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Using bodybuilding drugs can be risky. Here's what users need to do to stay as healthy as possible.by Christian Thibaudeau | 



TAGS LIVING BETTER, METABOLIC CONDITIONING, PHARMA, TIPS, TRTMost people have no business using bodybuilding drugs. It's just not healthy and it certainly doesn't help with longevity. But many will do it anyway. Those folks should at least boost their odds by doing the right kind of cardio, taking certain supplements, and avoiding one particular crutch. Take a look.
1 CardioLet's say you decide to use steroids, growth hormone, clenbuterol, SARMs or peptides. Fine, it's your choice. But you should understand the importance of doing everything possible to minimize the negative impacts on your health.
The two most important things you can do is keep both blood pressure and blood lipids/cholesterol under control. Cardio can go a long way in keeping you healthier for a lot longer.
Low intensity steady-state cardio is good for improving vascular health and lowering blood pressure; intervals can help with cardiac function. It could even increase heart elasticity and potentially help break down scar tissue, both of which would increase cardiac function and decrease the risk of cardiac problems.
You don't need to do a huge amount either. Even just 20 minutes of steady-state cardio (heart rate of around 110-115 beats per minute) at the beginning or end of your workouts would be helpful. And don't worry, that's not enough to prevent protein synthesis from happening. Or take few long walks a week and do HIIT once a week.
 2 Health SupplementsEverybody should use health-boosting supplements, but they're even more important for enhanced lifters. Life or death important.
Many enhanced lifters love to say that steroids and growth hormone are safe when used intelligently. But any foreign substance that changes your physiology can't NOT have potentially harmful effects. The ironic problem with "smart" use is that the problems may arise more subtly and lead to long term issues that could've been prevented early on.
Unless you get frequent blood work done, you don't have any idea how your blood lipids are, how your cholesterol is, or the amount of liver and kidney stress you're experiencing. The vast majority of enhanced lifters don't even measure their blood pressure. These things don't really have obvious symptoms. That's why high blood pressure is often called "the silent killer."
Pretty much all oral PEDs will mess up your lipid profile and cholesterol. And while liver problems aren't as likely as some people think, most oral steroids really do put a strain on your liver. Heck, even an oral that seems safer, like Anavar, can increase kidney stress, which is much worse than liver stress.
All steroids that cause water retention – Dianabol, Anadrol, testosterone, nandrolone, etc. – will increase blood pressure. This is also true of several SARMs, peptides, and growth hormone. Anything that increases water retention will increase blood pressure. Uncontrolled blood pressure is the most dangerous thing for steroid users.
Most steroids also thicken the blood. This is especially true of Equipoise and Anadrol, but testosterone in "bodybuilding" amounts will also do it. Thicker blood increases blood pressure too, but it also makes the heart work a lot harder to push the blood through the system. This can lead to left ventricle hypertrophy, another potential cause of heart problems.

This isn't a scare tactic. But if you decide to go the enhanced route, instead of investing your money on supplements that will trigger more muscle growth (you will already get a maximum amount of growth from anabolics) you should invest it in supplements that will help your health.
So what should the enhanced user take? Fish oil, which can reduce blood pressure, decrease blood thickening, and reduce inflammation. Or Curcumin, which reduces inflammation and can inhibit and even reverse left ventricle hypertrophy. Another option is ubiquinone, which drastically improves cardiac health and function. There are other supplements which can help reduce blood pressure, like celery extracts for example.

The Worst Thing for Steroid UsersIf you're enhanced, the worst thing for you to use are stimulants. Think about it. Your blood pressure might be elevated, your blood might be thicker, and you're taking a product that spikes blood pressure even more and increases heart rate. That's a recipe for long term disaster.

