Bodybuilding and The Use of Steroids - Research Paper Example

 Discourse Analysis on Interview on Anabolic Steroid use in Bodybuilding. Abstract. Discourse analysis is a collective term that describes the various methods used to analyze language in spoken, written, and signed form. It is a research method that can neither be described as qualitative nor quantitative because it is just a way of challenging the basic assumptions made in the research methods. In this paper, the study explores the use of steroids and bodybuilding using discourse analysis technique. The purpose is to understand steroids and how important they are in bodybuilding. The researcher interviewed a female who is a personal trainer and a competitive bodybuilder, and writing down of the recorded interview was done for the intention of analysis. Various themes were recognized in the analysis, for instance ‘advantages and disadvantages of steroids’, ‘users and types of steroids’, ‘the role of steroids in body building’ and ‘women in bodybuilding’. There were contradictions, for example, steroids help to reduce body fat in women. Introduction According to Yesalis (2000), steroids are synthetic drugs that similar to testosterone, a male sex hormone. It enhances the growth of masculine characteristics and boost muscle growth. They are in the form of tablets, intramuscular injection and powder form. Steroids enhance the capability to train hard since they improve muscle repair and fatigue tolerance. Freedman (2009) argues that anabolic steroids users may feel more confident, aggressive and stronger. Young men use steroids to attempt to build up well-toned upper body muscles, while young women employ the use of steroids to achieve well-toned compact bodies low in fat. According to Yesalis (2000), Athletes obtain steroids to drive their bodies past their limits. Athletes, old or young, amateur or professional, at all times look to get a gain above their rivals. Taking steroids offers them an edge, escalating muscle mass and body potency. Steroid users are frequent in: Players who rely on size and strength such as wrestlers, baseball and football players Field and track athletes and swimmers – those who require stamina Bodybuilders Any person fascinated in developing and building their muscles. It is imperative to recognize that using steroids does not enhance agility, skill and performance. The factors that establish performance, skill and agility, are the body size, diet, genetics, sex, age and how tough the athlete prepares. There are two kinds of steroids, which are common. Freedman (2009) argues that Anabolic steroids contain androgen, which has nitrogen-maintaining effects that are responsible for the big muscle mass in males. Therefore, they possess a characteristic of protein assembly and when to use they lead to muscle strength and bulk. Androgenic steroids promote thickening and growth of the skeletal muscles and enhance the decrease in body fat. They are usually illegal without a prescription and are obtainable from the black market. Possibly the most popular anabolic steroids on the marketplace are dianabol and winstrol. They are useful to Athletes and individuals interested in intense fitness (Clayton, 1998). Steroids side effects and disadvantages outweigh the benefits and advantages of their uses (Fitzhugh, 2005). The advantages of using steroids include an increase in muscle definition and leanness, general weight gain, euphoria that is a feeling of confidence and positivity and increase in muscle mass. In addition, Fitzhugh (2005) debates that they enhance the effectiveness of training, improves muscle repair and it increases aggressiveness. The downside of steroids is baldness, increases risk of injury to others and self due to aggressive acts, they may cause mood disturbances for instance depression, mania, and they enhance the risk of psychosis. Moreover, steroids increase the risk of cardiovascular, kidney and liver diseases, cancer, muscles tears, water retentions and low sex drive. Furthermore, steroids lower the effectiveness of the immune system, risk of tendon injuries and aching joints (Vanvoorst, 2010). Sault (1994) describes bodybuilding as a great sport that gives an individual endurance, discipline, health benefits such as excellent blood flow and a strong heart. It develops muscles, cardio and strength of an individual. A time-consuming and tedious sport requires a change in an individual’s lifestyle, sleeping habits and training. Hatfield (1984) asserts that it requires the combination of good rest, weight training and healthy food. Food that is high in protein is necessary for the expansion of the muscles. Therefore, to achieve the large mass of muscles in a very short time, body builders resort to steroids that promote growth and development of muscles. In addition, the steroids increase their aggressiveness that enables them train harder. The steroids also improve muscle repair, which allows them to resume practice quickly after an injury (Clayton, 1998). Discourse analysis scrutinizes how individuals use language to create versions of their incidents, and its foundation is on the supposition that individuals draw on linguistic and cultural sources in order to build their conversation in definite ways to have definite effects. The intention of this study is try to find an understanding on how important steroids are in bodybuilding and effects of steroids. Method Participant The participant is Beth, who is 39 years old, white, works as a personal trainer, who makes use of anabolic steroids, and an active bodybuilder for around ten years. She was a competitive amateur athlete until she was prevented from continuing due to physical