Widespread Use of Anabolic Steroids in Skinny Elite Endurance Athletes

Anabolic steroids are a performance-enhancing drug that is most often linked to bodybuilding and sports where muscle size and strength is critical to success. The recent doping scandals in professional cycling involving Lance Armstrong and several others has shown that “skinny” endurance athletes like to use steroids too.

The most popular PED among endurance athletes remains the oxygen-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO). And any other pharmaceuticals and procedures, such as blood transfusions, that improve oxygen transport are the most prized PEDs for endurance sports. However, the anabolic properties of steroids, human growth hormone (hGH), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) and other traditionally muscle-building drugs play a surprisingly important role in endurance events.

The use of anabolic steroids by professional road cyclists and marathon runners show that steroids don't inevitably lead to extreme muscular hypertrophy (or any muscle size increase at all). In fact, additional muscle mass would be detrimental to endurance performance. Endurance training is very demanding and traumatic to the human body. Steroids facilitate recovery from such extreme demands without compromising aerobic capacity.

Lance Armstrong recently admitted to Oprah Winfrey that he used the anabolic steroid testosterone as part of a stack that included erythropoietin and blood transfusions to help him win seven Tour de France races.

It doesn't appear that Armstrong's steroid and doping protocol was very extreme in cycling. In fact, most of his competitors used the same drugs with some using many more.

Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen admitted that he used several traditionally bodybuilding drugs between 1998 and 2010. In addition to the expected cycling protocol of EPO and blood transfusions, Rasmussen also used testosterone hGH, IGF-1, DHEA and insulin.

Matthew Kisorio, the third fastest half-marathoner in history, tested positive for anabolic steroids during the 2012 Kenyan Track and Field Championships. He told the German television station ARD that most of his fellow Kenyan athletes are using EPO and steroids too.

The popularity of anabolic steroids among athletes in endurance sports should be a clear indicator that steroids are ubiquitous in elite sports of every type. Don't be surprised to learn that the 150 pound runner winning the local 10k races may have something in common with the gym rat sporting 20 inch biceps.