Testosterone and Bodybuilding

Testosterone is a hormone that is found in both males and females in all mammals although the common belief is that it is exclusively a male hormone. This belief that testosterone is strictly a male hormone is because it is prevalent in males. Testosterone is secreted in the male testes and the female ovaries. An adult male will produce approximately forty to sixty times the amount that an adult female produces. Testosterone controls or contributes to the following body functions:

- Growth of muscle mass
- Bone density
- Stimulation of bone growth
- Axillary hair growth

Testosterone is thought to be the hormone that controls sex drive, but that is actually quite elementary in thinking. It does play a role in human sex drive but is only a contributing factor. The effects of testosterone through out the life span vary. Starting in infancy through late adulthood testosterone plays a roll in mental acuity, maintenance of muscles, development of muscles, libido, and there is a certain amount of research that has indicated the testosterone may play a roll in cardiac health in both males and females.

Medical Applications

Testosterone has long been used to treat varying conditions as with other anabolic steroids it uses has proven effective to treat:

- Osteoperosis
- Bone marrow stimulation
- Reversal of anemia
- Erectile dysfunction
- Appetite stimulation

This wonder hormone has been in use since the 1940’s and there is tons of literature supporting the use of this anabolic steroid in various theraputic situations.

Body Building and Testosterone

Testosterone has long been used by body builders and other athletes as an anabolic steroid application. It is favored for its muscle building properties. As part of a regime of supplements , diet, nutrition, resistance training, weight training and rest testosterone has assisted many body builders in breaking through the plateu that the unassisted body always reaches. Testosterone as a supplement can be administered orally, through a patch or gel and is also inject able. A doctor typically will not administer testosterone simply to asisst the body builder in reaching new levels of fitness. There are lab made synthetic forms of testosterone available on the market that are legal steroids that can be purchased by the body builder, they are sold as dietary supplements along side the protein supplements and the carbohydrate supplements, although they are not really dietary supplements.

Testosterone is favored by the body building community for the same reasons it is favored by the medical communities. It promotes healing, increased lean muscle mass and takes care of the bones of the body.