injury. She trains hourly twice a day, six days a week, plus an hour of aerobic workout. She has competed as a physique bodybuilder in the past and intends to compete again in the near future. The interview took place in a quiet back room at the gym where Beth works. Before the interview, Beth completed a research contract that had emphasized anonymity (but not confidentiality) of data. The interviewer transcribed the interview directly after it took place, and Beth agreed that it was a correct version of what she said. She declined the opportunity to remove anything from the interview transcript. The interview met Beth twice before the actual interview. Materials The documentation of the interview was done using a tape recorder, and its transcription was possible by playing the tape on the computer system. The transcription code used was: (…) – Short pause (….) – Long pause. The interviewer’s dialogue starts with the letter the interviewee, and I while the letter B. represents Beth. Procedure The interviewer asked how much the participant knew about the steroids, where she obtains information about steroids, what were the advantages and disadvantages of steroids, what were the side effects of steroids and how many users of steroids she knew. Furthermore, she inquired how bodybuilding made her feel feminine, how male body builders react towards her, and how she felt when starting on steroids. She had questions on what concerns she had about steroid taking, how steroids have affected her health and what drugs she may be using to counteract the effects of steroids. She also questioned how she felt about steroid taking, when she planned to stop using them and how free she was to talk openly about steroids. Afterwards, the transcription of the recorded interview was carried out. Appendix A contains a numeral list of quotations from the record that are sourced in the study. Results The analysis carried out revealed a number of interesting themes. The major themes were ‘advantages and disadvantages of steroids’, ‘users and types of steroids’, ‘the role of steroids in body building’ and ‘women in bodybuilding'. Advantages and Disadvantages of Steroids It is evident that the interviewee relies on the steroids for recovery. Yesalis (2000) claims that steroid hasten the healing of a muscle tear and improves muscle repair. This allows an individual to resume training faster in comparison to the normal muscle healing process. In addition, they allow her to train more often and harder. According to Lin and Erinoff (1996), steroids increase aggressiveness that can lead to a person training harder and more often. Moreover, they increase the effectiveness of the training due to stamina, which allows the individual to push their bodies past their limits. The interviewee agrees that the disadvantages of the steroids are the obvious side effects. Vanvoorst (2000) states some of the side effects of steroids as increase in hair growth and loss, decrease in sex drive, increase in cardiovascular, liver and kidney complications, mood disturbances, water retention, increase in muscle tear and tendon injuries and aching joints. She notes the big problem now is that the purchase of steroids is on the black market; however, many of them are fakes. Fitzhugh (2005) argues that fake steroids have altered compositions or may miss part of the required compositions, and this may have deleterious effects on the users. Fake steroids have more side effects that are higher in comparison to genuine steroids. Users and Types of Steroids According to the interviewee, most competitive women and fitness women employ the use of steroids. They may be very choosy on the steroids they use, but they do use some steroids. Yesalis (2000) asserts that competitive and fitness women need to push their bodies past their limits to meet the set requirements. Furthermore, they require a quick remedy to enhance their healing process in case of a muscle injury during training. Therefore, the use of steroids allows them to achieve their goals in their training regime (Fitzhugh, 2005). Competitive women in sports like bodybuilding require tedious training, and high protein levels to build up the large muscle mass, according to Sault (1994). Thus, uses of steroids that promote protein building and reduce body fat are essential. The interviewee identifies two types of steroids namely, androgenic and anabolic. Androgenic steroids promote more weight gain and have more male side effects. On the other hand, anabolic steroids, weight gain is not quickly. However, it permits good quality weight, and is more reliant on the diet you take and training an individual does. According to the interviewee, if someone takes something straight androgenic and blows up perhaps a stone in several weeks, since it is mainly water weight and it will just drop off them anyway. Melfa (1998) explains the need to achieve faster results cause athletes to take androgenic steroids. The water retention due to the androgenic steroids gives an illusion of large muscle mass and weight gain. The Role of Steroids in Body Building The interviewee started taking steroids a year before she started competing, and it had been four years into her training. She confirmed that she started taking steroids because she wanted to compete. This was because, she used to get tired all the time training hard and, was still making improvements, but she wanted more improvements. In her opinion, steroids with women help them reduce body fat. In addition, steroids help achieve the level of muscularity and leanness for the competition. Women have low levels of testosterone and require taking in a substantial amount of testosterone to achieve the large