North Dakota Preps

Sports Illustrated has a big article on Performance Enhancing Drugs this week. They state that it is a bigger problem than we know. Has SI over sensationalized the story?

let me state in a very clear way, if a high school athlete is specifically named as using ped's here, the topic will be closed and the offending poster will be banned with as little delay as possible.

I didn't intend to have anyone list names or make accusations. I for one think that SI is sensationalizing the story and I don't think that there is a problem in North Dakota.

I wouldn't doubt in states like Florida, California, Texas, and New York that its a big problem in high schools. I don't see it being a big problem in North Dakota but maybe I'm blind.

There were a couple of guys that took Creatine when I was in high school and their big complaint was being so dehydrated all the time.

tellmeaboutit wrote:I didn't intend to have anyone list names or make accusations. I for one think that SI is sensationalizing the story and I don't think that there is a problem in North Dakota.

nope, not accusing you at all. just trying to head off anything stupid ahead of time if anyone thought it would be funny to rip kid X or Y.

Personally I think it is a bigger problem in bigger states, as stated earlier. But I do think that we need to be very proactive about this instead of saying, "its not a problem in ND". It will be, we need to educated our kids in grades 4-8. THey are the ones that are going to be feeling the pressure as these PED's CONTINUE to flood into our state.

I don't think its a huge problem like teen drinking in this state - but trust me - there are kids taking roids in High Schools. There was when I was in HS and their still is. Not a lot - probably guesstimating 5% but it's not nonexistent in our schools.

Well I coach in AZ down here both football and basketball, we are about 10 miles from the border of Mexico and yes its a problem, We played against Reggie Bush's cousin and he looked like an NFL back not kidding. Not saying he was on anything but my god.

I look at this problem as we (North Dakota) looked at Meth. We didn't want to see it until it hit us in the face... If it's down south, it's up north. The pushers don't stop at a state line. We need to start now and educate our future (the kids) in sports about this subject.

lots of kids are taking the creatine and other stuff......we're putting our heads in the sand here folks if you think its not around, c'mon the *edited by mod* coach was fired for it (creatine)........it's already out there and I could point to multiple teams in our area that have had kids using it for a bunch of years......if the creatine is there, the other stuff is there too.

Every muscle magazine in existence pushes creatine for gaining weight and muscle volume, you can buy it at any Walmart. I certainly wouldn't advocate having coaches endorse it, but it's not steriods. As for "teams in our area that have had kids using it for a bunch of years" are you saying that the coaches are actively telling them they have to go buy it, or do they supply it to them? Or is it something they came up with on their own?

i really hope hes not a steriods cuz im a fan of his but look at Dwight Howard....he is physically the largest man i have ever seen. kids are alot bigger thn what they were 10-15 even 5 years ago. granted some kids are learning that you need to hit the weights to succeed at sports, but i have to think alot are getting "help" in that category. maybe not up in ND 9 man football as much as 5A down in TX, but my guess is still there. cuz ive talked to a few kids from some town, i wont name towns or names cuz that was said not to even start, but they said for sure kids take steriods

I think it's very possible that kids in ND could be using performance enhancing drugs for sports like cross country, football, and track. Every kid wants to be bigger, faster, and stronger. Also every kid wants a chance to earn an athletic scholarship.

There is absoutely nothing wrong with creatine and protien shakes. Just because someone is on creatine and/or protien doesn't mean they would be willing to take steriods. You can educate the youth all you want but there is ALWAYS going to be people doing it regardless of the effects on your body. Meth, cocaine, etc. all harm the body but people still do those drugs. What is going to stop people from taking PEDs? People in the 2000s are bigger then the people in the 1990s just like they were bigger then people in the 1980s etc. Compare the average size of a 17 year old male today as to a 17 year old male in the 1960s. It is an enormous difference. Is that because of steriods? Of course not. Every year there are new strength programs, new muscle building shakes, and so on to help athletes become bigger, faster, and stronger. Not just steriods.

baller01 wrote:There is absoutely nothing wrong with creatine and protien shakes. Just because someone is on creatine and/or protien doesn't mean they would be willing to take steriods. You can educate the youth all you want but there is ALWAYS going to be people doing it regardless of the effects on your body. Meth, cocaine, etc. all harm the body but people still do those drugs. What is going to stop people from taking PEDs? People in the 2000s are bigger then the people in the 1990s just like they were bigger then people in the 1980s etc. Compare the average size of a 17 year old male today as to a 17 year old male in the 1960s. It is an enormous difference. Is that because of steriods? Of course not. Every year there are new strength programs, new muscle building shakes, and so on to help athletes become bigger, faster, and stronger. Not just steriods.

*****illegal in college, also illegal for the Olympics****** creatine

Personally I'm not an advocate of Creatine, I've tried about 10 years ago when I was trying to gain muscle mass and I didn't care for the muscle cramps and loose stools. I wouldn't advocate my son to use it now either, instead I'd recommend spending the money on higher quality foods and good hydration drinks.