THE QUESTIONWhat daily habit have you adopted that's helped you to get healthier, build muscle or get leaner?
Dr. Chad Waterbury – Strength Coach and Performance ExpertTAKING COLD SHOWERSThe benefits of cold water immersion have been known for eons. But it wasn't until the recent popularity of "The Iceman" Wim Hof that chilling out in freezing cold water has become en vogue.
I gave his cold shower therapy a try. At the end of your usual hot shower, finish with 30 seconds of the coldest water you can handle.
The trick here is to maintain a normal breathing pattern despite the rapid drop in water temperature. I made a point to slow my exhale phase so it was twice as long as the inhale. This offsets the sympathetic nervous system response. I maintained a two-second inhale followed by a four-second exhale sequence during the 30 seconds of cold water. This isn't easy at first!
My progression consisted of increasing the cold water time by 10 seconds every third or fourth day until I reached one minute. Feel free to go beyond that, if it suits you.
I've always been intolerant to cold temperatures, and my feet were usually cooler than they should've been. Since I started ending my showers with cold water therapy, I've experienced three benefits:

1. Better tolerance to cold temperatures
   
2. Improved circulation (indicated by warmer feet throughout the day)
   
3. Deeper sleep and faster recovery from workouts
   

• I wear blue-blocking glasses if I watch TV or use the computer at night. I found how well they worked while watching a Game of Thrones episode with them on and found myself not getting emotional about anything. Then, I pulled them off and realized how modern shows use color to arouse the audience.
  
• Before bed, I take my magnesium supplement, vitamin D, and fish oil. We generally hit the hot tub with a beverage, then take a cold shower with our deck shower. By then, I'm fully wound down and ready to sleep.
  
• Good sleep sets up a great day. I drink my coffee, answer emails, do my college work and write. At 9:00 I get ready for my workout because people will be arriving soon to train with me.
  

• The room is hot. It's 100 degrees if I place my mat underneath the infrared overhead space heaters. I own a dry sauna at home which runs at about 140 degrees, but 60 minutes in a hot Hatha class provides the same benefits including detoxification through excessive sweating, recovery via increased blood flow, and activation of heat shock protein to protect against insulin resistance.
  
• It focuses more on balance and stretching. This is a good thing because it doesn't cut into my training capacity or ability to go balls-out in the gym, provided I stay well hydrated. I have a serving of Mag-10® throughout the hour-long session to ensure I don't cannibalize muscle.
  
• The body comp factor. Hot yoga actually allowed me to forgo all traditional cardio in my most recent contest prep. I've never been a big cardio fan for achieving favorable body composition, so the ability to eliminate it completely was very attractive to me. – Mark Dugdale
  

CLUELESS IN THE INFORMATION AGEWhy is it that despite the massive proliferation of lifting information available now, there are still men in the gym who clearly couldn't buy a clue when it comes to what they should be doing?
Everyone and their damn dog has the Internet. You're probably reading this article online right now while you're supposed to be working, or you're at home waiting for YouPorn to load up. And since this article ain't likely to be posted at goodhousekeeping.com, you know how to find decent websites about training.

?Just for fun, try this: bring up Google, type in "weightlifting" or "weight training" and run a general search. That took all of ten seconds. So with all this free info out there, what's with all the guys who don't train legs? What's with all the mega sets of biceps? Why are all the pulldown stations full while no one can do a damn chin-up? Half benches? Quarter squats?
 

 
Long before Al Gore invented the 'Net, people trained and they trained right. When I began my journey in strength sports, there was no T-Nation, no online forums, and a lot fewer gurus than there are now. But in the gym we knew there was a right way and a wrong way of doing things.
Every online hero says he squats "ATG" or ass-to-grass. Bullshit. That's not what I'm seeing. I see a lot of head-bobs on squat machines and the leg press; lots of plates loaded up and barely moved with much screaming and moaning; lots of show, no fucking go.
And deadlifts? Don't even bother. You'll be lucky to find a gym that even allows them.
THREE GYMSI've trained at three local commercial gyms in the past six months and one private facility. I was spoiled at the latter because it was owned by a guy I knew. Usually when I was lifting there was no one else around. After a while though it was back to reality and training in public.
I'm not the strongest or biggest guy, but I am above average. I've achieved a lot of the goals I'd set for myself in Highland Games (including competing at the National Championships) and dabbled in powerlifting and strongman.
 

