Taking Steroids Without Working Out (6 Facts You Must Know)

Steroids help you build more muscle mass and strength by increasing your testosterone.

Testosterone is a sex hormone (present in both men and women) responsible, among other things, for male sex characteristics like muscle growth, facial hair growth, and a deepened voice.

Specifically speaking, testosterone is an androgen. Androgens are hormones that are heavily involved with body maturation and sexual development.

Before we get into the science of how steroids help grow muscle mass, we need to understand how testosterone plays a role in the process.

Anabolic Effects of Testosterone

Testosterone has what are called anabolic effects, which include building muscle mass and increasing bone density [4].

If you maintain healthy T-levels, which differ with age, it will be easier to develop and maintain muscle mass [5].

Likewise, if you have low T-levels, you will experience a decrease in muscle mass and have a difficult time building it.

“Low testosterone cause depression, lethargy, and fatigue that can keep you from exercising to lose fat and build muscle.”

- Dr. Ronald Tamler, MD

How Anabolic Steroids Work as Testosterone

Anabolic steroids are designed to increase your T-levels by giving your body an external source of testosterone (known as exogenous testosterone).

So, when you start a steroid cycle, your body decreases the natural production of testosterone because it receives it from the steroids.

Depending on how much you take, your body composition will respond with the corresponding anabolic effect, allowing you to form fat-free mass.

While steroids without exercise won’t give you the same results as with exercise, studies report something interesting.

Research suggests that you may gain more lean muscle and strength from using steroids and not working out than lifting naturally [6].

This study consisted of four groups.

Two experimental groups:

• Testosterone group that didn’t work out
• Testosterone group that worked out

Two control groups:

• Placebo group that didn’t work out
• Placebo group that worked out

The experimental groups were given 600 mg of testosterone per week for 10 weeks.

The study found that the testosterone group that worked out experienced the highest strength and muscle gains, and the placebo group that didn’t work out received little to no gains.

However, the interesting piece here is that the testosterone group that didn’t work out showed better results with muscle size and strength than the placebo group who worked out.

This study showed that steroids give you an unfair advantage. But the gains aren’t worth the risk on account of the many side effects of steroids.

Regardless of the training and keeping gains after a steroid cycle, most of the side effects will be the same.

That’s because people who take anabolic steroids for medical purposes also report seeing similar side effects.

Here are some of the most common physical and psychological side effects users experience.

• Male infertility: Abuse of steroids may cause infertility in men through hypogonadism — when testicles fail to produce hormones required for reproduction [7].
• Increased risk of prostate cancer: Research suggests a correlation between steroid misuse and prostate disease [8]. Even elderly male patients who were treated with anabolic steroids had an increased risk of prostate cancer [9].
• Gynecomastia (male breasts): Anabolic steroid usage is associated with the formation of male breasts because it causes hormonal imbalance [10].
• Myocardial damage: Research studies on clenbuterol found that this anabolic steroid may cause damage to the heart’s muscular tissue [11].
• Side effects on women: In women, misuse of anabolic steroids can cause male-pattern baldness, excessive body hair growth, coarse skin, decreased breast size, and deepened voice [12].
• Psychological side effects: Many reports found that people who use steroids show increased signs of irritability, verbal aggression, and violent tendencies due to hormonal changes [13].

Yes, there are better alternatives to steroids: legal steroids and a high-protein diet. However, to get the muscle-building effects of both of these, you’ll need to lift weights and control what you eat.

Let’s look at how these means can help you with muscle gain and fat loss.

Legal Steroids

Legal steroids are bulking supplements that naturally boost your testosterone so you can grow muscle and lose body fat quickly.

They’re especially helpful if you suffer from low testosterone. Using only natural ingredients, legal steroids can help you slightly push the genetic barriers that don’t allow you to grow muscle.

Many natural bodybuilders use legal steroids to build muscle size, enhance their strength, and shed fat because they don’t wreak havoc on their health.

Testosterone-Boosting Foods

There are several wholesome foods that help you naturally improve testosterone production and enhance muscle-protein synthesis.

Foods like ginger, oysters, pomegranates, green leafy vegetables, fish oil, onions, and extra-virgin olive oil have many health benefits in addition to boosting your natural testosterone [14].

A testosterone diet plan rich in muscle-building foods and legal bodybuilding steroids, combined with a muscle-definition workout routine, can put you well beyond your current capacity to increase and build lean muscle mass.

Healthy Lifestyle

A poor lifestyle can significantly reduce your testosterone production, making it difficult to grow muscle and get rid of fat.

Poor sleep, bad diet, and lack of exercise can also significantly affect your T-levels [15].

By fixing these, you can avoid the effects of low testosterone and build muscle quickly without having to resort to anabolic steroids for exogenous testosterone.