Natural bodybuilding is a bodybuilding movement with various competitions that take place for bodybuilders who claim to abstain from performance-enhancing drugs. This categorically excludes the use of substances like anabolic steroids, insulin, diuretics and human growth hormone. [1] If a bodybuilder meets the requirements of the sanctioning body (the recognized group or authority that sanctions and validates competitions) that they are competing in, then they are considered to be "natural".
Natural bodybuilding is a contentious point in the bodybuilding community because even without the use of performance-enhancing drugs, the amounts of food required to be eaten, training techniques, and body grooming are seen as abnormal undertakings for any athlete.[ citation needed ] There are also many athletes who claim to be natural but have failed drug tests in the past, and not all natural bodybuilding contests are subject to drug testing. There are numerous sanctioning bodies that provide their own rules and regulations that govern the competition procedures, event qualifications, banned substance lists, and drug testing methods. Doping detection methods include urinalysis and polygraph testing, and federations typically conduct these tests on the day of the competition, or shortly before. Each organization will specify within its rules the length of time that its athletes should be drug-free, which may vary from testing clean on the day of the event to being drug-free for a number of years, right up to a lifetime natural requirement.
Since natural bodybuilders avoid using steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, they seek to optimize their training, diet, and rest regimes to maximize natural anabolic hormone production, thereby accelerating recovery and increasing hypertrophy and strength. [2] Certain legal supplements may also be used to aid recovery and promote muscle growth, although diligence is needed as some over-the-counter products contain ingredients that are banned by natural bodybuilding organizations.[ citation needed ]
The notion of what counts as natural is a contentious point among bodybuilders and their practitioners. Bodybuilding sociologist Dimitris Liokaftos points to distinct differences between American and European bodybuilders. British attitudes towards nature place much greater emphasis on the notion of natural athletes adhering to the World Anti-Doping Agency's prohibited list by comparison to American drug testing policies where parts of the WADA prohibited list may be implemented. [3]
Bodybuilding is the practice of progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's muscles via hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. It is primarily undertaken for aesthetic purposes over functional ones, distinguishing it from similar activities such as powerlifting and calisthenics.
The United States Anti-Doping Agency is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti-doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent doping in the United States with a performance-enhancing substance, the USADA provides education, leads scientific initiatives, conducts testing, and oversees the results management process. Headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USADA is a signatory to the World Anti-Doping Code, which harmonizes anti-doping practices around the world, and is widely considered the basis for the strongest and strictest anti-doping programs to prevent doping in sport.
In competitive sports, doping is the use of banned athletic performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) by athletes, as a way of cheating. As stated in the World Anti-Doping Code by WADA, doping is defined as the occurrence of one or more of the anti-doping rule violations outlined in Article 2.1 through Article 2.11 of the Code. The term doping is widely used by organizations that regulate sporting competitions. The use of drugs to enhance performance is considered unethical and is prohibited by most international sports organizations, including the International Olympic Committee. Furthermore, athletes taking explicit measures to evade detection exacerbate the ethical violation with overt deception and cheating.
Female bodybuilding is the female component of competitive bodybuilding. It began in the late 1970s, when women began to take part in bodybuilding competitions.
Clenbuterol is a sympathomimetic amine used by sufferers of breathing disorders as a decongestant and bronchodilator. People with chronic breathing disorders such as asthma use this as a bronchodilator to make breathing easier. It is most commonly available as the hydrochloride salt, clenbuterol hydrochloride.
"The cream" is a testosterone-based ointment that is used in conjunction with anabolic steroids such as tetrahydrogestrinone in order to mask doping in professional athletes.
Trenbolone acetate, sold under brand names such as Finajet and Finaplix among others, is an androgen and anabolic steroid (AAS) medication which is used in veterinary medicine, specifically to increase the profitability of livestock by promoting muscle growth in cattle. It is given by injection into muscle.
Performance-enhancing substances, also known as performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), are substances that are used to improve any form of activity performance in humans.
Professional bodybuilding or pro bodybuilding can refer to bodybuilding for an income and/or possessing qualifications such as an IFBB Pro, IFBB Elite Pro or Wabba International Pro Card.
Desoxymethyltestosterone (DMT), known by the nicknames Madol and Pheraplex, is a synthetic and orally active anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS) and a 17α-methylated derivative of dihydrotestosterone (DHT) which was never marketed for medical use. It was one of the first designer steroids to be marketed as a performance-enhancing drug to athletes and bodybuilders.
The BALCO scandal was a scandal involving the use of banned performance-enhancing substances by professional athletes.
The use of anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs in American football is officially prohibited by virtually every sanctioning body.
Donald Hardt Catlin was an American anti-doping scientist. He is one of the founders modern drug-testing in professional sports.
Since their discovery, anabolic steroids (AAS) have been widely used as performance-enhancing drugs to improve performance in sports, to improve one's physical appearance, as self-medication to recover from injury, and as an anti-aging aid. Use of anabolic steroids for purposes other than treating medical conditions is controversial and, in some cases, illegal. Major sports organizations have moved to ban the use of anabolic steroids. There is a wide range of health concerns for users. Legislation in many countries restricts and criminalizes AAS possession and trade.
Prostanozol, also known as demethylstanozolol tetrahydropyran ether, is an androgen/anabolic steroid (AAS) and designer steroid which acts as a prodrug of the 17α-demethylated analogue of stanozolol (Winstrol). It was found in 2005 as an ingredient of products sold as "dietary supplements" for bodybuilding.
Growth hormones in sports refers to the use of growth hormones for athletic enhancement, as opposed to growth hormone treatment for medical therapy. Human Growth Hormone is a prescription medication in the US, meaning that its distribution and use without a prescription is illegal. There is limited evidence that GH doping improves athletic performance, although the perception that it does is common in the sporting community. Potential side effects of long term GH doping could mirror the symptoms found in sufferers of acromegaly, a disease in which the anterior pituitary gland produces excess growth hormone. These symptoms include swelling of the hands and feet, joint pain, fluid retention, and excessive sweating.
Doping, or the use of restricted performance-enhancing drugs in the United States occurs in different sports, most notably in the sports of baseball and football.
The practice of doping in tennis involves the use of prohibited, performance-enhancing substances listed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The practice is considered unsportsmanlike and unethical, with punishments for such offences ranging from official warnings to career bans, depending on the severity of the offence.
Doping in figure skating involves the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs), specifically those listed and monitored by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Figure skaters occasionally have positive doping results but it is not common. Bans can be enforced on figure skaters by the International Skating Union (ISU) and each country's individual skating federation. These bans can often be career ending due to the competitive nature of figure skating. A ban may be revoked if it can be proved that the skater tested positive for a prescribed medication. Some figure skaters will use PEDs to help with recovery time, allowing them to train harder and longer. Figure skating is an aesthetic sport that combines both athleticism and artistic licence, where weight-loss substances will have little effect on athletic performance but skaters may be perceived as more graceful and sleek, which is required for an athlete to be competitive.