 
Minnesota 2003: Clearing 15' in the 56 pound weight for height
When I squat, I front squat because of disc problems in my neck, and I do them right. When I bench, the bar touches my chest before I press it back up. If I do dumbbell work, my elbows break parallel. I'm in the minority.
You might say, "Not here you're not," but I beg to differ. If that's true, most of the people here must lift in their garages. Lucky them.
I've trained at the first commercial gym off and on for years. There are lots of the same guys there, mostly older guys like me, late 30's, some in their 40's and 50's. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of plate-loaded machines.
There's even one dude who's been doing the same workout for three years. It involves loading everything up to the max — so twelve plates per side on the leg press — and doing what might (might!) be quarter reps. He's been doing the same weight for the same reps on the same exercises in the same order for at least three years.
You see this guy on the street; he hobbles around so slowly he looks crippled. Couple of years back he was impressed with the Blast Straps I had, so he ordered a set. Unfortunately, he didn't read any of the articles because he uses them exactly the same way as everything else, only now it's quarter reps with body weight.
All this info right at his fingertips — stuff that might get him walking at a gait faster than a glacier recedes — but nope, he's not having any of it.
The second gym gave me some hope. It wasn't busy, but it was big and they had a platform and bumper plates! Huzzah! Of course, they closed down two weeks later.
I thought that my old gym was the official Home of the Half-Rep™ but I was mistaken. The place I'm currently at is close to home and has great hours, but it's commonly known as the place to go and "meet people" — a place to see and be seen. Also, it's apparently a place to go and train like crap while lying to yourself the entire time.
The most common range of motion on any kind of press would be equivalent to a five-board, which would be fine if it was being done by powerlifters actually using boards with the specific purpose of training to use a bench shirt. But no, here it's an ego boost designed to increase the number of plates on the bar without actually getting stronger.
 

 
Why? Why do they lift this way? Don't people want to actually be strong, get bigger, and get into better shape? Isn't that really why we're all there?
I want to ask them, but two things stop me. Number one, I'm busy doing my own thing. It's frustrating to see, but I care more about my own training, thanks.
Number two, I'm worried that the answer will be more irritating than what led to the question in the first place. And I'll bet the majority has no idea that what they're doing is straight up shit, and if they do, they'll deny it with every fiber of their being.
THAT GUYSo, look at yourself in the mirror. Are you that guy? Are you really squatting low? When the weights get heavy and the reps go down, are you stopping a bit high to make it just that much easier?
Is it fear? Ego? Are your elbows not breaking parallel when you bench? Are you the guy who just lifts the bar off the pins, puts it back, and then claims a 500-pound bench?
If you're that guy, knock it the fuck off! Drop some poundage and do this stuff right. There's no excuse. You're just lying to yourself.
Strength, size, fitness... it'll all come. And when you get that big squat or bench, it'll be that much more worthwhile, because it's done right.

Many people still think that testosterone will cause you to kill your parents and run over small woodland creatures. But paradoxically, it's often men with low testosterone levels that are moody, depressed, and even angry, while men with normal or high testosterone levels are generally sociable and gregarious.
Dr. Christina Wang of UCLA found that men with low T were likely to be snarkier and more aggressive than men with high T, but once the snarky ones received T replacement, their attitude and anger disappeared (1).
The ExceptionsImproper usage (very high doses) of testosterone or steroids could elicit aggressive tendencies ("roid rage") in men that might be predisposed to such behavior. Likewise, socioeconomic status can play a role, too.
Experience (and a couple of studies) shows us that a good deal of societal misbehavior comes from men with high testosterone levels but low socioeconomic status. Men who are high in testosterone but also high in socioeconomic status can usually restrain themselves because they know they have more to lose.

HOW SHORT ARE YOUR TELOMERES?People always talk about how different factors affect lifespan. Some blame a shorter than average life almost entirely on bad genes. Others credit lifestyle factors like stress, bad nutrition, or lack of exercise.
 