muscle mass. Therefore, it becomes crucial for the women body builders to take steroids to enhance their training effectiveness. Moreover, Yesalis (2000) argues that to achieve leanness and firmness of the woman’s body requires the reduction of body fat, which is possible by taking steroids. He also adds that they are protein building, which is essential to muscle mass. Women in Body Building According to the interviewee, bodybuilding does not necessarily make her feel more feminine. Fortunately, for her, male body builders treat her with respect. However, other fellow women body builders do not take her seriously, but she gets a good reaction from body builders. In her opinion, bodybuilding controls an individual and that is a problem. It becomes obsessive particularly if one wants to get to the top. If a person is doing it to compete and is trying to meet other people criteria, it controls the person to a certain extent. However, if it is primarily for an individual’s interest, it gives the individual control over it. Sault (1994) argues that women body builders may be intimidating to men in the society because of their body size and their masculinity. Therefore, it makes the women demand respect from the men. In contrast, among the women body builders, accord respect depending on the accomplishments one has achieved. In competitions, the body builders have to meet the set criteria to compete. Therefore, individuals will train to make improvements and adjustments to comply with the criteria. Reliability and Validity The inquiry of reliability in discourse analysis deals with whether dissimilar researchers would deduce the text in comparable ways. According to Johnstone (2002), there is no assurance that such reliability is feasible, given that researchers are probably to disagree in their expectations, avoidance of discomfort, motivational factors and familiarity. Thus, it has to be acknowledged that the elucidations of the data in this account are subjective, and a different researcher might deduce the data in a different way. In requisites of validity, the technique has a superior ecological validity as it is concerned more with daily occurrences than those that are frequently studied in the laboratory. Conclusion The interviewee knows the disadvantages of steroids outweigh the advantages of steroids. However, she still uses them to achieve her goal of masculinity and leanness to meet the competition criteria. She acknowledges the fact that training without steroids does not make her achieve her intended improvements, and she often gets tired. Therefore, steroids are helpful in effective train and enhance desired improvements. She gets her information about steroids from her gym instructor and notes that fake steroids obtained from the black market have more side effects. In addition, she tells of the two types of steroids, androgenic and anabolic. Anabolic steroids do not lead to quick weight gain and depending on the diet and training regime, while androgenic steroid leads to quick weight gain, and promotes water retention. Finally, she says bodybuilding does not make her more feminine, and she receives more respect from men body builders compared to women builders. She acknowledges that bodybuilding may be obsessive especially when one wants to meet criteria for the competition. Appendix I: Umm what do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of taking steroids? B: For me the advantages are, I do not rely on it for size as such, I rely on them for recovery. So the advantages for me are that I can train more often and harder. Umm there are different types of steroids I do not know if you know anything about them or not. There are types that put that are more androgenic, which is more you get more side effects, male side effects, with and the anabolic, the anabolic ones will not put on weight so quickly. But it will be good quality weight and it’s more reliant on the diet you take and the training you do. You see someone who takes something straight androgenic and they blow up perhaps a stone in a couple of weeks but it is mainly water weight and it will just drop off them anyway I: Umm some bodybuilders say that training has made them feel more in control. Would you agree? B: Uumm. I think sometimes. Sometimes I think it actually controls you. I think that’s a problem. I think it depends. It’s I suppose obsessive and it has to be if you want to get to the top. I mean anyone’s that’s eating meals every two hours on the dot has got to be a bit obsessive about it so it does become an obsession. So umm bodybuilding if you are just doing it to yourself you are probably in control. If you are doing it to compete you are trying to meet other people’s criteria so it controls you a bit. References Clayton, F. (1998). Steroids. Sunborn: The Rosen Publishing Group. Freedman, J. (2009). Steroids: High Risk Performance. Sunborn: The Rosen Publishing Group Fitzliugh, K. (2005). Steroids, What’s the Deal? London: Heinemann Library. Hatfield, F. (1984). Bodybuilding: A Scientific Approach. New York: Contemporary Books. Johnstone, B. (2002). Discourse Analysis. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell. Lin, G., & Erinoff, L. (1996). Anabolic Steroid Use. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgens University Press. Melfa, F. (1998). Bodybuilding a Realistic Approach: How You Can Have A Great Body. London: Power Writing. Sault, N. (1994). Many Mirrors: Body Image and Social Relations. Darby, PA: Diane Publishing. Vanvoorst, J. (2010). Performance-Enhancing Risks: The Science of Steroids. Mankato: Capstone Press. Yesalis, C. (2000). Anabolic Steroids in Sports and Exercise. Cahmpaign: Human Kinetics. Read More