November 17, 2012
Click here for the full written transcript of this podcast episode.
As you know if you listened to or read the transcript of the episode “The Real Truth About Age Group Drug Testing, Doping In Triathlon and the Kevin Moats Story“, the use of drugs and cheating (whether accidental or intentional) is a growing issue in amateur and age grouper sports.
But there are lots of unanswered questions, and you may be feeling a bit left behind when a conversation turns to doping in amateur sports, or even concerned about the potential of a supplement you're taking being “laced” with a banned substance, so in today's audio interview with University of Essex biochemistry professor Chris Cooper, author of the book “Run, Swim, Throw, Cheat: The Science Behind Drugs in Sport“, you'll find out…
-When it comes to banned performance enhancing drugs, which ones are the most common, and how they work…
-Whether many amateurs or age groupers, such as amateur cyclists, swimmers, triathletes, etc. use banned performance enhancing drugs, knowingly or otherwise…
-If you can “accidentally” get some of this stuff in your bloodstream or unknowingly ingest it from foods or common medications…
-If hormone replacement therapy gives an unfair performance advantage…
-Do herbal methods, like tribulis, maca, etc. come close to synthetic hormones for enhancing testosterone or EPO….
-How the “biological passport” system works…
-And much more…
You can listen now or download for later below.
Questions, comments or feedback about doping in amateur sports? Leave your thoughts below.
I blog quite often and I truly appreciate your information.
This article has truly peaked my interest. I am going to book mark your site and keep checking for new information about once per week.
I subscribed to your RSS feed too.
Ben,
I just thought I would add a brief science note here. There is no a priori reason why a compound that increases sex drive should affect muscle mass i.e. these are two independent properties of testosterone. Indeed the "holy grail" for sports dopers seems to be to affect one (muscle mass) without the other (sexual side effects). This should be possible in theory, although medicine doesn't seem to have solved this issue yet. Of course in general life you might not care and just want both effects.
Chris (Cooper)
Interesting interview. Thanks for bringing in an expert on this topic. There does appear to be a lot of interest in this topic and finding that "extra edge" in general. My impression from some of your previous podcast is that you (Ben) have been willing to try a variety of herbal supplements with hopes of increasing your EPO or testosterone levels and have also recommended a variety of regimes to listeners. After hearing Dr. Cooper say that there doesn't appear to be any scientific evidence supporting the claims has your perspective or practices changed?
I enjoyed this podcast.
The good doctor gave clear explanations of the background and, importantly, only commented on the things his knowledge/science could support.
Good stuff!
Thanks LoneMarmot…glad it helped!