Steroids And Drug Testing (Part 1)

Virtually all competitive sports involve drug testing in many of their events. In most cases, although some may argue this point, it is a fact that the vast majority of the competitors have been using, or are still using at the point of the competition, performance enhancing drugs. It is simply human nature in a highly competitive athlete to find an ‘edge’ over his or her competition, and this often comes in pharmaceutical form, coupled with a plan of action to ‘beat the test’. Many competitions in powerlifting and bodybuilding are now drug tested events. The idea is, of course, that everybody competes on a ‘level field’, aside from personal talent for sport. However, what frequently happens is that the guy who is on ‘juice’ and has found a way to get round the drug test comes out the winner. It isn’t fair by any means, but that’s life. However, things do back-fire… Take as ‘for instance’, the recently disqualified winner of a recent ANB British finals…

Some people may find the practice of using drugs to prepare for a ‘natural’ event rather unsavoury. Personally, I neither condemn or condone such a deed; its entirely the business of the individual, and its also up to them to realize that if they get caught, it might just cause them a few problems… Aside from that, the principles behind evading a drug test are quite interesting in their own right. In this article, I will deal with some types of testing procedure and straight forward methods that can be employed to beat them. In a future article, I’ll get into much more devious methods! If you would like to know more, read on…

Types of Testing Procedure
The most common body fluid to be tested for the presence of drugs in athletic competition is generally urine. These articles will deal with the procedures used to test the body fluid, although the procedures used to assay blood for illegal substances are virtually identical.

There are a number of different laboratory testing processes used to test for performance enhancers, and it is important to know how these work, so that you can find a way to beat them!! By virtue of that statement, it goes without saying that you should find out what type of testing procedure your sample will be analysed by well in advance of the test so you can plan ahead…

Gas Chromatography (GC)
This method uses a separation technique to divide a urine extract into its component chemical parts. These substances are carried through chromatographic columns by a gas: chromatography is simply a means of separating mixtures of compounds from each other, and enables identification in many cases. The chemical compounds in the urine are identified by their ‘retention time’ on the chromatographic column – the retention time is unique for each drug, and so enables identification.

Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS)
This technique uses a combination of gas chromatography, followed by mass spectrometry on the chemicals separated out of the urine on the chromatographic column. The mass spectrometry allows exact identification of the drugs present in the urine by actually giving an exact ‘molecular fingerprint’ of the chemicals present; that is to say the chemical structure of the drugs present (the atoms present in the drug, and in the order they are bonded together) is given by this method. This is a very expensive test to use, and it could be stated that only sporting organisations with plenty of cash to hand would use it. The test cost is about one hundred pounds or so per sample (about $200 US).

Although the above two tests are very accurate, there is always room for human error. For example, if the machines were not cleaned perfectly from the last sample, and that last sample was contaminated with illicit drugs, then the next sample through (maybe yours!!) could pick up some of the contaminant, and test positive. Therefore, if you test positive, no matter what, then protest. Especially if you know you were ‘clean’ (or should have been clean by the time of the test)

High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)
This technique is of particular interest because it is often used on test samples suspected of containing anabolic steroids. It’s basically similar to GC, except that a liquid is used as a carrier for the sample through a chromatographic column, rather than a gas. HPLC is both sensitive and simpler to do than GC. It is often used to check results from other, less sensitive tests.

Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC)
For drug testing purposes, this test is quite unreliable and inaccurate, and cannot be used to specify the quantity of drug present in the sample. It is capable of detecting only a limited number of substances 12 to 24 hours after they have been consumed by the individual.

Cheers,
Mick.

“For anyone considering steroid use” this is a must read…
Layman’s Guides to Steroids I and II

“WARNING: Do not read this unless you are ready to gain some serious lean muscle”
Layman’s Guides to Steroids III (new)

Tagged as: Anb, Athlete, Athletic Competition, bodybuilding, Competitions, Competitive Sports, Devious Methods, Drug Test, Drug Testing, Forward Methods, Human Nature, Illegal Substances, Performance Enhancing Drugs, Personal Talent, Powerlifting, Presence, steroids