Lance Armstrong: United States Anti-Doping Agency "REPORT ON PROCEEDINGS UNDER THE WORLD ANTI-DOPING CODE AND THE USADA PROTOCOL"

Here it is Folks:  All 202 pages of the USADA investigation into Lance Armstrong's doping programme.

I have never read any of his books, or supported any of his causes and for one good reason:  I have never believed his story.  I just could not believe that a man who had lost a testicle to cancer, and consequently undergone chemotherapy, could produce levels of testosterone that were at the highest levels of "normal".  I decided I would side with those on his team who came clean early on.  People like New Zealand's Stephen Swart, son of my sister's friend from long ago, Gail Swart.  A family with morals, if there ever was one.

While there are now more than 15 others who have blown the whistle on Armstrong Inc, most of these people confessed late in the peace - many after the fact.  Good on them!  However, we should be saving our strongest accolades to the early whistle-blowers who did so, not under duress, but out of a sense of moral duty.  In so doing, the consequence for them was being ostracised by the sport they loved so much.  Meanwhile, many of those who remained quiet became exceptionally wealthy.

Stephen Swart, you are a hero!  Here's a good interview with Stephen Swart: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/other-sports/7805732/Swart-vindicated-by-Armstrong-report

Reasoned Decision

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The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.

Evidence that there may be less doping during this Tour de France

Source: Zorzoli & Rossi, 2010; Zorzoli 2011           

'So, what are you looking at?

The green blocks show abnormal samples where reticulocyte percentage is HIGHER than normal - either 2 to 2.4% (light green) or above 2.4 to 5% (dark green).  Remember that a higher reticulocyte % means more immature blood cells, suggesting EPO use or blood removal.  So quite clearly, in 2001 and 2002, you had a high percentage of samples that suggest EPO use - between 9% and 11% of all samples, and 80 to 90% of suspicious samples.  No surprise there - this was the era of EPO use.

Then comes the introduction of the urine test for EPO in 2002, which I've shown with a blue line.  Suddenly, things change - now, you see much larger pink bars.  The pink represents LOWER than normal reticulocyte percentage - either 0 to 0.2% (dark) or 0.2 to 0.4% (light)

So clearly, the EPO test changed things - from 2003 to 2007, between 6% and 10% of samples had low reticulocyte %, and these tests make up 80 to 90% of the abnormal test results.  Remember, this suggests blood doping, and a shift in practice after the EPO test was introduced.'

Science of Sport Full article here.....

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The advice in these articles is given freely without promise or obligation.  Its all about giving you and your family the tools and information to take control of your health and fitness.  Please give me your support by subscribing to my free email updates. Please shop at my Online Store. Please encourage your family and friends to do the same. While we may not always be able to compete with the big operators on price, we aim to more than compensate through personal service!
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Record doping tests carried out at Beijing Olympics

4,770 doping tests were carried out in Beijing in the framework of the largest ever testing programme for an Olympic Games. The tests included 3,801 urine and 969 blood tests. Urine tests included 817 EPO tests, and blood tests covered 471 human Growth Hormone (hGH) tests. All the tests covered the 29-day period from 27 July until 24 August 2008. Athletes qualified for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games were tested by the World Anti-Doping Agency and BOCOG under the authority of the IOC. As a general rule, all top five finishers, plus a

 further two, were tested.

Source and full story here.

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Gary comments:

Of course, this all smoke and mirrors.  The use of performance enhancing substances outside of the Olympics during the athlete's preparations is not addressed by testing during the Games.

Drugs can be used to make an athlete train with greater intensity, to recover faster and grow bigger, stronger muscles and even longer limbs. Evading random testing outside of competition is easy enough.  An athlete with the right resourcing is able to come within .001 of the limit for triggering a positive test and therefore remain "legal".  Others may be using designer drugs that have yet to be "discovered" by the testing agency.

As I have asked before: When there is a positive drugs test, why is there not a lifetime ban for the cheat?  

And I ask this:

Why, also, is there not a proper investigation to expose and prosecute the 'Mr Bigs" behind the elaborate attempts at doping deceloption?

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Swimmer Ian Thorpe Doping Test 'Abnormal'

Five-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Ian Thorpe showed "abnormal levels" of two banned substances in a doping test last year, the French sports daily L'Equipe reported on its Web site Friday.

Anti-doping officials in Australia threw out the case for lack of scientific proof, but the sport's governing body FINA wants the investigation reopened, the paper said.

Thorpe retired in November at age 24. He did not compete in another major international meet after the 2004 Olympics.L'Equipe said Thorpe turned up irregular levels of testosterone and luteinizing hormone in a test on May 2006.
Synthetic versions of testosterone, the male hormone, can act like steroids to improve performance. Luteinizing hormone is released by the pituitary gland and produces testosterone in men.

FINA has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the highest tribunal in the sports world, to overturn a decision by Australia's anti-doping agency to close the case, L'Equipe said.
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Gary Moller comments:
Thorpe is innocent until proven guilty; but there are some worrying signs that not all is right, including his unexplained loss of form last year and sudden retirement, just weeks after returning a dodgy test result. And why on Earth would the case be reopened by the international body (FINA), overriding the Australian Drugs Agency, at this late stage? We will just have to wait and see what happens and to find out why.

Let's talk about some of the background to this, in general. First of all, these kinds of reports make me feel sad; but they do not surprise me at all.

If 90% of triathletes use caffeine to boost performance, it should be of no surprise that some athletes progress or resort to using more powerful forms of enhancement. And it can be a surprise and a disappointment who is exposed as a cheat. A good example is sprinting great, Carl Lewis who just happened to be one of the most outspoken critics of drugs abuse. Lewis never let his arch rival, Ben Johnson, forget that he was a drugs cheat. Talk about the jettle calling the pot black!

