READ

The cost of being extremely swole

The pros and cons of anabolic steroids.
The cost of being extremely swole
Image credit: Getty Images

Brian Johnson, also known as the Liver King, was recently forced to admit to using steroids after a fellow social media influencer leaked some emails detailing the volume of steroids taken by the Liver King.

Throughout his rise on social media, the Liver King based his brand on the claim that he was able to attain his outrageously jacked physique through natural means.

The 44-year-old influencer credited his physique to a daily regime based on eating raw organ meat like liver and bull’s testicles, working out intensely and taking Ancestral Supplements – his own brand of dietary supplements.

Video credit: Liver King via YouTube

The $US11,000 ($16,400) worth of steroids he allegedly used every single month were never mentioned until recently.

But the reveal did not surprise Dr Krissy Kendall, Lecturer in Exercise and Sports Science at ECU.

“I’ve spent a lot of time around bodybuilders, and there’s no way the Liver King’s body was achieved without steroids,” says Krissy.

“Steroids provide instant gratification – you get results really quickly.

“But in your life, you get one body, and the damage steroids cause is not worth it in the long run.”

Arnolds, gear, gym candy, juice, pumpers, roids, stackers … what exactly are steroids?

There are many different types of performance-enhancing drugs out there. The term ‘steroids’ is largely used to describe anabolic androgenic steroids, which are synthetic versions of testosterone.

Testosterone is a hormone that is mainly produced in either the testicles or ovaries. Naturally, males produce much higher levels of testosterone.

GIPHY

 

Steroids have two types of effects on the body. The anabolic component is related to higher bone density, faster recovery from injury and increase in muscle growth. The androgenic component (also known as ‘masculinising’) is related to developing and maintaining the body’s male characteristics such as higher muscle mass, a deep voice and body hair.

Scientists first isolated and synthesised testosterone in 1935 and used it to treat depression. Its misuse started at the 1954 Olympics when Russian weightlifters were given testosterone to enhance their performance.

Steroid use became more widespread in the 1980s, with young men using it to enhance their physical appearance.

How do people misuse steroids?

Steroids are taken in the form of tablets, gels or liquid injections. And despite a lack of scientific evidence, there are three different methods used by people in hopes of reaping the benefits without any negatives.

GIPHY

 

‘Stacking’ refers to when you take different types of steroids together to maximise benefits.

‘Cycling’ refers to when steroids are used periodically with breaks in between.

Finally, there’s ‘pyramiding’, which refers to when users start with a low dose and gradually increase to a maximum dose in attempts.

None of the above are backed by scientific evidence.

What are the unwanted side effects?

The misuse of anabolic steroids has a long list of side effects as they affect multiple systems and organs.

Short-term use can cause sleeping problems, irritability, mood swings or aggression, changes in sex drive, acne, shrunken testicles, decreased sperm production, breast development and more.

“Prolonged use of steroids at high doses has nasty consequences and puts the heart, liver and kidneys under an enormous amount of stress,” says Krissy.

“This could result in heart attack and stroke, kidney failure or cancer and abnormal liver function.”

You can also add depression, stunted growth and premature bone and skin ageing to the list of downsides.

Is it possible to use steroids safely?

You can use them legally and safely if they are prescribed by a doctor for medical reasons. Steroids are prescribed for conditions such as low levels of testosterone, delayed puberty in males, post-menopause issues, breast cancer, anaemia or muscle loss due to cancer or AIDS.

As it’s illegal to use steroids for muscle building and boosting athletic performance, it’s a dangerous game.

“You have to obtain them illegally, so you don’t know where they are coming from or what’s in them,” says Krissy.

“It’s incredibly risky.”

So, what now for the Liver King?

In a 6-minute long YouTube video, the Liver King expressed his remorse and announced that, from now on, he will live without steroids. So what will that mean for his physique?

According to Krissy, when you start taking steroids, your body stops making its own supply. So he’ll need to cycle off his current steroids and start another one to help him make his own natural hormones. He’ll then be able to come off them altogether.

“He definitely won’t be as big, as there is no way to maintain that size without steroids,” says Krissy.

“But for his followers, it’s good to remember that you can attain amazing results naturally with proper nutrition and training and be proud that you achieved them with hard work and discipline.”

Lizzie Thelwell
About the author
Lizzie Thelwell
Lizzie is a journalist, copywriter and communications professional. She writes about a wide variety of topics but has a particular interest in health and medicine.
View articles
Lizzie is a journalist, copywriter and communications professional. She writes about a wide variety of topics but has a particular interest in health and medicine.
View articles

NEXT ARTICLE

We've got chemistry, let's take it to the next level!

Get the latest WA science news delivered to your inbox, every fortnight.

Republish

Creative Commons Logo

Republishing our content

We want our stories to be shared and seen by as many people as possible.

Therefore, unless it says otherwise, copyright on the stories on Particle belongs to Scitech and they are published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

This allows you to republish our articles online or in print for free. You just need to credit us and link to us, and you can’t edit our material or sell it separately.

Using the ‘republish’ button on our website is the easiest way to meet our guidelines.

Guidelines

You cannot edit the article.

When republishing, you have to credit our authors, ideally in the byline. You have to credit Particle with a link back to the original publication on Particle.

If you’re republishing online, you must use our pageview counter, link to us and include links from our story. Our page view counter is a small pixel-ping (invisible to the eye) that allows us to know when our content is republished. It’s a condition of our guidelines that you include our counter. If you use the ‘republish’ then you’ll capture our page counter.

If you’re republishing in print, please email us to let us so we know about it (we get very proud to see our work republished) and you must include the Particle logo next to the credits. Download logo here.

If you wish to republish all our stories, please contact us directly to discuss this opportunity.

Images

Most of the images used on Particle are copyright of the photographer who made them.

It is your responsibility to confirm that you’re licensed to republish images in our articles.

Video

All Particle videos can be accessed through YouTube under the Standard YouTube Licence.

The Standard YouTube licence

  1. This licence is ‘All Rights Reserved’, granting provisions for YouTube to display the content, and YouTube’s visitors to stream the content. This means that the content may be streamed from YouTube but specifically forbids downloading, adaptation, and redistribution, except where otherwise licensed. When uploading your content to YouTube it will automatically use the Standard YouTube licence. You can check this by clicking on Advanced Settings and looking at the dropdown box ‘License and rights ownership’.
  2. When a user is uploading a video he has license options that he can choose from. The first option is “standard YouTube License” which means that you grant the broadcasting rights to YouTube. This essentially means that your video can only be accessed from YouTube for watching purpose and cannot be reproduced or distributed in any other form without your consent.

Contact

For more information about using our content, email us: particle@scitech.org.au

Copy this HTML into your CMS
Press Ctrl+C to copy