Doping user = doper? Society lumps everyone together, but what about men on TRT who want to live a full life?

As you may have already read from various news sites, during May a joint investigation team from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland uncovered a network of anabolics producers and distributors. According to the subsequent assessment, this is the biggest ever case of the Czech customs administration. According to the information available, the organised group had been operating for at least 10 years, the international investigation team detained 19 people and seized property worth, well, guess how much you would say? The perpetrators face up to 16 years in prison for dealing in narcotic drugs and substances with hormonal effects.

But why are we writing such an article, after all, every year in the Czech Republic police officers arrest several distributors of anabolic substances? We were struck by the statement of the regional prosecutor Robert Hanuš, who said that there are more users of doping substances than drug users.

"We are referring to the cult of beauty. Everybody wants to look a certain way and that's why they go to the fitness centre. They are hitting physical limits. Suddenly a person with a chiselled body comes in and advises an easier way. There are a lot more of these substance users than there are drug users."

Obviously the use of doping substances has many side effects and their use and sale is criminal, but what about men in their 40s whose testosterone levels are dropping? These men will not be helped by our health care system and to maintain their current quality of life, these men will commit to TRT because they have nothing else left. Surely we cannot compare drug addicts (pardon the term) and active men in their 40s who decide to take testosterone replacement therapy based on blood and health tests.

Or does it really seem right to lump everyone together? We certainly don't intend this article to encourage the use of doping substances or as a promotion of TRT, it's just a simple reflection on how society perceives AS users, including those on TRT, without realising that abroad, for example, TRT is considered a TREATMENT!

We've said many times in our training videos that the most important thing for muscle development is proper diet, training and recovery. We have never encouraged our readers, listeners and viewers to use doping substances. We have always said, and so far we stand by, that you will do better to avoid banned substances, as they do more harm than good for most users. We're not going to talk about the professional bodybuilding scene, because if we wanted to compare regular exercisers with pros, it would be utter nonsense...

So, what do we want to say with this article? We are certainly not advocates of doping substances, we will not and always will do education of a healthy lifestyle, which however includes a quality and full life, which decreases with age. The solution may be TRT, which is already quite common abroad, but here in the Czech Republic it is still in its infancy and if someone decides to take TRT, he will be perceived by our public as a drug addict, which is completely nonsensical...

We see a big problem in the use of banned substances by young "teenagers" who get into these substances without much difficulty and with the vision of big muscles are not afraid to inject themselves with nonsensical doses of substances. However, they do not realise the side effects they may have for the rest of their lives. Not only the physical ones, but also the psychological ones...

At the same time, we'd be interested in your opinion on how you see this problem. Be sure to leave us a comment below this article so we can discuss.