Testing For Anabolic Steroids (part 1)

There are drug tests carried out in almost all modern day sporting events. Although we tend to always hear the contrary through the media, it is in fact a common fact that the majority of competitors actually use performance enhancing drugs prior to or even right up to an event. There is nothing abnormal in wanting to get that competitive edge over your opponent and this normally tends to be anabolic steroids along with a concrete plan to "cheat the test"

Even with power lifting and body-building competitions it is common place for drug testing to be carried out so that everyone is competing at the same level, apart from the individual's personal talent in that sport. But the truth of the matter is that the winner tends to be the guy who juices and beats the test. It may not seem to be fair but it's just the way things are in today's competitive sporting world.

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.

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.

Different laboratory testing processes are employed in the testing for performance enhancers so we are going to focus on just how they work in order to be able to beat them. Step 1 will be well prior to your event, that you find out which type of sample analysis is to be employed so that an effective planning to beat the test can begin as soon as possible.

Gas Chromatography(GC): This is a method that uses a separation technique to divide up a urine sample back into its component chemical parts. These substances are carried through chromatographic columns by a gas. chromatography is just a way of separating mixtures of compounds from each other, and leads to identification in the majority of cases. The chemical compounds in the urine can be identified by their 'retention time' on the chromatographic column - the retention time is unique for every individual drug, and therefore allows 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's 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): A further technique that is of interest as it is often used on test samples which are suspected of containing steroids. It's very similar to GC, apart from that a the carrier is a liquid for the sample through a chromatographic column instead of a gas. HPLC is both sensitive and easier to perform than GC. It is generally used to check up on results from other tests that are not quite so sensitive.

By: Mick Hart

Find out how to build some serious lean muscle... safely quickly and easily with bodybuilding and steroid expert Mick Hart's best seller Layman's Guide To Steroids

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