Leutenising hormone is essential for male and female reproduction. In the male, it stimulates the production of testosterone. For sport, testosterone augementation increases muscle development, aggression and energy to train. It is usually combined with a mix of other drugs and hormones, including growth hormone. The end result is freakish musclularity and even skeletal growth. Good examples of chemically enhanced bodies can be be seen just about nightly on the wrestling programmes that grace the little screen.

The body responds to externally boosted testosterone by reducing its own natural production with the consequence that the male user's nuts shrivel. When the external source is later withdrawn, the user may suffer rapid loss of muscle and physical form, depression, lack of sex drive and infertility. A bit like what happens to the neutered tom cat.

Athletes get around drugs tests in all sorts of way, beginning with enlisting the aid of a good chemist. The first way is to have access to the latest drugs for which there is presently no test. This is what many sports stars had via Balco and Victor Conte a few years back.

Another tactic is to cycle drugs use out of season so that the athlete is clean during competition. If an athlete is called up for a random drugs test out of season then they ensure that they have a person on the inside to tip them off that a registered letter is about to be delivered to their home and they quickly disappear on holiday. They finally reappear to take delivery of the letter and to do the test once the diuretics and masking drugs have done their work. NZ decathlete, Simon Poelman was once exposed using this ploy (Poelman was later convicted of drug trafficking).

Another ploy, which is used with testosterone, is to carefully dribble the hormone into the body 24 hours a day, using rub-on gels। Done carefully, there is an ergogenic effect while keeping blood levels just below the threshold that might trigger a positive drugs test.

I get really angry when an athlete is exposed for sure as being a drugs cheat. Athletes do not do this cheating all alone. Taking drugs is the easy part; evading the doping tests is the hard part. Professional athletes are disposable gladiators and it is the team behind them that I despise - the squad of sports scientists, trainers, doctors and coaches who are knowingly in on the deal - The professionals that not only supply the knowledge and the drugs; but also the means of getting it into their bodies. They are the ones that know the intricate tricks for evading drugs tests and how to get the best benefits. The moment the athlete is exposed, they scuttle off into the darkness, leaving the cheat alone to hang out to dry in the media spotlight.

These psychopaths have no conscience about their part in this sorry business and are already busy working on the next young, impressionable future champion who is willing to do anything to please. The stakes for all are huge and the temptation to cheat is always present.

Thermogenics - the latest fad leading athletes off track

"Put simply a thermogenic is any product that increases thermogenesis (heat production) in the human body. Heat is a by product of metabolism so when more heat is being produced this means that more calories are being used. This is in isolation from activity. Obviously this has had big implications for the fitness industry because if you are using more calories for no greater input of activity the result should be greater fat loss. Added to this is the fact that most thermogenic compounds are very stimulatory giving greater energy and decreased rates of perceived exertion and also have nutrient partitioning effects (greater utilization of fat over other fuels). The impact thermos have had on the industry is profound at it’s easy to see why.

Picture: Once on the slippery slope of substance abuse, where does it end?

There has always been a running battle between the supplement formulators and regulatory bodies and it seems that there are always compounds being banned only for others to take their place."

(The author goes on to list and explain the various substances that are banned and those that are still legal and how they work - Gary)

"For performance benefits I would suggest sticking with caffeine as a stimulant but be careful to not exceed allowable levels if you are subject to drug testing. Neurotransmitter formulas may prove VERY effective and would provide focus and decreased RPE without a stimulatory action and I theorise that in conjunction with certain adaptogenic compounds and caffeine with tyrosine would kick ass (watch this space ;) ! )

If you are needing to lose bodyfat……sort your diet out! Once you have sorted that out with the help of a good consultant you could look at one of the synephrine and caffeine, green tea formulas to speed things up. Also drink tea frequently, I really can’t see a down side to drinking tea, it’s thermogenic, increases insulin sensitivity and is a potent antioxidant! Only use dedicated thermogenic formulas for a set defined goal, don’t just take them in the hope that without changing anything else you’ll develop a lean physique…it just ain’t gonna happen!"
For the full article by Cliff Harvey, go here.
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Gary Moller comments:
Articles like these by supposed conditioning experts leave me with feelings of deep dismay for the future of sport - and weight loss!

Performance that is derived from a stimulatory substance - be it green tea extract or ephidrine, is a really dumb conditioning strategy. The same goes for using the same "thermogenic" substances for weight loss.

Encouraging the use of substances that artificially stimulate the senses and the metabolism to either increase physical performance or to burn fat go completely against the spirit of natural health and fair sport. Even if small amounts are considered safe to use, we all know that there are plenty of young and desperate people out there who will take many, many times more than that if they think it will give them an advantage. The abuse of "soft" drugs often leads on to harder substances. In sport, using stimulants may progress to the dangerous abuse of anabolic steriods. View my Power Point Presentation about Drug Cheats in Sport here.

Athletes who seek an artificial edge (cheating) by using chemicals might win spectacularly for a while; but they quickly disappear off the scenes. While clean athletes last longer career-wide they suffer financially and they miss out on their rightful share of the Gold medals and the Records.

I do not know of any chemical stimulants that do not quickly addict the user chemically and psychologically. When these substances are pumped into the body, the body responds by reducing its own production of the equivalent chemicals. This is the basis of addiction and once a person is in its grasp, wrestling free is much easier said than done. The downside of addiction to stimulants is inconsistent performances, poor decision-making, bad temper, bouts of fatigue and depression and the need to take more and more for the same effect. Oh - and I almost forgot: Weight gain! Please read my article about caffeine addiction here.

Conditioning experts who encourage such dubious practices do not impress me at all. They give my profession a bad name.