Steroids In Sports Essay

Sports are built on competition and athletes are forced to constantly perform in their peak athletic form to remain competitive. Steroids are used by athletes to improve athletic ability, body image and speed up recovery. Although many professional sports have banned the use of steroids many athletes still risk punishment.

Athletes' main reason to use steroids is for them to enhance their athletic ability and reap the rewards of performing well. An athlete's whole career relies on their performance during games and matches. The reasons for steroid “use includes increasing sporting performance and outcomes”(Anabolic Steroids). For example a baseball player will take steroids to improve how hard they throw or how far they can hit the baseball.

For athletes branding is almost just as important as skill, especially if the athlete is chasing the money and fame. “People who misuse anabolic steroids may include athletes, bodybuilders and people who feel they need to look muscular to feel good about themselves”.(Anabolic Steroids). When an athlete is in amazing shape and has a publicly desired body image usually many brands will have interest in sponsoring. The other side for an athlete to build a brand focused on their body image is the opportunities they may get. In a sport like UFC, fighters that can draw in the most fans get the biggest fights in regards to money and championships. One big thing that is very underlooked about athletes is their mental health, they are always under constant pressure to show they belong at the pro level. On social media athletes get constantly harassed if they perform badly or if they don't have a body that looks like they are a professional athlete. Some athletes will go to the extreme and use steroids to improve their body image to build their self confidence. An athlete needs to have good self confidence to be able to perform at a high level as if they don't believe that they can perform well, they will crumble under the extreme pressure. Bodybuilding is a sport that solely depends on

Certain types of steroids can be used for athletes to “[Enhance] recovery from injury”(Mckenzie). When an athlete gets injured their whole goal is to get back to their sport the quickest they can. Some specific types of steroids can increase muscle growth and development which can allow an athlete to recover quicker than expected. Long term injuries can cause many issues for a players career, Sport teams will avoid signing players that are suffering long term injuries as they cant produce for a team if they can play, therefore it causes a loss in potential earnings if a player can't play. Another reason for athletes to desire to recover quicker is the simple fact that nobody wants to remain injured for a long period of time, injuries can affect daily tasks and can cause a person to be in constant discomfort. Serious injuries can cause long lasting effects on a athletes skills and abilities, for example in football, many players have their ALC and MLC torn which can cause long lasting effects on their agility and explosiveness. For a position like a running back they make their money on being able to shift their bodies around defenders, so when they lose their abilities they lose their jobs. Steroids allow athletes to build muscle quicker and stronger which can allow them to recover and come back better than before their injury, or it can build muscles to