Regardless of which "macro" factors you credit for premature aging and shortened lifespan, they're likely related to the same micro factor, and that micro factor has to do with telomere shortening. Luckily, there are a few things you can do about it.
What Are Telomeres?
Telomeres are tiny strands of species-specific DNA sequences located at the distal ends of chromosomes, but unlike most DNA sequences, they don't code for any proteins. Instead, they prevent chromosomes from "unraveling" so they don't fuse with other chromosomes and cause mutations or accelerate aging.
Telomere pioneer Elizabeth Blackburn compares them to aglets, the plastic thingies on the ends of shoelaces that keep them from fraying.
We're born with a finite number of these biological aglets. On average, each cell is gifted with about 15,000 base pairs (the pairs of nucleotides connecting complementary strands of DNA or RNA), and each time a cell divides, we lose from as little as 10 to as many as a thousand of them. This phenomenon is called the "end-replication problem."
 Cells are limited to a fixed number of divisions. Use up all the telomeres in a cell – wear the chromosomes down to the nub – and the cell commits apoptosis: cellular suicide. If too many cells commit apoptosis, you get old and sick. Then you die.
All those "macro" causes of aging could, in one way or another, lead to premature telomere shortening or, equally bad, the inability of your cells to restore telomere length and/or integrity.
Take heart, though. We know plenty about the care and feeding of telomeres so that you can increase your chances of living a long, healthy life.
The Telomere KillersThe main predator of telomeres – the things that tie macro and micro causes of premature aging together – are inflammation and reactive oxygen species (ROS), more commonly known as free radicals. They not only damage the constituent DNA of telomeres but the DNA building blocks that might lengthen them.
Inflammation itself can further increase ROS-mediated DNA damage and thus increase the formation of cell "senility." It's a vicious circle in which these "senile" cells further aggravate inflammation and speed up aging.
Telomeres are an exhaustible resource, but there's something that can rejuvenate them by growing more base pairs. It's called telomerase, and it's a ribonucleoprotein that adds telemetric "repeats" to the ends of chromosomes.

Telomerase activity peters out after birth. There are, however, a couple of exceptions to this cruel rule. One is stem cells. The other is cancer cells, in which approximately 90% of them exhibit an up-regulation of telomerase, while the other 10% use some other method of extending the warranty on telomeres.
That explains why cancer is so pesky – if cancer cells can keep their number of telomeres stable, they no longer have an expiration date. They can continue to divide practically forever.
If we could mimic cancer's action on telomeres, only without all the tumors and death and stuff, we could theoretically live a lot longer.
There are two obstacles to preventing premature aging and a truncated lifespan. One is increased damage of DNA and, consequently, accelerated telomere attrition. The second is low or non-existent telomerase levels. Both can be addressed by lifestyle changes and proper diet and nutrition.

Things That Lengthen Telomeres and Help You Live LongerLet's be clear: We're not going to arrest telomere attrition and give humans the lifespan of a Galapagos tortoise, but we can definitely slow the rate at which telomeres are whittled away.
If you smoke, don't do that. If you drink more than a TV detective, stop that. Exercise. Breathe clean air and cut down on stress. But you knew all that. It's the diet stuff you might not know that might make all the difference.
 1. FIBERFrom 1999 to 2002, scientists collected 5,674 DNA samples from a broad spectrum of U.S. men and women, age-wise, race-wise, and even income-wise. All were required to provide complete data on such factors as body mass index, energy intake, physical activity, alcohol and tobacco use, and fiber intake.
While the DNA samples were collected between 1999 and 2002, it wasn't until 2014 that the researchers released any of their telomere data. When they did, it turned out that fiber intake was linearly related to the telomere length of leukocytes (white blood cells) – adults that had higher fiber intake had longer telomeres than their counterparts, suggesting less biologic aging.
The scientists found that for each 1-gram of fiber intake per 1,000 calories of food eaten, telomeres were 83 base pairs longer. On average, every year of chronological age shortens telomeres by 15.5 base pairs, but the inclusion of 10 grams of fiber for every 1,000 kcal you eat would correspond with telomeres that were 83 base pairs longer. On average, this equated to over 5 fewer years of biological aging.
That's a big pay-off for just adding some extra Metamucil or oatmeal to your diet.
2. THREE SPECIFIC MINERALSCertain minerals have proven to have profound effects on telomere length. Tragically, Americans are generally deficient in a couple of them.
For instance, according to the NHANES (National Health and Nutrition Examination Study), every 20 mcg. increase of selenium in the diet was associated with a 0.42% increase in leukocyte telomeres.

Likewise, Nemoto et al. (2000) found that adding additional zinc to a cell culture medium increased telomerase activity. Later on, Bao et al. (2003) corroborated Nemoto's work and found that zinc sulfate did indeed significantly increase telomere length and telomerase activity, along with reducing hTERT expression (an enzyme that rate limits telomerase activity).
The third mineral is magnesium. Rather than directly lengthening telomeres, magnesium's role is more of a nurturing one, as it appears to help maintain telomeres and help regulate the activity of telomerase.
Unfortunately, about 80% of the American population is deficient in magnesium, and between 12 and 40% is deficient in zinc. When you add working out and sweating to the equation, it worsens as these minerals tend to leave the body via sweat.
Selenium deficiencies are relatively rare, but taking extra amounts may also help regulate testosterone levels and improve exercise tolerance, in addition to adding length to telomeres.
 

