If you have questions about performance enhancing drugs in sports, this is where you’ll find answers. Is creatine safe? How about ribose, salbutamol and ephedrine? Doping in sports is a hot topic, so read on to find out… To browse our library of free sports training articles, browse using the categories on the left or use the search box.
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Drugs in sport
Articles
We'll pay you to ask questions
Got a question about sport? We'll pay you to ask it, and pay more to answer others' questions!
Peak Performance Launches Olympics 2008 Blog
Telling Non-Olympians how to do it too!
Quercetin vs Beta-Alanine and their Affect on Body Fat Loss
Can body fat loss and lean muscle gain be targetted with nutritional supplements?
Medicine Use Harms Sports performance
Athletes at risk from prescribed medicines
Prescribed drug can cause damage after eccentric exercise
Antidepressants may cause muscle damage…
Testosterone prohormone supplements: The Risks
Andro supplements don’t help and can be harmful
Pseudoephedrine's Ergogenic Effect
Drug removed from banned list is ergogenic
Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sports
Drugs in sport: why testing is not enough
How caffeine boosts team play
What's good, what's bad and what's plain ugly?
Blood Doping: New warning on blood doping
Disordered eating is rare in Chinese athletes
Nandrolone testing
Banned Substances: Athletes still at risk of accidental doping
Sports Science Glossary Part 4
Sports Science Glossary Part 4
World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) : New WADA guidelines for 2006 - how do they affect athletes?
Antioxidant Diets: Low antioxidant diets may hamper fuel delivery
Body Composition & Exercise: Exercise intensity and body composition
Creatine: is it really safe for long-term use?
Prohormones : Warning! - contaminated dietary supplements can seriously damage your career
sodium bicarbonate & sodium citrate
Sodium Bicarbonate & Sodium Citrate
Creatine Use: Long-term creatine use is safe
Performance Enhancing Drugs
serum ferritin levels | iron overload
Serum ferritin levels: Iron overload in cyclists
Modafinil: Banned drug works as ergogenic aid
Drugs in sport: Let athletes take drugs, but I don't want them in my club - or at my Olympics'
Adenosine: ATP is no creatine
Creatine supplements: Selective effects of creatine
Drugs in sport: From EPO to gene doping: Ron Maughan on the ceaseless quest for the undetectable magic bullet and the sterling efforts of the 'good guys' to stay ahead of the game
Drugs in sport: “Far from being unfair, drugs that enhance performance actually promote equality”
NSAIDS: Contraction-induced muscle injury - why NSAIDS don't help
Salbutamol: Ergogenic effects of salbutamol
Gacik: is it even better than creatine?
hodiola rosea | cordyceps sinensis
Hodiola rosea & cordyceps sinensis - Chinese supplements don't work for cyclists
Ribose - Why ribose does not make the grade as the 'new creatine' for sports performers
Anabolic steroid abuse - Another risk of anabolic steroid abuse
Exercise induced asthma: Take a deep breath - and learn to manage your asthma without falling foul of doping regulations
ADHD drugs in sport
Creatine for vegetarians
contraceptive pill and performance
The Pill may be the most effective contraceptive and the best way to manipulate your cycle for important events, but are you aware of its physiological effects and their impact on performance?
Human growth hormone hGH - Don't waste money - and risk your reputation on human growth hormone; make your own instead!
Steroids - How steroids raise blood pressure
oral contraceptives | athletic performance
Oral contraceptives and athletic performance
Ephedrine effects
performance enhancing drugs | supplement contamination
Performance enhancing drugs: How to protect yourself - and your reputation - from drug contamination
Echinacea - Ward off infection with 'the prairie doctor'
Creatine Monohydrate Effects: Dietary supplementation with an important amino acid called creatine has been linked with greater muscle strength during weight-lifting exercise, faster running times during 1000-metre intervals, and improved recovery following intense exercise.
Chromium Supplements: Chromium is not all it's beefed up to be.
gender verification | olympics | sport
Gender verification at the Olympics
Creatine: Can creatine work for younger performers?
