When most think of performance enhancing in sports, they think of steroids and other drugs. While this is true, drugs represent only part of the true picture. There are other ways to enhance athletic capabilities that are legal and may seem to some to be ingenious. Performance enhancements in sports are unethical, unhealthy and need to be banned in professional sports. High-risk physical training, the use of drugs, or altering the human body with artificial limbs, is all performance enhancing, unfair and unhealthy.
It is true, of course, that performance enhancements can increase athletic ability, including stamina, strength and overall competitiveness. This puts an athlete at a competitive advantage over their competitors. Altitude training being one of many enhancements in sport is used to increase lung capacity, as well as increase training intensity. While at high altitudes the human body naturally increases the levels of erythropoietin, which is a chemical that releases red blood cells in the body. Red blood cells carry oxygen to the muscles, therefore increases oxygen levels in the muscles. Many people may not be aware of the serious dangers, and inconsistent, unpredictable results that accompany this enhancement. There are many possible outcomes of an athlete training at high altitude. One athlete may train at high altitude for months on end while following the suggested training, not have any symptom more than a headache, and return to sea level becoming a more valuable competitor. Another athlete could train following the same guidelines and be seriously ill, therefore not being able to train, reversing the purpose of altitude training. In fact adjustments to high altitudes are extremely difficult. Weight loss is unav...
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...er athlete can have expenses up $80 000 a year for just their training, coaching, and entrance fees for competitions. This may not even include the cost of daily living and travel expenses. There are sponsors, who will cover many costs for an athlete. But those sponsorships will not cover steroids and other drugs, altitude training, prosthetics, or surgeries. They support the athlete’s necessities to participate in the sport they love. This may seem all right to athletes with money in their family. Think of a situation where there could be a person with no money but is an incredible athlete, and is competing against a good athlete but had the expensive altitude training, surgeries to improve body parts, and steroids their opponent didn’t have and won. This is not morally right. It is no longer a fair fight and can ruin the entire spirit of fair play in sport.
Those who believe the use of anabolic steroids should be allowed in professional sports have numerous arguments for those in opposition. Professional sports leagues have tried to stop the use of steroids by drug testing players and punishing those who do not pass. A number of major athletes, such as Lance Armstrong, have been stripped of their athletic accolades due to discoveries of drug use. Despite witnessing the fall of great competitors due to “doping,” people continue to use. Because of unsuccessful attempts at banning the drug, many people believe “it may be time to head in the other direction: legalize performance enhancers” (Smith 1). No matter how many rules and regulations are made against the use of steroids, athletes will continue to abuse the drug in order to get ...
Several track and field athletes all over the world have been known to use enhancement drugs over the years without testing positive, however, in recent times, more and more athletes are being tested positive for enhancement drug use due to the improvements of medical technology. In the book The dirtiest race in history: Ben Johnson, Carl Lewis and the 1988 Olympic 100 final, Richard Moore stated that all of the top five athletes in the 100 meter final were using enhancement drugs, but only one athlete was stripped of his medal. This brings us to the question; do enhancement drugs help an athlete? Enhancement drugs cause negative effect physically, emotionally and socially, hence the percentages of doping victims are still increasing.
The truth is, they do produce side effects and irregular muscle growth. By banning the use of performance enhancing drugs, just like steroids, sports competition will have a much healthier and fairer environment to participate in. Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports The use of steroids and performance-enhancing drugs is a common trend that is currently fascinating athletes all over the world. Athletes who are using these drugs are damaging the sport and harming their bodies at the same time.
As I said in my last paragraph, many athletes who receive full ride scholarships have been given thousands of dollars for tuition, a meal plan, free books, and school fees, just to play sports. These athletes are also entitl...
Ms. Jennifer Fontaine does not support the idea that athletes are overpaid. Ms. Fontaine suggests that athletes who are superior in their skills and talents associated with their respective sport should be duly compensated. Ms. Fontaine also states that the money earned by these athletes is justified because professional athletes work harder than people in almost any other profession. Last, it is her premise that the money earned by these highly talented athletes help to cover the high costs of medical treatment for serious, if not life-long, injuries such as knee, back/spinal, and head injuries.
Athletes are always searching for ways to enhance their performance. Recently, beginning in the 1950s, that search has included the use of illegal substances like steroids and growth hormones. Illegal substances have been used widely by athletes in hop es of achieving the desired Olympic gold medal or multi-million dollar contract. Some nations, for example the late East Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, have mandated the use of steroids by their athletes. The downside of using those illegal substances is that because they are illegal, getting caught using them can lead to losing that coveted gold medal, a lifetime ban from sports, and a total loss of honor and dignity. This is why the search is now on to find some legal means of enhancing athletic per formance.