• Magnesium (as glycinate chelate): 400 mg.
  
• Zinc (as arginate chelate): 30 mg.
  
• Selenium (as glycinate complex): 200 mcg.
  
• Chromium (as nicotinate-glycinate chelate): 200 mcg.
  
• Vanadium (as nicotinate-glycinate chelate): 100 mcg.
  

• High concentrations of DHA and EPA.
  
• A product that's been purified by molecular distillation and stringently tested for PCBs, dioxins, mercury, and other heavy metal contaminants.
  
• A product that includes a self-emulsifying delivery system so they're virtually odorless, better absorbed, and don't result in a fishy aftertaste or "fish burps."
  

The Maffetone Method

Quote: You may not be overweight, but most people are overfat according to one study. Are you? Find out in one minute. Here’s how.

1. How tall am I? I’m 5’11". That’s 71 inches. Half of that is 35.5.
   
2. What’s my waist measurement? Although Maffetone uses the term “waist,” he really means “belly.” The measurement should be taken across the belly button area. Your pants size is NOT your waist size. Here’s the diagram Maffetone uses:
   

1. My jeans size is 32, but my belly measurement is 34. That’s the number we want, so get out the tape measure, don’t suck in your gut, and do the deed. (I’ve always liked the MyoTape 610 device for this.)
   
2. Now look at the definition of overfatness again: “If the circumference of your waist measures more than half your height, you’re overfat.” My 34-inch belly measurement is not greater than half of my height – 35.5 inches. So, I’m not overfat.
   

HOW TO INCREASE RELATIONSHIP SUCCESSMarriage is about a lot more than looks. It's shallow to use fitness as a criterion for mate material and relationship success. Marriage is about communication, bonding, friendship, and intimacy, not abs!
Okay, now that we've let the world know that we're not superficial narcissists, can we get real for a second? Fit people make the best spouses. And if you're into fitness, lifting, and healthy eating, you'll avoid a lot of future problems by marrying someone who also puts these things high on their priority list.
 Hey, divorce sucks. And if this quality helps put the odds in your favor, then it's not at all shallow or selfish to add "fit" to your list of spouse goals. Maybe it isn't at the top of the list, but it should be in the top five. Here's why.
1 Fit Marriages Are Less Likely To Become Fat DivorcesWhen one spouse gains a lot of weight, this often cascades into several other marriage-straining issues. The first issue is obvious: most people aren't attracted to very overweight individuals. We're biologically hardwired to be more attracted to health. And getting too fat is unhealthy.
Google one of those "Top 10 Causes of Divorce" lists. Money and infidelity issues are always at the top but look further down the list. What do you see? Weight gain.
When relationship columnist David Eddie scoured anonymous relationship-help forums, he found something surprising. Most of the people who were unhappy with their rapidly expanding spouses were women. Here's an example:
"I love my husband, but he's become a tubby hubby and refuses to do anything about it. Now I'm not attracted to him, and I'm thinking of leaving."
Damn, girl. That's cold. But let's dig deeper.
Weight gain can lead to or exacerbate depressive symptoms and self-esteem issues. Those things can lead to mood and behavioral changes, resentment, and arguments. The person you married may start acting like someone you didn't marry. So it's not entirely a superficial issue.
The overweight spouse might also lose his or her sex drive. Women can become so self-critical that they don't feel attractive or even worthy of your attraction. For men, getting too fat and out of shape can cause erectile dysfunction. And a dormant sex life leads to the erosion of intimacy and feelings of being unwanted.
While physical attraction isn't the most important thing in a marriage, it sure doesn't hurt. So marry someone who hits the gym and cares about nutrition and you'll avoid many of these problems down the road.

2 Fit Men Make More MoneyWomen are often criticized for wanting to marry a man who either has money or has the kind of drive that would help him make money in the future. It's an unfair criticism.
Husbands are usually the primary source of income, especially after kids come along. And since arguments over money (or the lack thereof) are the number two indicator of an impending divorce, not marrying a lazy guy is a perfectly acceptable and smart criterion for husband pickin'.
Despite phrases like "Money doesn't buy happiness," new studies show that people with comfy bank accounts are generally happier. It's not about the stuff they can buy, but the security that money provides.
What does this have to do with fitness? One survey conducted by Freeletics showed that fit people generally make more money than unfit people. And the more aggressive their training style, the more money they earn.
It's a bit of a chicken/egg scenario, though. Working out hard doesn't automatically mean your income will increase. But the discipline and drive it takes to kick butt in the gym often shows that the person has an "achievement attitude" that transcends the gym, like having a strong work ethic.
The formula is simple:

• More money = fewer problems (or having the financial resources to solve those problems quickly).
  
