DogBoy

I don't want this to be about LA, but the recent accusation is what brings up my question. Would there really be any benefit from taking andro to a professional cyclist? As a precursor to a steroid, I would think it would cause an increase in strength as well as a large increase in muscle mass. Wouldn't that be counter productive to a pro cyclist? I would think that gains due to pure strength would not really help that much given the penalty of the additional weight. I am discussing pros here, so I would think the strength would be there and the limiters are anerobic threshold for sprints and aerobic threshold for the majority of riding. Would it matter based on the type of cyclist? (track, vs sprinter vs TDF type racer?) All the drugs related to cycling that Ive heard about are EPO and other drugs that enhance O2 delivery to muscles. How would a muscle builder really help?

Smoothie104

Andro was available over the counter for a while, at GNC etc... So buying it wasnt illegal,

It is on the UCI and IOC banned list, but I'm not sure when it was added. Would be interesting if it was not on the list when it was allegedly found. Which although performance enhancing, would not be "illegal" Similar to the Actovegin (Calfs blood derivative) that USPS was found to have in the 2000 tour.

Andro converts to testasterone once in the body. If you take a lot of Testasterone, you grow big strong muscles, if you take a little, you grow stronger, slightly bigger muscles, and most importantly for a cyclist, you recover from a hard ride much quicker.

As of January 20th of this year, It is a controlled substance and no longer available over the counter.

DXchulo

I think most of the benefits would come from the improved recovery. I remember when Mark McGwire was taking andro and he said it allowed his body to recover from a tough day of lifting faster, so therefore he could lift more often and eventually he was this big huge monster crushing 70 homers. We all know how much cycling takes out of your body, and if you could take a drug that let your legs recover faster, you could take fewer days off and thereby improve your heart and lungs.

Remember, just taking a steriod alone won't make you buff. You need to work out. Your legs can only get so big by just riding a bike, so it may be plausible that a cyclist could take andro and not get noticably bigger. Then again, maybe the legs would increase in size dramatically. I really don't know.

It seems to me like it would make a lot more sense to just do blood doping or a hard-to-trace version of EPO, seemingly better at enhancing endurance. You could get more benefits with less work that way. Then again, if andro indeed wasn't banned at the time, then andro might have been a safer route in the sense that he could get caught and not get suspended.

doctorSpoc

endurance athletes take steroid not necessarily get get big, but to maintain their size. riding intense 6 to 7 hr days actually wastes alot of muscle mass faster than e.g. fat. as well they may make you more agressive (a la steriod rage) allowing you to work out longer and harder without mental fatigue...

Smoothie104

It also raises your hematocrit slightly

Guest

Which is why in the off season, they hit the gym and do the weights. That makes andro use a non issue. You build extra strength, work on power, then back off the weights and head into your riding season. The power should be maintained, though the muscle size will probably decrease.

Have any of us seen Lance bulk up in the past few years? I haven't seen anything significant.

Koffee

Iron Chef

He has unbulked.

Guest

That's an understatement!

Koffee

Devil

Andro won't necessarily bulk you up. It has to do with the dosages and the way you cycle it (no pun intended).

Smoothie104

Delgado was allegedly a big testasterone user, and he was a small man...

roadwarrior

Must be why he missed his start time in the prologue when trying to defend his TdF win...

Guest

Androgen promotes greater intensity of protein synthesis, which leads to bulking. It probably wouldn't affect someone with a slim build to look like the Terminator if he wasn't doing as much lifting too.

Koffee

doctorSpoc

like i said on the other thread... endurance atheletes don't use steroids to bulk up.. necessarily... it's all about dosage... they use it to prevent muscle waisting of doing long 6-7hr rides and probably more importantly to recover faster so they can do more hard rides in a week. 'adrogen' gets converted to testosterone in your body so it will do just that... testoterone is a hormone that will do much more than just build muscle...

wdbike.com

Yes, but only with protien/calorie surplus. These guys train so much and watch their diets so closely that bulking is not really a worry.