The NCAA just prohibits colleges from distributing creatine it to their athletes, but there is no ban on athletes obtaining it on their own and using it. Some believe it has more to do with the schools with the larger athletic budgets using free supplements for recruiting athletes.

Creatine is not listed as "banned" by the World Anti-Doping Agency which is what the International Olympic committee uses. http://www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/docu ... ist_En.pdf

Another good reference is put out by the McKinley Health Center. http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/Handouts/e ... _aids.html
It shows that creatine is not banned by the IOC.

There has been a lot of buzz about androstenedione and DHEA and HGH, those products are much more controversial and have made lots of banned lists.

NDSportsFan wrote:Every muscle magazine in existence pushes creatine for gaining weight and muscle volume, you can buy it at any Walmart. I certainly wouldn't advocate having coaches endorse it, but it's not steriods. As for "teams in our area that have had kids using it for a bunch of years" are you saying that the coaches are actively telling them they have to go buy it, or do they supply it to them? Or is it something they came up with on their own?

a lot of kids just hear that it works or see it advertised, i know at least 10-20 kids that have used or are using creatine, i personally dont think creatine is bad but when players are using things like gackic and leukic, that gets out of hand, all you need is a good protien and a good lifting program and youll be fine

I don't believe steroids and HGH are a huge problem because let's face it who has heard of someone dealing steroids around here. creatine is a very good thing to take if you do it correctly and now i think a lot of kids are educated on it and are taking it correctly. with all that being said i think there was only one kid from around my area that i thought was using something borderline illegal.

I think the problem is that a lot of guys get so into the Flex and the Muscle and Fitness magazines that they think to look like that they have to be on all those products that are advertised. Any good nutritionist will tell you that the that's not the case. Most of that stuff could be discarded and probably substituted by a can of Red Bull.

Baller wrote:There were a couple of guys that took Creatine when I was in high school and their big complaint was being so dehydrated all the time.

a guy i know took creatine and just got completely water-logged because he didnt work out on a daily basis. creatine just supplies extra "juice", if you will, to your muscles. its not really a ped but it does help in the training process.

NDSportsFan wrote:Every muscle magazine in existence pushes creatine for gaining weight and muscle volume, you can buy it at any Walmart. I certainly wouldn't advocate having coaches endorse it, but it's not steriods. As for "teams in our area that have had kids using it for a bunch of years" are you saying that the coaches are actively telling them they have to go buy it, or do they supply it to them? Or is it something they came up with on their own?

even tho creatine may not be a steroid or ped of any kind, it still is bad for the developing body. it prematurely seals growth plates and in essence stunts growth. and like i said in my previous post, if you dont work out you just get water-logged. if you are using creatine, at least try to wait till your growth plates are sealed. a good substitute for any ped or protein/creatine shake is dedication to be in the weight room. get in on a daily basis, do cardio, for an hour or so a day and you are golden in a few months.

I'd contact the local county extension agent and see if there is anyone who can come and talk to the athletes about proper nutrition to get the most out of your training. It would probably save them a lot of money and make their training that much more efficient.

The bottom line here is that sports how entertaining they might be we as a society have put these professional athletes on a pedestal.They make millions of dollars throwing a baseball, hitting a home run , making a basket etc..So we have are young kids seeing how the sports world really is and making huge dollars. Can you blame these athletes for using whatever edge they can to get a chance at making millions in something that they love and comes easy to them.( not saying that it is right) There is alot of pressure on young kids now days to be the best in what they do in sports compared to 20 years ago. So yes North Dakota athletes have been introduced to performing inhanced drugs. I don't no if they are being consumed but they are out there. What happened to the good old days were you just busted your hump and played the game weather or not you played at all just because you loved it. It didn't seem like a job back then like it is today.

riders wrote:

NDSportsFan wrote:Every muscle magazine in existence pushes creatine for gaining weight and muscle volume, you can buy it at any Walmart. I certainly wouldn't advocate having coaches endorse it, but it's not steriods. As for "teams in our area that have had kids using it for a bunch of years" are you saying that the coaches are actively telling them they have to go buy it, or do they supply it to them? Or is it something they came up with on their own?

even tho creatine may not be a steroid or ped of any kind, it still is bad for the developing body. it prematurely seals growth plates and in essence stunts growth. and like i said in my previous post, if you dont work out you just get water-logged. if you are using creatine, at least try to wait till your growth plates are sealed. a good substitute for any ped or protein/creatine shake is dedication to be in the weight room. get in on a daily basis, do cardio, for an hour or so a day and you are golden in a few months.

why substitute for a protien shake, those are healthy either way you look at it, and they are the best thing a student can take to gain muscle and strength, and its all natural. It does no harm to your body at all, a 10 year old could take protien shakes and it wouldnt hurt him