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I don't know of any specific cases of steroid use, but I know that some of the Brits in the 80's and 90's were on Speed, which seemed to help, and marijuana use is rampant among climbers. Caffeine, sleeping pills, diamox and dexamethasone are used by alpinists all the time (among others, I'm sure). Many climbers seem to have no hangups whatsoever with using drugs of all kinds so I don't know why they would draw the line with steroid use. That's one of several reasons why you shouldn't compare yourself to other climbers...there is no way to know if you're playing by the same rules.

Bigger, Faster, Stronger is on you tube, an educational and funny documentary. no doubt that these drugs would get the climber harder. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-8MY1Gep_A

i started a thread a long time ago about performance enhancing drugs and climbing, and the two biggest winners were whiskey and sex!

So, Google says the normal testosterone range for men is 350-1200ng/dl. If you are at 450 and take steroids to get to your friend's level of 1000, are you cheating since he won the lottery genetically?

gripster wrote: and the two biggest winners were whiskey and sex!

lock the thread , the question has been answered...

if roids will give ray man boobs i would like to offer $5 on it just to get to cop a feel....

So how do roids give a man breast and has the opposite effect on women??? Now, that is wrong!

Saxman wrote:So, Google says the normal testosterone range for men is 350-1200ng/dl. If you are at 450 and take steroids to get to your friend's level of 1000, are you cheating since he won the lottery genetically?

Testosterone levels are only part of it. Your friend may have higher levels, but his androgen receptors may not respond as well to testosterone as yours (androgen insensitivity syndrome, or AIS) so in effect, you require less testosterone to get the same effect. (Total androgen insensitivity actually results in a genetic male developing as a female, I think I remember hearing somewhere that Jamie Lee Curtis is a genetic male with AIS, though that might just be an ugly rumor.)

Or your friend won the genetic lottery, hopefully he will put his natural strength to good use, make millions as a pro athlete, and sign you as his agent at 10%.

mike_a_lafontaine wrote:

Saxman wrote:So, Google says the normal testosterone range for men is 350-1200ng/dl. If you are at 450 and take steroids to get to your friend's level of 1000, are you cheating since he won the lottery genetically?

Testosterone levels are only part of it. Your friend may have higher levels, but his androgen receptors may not respond as well to testosterone as yours (androgen insensitivity syndrome, or AIS). <snip>

Great answer; Mike is spot on! Androgen usage is also linked to balding, but only if you have a deficiency in testosterone-17ß-dehydrogenase. etc. etc.

tutugirl wrote:So how do roids give a man breast and has the opposite effect on women??? Now, that is wrong!

Differing ratios of steroid levels and different sensitivities to them give different results. But if you set all the parameters the same they have the same/ similar effects on everyone. Testosterone is usually characterized as the male hormone, but females have quite a bit of T also. Females can also suffer from low levels of T, in which case nothing is very interesting. Check out this audio file of This American Life on testosterone. Very interesting. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-a ... stosterone

Thanks it was very interesting...made me want to know what my levels are??? Just as them I think I would be a little afraid of the results