Dr. Jay Hoffman is a Professor of Health and Exercise Science at the College of New Jersey and a member of the board of directors for the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). Dr. Hoffman recently shared his views of steroid use in professional sports with Express (a free daily published by the Washington Post).
Dr. Hoffman explains why he has no regrets about is own use of anabolic steroids during the 1980s in collegiate and professional football (“Sports Talk: Off the Field with Dr. Jay Hoffman,” April 15).
Because, one, it wasn’t illegal. I did it with a physician. I had constant blood and liver function tests. I did it with someone who cared about me as a patient, making sure it was done the right way. I never did anything black market. I did it in specific time frames, that would maximize my ability as an athlete used it for a specific purpose: to be a better football player. And people have to understand there is a difference between a strength power athlete that uses it to get ready for a season versus a body builder that uses it on a consistent basis. Most individuals who use it, use it in a cyclic fashion and stacking several different drugs for certain period of time, and then come off it. There are side effects that are associated with that and the side effects are greater with the amount of anabolic steroid being used. But it’s transient. And unless there’s an underlying disease ” and that’s why it’s important to go with a physician ” unless there’s an underlying disease, the risks associated with it are not as great as people make it out to be. But for those individuals who never come off a cycle, the risks are very real. Many of the athletes who have died, are generally those body builders or wrestlers who never come off it.
I think Dr. Hoffman touches on some very interesting points.
(1) The patterns of steroid use by most professional athletes and competitive bodybuilders are substantially different. The implication is that it is unfair to extrapolate the side effects from extreme users of anabolic steroids to all athletes (and individuals) who use anabolic steroids for non-medical purposes.
(2) The side effects of anabolic steroids are transient in nature for the most part.
(3) The side effects of anabolic steroids have been overstated if there is no underlying disease in the individual using steroids for non-medical purposes.
(3) Steroid use can be done the “right way” with proper medical monitoring by a physician with necessary lab work.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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