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The Effects of Weightlifting and Steroids on T4
Research in Finland on elite weightlifters over a period of a year studied the response of the pituitary-thyroid system before, during and after strength training. The results, published in the “Journal of Sports Science” in 1993, showed that periods of decreased training leads to a mild decrease in serum T4 concentrations. Another study, published in 1995 in the “European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology,” found that T4 levels in weightlifters were lower at night than in a control group, which the researchers concluded may have implications for muscle building.
It’s also been shown that male bodybuilders taking androgenic-anabolic steroids developed mild thyroid impairment (Deyssig et al). But it seems logical that different kinds of steroids exert not only different results but also different side-effects. Donaldson et all in sheep: Plasma total thyroxine was markedly depressed to 45 per cent of its basal level by trenbolone acetate. Fortunato et al in rats: nandrolone decanoate treatment induced a significant increase in the absolute and relative thyroid gland weight. The concentrations of total serum T3, free T4, and TSH decreased significantly with treatment, but total serum T4 levels were unchanged.
Why Bodybuilders Use T4
Thyroid medication is frequently used by bodybuilders getting ready for a competition to lose excess fat by speeding up their basal metabolic rate and help them get “cut,” or produce maximum muscle definition
Read more on our blog..
Research in Finland on elite weightlifters over a period of a year studied the response of the pituitary-thyroid system before, during and after strength training. The results, published in the “Journal of Sports Science” in 1993, showed that periods of decreased training leads to a mild decrease in serum T4 concentrations. Another study, published in 1995 in the “European Journal of Applied Physiology and Occupational Physiology,” found that T4 levels in weightlifters were lower at night than in a control group, which the researchers concluded may have implications for muscle building.
It’s also been shown that male bodybuilders taking androgenic-anabolic steroids developed mild thyroid impairment (Deyssig et al). But it seems logical that different kinds of steroids exert not only different results but also different side-effects. Donaldson et all in sheep: Plasma total thyroxine was markedly depressed to 45 per cent of its basal level by trenbolone acetate. Fortunato et al in rats: nandrolone decanoate treatment induced a significant increase in the absolute and relative thyroid gland weight. The concentrations of total serum T3, free T4, and TSH decreased significantly with treatment, but total serum T4 levels were unchanged.
Why Bodybuilders Use T4
Thyroid medication is frequently used by bodybuilders getting ready for a competition to lose excess fat by speeding up their basal metabolic rate and help them get “cut,” or produce maximum muscle definition
Read more on our blog..