As competitors struggle near the asymptotes of their ability, they seek any means, scientific or mythical, in attempts to transcend their physical and mental limits. It is at this point that sport often degenerates into a form which invokes the use of magic potions, now classed euphemistically as ergogenic aids, those substances or devices which can enhance performance.
Among the best known of the illicit ergogenic drugs are the anabolic steroids, chemicals which are derived from male growth hormone to facilitate the growth of muscle bulk and strength. The epidemic proportions reached by the abuse of anabolic substances from pharmaceutical and so-called ‘natural’ sources is a consequence of commercial exploitation and predominantly male preoccupation with size and strength. It is irrelevant to discuss any further aspects of this phenomenon here. Its existence is mentioned to emphasize the fact that the quest for strength is one of enormous importance to man and that he will resort to any means to achieve it. The widespread use of steroids and other chemical supplements is an admission that one has run out of training ideas to produce further progress naturally. This is hardly surprising, because virtually the same repertoire of traditional bodybuilding exercises and techniques is usually applied in fashionable programmes devised by endless processions of bodybuilding heroes. The user often fails to appreciate the individuality of each programme and when progress ceases, he frequently resorts to anabolic supplementation. Even then, he invariably uses excessive doses of different anabolic-androgenic (AA) steroids, guided more by the experience of individual bodybuilders rather than by scientific knowledge of how to cycle clinically modest doses over a few weeks into a carefully periodised programme which includes different methods of restoration, autogenic mental training and shock training.
The urge to overdose on AA steroids is strengthened by the contention that it is impossible to become ‘big’ and strong without them. Despite prolific evidence that there have always been enormously powerful and large men throughout history, this belief persists. Admittedly, these substances can accelerate progress, but comparable and more enduring results are possible over a longer time period using more ethical means, though probably by many fewer competitors.
However desirable it is to test for and eliminate illicit drug use in sport, the medical quest to achieve this is probably doomed to failure because top competitors will always remain well versed in the use of drugs to enhance performance and avoid detection. Moreover, the huge sums paid to top teams and players because of public and media adulation will ensure that prominent drug users will rarely be severely penalised. After all, top athletes today, especially in media-prominent sports such as basketball, American football, soccer, tennis and golf are specialised entertainers and not just sports stars. Drug assistance will cease in sport only when science produces an equally successful legitimate way of enhancing performance among all competitors, not when drug tests become sensitive and affordable enough for routine application. The information in this book has been gathered from authoritative Western and Eastern sources to offer scientific and practical guidance in this direction.
The existence of an innovative concept which may be called chrononutrition emphasizes that scientifically cycled nutritional regimes can play an important role in enhancing the long-term adaptation and growth in performance of the athlete. Chrononutrition recognises that it is not only the content of food, but also the timing of ingestion and the interactive effects of nutritional components that determines the effectiveness of any dietary regime. In the West it is well known that certain drugs have more powerful effects when administered at a given time of the day and very different effects when prescribed with other drugs, yet this knowledge is not formally extended to the realm of general nutrition or sporting preparation.
The recent proliferation of English language articles on the ergogenic value of substances such as creatine and amino acids tends to create the impression that these findings are modern and original. Even cursory examination of Russian journals such as Theoriya i Praktika Fizicheskoi Kultury, Legkaya Atletika and the specialised publications in physiology, adaptation, nutrition and biochemistry reveals that these substances have been researched and used in Russia prior to 1970.
Clearly, the lack of familiarity of most English language exercise scientists with Russian and other foreign language research has often led to considerable duplication of work, a waste of financial resources and a delay in the progress of sports science. Besides research and training articles that appear in the Russian language, there is a considerable amount of original and often exciting material available in Japanese and other Oriental languages, as well as in German, Italian, French, Scandinavian and other European languages. This fact has also been a strong motivating factor behind the writing of this book, which attempts to integrate a great deal of information from different countries.
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Supertraining 6th Edition by Dr Mel Siff
Supertraining by Dr Mel Siff
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