Supplement users, take note!

This is the letter I sent to my representatives on congress.org re: a ban on "andro" type supplements...regardless of what your stance about andro is specifically, this sets a bad precedent for supplements in general.
Feel free to use this or your own version of it.


I have been informed that there is a bill currently before Congress in regards to banning the sale of "andro" type performance enhancers. I strongly encourage you to defeat this bill.

Athletes should be allowed to have the same rights with their bodies as women, especially when there is no evidence that a supplement poses any adverse health effects. I believe the authors of this bill are merely trying to win votes by taking advantage of the general public's ignorance regarding these supplements.

Regulating sales of such supplements to those 18 or older such as the limits on alcohol and tobacco purchases makes far more sense than an outright ban.

Please vote against this bill.

At first steriods were praised. Now they know they aren't good. Andro or whatever special injection crap you're talking about is just the same. EAt healthy, workout, in time your kung fu will develop. There are no easy ways out and the short cuts will only give you a temporary excelleration which will have side effects.

Actually, I don't believe steriods should illegal either...they aren't in pretty much every other country besides the USA because of ignorance and fear mongering. Steroids absolutely DO produce results, and guess what? The only serious adverse effects are seen in the folks who ABUSE steroids, not one who takes it under medical supervision. Testosterone supplementation for deficient men happens currently, and has for quite some time. If we knew they were "no good", why does the medical community get to use them?

Ignorance is the cause of this andro ban as well, and without trying to be insulting here, you are demonstrating exactly why. Andro supps are not injectables.

You are correct in saying there are no easy ways out, but guess what...even with supplements and steroids, you still have to DO THE WORK, so this argument is pretty much not valid. This a health and fitness issue, and not limited to "kung-fu". Fitness is part of kung-fu...health is part of kung-fu. If we weren't meant to find ways to increase these, why exercise at all? Why eat protein if you don't need to spare/build muscle? Why NOT use sensible means to improve the very qualities that will make your kung-fu better in every way? For instance, creatine has been shown to not only help healthy peopel add lean mass and improve strength, but is also being used in medical applications as well.

I encourage you to do the reseacrch on BOTH sides of the coin and make an informed decision...not merely regurgitate the half-truths thrown about by the mass media.

Cheers!

'At first steriods were praised. Now they know they aren't good.'
so who says they aren't good. for the most part steriods are only ridiculed by the ill informed.
when steriods are a problem it is generally because of over abuse.
i'm not goin' to get into this arguement because odviously you are one of these i'll informed people.
i will however tell you about one such use that they have had for the better for me at least.
i had what what doctors and specialists could only determine to be an impinged tendon in my shoulder, why could they only think this? because after numerous scans, test and you name it they couldn't find the problem so they had to basically diagnose due to the symptoms.
after trying things including rest, massage, accupuncture(and other various chinese proceedures and tinctures) and finally cortisone(if you know anything about cortisone you know it's not good and doesn't leave the body and can actually pool in certain areas. also this is readily given to you by doctors who also have little real idea about steriods but are willing to pump you full of this other garbage) a friend of mine told me of the benifits of decca for small tissue and joint problems.
let me tell you that after 6x2ml shots problem solved(i must add that this stopped me from gung fu for about a year).
side affects - none.
i know plenty of guys who have used riods and never even looked like having a problem(one such has regular checks done on his testes and the rest of his body and they show no sign of problems - again moderation) and this 12 odd years down the track, it's all about moderation and cycling(yes i have met guys who have abused them to ill affect but they are fewer than the ones i know who have no probs.)
the same goes for ando and tribilus and the like, you abuse it and don't cycle it and you could be in for trouble, which believe it or not also goes for caffiene, alcohol amongst other legal drugs that can have very bad affects on your nervous system.
well, i geuss i'm finished rambling and i prepare for the abuse but like i said everything here in moderation is not bad just don't go giving steriods and like a bad rap unless you've first REALLY read up on them and know all the pluses and minuses.
if you are happy to sit back and gain your benifits more slowly while others are doing the same plus amplifying them with a little help then that is fine, just don't get upset with others who supplement(because that's all it really is) to get even more gains nad try and preach and tell what we are doing is bad for us when it is our lives not yours.
vts
ps you are very lucky in the usa, because in australia we can't get any of the andro stacks(unless your lucky enough to be in the know;) ) all we can get is tribilus legally and i send overseas to get the best for actually cheaper than what we have here, which is garbage.

