CHRONICLE 16-17 ISSUE 08

Sports chronicle.durhamcollege.ca January 24 - 30, 2017 The Chronicle 19
Steroids: Taking the easy way out
Frank Katradis
The Chronicle
Muscle fibers tear in the arms of
21 year old Matthew Kalisz. With
each set of weights he lifts, more
fibers tear. This is how muscles
grow. After a workout, the human
body repairs damaged muscle fibers
through a cellular process to
create a new muscle with thicker
fibers. This is what people do to
achieve their desired body goals.
Sometimes the natural process isn’t
enough. Many people who work
out opt to add supplements to help
make the process faster, to make
their muscles even bigger. Matthew
Kalisz is no stranger to this.
“I started when I was 13 years
old,” says Kalisz. “I took a basic
protein powder at first.”
Protein powder is the most commonly
used supplement for gym
goers. According to WebMD.com,
protein shakes hold all nine essential
amino acids needed for dietary
needs. Amino acids help muscles
grow and repair muscles faster. Yet,
to many gym-goers, the basic supplements
are not enough and take
many different supplements to help
make their muscles bigger.
One of the main reason people
take supplements is body image.
Surprisingly, these body issues
mainly affect men. According to
yearofthemale.com, a study of 394
British men showed men are more
uncomfortable with their body
image than women. The results
showed that 80 per cent of men talk
negatively about their body compared
to 75 per cent of women. At
least 60 per cent of the men thought
their arms and chest were too small.
To reach the ideal image, many
men who go to the gym take quite
a lot of supplements.
“For the first two years I was taking
whey protein, creatine, glutamine,
amino acids, multi vitamins,
all that stuff,” Says Kalisz, “But,
I’ve cut down.”
They look at the various supplements
out there that work on their
specific body image goals and take
what they believe is needed to reach
their goal. Sometimes, they will
take more than the recommended
Dean Daley
The Chronicle
‘New year, new me’ is a common
phrase said by many whenever the
year changes and 2017 is no different.
Anyone from children to the
elderly make
New Year’s resolutions each year
that focus on just about anything,
but according to some media reports,
getting healthy is the most
common resolution made.
dose to help the process go faster.
As they see a difference in their
body, they begin to find more supplements
to help reach their goals
since results have been shown on
their body. However, the more
supplements, the more possibility
of side effects.
Kalisz took many various supplements
to help him achieve his
body image goals in his first two
years of working out. Though, as he
kept working out, he began to realize
there wasn’t any point to many
of the supplements he was taking.
Kalisz found alternative ways to
get the nutrients his body needed
through a changed diet.
The overuse of supplements can
actually be a danger to the human
body. According to livescience.com
a study of 193 men showed that 29
per cent were concerned for their
health because of the amount of
supplements they were taking and
3 per cent where hospitalized because
the supplements damaged
their kidneys and liver.
Liver and kidney damage is
With the increase of people going
to LA Fitness it’s clear to see those
reports are accurate.
According to Sudesh Tambyana,
the general manager of LA Fitness
at 350 Taunton Road in Whitby,
there is a considerable increase of
interest in the gym.
“I’d say it’s an increased amount
maybe 20 - 25 per cent than normal,”
says Tambyana about the
increase of memberships per day
since the New Year. During other
times of the year LA Fitness sees
Games in your backyard
Generals: Jan. 29, Oshawa vs. London, 6:05 p.m.
Tribute Communities Centre
Photograph by Frank Katradis
Ryan Shivpaul holds a poster with information about steroids.
common to those who abuse supplements,
the content of these supplements
are sometimes too hard on
the organs. Nicole Foster, a nurse
in the Durham Region, says the
effects of liver and kidney damage
could be very serious.
“I’m sure there could be either
acute or chronic effects,” says Foster.
“I’m sure that the worse the
addiction gets, the more sever the
effects would be. “
Both effects hold very serious outcomes
on the human body.
“Acute injury on the liver would
cause bloodwork abnormalities,”
Foster says, Vomiting, diarrhea,
bleeding in the gastrolienal intestinal
track. If it gets worse all of it
could turn into turn into chronic
effects, which would be bad. That
would include jaundice, ascites, liver
shut down and needing a new
liver or you probably wouldn’t survive.”
The effects for kidneys are just as
unpleasant. According to Foster if
there is chronic damage to the kidneys
it would be irreversible. “The
Creating a solution for that resolution revolution
about eight new members per day,
but since the year has started that
number has increased to about 12
new memberships per day.
“Everyone wants to start the
New Year the right way,” says
Tambyana.
More members are not only joining
but attending gym regularly as
well, Tambyana says. More members
are also asking about personal
trainers.