• Fewer problems = happier marriage.
  

THE SAUCE CARDIt's unfortunate that I have to preface this whole thing by throwing out some platitudes that read like they come from some mommy blogger's Pinterest board, but it's inescapable: everything begins and ends in the mind.
Whatever it is you believe each day is what ultimately manifests itself in your life. Whatever space it is you're working from is what you're going to project out into the world.

?What does that have to do with lifting weights? Well, there's this overarching theme of pettiness from natural guys. Anytime they see a physique that's fairly exceptional, they immediately pull out the sauce card. This even goes for physiques that, for the life of me, I wouldn't ever figure were built off A-Bombs and exogenous test.
You don't have to look very far into the comments of an article about some celebrity that got into amazing shape for a movie before you read, "Wonder what his GH and 'roid cycle was like?"
Steroids used to be a word that meant exogenous hormones. Now it's a word used by insecure males to describe anyone stronger, more muscular, more athletic, or more dedicated than they are.
GO PUNCH YOURSELF IN THE CROTCHAL REGIONI'm not saying that some actors never hit a few cups of the sauce in preparation for a role. What I'm saying is, I don't care. So why do you?
There's no "cheating" going on. And they don't owe you any honesty about what they did to their body to prepare for a role. So why are you crying harder than a toddler at the Disney store who was told "no" to getting a new Pocahontas outfit?
Let me repeat that. No one owes you honesty about his or her drug use. I'm not sure where that degree of entitlement comes from but it behooves you to punch yourself right in the crotchal region each time you feel like puking it from your mouth or keyboard.
Do you know who doesn't find time to hurl these kinds of accusations and insults at people? Those who have healthy self-esteems and are too busy immersed in getting better – the ones too busy watering their own grass to pay attention to someone else's.
If you were focused on your own goals, your own diet, and your own performance, you'd see a good physique and go, "Wow, impressive!" But when you're working from a fractured mindset, then seeing an impressive physique sets off all sorts of inner voices that bring your self-loathing insecurities right to the forefront.
But how does it benefit you? How does it improve your life? How does it improve your own performance in the gym? Nowhere.
Now let's flip that a bit, and take the mindset of a guy that says he's going to get strong as hell, get big as hell, and that he's going to bleed from his eyeballs each and every time he gets under a bar to make that come to fruition.
Can you honestly picture that guy chastising Chris Hemsworth for getting jacked for Thor? Yeah, me neither. Stop whining. Stop chastising. Stop accusing. Stop projecting.
Weigh your food. Break your own PR's. Be consistent with your training and diet. You'd be amazed how far you'd get if you took your eyes off of the world and put the onus back on yourself.

"Testosterone gives you big muscles and hefty erections, but it won't matter because your heart will stop."
That's what people say. Are they right?
THE BAD STUDYA couple of years ago, the FDA became worried about testosterone. Most of their worries stemmed from a single study that appeared in the journal PLOS One.

?The authors of the study examined a large healthcare database for guys who'd been on testosterone replacement therapy for 90 days. Younger men with a history of heart disease who started TRT had a two to three-fold increase in the risk of myocardial infarction. Guys over 65 who started TRT had a two-fold increase in the risk of myocardial infarction, regardless of their cardiovascular history.
The study had several problems, though:

• The study didn't consider levels of testosterone before treatment or after treatment. Therefore, we have no idea if the men had low testosterone in the first place, or if in fact they were being grossly overdosed.
  
• The study didn't monitor estrogen levels or red blood cell levels. If high estrogen levels aren't addressed by medication and high red blood cell counts aren't adjusted by changes in dosing, heart problems are possible.
  
• The study's entire control group was on a drug that prevents heart attacks, making the comparison between them and the testosterone group ludicrous.
  

