The Dark Side of Sports

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For many years professional athletes, as well as those striving to become professional athletes have turned to supplements. According to an Article in the Journal of Romanian Sports Medicine Society, the use of natural herbs has been traced back to the Ancient Olympic games of Greece, where competitors consumed infused herbs and mushrooms in an effort to enhance their performance (Mazzeo, Filomena; Ascione, Antonio 2013). The promise of enhanced performance, greater power, and super natural strength has driven many to the dark side of the ergogenic world. The use of ergogenic aids of any type, brings about many differences of opinion and is the topic of great debates the entire world. Ergogenic aids may in fact be one of the few topics that raise eyebrows worldwide. So what exactly is an Ergogenic aid? In laymen's terms an ergogenic aids is any substance, technic, mechanism that is designed to enhance a person naturally occurring abilities to give the user a competitive edge. The Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN) describes an ergogenic as "Any training technique, mechanical device, nutritional practice, pharmacological method, or psychological technique that can improve exercise performance capacity and/or enhance training adaptations This includes aids that may help prepare an individual to exercise, improve the efficiency of exercise, and/or enhance recovery from exercise. Ergogenic aids may also allow an individual to tolerate heavy training to a greater degree by helping them recover faster or help them stay injury-free and/or healthy during intense training" (Richard B Kreider, 2010). The use of ergogenic aids dates back to the very origin of the Olympic Games. The negative stigmatism ... ... middle of paper ... .... . Washington, D.C.: National Public Radio. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview Gordon, A. (2002). Steroids: The hard truth. School Library Journal, 48(6), 60. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview Mazzeo, F., & Ascione, A. (2013). Anabolic androgenic steroids and doping in sport. Medicina Sportiva : Journal of Romanian Sports Medicine Society, 9(1), 2009-2020. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview Richard B Kreider. Retrieved from Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition 2010, 7:7 Williams, M. H. (1996). Ergogenic aids: A means to citius, altius, fortius, and olympic gold? Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 67(3), 7. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview Wilmore, J. Costill, D. Kenny, W. (2012). Physiology of Sport & Exercise (5th ed.) Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics

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