Shortcuts

Over the years, many athletes have tried to take shortcuts to get to their best performances. I am talking about the problem of steroids in sport. While steroids may seem like an easy to gain muscle and strength, the long term effects on the human body are not exactly pleasant.

First, there is the rejection once people are caught. While Ben Johnson was one of the first people to be stripped of a medal due to cheating, he was not the last. In spite of better testing methods, people are still trying to cheat the system

Second, steroids can cause many adverse conditions such as brain disease, kidney failure, cataracts, and many other problems. When I was a young college athlete, a friend of mine who had been a discus and shot putter on the 1980 olympic team told me he was heading for surgery. He had several issues and was all of 32 years old at that time. Not long after that, Lyle Alzado of the Oakland Raiders football organization died of brain cancer due to long term use of steroids.

There some supplements which are borderline, but as an athlete who has always been leery of taking anything other than the occasional aspirin, I can tell you there are no shortcuts. The only way to performance is hard work.