Athletes are clamoring to discover what they can do to look like this handsome fellow… the guy on the right.(Looking like the guy on the left is a lot easier…. eat heavily at a place with arches and you’ll get there. Sorry, guy, you need to live on a ‘stepper’ for a while)
In fact, go to almost any weightroom and ask around — and after a time — people will generally let you in on their ‘secrets.’ Some of what the ‘professionals’ will tell you is fact, some will be superstition and some will just be bunk. However, it is always fun to hear the latest craze.
Sometimes, someone will walk into the weightroom looking a little ‘super’ natural like my buddy above and this will cause other lifters and athletes to freak out… it’s really not too unusual… it happens to me all the time.. heh heh. Actually, at 54 years old, I am still fairly strong … but it’s a family genetic thing.
Some families have a non-fatal version of muscular dystrophy that gives you roughly the same effect….. in fact, it has been hypothesized that many top athletes have some naturally occuring myostatin inhibitors ( allows for muscle growth )… but there are less genetically endowed athletes working hard on getting at these secrets… they’re throwing away their EPO, Steroids, Hormone Precursors, HGH and the like and looking at something that will propel them into the ‘big time’…. it’s called gene doping. Look for it in the next Olympics, I am sure we’ll see some real surprises!
As I mentioned before, there is a strong feeling on the part of many scientists that a number of top athletes carry a gene for increased muscle development … naturally. However, we’re bound to read more and more about IGF-1.
The interest in understanding the actions of myostatin inhibitors and myostatin inhibition has less to do with finding the ‘new secret’ for the world’s top athletes, as it does for finding a treatment for muscular dystophy. Increasing the potential lifespan and quality of life for someone with MD is a worthy goal.
One young boy being observed today is from from Germany. He has unusually large muscles since birth… and… the hope is that by studying him, possible treatments for MD can be developed. Wyeth Labs is looking at such treatments for humans after successful experiements in animals.
Well… the tests ( referred to as ‘human trials’) by Wyeh have been going for a year or two now and I can only wonder if some of the ‘samples’ have been deengineered by some of the mad scientists of the athletic community… hmmmm. The problem as I see it for the athlete — besides all the ethical considerations — is that most of these types of drugs are fairly general… and — I would have to ask – what would prevent the drug from causing potentially life threatening side effects , such as enlarging the heart in the man or woman not stricken with muscular dystrophy?
News is already out that this drug exits the human system after 28 days ( becoming nondetectable from the athlete’s perspective)…
As for me…. I’ll keep lifting weights the old fashioned way and… I’ve started using this thing that my daughters and my wife call a ‘stepper’… I think it has something to do with eating green vegetables!
Somehow I feel better if I imagine that I am stomping grapes to make wine… but I feel drenched when it’s finally over…. yep, I am losing weight and it makes a great warm down from my weight lifting regimine.
Finally, I have to admit, it doesn’t take a huge amount of time to get a great workout on this thing… and with my stereo blasting… well… it’s kinda like vegetables… after a while, they aren’t too bad.
Roger Freberg