trickg

I realize that this subject has been a topic of many flames in the past, and usually started by someone just trying to stir up trouble, but I'm curious enough to go ahead and ask to see if anyone has had any first or secondhand experience with it.

All things considered, anabolic steroids promote a muscle growth and strength beyond what is normal under usual circumstances. Since trumpet is a very physical instrument, would steroids have any effect on it, or are they limited to large muscle groups?

Again, my question is one of curiousity more than anything else - I was getting a haircut the other day and one of the magazines in the waiting area was "Mucle and Fitness". It's pretty much common knowledge that the body builders featured in those magazines are "juicing" big time, it got me to thinking about steroids in connection to trumpet playing.

Since anabolic steroids are actually prescribed by doctors in some cases to help to regenerate muscle tissue, I figure that it's possible that there might be some trumpet player out there that has used them for a legitimate reason, and therefore may have noticed either positive or detrimental effects of the steroid on their trumpet playing.

Anyone?

(Note: If this topic offends anyone, let me know and I'll pull it down. Also, if the discussion goes south as it has in the past, that will also be cause for me to pull it.)

ebtromba

I have heard a story that would lead me to believe that it could help.

The story is very simple. One of my old teacher’s students was prescribed steroids by a doctor for some condition. They did make him somewhat stronger on trumpet, mostly endurance-wise, not really affecting range or volume. Sorry for such a vague story, but I don’t know how long he was on them, or what happened to his newfound strength once his legitimate steroid use stopped.
Thats all I got.

Jimi Michiel

Look at Barry Bonds, he couldn't even get above the staff his rookie year and... oh, never mind...

trickg

Thanks Eric. Again, I'm not sure why I've got the curiosity - it isn't like I'm likely to go out and score some juice just to gain some endurance. Besides, trumpet playing isn't about brute strength - it's about finesse and balance, although strength does play a small part in the overall picture, unless of course someone has evidence to the contrary.

From what I have read, certain steroids have an overall effect on a person, not only in strength and muscle gain, but also in a feeling of well being and confidence, and those things can affect your playing too.

Deecy

Before considering such a radical action in hopes that it will improve your trumpet playing, Google the drug's side effects and long-term dangers! This drug has NO place outside of medical replacement therapy, with administration supervised by a doctor. Just because it is obtainable outside the medical professional setting does not mean that it is harmless. As the pro sports idiots are learning to their dismay, anabolic steroids have life-long negative health effects. They will pay for their poor decision for the rest of their lives.
Worth it? Hardly.
(Long tones with varying volume work much better anyway.)

(Dr.) Tom

trickg

(Dr.) Tom,

Dude - relax a bit and read my original post. I never said I was considering it, nor do I think that anyone else would or should. I was merely curious to know if anyone had any experience with it. Anabolic steroids have been prescribed by doctors and used for real medical reasons and not as a performance enhancer, and there is a chance that there might be someone who has taken them for legitimate purposes and has had some sort of effect on their playing because of it.

Is it wrong to ask the question? I mean, it isn't like we are talking about doing heroin or anything, although there have been many who have done just that. (Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, David Crosby - heck, most of the Rock and Roll hall of fame!)

I have googled the drugs and have done some reading about them. Most of the negative long term side effects come from people who abuse them and take more than what would be considered normal, as well as taking them for longer periods than would be considered normal by the medical community. I would tend to think that a short term prescription (6-8 weeks) of an anabolic would do far less damage than that caused by many other "normal" medications such as current medications that are prescribed for conditions such as a high colesterol or high blood pressure. Some of the side effects of those medications are downright scary, yet they are prescribed and used on a daily basis by thousands in this country.

I guess it depends on your point of view.

BPinard

I'm not trying to flame or anything, but the use of anabolic steroids outside of the medical field is EXTREMELY foolish as well as EXTREMELY dangerous!

Please, don't use them!

ebtromba

He knows. We know. Nobody said anything about actually abusing them for improvements on trumpet. I should say that student I mentioned above was having serious medical issues. Example: He had no control over his bowel movements and had to wear diapers. Eventually, the steroids and many others treatments helped, and I believe he is off them now for the most part.

So, if you need steroids and are prescribed them by a doctor in the first place, you probably have MANY other serious things on your mind. A slight change in trumpet endurance is the least of your concerns.

"From what I have read, certain steroids have an overall effect on a person, not only in strength and muscle gain, but also in a feeling of well being and confidence, and those things can affect your playing too."

I don’t think steroids have this effect, these could be attributed to hormones often taken (improperly) when steroids are abused. This is just what my gym rat friend of mine told me (who is clean BTW, but often hangs around those who have made some poor decisions with these substances), and he himself wasn’t totally sure.

Trickg, where do you come up with this stuff?

trickg

Geeze, come on guys, I didn't ask for your personal opinions or factoids about steroid use and abuse, I asked if anyone had any experience either first or second hand regarding steroids and the effects it had on their playing.

This thread wasn't started as a means to discuss the benefit of using anabolic steroids to enhance your trumpet playing. It was merely started to see if anyone had experienced anything at all.

It's not that hard to understand, is it? PLEASE read the whole thread before posting a knee jerk comment like the one above.

Eric, I have no idea where these random thoughts come from - like I said, I saw a "Muscle and Fitness" magazine and just made a mental connection to muscles in the chops.

Deecy

Patrick:

I wasn't suggesting that you were wrong for broaching the subject. But in my opinion, we abuse ourselves far too much under the rubricks, "there are more dangerous things than . . ." and "everybody does it". The reality is that there are always more dangerous things. What the heck! Heroin is more dangerous than methamphetamines. Does that observation make its use okay? I think not. So the fact that there are more dangerous drugs around is not a valid argument. Things have to be evaluated on their own merits, not how they compare to other dangerous things.
As for the "everybody-does-it" ploy that we all like to use, well, 100 million Americans are seriously overweight (Note well the word "seriously". That means they are not just a bit overweight; they are really fat, and are on a slippery slope to degenerative diseases and shortened lives.)
As far as hypertension drugs, diabetes drugs, etc. are concerned, of course pharmaceuticals have side effects. It's a case of the lesser of two evils, isn't it? Would I rather have the side effects or die of my disease? You know the answer to that one!

Best,

Tom