Drugs can improve your speed, reaction time, endurance etc, so performers take them to ensure they can perform at their peak. However with strict drug testing procedures these days performers find it very

Richard Aldridge

Physiological Aids

Introduction

People within sport use drugs due to the increasing pressure on athletes to win, be the best and the huge rewards brought to sport by commercialisation. Due to this some athletes are tempted to improve their physique or performance by using drugs or taking banned substances. Many top sports stars have been found or recorded to have taken drugs in order to improve.

Sports people generally use drugs to improve their performance in a particular event or competition or to improve their ability to train harder and longer. As media coverage has grown in recent years so has the rewards for winning competitions. This has placed some performers under great pressure to succeed. Some performers will take drugs to win competitions and the rewards that go with them. Others will take them out of the desire to win at all costs.

Drugs can improve your speed, reaction time, endurance etc, so performers take them to ensure they can perform at their peak. However with strict drug testing procedures these days performers find it very difficult to get away with it, and many get caught and face long term bans.

Short-term effects depend on the type of drug being used. Generally short-term effects include pain blockage from an injury, lower heart rate, reduced anxiety and slower breathing rate.

Drugs are chemicals that can affect the body chemistry and how it works. They have been used since ancient times as medicines to relieve ...

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Short-term effects depend on the type of drug being used. Generally short-term effects include pain blockage from an injury, lower heart rate, reduced anxiety and slower breathing rate.

Drugs are chemicals that can affect the body chemistry and how it works. They have been used since ancient times as medicines to relieve pain and help in the healing process. In more recent times drugs have been used for recreational purposes and in 1879 drugs were reported for enhancing the performance of athletes and in particular cyclists. It is the performance enhancing drugs that concern sporting bodies throughout the world. Athletes using such drugs are judges to be cheating, as they are performing outside the rule structure of the sport. Many athletes area faced with an ethical and moral dilemma when training because they know drugs are available to help them perform and they also know that other athletes are using them.

The most common types of drugs tests are for are the following:

Anabolic steroids – these are synthesised testosterone, giving the performer bigger muscles and more aggression.
Amphetamines – these are a stimulant increasing the athlete’s awareness.
Narcotic Analgesics – These are designed to increase the pain threshold.
Beta Blockers – used for controlling heart rate and anxiety levels
Diuretics – used for weight loss.

Most of the drugs used today were initially designed by people within the medicine industry in order to treat patients with various illnesses or disorders. Many types of drugs are available to sports performers but people who participate in certain sport would require certain types of drugs in order to get the maximum result and performance. The main effects of different drugs groups are to; build muscle mass, increase the delivery of oxygen to exercising tissues, provide pain relief, stimulate the body, and relax and to reduce weight.

Building muscle mass

Athletes which compete in sports that require a high muscle mass, such as weightlifting, sprinting or throwing events such as shot-put may take or be tempted to take muscle building drugs. There are a variety of drugs available that will increase the muscle mass of an athlete, including anabolic steroids, human growth hormone and insulin

Anabolic steroids

Anabolic steroids are man made substance. They were developed in the late 1930’s to treat something called hypogonadism, which is a condition where not enough testosterone is produced. It was later found that this particular drug could increase the growth of skeletal muscle in humans. Today athletes use it to improve their performance and physical appearance. The main advantage from taking these drugs is that the muscles recovers more quickly from training. The main side effects of anabolic steroids are: