Make Money Naming Domains

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But one man’s problem is another man’s solution. Rather than to shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars for a domain name on the aftermarket, an increasing number of web entrepreneurs turn to professional domain namers.

While most naming agencies charge a non-refundable fee that can be as high as $1500 for a corporate domain, one service that unites 17 professional domain namers from countries like United States, Russia, Australia and New Zealand, decided to offer a risk-free service that costs only 50 dollars per domain.

After 50 dollars are deposited, clients start getting a list of available domain names via e-mail for a period of 30 days. If they see a domain they like, they register it and notify the service about domain acquired. The individual, who came up with the name, gets $25, the other half going to the service. If no domain is registered, the money is refunded in full.

While the idea is brainlessly simple, it appears that PickyDomains.Com has no competition with its risk-free business model. But that is almost certain to change as more people find out that finding available domain names for other people can be a profitable business.

[Via - Business Opportunities Blog]

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Wennersten, a senior at Huron High School in Westland, Mich., didn’t think it would result in suspension for himself and the 12 lacrosse teammates he recruited to help him spell out the proposal on their buttocks, reported WDIV-TV in Detroit.

At the Huron junior varsity soccer match Thursday night, the players mooned the crowd and displayed the question, “Will You Go To Prom With Me? Yes or No?” to Huron senior Carolyn Campbell.

“We all lined up in accordance to what position we were in the sentence, and then we flagged down Carolyn and bent over and exposed our rear ends to her to give her the message,” said Wennersten. “I actually heard applause and lots of laughter, but the negative side effects came after.”

All 13 players were suspended for one day of school, suspended for an undetermined number of games and ordered to complete 20 hours of community service. Huron’s lacrosse matches scheduled for this past Saturday and Monday were rescheduled.Huron athletic director Dottie Davis told the students’ parents in a meeting that the gesture was inappropriate and disrespectful to women.

Campbell, who accepted the prom invitation by patting the back of the player with the word “yes” written on his posterior, said she was not upset by the way Wennersten popped the question.”I thought it was funny and cute. I wasn’t offended,” said Campbell.

In fact, Campbell said the proposal was “epic,” and she didn’t think it would become such a big deal.Wennersten agreed. He said originally his friends suggested a sign, but he wanted something more memorable.

He also said he understood school officials’ reasons for punishing him and his teammates.

Wennersten said he realized afterward that it was “incredibly inappropriate and immature.

“However, he said he enjoyed every minute of it.The hallways were buzzing the day after the incident. Most students said they found it humorous and thought school officials blew it out of proportion.

Davis said there were some parents who found it offensive. She has not yet decided the length of the players’ game suspension.

[Via - Local6.Com]

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‘Free Tibet’ flags made in China

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