So when we talk about possible long term side effects of steroids even in low doses, most of the talk is heart related.
We also have discussed many professional bodybuilders dropping dead seemingly “out of nowhere” with very serious heart conditions.
We talk alot about bloodwork, time on vs time off, etc, but i have never actually seen a serious talk about cardio, and more important - IMPROVING cardio. I do not talk about 20min on slow moving stairs or 10min walks 3 times a day. I talk about cardio training, and progressing and improving it.
I browsed a few training logs on here and none of them mentions serious training. Its all about weights or sets and reps, but almost nothing about improving your 400m sprint, or how many burpees can you do in 2 minutes, or some simple bodyweight exercise circuit tests etc.
My belief is that if you actually do this stuff as often as you do your bicep curls, i dont think that a heart problem can “sneak up” on you. I think that people dont notice these problems starting because they never actually test their cardio, never train it and never notice a decrease in their abilities or chest pains when working high intensity because they just DONT do anything besides 10 reps of something.
So the question is… do most of people here just forget about one of the most important elements of hearth health, or is it just not important?
Why dont we spend as much time talking cardio as we spend on talking lipids on TRT?
Wouldn’t these increase the hypertrophy of your heart if you are also taking anabolics? Would lower intensity cardio training be more beneficial to your cardio and not necessarily “increase” LVH or other non preferential cardiac changes? I am curious about this as well. I would “think” that lower intensity training would be preferential if you have a higher anabolic environment, as to not hypertrophy the heart, but to still get benefits of cardio training. Maybe someone more educated can chime in?
Good questions.
But i believe that NFL superstars and Crossfiters drop dead much less than bodybuilders do. And the drug use is simmilar for sure. Look at some of those Crossfit chicks.
Now I am going to need a long bathroom break at work. Thanks a lot @hankthetank89
I do think cardio is important. While using AAS, I probably wouldn’t over do it though. Also, I think a lot of cardio is needed to get athlete’s heart, so most could probably do a lot more than they are currently doing.
yea, just check out Dani Speegle and Josie Hamming…
i also believe that the heart hypertrophy that comes from exercise is not the same as the bad kind… i read somewhere that “exercise enduced LVH” is considered normal.
I have been thinking of doing this one myself but i dont think i would want to know if its bad… i mean, i wouldnt really change shit even if its bad, so its maybe better not knowing… i really enjoy the idea of a sudden heart attack instead of living in fear or sickness for years.
I believe that the only change that could help if something is a bit off is exactly the one thing i am not willing to change for the next 10-15 years.
So its probably smarter for me to just live and hope i can wake up at 45, say that im done, do the echo and get the results that say i am at least somewhat “ok”…
Other than that i would rather die all of a sudden in a set of burpies and be done with it, instead of living in a way i was not planning to.
I already have changed my views on gear dosages, as my current new blast is 200mg test and 100mg tren. Im not willing to change even more lol
a lot of what @anon18050987 has said. AAS causes physiological changes with the CVS that cardio alone cannot ameliorate. Cardio is certainly necessary, and doing it is better than not doing it, but you need to understand that running cycles is changing the heart and blood vessels as it is the pecs and biceps you look at in the mirror. Risk goes with the game.
if it changes the heart at the same rate, then im fine, lol… maybe going by how much you gain from steroids you can also know how much it fucks your heart, haha… my pecs dont get anything from steroids, so maybe my heart is ok also
You live a healthy lifestyle and to my knowledge you don’t drink, smoke or use recreational drugs known to elicit a cardiotoxic effect. I don’t know how long you took steroids for, but somehow I can’t forsee you developing CHF anytime soon.
Your echo is borderline, you exercise a ton and I’m assuming you’re the type to take various risk mitigation strategies.
The amount of physical activity I partake in on a daily basis can’t be good for my heart… I work a physical job around seven to eight hours per day, I tracked my steps and aside from frequently lifting awkward objects I’m walking like 15-20 kilometres during that timeframe. Then there’s lifting weights and combat sports, this is all typically in the same day.
The amount of pain and discomfort I’m in most days is absolutely unbelievable. This isn’t permenant though, only until I leave the country, at which point I’ll have saved up a nice amount of money and I can give my body a break… Just gym + a bit (instead of a lot) of combat sports then, no physical labour
That’s why I’m leaving for a long time… If I can find a sustainable way to live overseas and things don’t return to normal I don’t think I’ll come back
At this point in time I’m very angry over the way Australians have advocated for this, how we have cheered on as the government stranded their own citizens overseas for two years (tip of the iceberg my friend). I don’t want to come back, though I know when I’m gone I’ll miss the hell out of my family, my dog… That’s about it, I don’t have much keeping me here.
Even as we’ve “opened up” a few days ago substantial restrictions are still in place. The police state mentality is very much omnipresent. Look up the pandemic legislature being tabled in Victoria… It’s unbelievably authoritarian, arguably allows the premier to rule by decree. Western Australia is still locked out from the rest of Aus, so Paris before Perth has become a reality… And western Australia has zero covid…
