Supplement Blog 4 

Despite the fact that steroids tend to harm the body and health of their users, the popularity of steroids has been on an all-time high. One can hear news about steroids on almost a daily basis these days and the usage of steroids has been on a rampant basis despite odds against their usage.

Steroids, which are rated as Schedule III substances, can be converted into testosterone (male sex hormone) to help in the production of muscle growth and enhancing body performance.

As per the 1999 Monitoring the Future Study, it was estimated that 2.7 percent of 8th and 10th graders and 2.9 percent of 12th graders had taken anabolic steroids in the United States, at least once in their lives. It was further estimated that hundreds of thousands of people (18 years or above) confessed using steroids at least once a year. Though it was revealed that steroid abuse is higher in men, young women were not far behind men and it is expected that the percentage of women using steroids will soon reach the level currently held by men.

It was also noticed that one of the biggest reasons that encouraged people of all ages and sexes towards steroids was their inability to consider their own body as healthy. While many complained of carrying too much weight with them, many viewed that their muscles were small in size even though they were found to be lean and muscular by the medical fraternity. It was also revealed that many of the present day steroid users have experienced sexual or physical abuse in their past. The reason why they take steroids is to gain muscle size to protect themselves from similar incidents in the present and future.

Since oral steroids such as anadrol, winstrol, dianabol, and oxandrin are available freely online (without a prescription) along with injectable steroids such as deca-durabolin, durabolin, depo-testoterone, and equipoise, steroids are enjoying all-time high levels of success and popularity.

The number of ailments arising from usage of steroids is more than the number of people taking steroids. The abuse of anabolic steroids has been largely associated with a wide range of adverse side-effects, ranging from physically unattractive effects like acne and breast development in men to life-threatening health conditions such as liver cancer and heart ailments such as heart attack and stroke to name a few. It is discovered that people do not tend to seek medical intervention when confronted with steroid abuse to avoid law.

Andrew De Silva

Workout Blog 2: Beginner Abs and Back

The following exercises are basic moves targeting the abs and back. Always avoid any exercises that cause pain and, if you feel lower back strain, modify the move to a comfortable range of motion or place a rolled up towel under your hips to support your lower back.



Crunches
Lie on your back with your hands crossed across your chest or with your fingers on the sides of your head. Place your feet on the floor with legs bent. To begin the exercise, lift your torso, lifting shoulder blades off the floor and crunching your rib cage towards your lower belly. Hold for two counts, then lower slowly to the starting position. Repeat.

Reverse Crunches
Lie on your back with knees bent, feet a few inches off the floor. Slowly contract the abdominals, focusing on rotating the pelvis up and bringing your knees towards your rib cage. Concentrate on letting your abs do the work. Hold at the top then slowly lower your knees to the starting position. Repeat.

Oblique Crossover Crunches
Lie on your back with knees bent, hands behind your head. Keeping lower back pressed into the floor, lift your shoulder blades off the floor and then curl your upper body diagonally across your body towards your right knee. Contract your abs and obliques as hard as you can at the top of the movement. Lower back down and repeat on the same side before switching sides.

PlankBegin by placing elbows on the floor and resting body on the knees. Pull the abs tight to hold your body in a straight line from head to knees without sagging in the middle, eyes looking naturally forward. Hold this position for as long as you can, relax and repeat 3 or more times.

Back Extensions
Lie face down with hands either behind the back or lightly cradling the head. Lift upper body off the ground a few inches, keeping head and neck in alignment. For a challenge, then lift feet off the ground keeping legs straight (knees don't have to be together), hold for 2-4 counts and lower.

Superhumans
Begin on hands and knees, hand directly under shoulders, knees under hips and back straight, abs tight. Slowly raise right arm and left leg up until level with the body, holding your balance and keeping torso tight. Lower back down and repeat with the left arm and right leg. Take your time--this exercise will challenge your balance! 

Annalise Dracopoulos.

Diet Tips for a Healthy Life Blog 1 : The Basics of Dieting

Diet has to be the most important facet to obtaining your fitness goals. Whether looking to bulk up, lean up or just overall live a healthier life diet is the biggest facet that must be taken into consideration in order to achieve what you want. Understanding the key macro-nutrients is the most important first step to any diet.
Calories
A calorie is a measure of energy. When your body ingests food it converts it into energy for everyday tasks such as breathing, walking and all around living. Not to mention the excess calories you burn off when strenuous exercise is undertaken! The average adult burns around 2000 calories a day by simply living. You must look at calories depending on your goals. For example, if you eat 1500 calories, your body will be in a deficit and burn fat for energy. The opposite will occur if you eat more it is not this simple however and the most attention must be paid to the type of calories you ingest. 1000 calories per day of chocolate and nothing else will not lead to a healthier lifestyle! However, when exercising, lifting weights etc. your body will be able to ingest more calories and still  be in a deficit. This is why when looking to bulk you must eat for a surplus!

Carbohydrates
Carbohydrates are one of the 3 key macro-nutrients, and contain around 4 calories per gram. Carbohydrates are turned into glycogen in the blood and utilised as the bodies first preference for energy. This is why they are extremely important for your body to function properly. However, simple sugars will turn into glycogen quickly in your body and if not burnt quickly will turn to fat. This is why low glycemic carbs such as brown rice, oats or sweet potato are essential when looking to have long lasting energy as they break down slower in the body and give you a long lasting supply of glycogen.

Protein
Protein is another one of the key macro-nutrients and forms the building blocks for our bodies. We are actually made up of proteins and this makes it essential to ensure we get enough through our diets. They also contain 4 calories per gram and are found in foods such as chicken, beef, lamb and fish. Adequate attention must be payed to the amount and type of protein we get through our diets and this will be discussed in future blogs.

Fat
Fat is probably the most unfairly scrutinised macro-nutrient! You will always see new products claiming to be low-fat yet contain a significant sugar increase from the full fat version. Fat is simply another nutrient for our bodies just like protein or carbohydrates. It is simply the fact that fat contains 8 calories per gram which gives it the bad name. It is simply important to avoid saturated and trans fats found in fast food and to ingest good, unsaturated fats found in nuts, fish, beans, lean meats and many other foods! these assist in the lubrication of joints and many other tasks which help avoid many problems later in life. In fact, eating too little fat can actually cause a number of health problems. So, try not to think of fat as your mortal diet enemy, but rather a helpful counterpart in the pursuit of your healthier lifestyle! 

Overall, controlling the macro-nutrients above and manipulating them to your advantage will be the greatest asset to achieving your fitness goals and I will show you how to do this in future weeks!

James Hallab