“A lot of people wait for the calendar
to turn to make their goals
individual would need to be dialysis
for the rest of their life.” Foster says.
To increase their size and reach
their goals, some gym-goers use
steroids. Kalisz says he has never
taken steroids, but knows what they
do.
“It helps you gain muscle in
a short period of time,” he says,
“But, it’s nothing compared to
supplements, there are a lot more
side effects.”
According to mayoclinic.org,
some of the side effects of steroids
include: aggressive behavior, severe
acne, psychiatric disorders such as
depression, drug dependence, high
blood pressure, liver abnormalities,
and tumors.
Not many people want to talk
about taking steroids. It is something
that wouldn’t be brought
up in friendly conversation in the
gym. However, steroids are there
and while they might not be visible,
their syringes are. Many gyms such
as Goodlife have syringe dispensers
in the change rooms of their gyms.
It is a way to clean up the change
rooms so they are not littered, and
to help get rid of the evidence of
steroid abuse.
Ryan Shivpaul is a personal
trainer at FLEX; the Durham
College and UOIT gym, where
there are no dispensaries. He helps
people achieve their goals in the
gym every day he is there, and he
has seen it before.
“It’s definitely more of an underground
thing,” he says of steroids,
“. Seems to be a popular with
people just trying to get a quick fix
for getting big as fast as possible,
a lot of the people don’t consider
the draw backs about it when do it,
yeah, your muscles are growing.”
According to Shivpaul, the human
tendons and ligaments don’t grow
as fast as muscles do on steroids,
because of this people who are on
the drug are likely to get injured
quite often.
Dangers come with taking steroids:
your muscles could tear, you
could develop more features of the
other gender (depending if you are
a male or female). Steroids have a
lot of effects.
According to MayoClinic.org,
and start their goal setting, which
is good, but we feel it’s better to
get proactive any time of year, but
if New Year is the gimmick that
works why not.”
LA Fitness is not the only gym
benefiting from the New Year Durham
College and UOIT’s shared
gym is also seeing more activity.
Daniel Blagrove, who works for
the school's Flex facility, says there
has been a lot more people at their
gym.
“Yeah, we’re definitely seeing
Men’s Volleyball: Jan. 26, Durham vs. Georgian,
8 p.m., CRWC
anabolic steroids have two main effects.
Steriods increase muscle mass
and strength, as well as giving the
body a higher dose of testosterone.
This can add male traits, such as a
deeper voice and hair growth. Steroids
can also increase estrogen levels,
giving men female features such
as breasts. Many athletes who take
steroids for performance enhancing
purposes take much more than the
recommended dosage. This can
have major negative effects on the
body, as well as their carrier.
Ken Babcock, the athletic director
for Durham College, helps
student athletes who are trying to
achieve their physical goals without
using steroids.
Babcock knows steroids are
illegal and stats that all student
athletes fall under Sport Canada’s
anti-drug and drug doping policy.
“Sport Canada and under the
Canadian Centre for Ethics in
Sport. So the CCES has a program
so that applies to our student athletes
as well, all our student athletes
have to comply, go through education,
go through online education,
go through screening and there all
subject to testing with their collegiate
careers here with penalties,
much like penalties to Olympic athletes,
they will be penalized, should
they break the rules.” Babcock says.
The coaching staff are aware of
these rules. If student athletes want
to compete in sports, they have to
abide by these rules, or risk not being
able to play the sport they are
passionate about.
Kalisz is also passionate about
a sport, he does Muay Thai and is
training to face others in the ring.
He wants to win, but he refuses to
risk his chances by taking steroids.
Kalisz believes nowadays there is
no need to take so many supplements,
and certainly not steroids.
He says there is more to achieving
body image goals as well as keeping
in fit shape for sports.
“It’s a supplement, it’s meant to
help you,” he says,
“However, you shouldn’t have
to rely on them. You also need a
good diet, you need a steady workout
program, a workout program
that makes sense.
a lot of new faces,” says Blagrove.
The Flex facility is seeing a lot of
action because of the free fitness
classes being offered for the week.
Blagrove agrees the New Year has
attracted a lot more students and
staff to the gym.
Although the school gym is free,
LA Fitness has a lot of amenities
that impact their membership, says
Tambyana.
LA Fitness, opened on the final
day of 2014 and also features a
swimming pool.
Men’s Basketball: Jan. 24, Durham vs. Seneca,
8 p.m., Campus Recreation and Wellness Centre
(CRWC)
.
Women’s Basketball: Jan. 24, Seneca vs. Durham,
6 p.m., CRWC
Women's Volleyball Jan. 26, Durham vs. Georgian,
6 p.m., CRWC