Steroids are generally a lot safer than smoking and alcohol.

Tribulus is generally worthless, especially the stuff made by Biotest. It's very underdosed according to the tests I read.

Andro is pretty worthless, too, from what I hear. Unless you're using 1-AD which is supposed to be the only worthwhile stuff that doesn't have many side effects. I think it's made by Ergopharm but I could be wrong.

IronFist

Since anabolic steriods are illegal, that makes the user a drug user and one that is breaking the law to gain an unfair advantage over other athletes. If this andro stuff is banned, there must be a serious reason, it isn't just a miracle supplement that anybody can take without problems.
It seems to me that when somebody has to add drugs to their workout that they are either training way too much or not training with a quality over quanity ideology.

Iron,

Spot on about trib, man....at least what is peddled by most supp companies. I've heard that the thing to check for with trib is the standarization of "steroidal sapponins"...that'll tell you if the trib is worth taking or not.

Andro....if I remember right, the -diols are supposed to be significantly better than the -diones.

Played with 1-AD a little. Wasn't bad. Might do another dose cycle if it doesn't get outlawed! :D

Winter,

So, since steroids can be given by prescription, then does that mean that all prescription drugs make one a "drug user"? Does drinking Coke make one a "drug user"? Acetaminophen? You are probably a "drug user" and don't even know it. Hey, here's an idea....let's also ban people from being born with genetic propensities for athletic endeavors so they don't have any "unfair advantage" like a predisposition to fast/slow twitch muscle fiber ratio!

Choice is choice....period. Women should (and do) have the right to choose to take hormones for birth control despite the dictionaries of adverse effects, I should have the right to choose to use hormones to make myself stronger. I guess the difference is only whether someone in government can profit from it, huh?

Sorry for being thick, I was born with a propensity for it, but what are andro supplements?

Prescription steriods are for medical purposes such as helping with growth or immune defiency. They are used to help plants grow and for farm animals to encourage larger and quicker growth of the body to profit quicker. Coke is a drug, anything that is prescribed is a drug. THe user is automatically a drug user but only if the drug is illegal is the person a narcotic user. Maybe i should have used that word.

Olympics and other such events are to have people, as they were genetically gifted, compete against each other. Not as a playing field for scientists to see what they can do to the human body to have it perform at optimum peak for small amounts of time.

You also have to consider that old day kung fu masters had no drugs to make them better but relied on "natural" herbs and foods to make their kung fu better. The stories about iron palm and feather body was not done with steriods. It was done with a natural training regimen that worked on different scientific principals. Lifting weights and the advantages brought on by steriods may be great for runners or olympic weight lifters but for martial artists, it is a completely different set of ideals, goals and techniques which are used and instilled in the practioner. How does extra doses of natural substances or even forgien ones affect the internal energies present in the body? I've seen people that have trained too hard and used these drugs and they appear worn and dry. Like they are losing something. That something is the chi and they are abusing themselves in order to achieve a certain level of one specific part of atheltisim.

Ultimately, down the road i don't think using anything unnatural is good for your kung fu or you 'health and fitness.'

Quote:

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Rich Piana’s Autopsy Report Has Been Released

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Rich Piana, an internet famous American bodybuilder and fitness entrepreneur who won the Mr. California title along with competitions in Los Angeles in 2003 and Sacramento in 2009, recently died at the age of 46.

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The cause of his death has been the subject of much online debate because Rich Piana has publicly admitted to heavy usage of performance enhancing drugs including steroids and human growth hormone. His autopsy report has just been released by the medical examiner of Pinellas counties, Florida:

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Here’s what the causes mean:
1. an enlarged heart (and “significant heart disease”)
2. plaque buildup on the artery walls
3. fatty liver
4. congested thyroid
5. congested kidneys
6. discolored kidneys
7. ischemic brain tissue (i.e. brain tissue that had lost blood supply)
8. necrotic brain tissue (i.e. dead cells)
9. brain edema (swelling)
10. ascites (accumulation of protein-containing fluid in the abdomen)
-thanks to Anthony Roberts for the analysis.

They didn’t provide a definitive cause of death, and no toxicology report has been released.

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Inconclusive, yet probable.