In today’s age, performance enhancing drugs have become more advanced than just some special herbs and spices. Scientists today have found ways to manipulate elements to help provide muscle mass and stamina. Some types of performance enhancing drugs are human growth hormones (HGH), testosterone boosters, anabolic steroids etc. When taking HGH, a person might experience results such as an increase in muscle mass, an increase in bone density, and a reduced fat content in the body (Freudenrich). The same results could be found when you take anabolic steroids. Anabolic steroids have been sought after to athletes and bodybuilders because they increase the size and strength of muscles. They also increase aggressiveness and competitiveness, which can be desirable traits in sports (Helmenstine). On different occasions such as a cyclist or a long distance runner, these athletes will store some of their red blood cells when their hemoglobin is high. The athlete will then train and work as usual, but right before the athlete competes they will transfuse the blood they took out back into their body therefore creating more red blood cells to ...
In closing, these athletes are making too much money in a society that traditionally bases salaries on the value of ones work. These athletes do not know what real work is or how hard it is to make a dollar. Although their job is difficult, they do not play a role in our economy like their salaries indicate. Therefore, they should receive less money.
The use of performance enhancing drugs can lead to great health issues, can provide unfair advantages to those who are in the right and not doping up, and can cause the spirit of the sport to be violated and the loss of an athlete’s integrity. Though one could argue against each of these three criteria and have a valid argument, I believe that the dangers to an athletes health are reason enough for the ban on performance enhancing drugs to continue. Using these drugs can have extreme effects on bodily organs and the quality of life an athlete will lead after their use. The dangers that using a performance enhancing drug could bring to one’s health is not the only issue, causing the spirit of the sport to be violated is also an important reason. Many people look up to athletes or love a sport, but their support for the athlete as well as their support for that particular sporting event is in danger when an illegal act is committed within that
In sports many people think it is ok to use Performance Enhance Drugs to be the best player of all time.Performance Enhance Drugs are substances used to improve any form of activity performance in humans. For example, Bruce Irvin the defensive end with the seattle seahawks,and Daryl Washington the linebacker for the Arizona Cardinals. It is not just football players , baseball players also like, Cody Stanley from the St. Louis Cardinals. Many people use them, but the end up getting caught and suspended from playing.You are basically cheating your way to fame.People should not use drugs in a sport to become better because,These drugs have an effect on having a long term of health, could lead to overdose, and if you get caught you most
Many Athletes are willing to do whatever it takes to become a professional. One of the easiest ways to enhance natural ability is through performance-enhancing drugs or, PEDs. PEDs are substances used by athletes to increase their performance. The use of PEDs in athletic competition can date back to ancient Greece. Athletes use PEDs to run faster, jump higher and recover at an increased pace. Many athletes are pressured into using PEDs by coaches or managers and are not thoroughly educated the harmful health issues that can come along with taking performance-enhancing drugs. A rising issue is if performance-enhancing drugs should be allowed in professional sports. I believe that in any professional sport, the use of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes should continue to be banned because this rule will help to keep athletes from abusing these harmful drugs.
06 Jan. 2014. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470510544.ch70/summary>. Haugen, Kjetil K. "Why We Shouldn’t Allow Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport." Academia.edu. Academia.edu, 1 Apr. 2011.
Sport enhancing drugs been a problem in the sport world for many years. Sport enhancing drugs first started with the ancient Greek in 776 BC - 393 BC (Cons). The Greek used hallucinogens and drank special wine to gain and edge on their opponents in the Olympics games. With that being said sport enhancing drugs isn’t going anywhere. It’s been around for many years and Recently MLB (major baseball league) has had issues with athletes using sport enhancing drugs. In 2013 Ryan Braun, Alex Rodriguez, Nelson Cruz and Jesus Montero were all...
However, many believe steroids should be used in professional sports because it can increase the number of ticket sales of games, show the full potential of the athlete, and cheating would not exist anymore in sports. More people would want to see the athletes on steroids because the games would be more exciting and everyone on the field would be equal. "By allowing everyone to take performance enhancing drugs, we level the playing field. . . Far from being unfair, allowing performance enhancement promotes equality” (Julian Savulescu, Bennett Foddy, and M. Clayton 666). As athletes take steroids, they are able to practice more and harder because to steroids decrease inflammation, that is why it is time to legalize steroids.
Sports are a way for humans to have fun and to compete, even for those that are disabled. I think wanting to have a moment of where you are an average person is important to a disabled individual because these moments are only temporary. Being able to play sports is taken for granted by those that have the full ability to participate. On the other hand, there are people that wish they had the ability to participate in sports. Disabled individuals were not given the opportunity to compete in sports until the creation of enhancements.