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Definition: "An ergogenic aid is any substance or phenomenon that enhances performance "
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12.05.2009 |
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Six weeks of testosterone-enanthate: more weight on the bench, faster sprint, often not detectable
A weekly injection with 3.5 mg testosterone enanthate per kilogram bodyweight is enough to increase trained athletes’ sprint capacity, body weight and their
The researchers gave nine men a weekly injection of Schering’s Primoteston. Seven men in the control group were given a placebo.
The dose used is moderately high according to medical standards, but on the low side in the gym world. Nevertheless it worked. The course of injections had no effect on the weight at which the men could do just one rep (1RM) on the leg press, but the 1RM did increase for the bench press.
The researchers were particularly interested in the effect of testosterone courses in main stream sports. So they got the subjects to sprint for ten seconds on an ergometer. The testosterone increased the peak capacity, and above all the total amount of work the men were able to achieve during the sprint. That meant they were faster.
When the researchers made an overview summarising how much progression the men showed during the first three weeks, and the amount of progression during the entire six weeks, it became clear that most of the progress took place in the first three weeks of use.
The most interesting thing about the study is that the researchers did a urine test for testosterone on the test subjects after they had had their last injection. A standard test was used for this, which looks at the relationship between testosterone and epitestosterone [structure below].
Both hormones are produced in approximately equal quantities by the testes. The difference between testosterone and epitestosterone is in the hydroxyl group on C17. In epitestosterone this is in a strange position, which means that epitestosterone has no androgenic or anabolic effect. If you have more than four times as much testosterone than epitestosterone, doping hunters assume that you have introduced exogenous testosterone into your system.
Well – the test sounded the alarm bell in five of the nine users. But four users passed the test without a squeal.
Other doping tests, such as the ones that examine the isotopes in the testosterone molecule, do show up exogenous testosterone. The same is true for tests that look for estered hormones in hairs. Doping hunters are starting to use these alternative tests more and more.
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