• Higher risk of cardiovascular disease
  
• Narrowing of carotid arteries
  
• Abnormal EKG
  
• More frequent congestive heart failure
  
• Increased incidence of angina
  
• Increased body mass index
  
• Type II diabetes
  
• Metabolic syndrome
  
• Insulin resistance
  
• Increased belly fat
  
• Higher death rate from all causes, including cardiac mortality
  

• 64 patients who weren't on testosterone replacement therapy suffered a major cardiovascular event (stroke, heart attack, or death).
  
• Only 12 patients on medium doses of testosterone experienced a major cardiovascular event.
  
• And only 9 patients on high doses of testosterone experienced a major cardiovascular event.
  

TAGS FOR WOMEN, GLUTES, OPINION, STRONG WORDSIS THAT THING REAL?Buttocks augmentation: It started in Latin America, crept into Hollywood, invaded social media, and now you even see it at the gym. We're talking about fake butts here: implants, fat injections, and other things that'll downright horrify you.
Some of the women sporting these big booties eventually admit it, but most of them lie and say it's all hard work and squats. Their leg-to-butt ratio tells a different story. Sure, training can build a larger behind, but only in proportion to the musculature of the legs. Even a woman with the best genetic potential for big glutes will still have powerful looking legs as a result of her training... not two sacks of potatoes sitting on top of toothpicks.

?Who Does This!?When it comes to the backside, there's a whole other population of women outside of our little fitness microcosm getting augmentation done. In some cultures, it's just as acceptable as breast implants.
Butts are not like breasts. No woman can build her breasts with a barbell or machine. She can build a butt, however, because it's muscle. It's built in a squat rack, not on the operating table. But nowadays, particularly in Latin America, that's not totally true.
Butt augmentations have grown to the point where women are waging an all-out assault on their asses, and doing some ludicrous, dangerous, and painful things to it. Why? Maybe it's vanity, need for attention, millions of likes and favorites, or a fetish for exaggerating reality (including lips, breasts, hair extensions, waist size). Or they may do it for bigger tips at the strip club, more jobs in the porn biz, satisfying a partner's bizarre desires, or copying celebs who've brought giant asses into vogue.
If you're a serious lifter, you probably don't get it. If you're like me, you've never seen a fake butt that looks as good as a real butt. That's not to say that some can't be well done. Your wife's favorite Instagram fitness guru may be sporting an augmented booty. But even when done right, you're never going to get a fake butt to act, feel, and look like the real thing.
But it's somewhat understandable. If you're a muscular chick with a nice set of wheels and want to add a little Latinesque curvature to your rear, and the thing just won't grow the way you want (because what you want is unrealistic), you can opt for a little work to be done on it. Depending on the girl, a little bum plumping can be a game changer. It just depends on what you want: a butt or a booty.
It's like having to decide between "tits" or "breasts" when you're getting implants. You can't have it both ways. Wholesome or trashy, there's little gray area.

The StatsAccording to the American Society of Plastic Surgery, almost 5,000 buttock augmentation procedures were performed in 2015. This number is currently lower than total facelifts and breast implants, but butt augmentation is the fastest growing procedure. These surgeries increased 98%, from just 942 procedures in 2013 to 1,863 in 2014. Just a cursory glance into social media will tell you that the desire for a disproportionate butt is only expanding.


Kim Kardashian: Real or Fake?Kim Kardashian likely wouldn't have risen to fame were it not for her huge behind. When she first started towing a larger load behind her, she insisted it was all hard work in the gym. If you're a lifter, that claim is an insult to your intelligence. We know the shape of gluteal muscle. And it's not that dumpy.
In one of her mind-numbing TV show episodes, she tried to stop the accusations that something was going on with her ass, because the damn thing kept growing like a bunch of clowns getting out of a Mini Cooper and no one online could stop talking about it.
So they stuffed her into an MRI machine and – spoiler alert – announced that the MRI showed there were no implants in there. Imagine that! Her enormous ass was all because of her trainer. Oh thank goodness reality shows inform us about reality! Glad we got it straight otherwise we would've gone on thinking she hadn't trained hard for that ever-growing monument.
But based on the significant increase in ass mass and the lack of "tone" or musculature elsewhere, anyone with a brain could assume something was going in there. If not implants, then what?
Muscle doesn't just grow there like that, and natural body fat distribution doesn't work like that either. Though the MRI ruled out implants, it didn't exonerate her of the accusation that SOMETHING was in there that nature didn't intend. This brings us to the non-implant enhancement – the fat transfer.

