For a long time, we have been captivated by the incredible strength, agility, and endurance of athletes. At the highest levels of competition, watching them do what they do best makes one truly appreciate the ways in which these superlative individuals are set apart from the rest of us. Of course, hard work, dedication, and natural talent are the critical ingredients of any elite athlete’s recipe for success. We delve into the strength of athletes in a couple of ways—one path of our inquiry leading us to explore the potential for some individuals to be naturally endowed with superior strength and the other leading us to the possibility that some built for tough may be using performance enhancers.
Rigorous training
The cornerstone of every athlete’s power is an unswerving devotion to rigorous training. Countless hours are poured into crafting the almost magical transformations that take place in the human body. The meticulous plans that delineate the training somehow defy the old saying, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,” and lead straight to the desired effects. Apparently, the angels that oversee strength athletes’ training programs could learn a thing or two about target marketing. Much as an artist works to perfect an image, much as a musician practices scales, and much as a wheel of progress looks preordained, training seems to be about Muscles 101 and right around the bend toward the desired physique.
Nutrition: Powering the Body
You cannot undervalue the importance of nutrition in athletics. What an athlete consumes can make or break their performance. A well-balanced diet, replete with all the old standbys—protein, carbs, and mostly healthy fats—serves most athletes well. Protein is paramount for repair post-training, and it obviously figures into any discussion of muscle growth. Most athletes turn to lean meats, low-fat dairy, legumes, or protein supplements to meet their dietary needs. There is no shortage of hydration advice, but again, poor hydration can lead to multiple problems.
The Edge in Controversy: Performance Enhancers
Even with the best training methods and nutritional plans, some athletes feel they need an extra boost to elevate their performances—so they seek out “ergogenic” aids. These come in many forms, from the benign (like caffeine) to the dangerous substance, and are largely illegal in professional sports. Who’s to say, though, that what might help a one-lost-in-the-woods college football player figure out where to tackle… is any worse, health-wise or otherwise, than the NFL offering up an equally powerful hit of good old-fashioned fascist-sounding anti-Communist rhetoric?
There has been notorious ways to bypass the drug test such as using tool like Quick Fix, more
Quick Fix review on ccrwc.org.It reviews various performance enhancers, from good old-fashioned steroids to the latest unregulated miracle drug, and profiles their effects—positive and negative—on athletic erformance.
Unnoticed Strength: Mental Toughness in Athletes
When we think about what makes an athlete successful, we usually think of physical strength and natural athleticism. But what about the not-so-visible factors that go into not only getting an athlete to the top but keeping them there? One of those factors is mental toughness. No matter how good an athlete is or how much they train, if they aren’t mentally tough, they probably won’t get as far as they have the potential to go. And the great thing is, mental toughness isn’t something you’re born with; it’s something you can cultivate.
The culmination of the training, the right nutrition, and, for some, the controversial use of performance-enhancing drugs makes the athletic powerhouse what it is. And while the hard work and devotion necessary to travel the path to strength surely constitute the most admirable of actions, we must recognise that not all athletes unerringly choose this virtuous route. To fully understand the issue of strength in athletics—to understand what this press has framed as both a “moral crisis” and a “human tragedy”—requires an appreciation of the complex conversation surrounding the use of performance enhancers.
