What happens if someone does steroids but doesn't work out, eat good or do cardio?

[Ninja Loco]

Ahh....... word. Well then I guess there are no supporting studies on that. I have seen it, and still see it, all too often though.

[Dr Pangloss]

Ahh....... word. Well then I guess there are no supporting studies on that. I have seen it, and still see it, all too often though.

fat gain from steroid use?

[Dr Pangloss]

Let me clarify. Lower levels of Testosterone than 'normal' which is a general affliction of aging men DOES result in fat gain. Test replacement reverses this. This is not really what you're asking but it supports your view narrowly, in that while the subject is secreting below-normal levels of test, one would predict an increased likelihood of fat gain.

: J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2008 Jan;93(1):139-46. Epub 2007 Oct 16. Links

Testosterone therapy prevents gain in visceral adipose tissue and loss of skeletal muscle in nonobese aging men.

Allan CA, Strauss BJ, Burger HG, Forbes EA, McLachlan RI.
Prince Henry's Institute, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3168, Australia.
BACKGROUND: Trials of testosterone therapy in aging men have demonstrated increases in fat-free mass (FFM) and skeletal muscle and decreases in fat mass (FM) but have not reported the impact of baseline body composition. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine the effect, in nonobese aging men with symptoms of androgen deficiency and low-normal serum testosterone levels, of testosterone therapy on total and regional body composition and hormonal and metabolic indices. METHODS: Sixty healthy but symptomatic, nonobese men aged 55 yr or older with total testosterone (TT) levels less than 15 nm were randomized to transdermal testosterone patches or placebo for 52 wk. Body composition, by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (FM, FFM, skeletal muscle) and magnetic resonance imaging (abdominal sc and visceral adipose tissue, thigh skeletal muscle, and intermuscular fat) and hormonal and metabolic parameters were measured at wk 0 and 52. RESULTS: Serum TT increased by 30% (P = 0.01), and LH decreased by 50% (P < 0.001). Relative to placebo, total body FFM (P = 0.03) and skeletal muscle (P = 0.008) were increased and thigh skeletal muscle loss was prevented (P = 0.045) with testosterone therapy and visceral fat accumulation decreased (P = 0.001) without change in total body or abdominal sc FM; change in visceral fat was correlated with change in TT levels (r2 = 0.36; P = 0.014). There was a trend to increasing total and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol with placebo. CONCLUSION: Testosterone therapy, relative to placebo, selectively lessened visceral fat accumulation without change in total body FM and increased total body FFM and total body and thigh skeletal muscle mass. Further studies are needed to determine the impact of these body compositional changes on markers of metabolic and cardiovascular risk.

[RDFinders]

Nearly every study wherein anabolic steroids are used to combat wasting related to HIV or aging, and many directed at other matters, report increases in lean muscle mass in the absence of any resistance training.

In fact, often the criteria are that the patient not be involved in resistance training NOT be training, as it could obfuscate the results.

couldn't that be b/c the cachexia they are experiencing is overcome with steroid/growth hormone usage? so if you took the average joe/jane without cachexia syndrome, their weight gain would not be the "desired" gains?

[Dr Pangloss]

couldn't that be b/c the cachexia they are experiencing is overcome with steroid/growth hormone usage? so if you took the average joe/jane without cachexia syndrome, their weight gain would not be the "desired" gains?

no. you find this with normal individuals also.

[sassy69]

But do they gain fat weight, Doc? Im pretty sure it's a given that anabolic steroids will increase lean muscle tissue regardless, but I guess we took the question further and expressed how we've also seen tremendous amounts of bodyfat gain as well.

I think the deal is that if you're looking to use steroids to do all the work, but you don't alter a shitty lifestyle you'd get some lean muscle mass, but the addition of the already shitty diet & couchpotato lifestyle will certainly continue to contribute to fat gain, in addition to stress on the system from steroids. Also consider if someone is simple enough to think steroids will do all the work in terms of "get big muscles & rip you up", they probably are also forgetting about the ancillaries and will experience the accompanying water gain, gyno, etc.

At the end of the day, if they were expecting to look like Arnold because they "did steroids", but did nothing else, they are not going to get the results they wanted. They'll have whatever they started with but thicker. If they also interpreted the use of steroids as "gotta eat everything in sight to bulk cuz I'm runnign some dbols", they will further continue to gain fat. Its not the use of steroids per se, but rather the accompanying lifestyle or lack thereof that will contribute to worse result. I think we all feel that if you're going to subject your body to the stresses of excess hormones, then wouldn't you want to get the most out of it? Just tossing down dbols and doing nothign else, resulting in NOT getting the Arnold phsyique, could further make someone think "that cycle was crap, I'm gonna try something stronger"... and then make it worse yet.

[Ninja Loco]

Extremely well put, Sassy.