How Fat Transfers WorksKardashian passed her MRI test not because she studied for it, but because, instead of implants, her own body fat was harvested from the ample reserves on her stomach and low back and injected into her ass. That's my professional opinion at least.
Transferred fat looks no different on MRI than stationary fat. Actually, harvesting the fat from the low back and stomach helps the doctor sculpt the end result. As the term implies, you're transferring fat from one place and using it to "sculpt" and "lift" another area.
The fat is liposuctioned out and ground up into something that looks like a fatty milkshake. The liquefied fat is then put into cartridges that look like tubes of caulking with a giant needle sticking out of the point.
The cartridges are loaded into a caulking gun-like thing, and the plastic surgeon goes to work injecting the fat into numerous locations within the glute muscle, plumping it up to the intended dimensions, the way Butterball does with your Thanksgiving turkey.

Cheeky EnhancementPlastic surgeons call all of this the "Brazilian Butt Lift" and it can be a combination of fat transfer, cosmetic filler, and/or implants. This procedure is one of the most costly, invasive, and complicated. First, if using fat, the body has to harvest enough of it to build that dream booty, and second, to maintain its size.
One of the potential downsides is that as the transferred fat either settles or is metabolized, the form can shift and accentuate the outline of the implant. So, more fat needs to be injected to "smooth" things out.
Because there's no implant needed for the fat transfer, it's the preferred means of ass augmentation, but because some of the transferred fat does settle and/or get metabolized by the body, it requires maintenance shots. If you do it, be prepared to eventually spend a solid $20,000 on such a procedure and its maintenance.

Oily GlutesA more economical procedure involves injecting a "locatable oil" into the glute muscle. This is like when a bodybuilder injects Synthol into his biceps. The concept is the same as the fat transfer, only the doc – or technician or con artist – uses cosmetic filler or medical-grade (hopefully) silicone rather than the body's own fat. What they use is as important as how they use it, and the downside to having it done wrong can be disastrous.

Catastrophic Story TimeBecause this folly started in Latin America, the ladies in Mexico were among the first to find the tragedy in it. One of the most famous debacles talked about among the booteratti of Guadalajara revolves around a woman named Myriam Yukie Gaona Robles. She ran a beauty business that offered weight loss, wrinkle fading, and augmentation of breasts, behinds, thighs, or anywhere else you desired it. It was discount plumping!
Fifteen hundred women took advantage of the low prices and, assured by the diplomas framed on the walls (that could be purchased online for 50 bucks), they unwittingly subjected their bodies to injections of industrial-grade silicone and baby oil.
One of the hundreds of women subsequently seeking a plastic surgeon to repair the damage from infection, disfigurement, and mutilation, was the sister of a famous actress. The media was obsessed with the story and for weeks fed the gossip-hungry public headlines and gruesome pictures of deformities where there used to be breasts, butts, lips, etc., labeling Robles "La Matabellas" which means The Beauty Killer.
The public outcry and celebrity obsession spurred law enforcement to eventually arrest and prosecute La Matabellas, sending her to prison for 12 years. She became the first person in the world to be sent to prison for such a crime. Somehow, I don't think the women who lost entire body parts think that was enough.

American Augmentation Horror StoriesCan't imagine something so crazy happening in the US? Here's a small rundown:

• 2011: An unlicensed practitioner in New York was arrested for allegedly running an illegal business out of her home, plumping up butts and breasts with injections of liquid (non-medical) silicone.
  
• 2012: A man in Florida was arrested for allegedly administering a series of "butt-boosting" injections made from a proprietary blend of rubber cement, tire sealant, and glue.
  
• 2013: A young woman in Miami died as a result of her butt injections. The Venezuelan "doctor" administering them fled the country before he could be arrested. Other patients were hospitalized with vision problems and bleeding lungs as a result of his procedures.
  
• 2015: One woman died in a New York basement after an illegal, unlicensed butt injection procedure in unsterile conditions with unknown fillers. Her mom had accompanied her to the phony plastic surgeon's "office" that was located in the apartment basement.
  
• An Atlanta woman served jail time for administering illegal injections of silicone (intended to be used for metal or plastic lubrication) in hotel rooms for more than a decade. Like many practitioners on the underground market, they used superglue with cotton balls to cover the injection site and keep the silicone from leaking out.