Retention of Performance Gains following Testosterone Enanthate Administration

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Introduction: There are many anecdotal reports of the length of time that performance enhancement persists after cessation of androgenic anabolic steroid use. The first controlled study to show the performance enhancement of the anabolic androgenic steroids was carried out by Bhasin and co-workers in 1996, however controlled studies of the length of time that performance enhancement persists have not been performed. This study reports on the performance gains after cessation of steroid use. Methods: Twenty-one weight training male subjects between the ages of 19 and 43 completed a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Subjects were given weekly injections for 12 weeks (either 3.5 mg/kg body weight testosterone enanthate or saline placebo) while undertaking a supervised weight training program with a 12-week controlled follow-up phase with continued supervised weight training (post steroid phase). One repetition maximal bench press, 30m sprint, 6 s cycle test and counter-movement jump performance measures were made prior to testosterone dosage, after 12 weeks of administration and at 6 weeks and 12 weeks of the post steroid phase. T/E ratios were determined both during the testosterone administration and during the post-steroid phase. Results: After 12 weeks of testosterone administration there were significant (p < 0.05) increases in the bench press results of the testosterone group compared to the placebo group of 22% v 9%. 30m Sprint times decreased from 4.42 ± 0.17s to 4.33 ± 0.23s for the testosterone group with no decrease for the placebo group. No significant differences were found for the 6s cycle test or the counter movement jump. In the post steroid phase, the bench press improvements decreased after 6 weeks to an increase over pre steroid administration of only 12% v 9% for the placebo whilst 12 weeks in the post steroid phase both groups recorded 8% increases over the initial measures. The increases in the 30m sprint times recorded at the conclusion of testosterone administration were maintained after 12 weeks of no drug. The T/E ratios of the placebo group did not alter during the period of the study. The testosterone administration group increased T/E ratios from 0.96 ± 0.64 to 15.12 ± 13.13 after 12 weeks. This declined after drug dose ceased with a T/E ratio of 10.59 ± 9.27 at the second week of the post-steroid phase and a return to 1.19 ± 0.65 at the conclusion of the 12 weeks without testosterone administration. Discussion: As with the study of Bhasin et al (1996) significant increases in performance measures were found following the 12 weeks testosterone administration period. Muscular strength improved by 13% with use of testosterone. However 6 weeks after cessation of steroid use the muscular strength improvement had declined to only 3% whilst there were no gains remaining after 12 weeks without drug. Indications appear that the gains in the bench press were lost at a rate the reverse of their gain. 30m Sprint performance, a measure of muscular power did not follow the pattern of the bench press as it was retained during the 12 weeks post-steroid phase. However T/E ratios followed the pattern of the bench press measures by declining to baseline levels after the 12 weeks. Overall this study indicates that steroid enhanced strength “improvements” are lost when steroids are no longer used even though weight training was maintained. However sprint gains appear to be maintained which are associated with the acceleration phase rather than the later stages of the sprint. The sprint gains may be due to improved neuromuscular co-ordination occurring during the training and be maintained by the training regime. It will be of interest to repeat the study without the weight training during the post-steroid phase.