My presentation topic will be the impact of steroids on performance and how this affects the skeletal muscle system short term and long term. This topic interests me because throughout my high school athletic career I did have some teammates and peers who took on using steroids (some more serious than others), and even to this day I still hear about some who take steroids at the collegiate level.  Although I know that I made the right decision to not take these substances in high school, I am still curious as to how they exactly work and the effect that it can have on an individual. I know that not all steroids are bad and I believe that part of the reason they are viewed so negatively in the world of sports is because a lot of people are not knowledgeable about this issue. Seeing as to the fact that we have a lot of athletes in the class who may come from athletic backgrounds, I am sure it would interest them to inquire more information about how these substances work in the sports world they are a part of.

I will be focusing mainly on anabolic steroids as that is the more common one used by athletes. So far I have discovered that these steroids act to increase muscle mass and strength. In addition, the main anabolic steroid hormone produced by the body is testosterone. Testosterone has two main effects on the body. Anabolic effects which promote muscle building and androgenic effects that are responsible for male traits, such as facial hair and a deeper voice. I will be focusing mainly on steroids closely related to testosterone as they work to mimic the way that it works in the body, triggering protein synthesis which in turn builds more muscle and effects performance. I still need to conduct more research to answer the other parts of my question.