Creatine Information: Could caffeine take the buzz out of your creatine?
swimming related sports injuries
Swimming related sports injuries: You may think that swimmers never get hurt. If so, read on
Ergogenic Aids - Oxygen Supplementation
Ergogenic Aids - Oxygen Supplementation
Steroids boost injury risk from strength training
Creatine facts: The latest research results are all good - and don't believe the rumour that it causes cramp.
Carbohydrate protection against muscle damage
Eating in a way that keeps your body primed for peak fitness can also reduce your risk of injury. Firstly, eating foods that will help to fend off fatigue will minimise injuries arising from tiredness and weakness. Secondly, some of the metabolic processes which can lead to muscle soreness and damage can be counteracted to a degree by dietary factors.
Creatine: Sedentary elderly gain most from creatine supplementation
Creatine Effects: A man who is showing athletes how to use advances in sports nutrition to produce dramatic improvements in their performances.
Hiv Risk And Sport: What's the real risk of HIV transmission during sports activities?
Creatine: Now school kids are creatine users
Creatine serves tennis players poorly
St john's wort | endurance athletes
Is St John's Wort a good mood-lifter for depressed endurance athletes?
Fat burning zone - Why athletes, fitness enthusiasts and slimmers should steer clear of the fat burning zone
Creatine: Another knock for creatine - it doesn't seem to help cyclists.
creatine side effects | creatine facts
Creatine side effects: are we to believe the latest scare stories about creatine?
Farabloc: How muscles can be shielded against delayed onset muscle soreness
Can Vitamin E (a-tocopherol) supplementation boost the performances of endurance athletes? Some sports nutritionists think that it might.
swimming pools medical hazards
A quick look at the medical hazards of swimming in pools.
Factors modifying creatine accumulation in human skeletal muscle
Sports Psychology Resistance: Why is it that athletes so often resist the benefits of sports psychology?
Achilles Heel Injury Prevention: These exercises can turn your Achilles heel into a rock of Gibraltar
Tennis Elbow Treatment: Between 10 and 50 per cent of players suffer from this nagging complaint. Here's what science says about treating and preventing it.
How Creatine Can Prevent Mental Fatigue
Ginseng gets thumbs-down as ergogenic aid
Choline: Supplements of this essential compound have helped swimmers, basketball players and distance runners
Hydration: Drink your way to winning performances: the seven secrets of hydration.
Distance Events: The risks of going long: when the super-fit endurance athlete turns into the heart attack victim
Dangers Of Ephedrine: Here's what happens when you put a little ephedrine in your coffee.
PMT and performance
Genetic engineering and sport: has the future already arrived?
Creatine supplements work at lower levels
Coca-cola: Many athletes use Coca-Cola as a sports drink, but does exercise really go better with Coke?
Delayed muscle soreness - aspirin
Delayed muscle soreness - is it worth taking an aspirin?
creatine studies and information
Creatine Studies And Information: This German study suggests that low doses of creatine can help endurance athletes when they need to surge or kick for the line
Bone-strengthening: The remarkable soya bean can help guard against osteoporosis, and that's only the beginning.
Creatine and recovery intervals
Exercise-induced Diarrhoea
The Gender Gap 2: Women are getting slower; men are getting faster?
HMB supplement | beta-hydroxy betamethylbutyrate
HMB supplement benefits may not be so significant for trained athletes
Flexibility: A physiotherapist explains the science behind the importance of keeping flexible
mitochondria functions and research
Mitochondria Functions - More mitochondria mean more PBs, but what do you have to do to get them?
Chronotype and Performance: More research on the larks and the owls
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness: Tips for avoiding delayed onset muscle soreness (the dreaded DOMS)
Vitamin C & Zinc: Do these popular supplements really reduce your risk of getting a cold?
Prozac: The amazing case of the burnt out athlete who suddenly caught fire.
Dietary Supplements
Blood Substitutes: New blood substitutes pose lethal risks
Benefits Of Chromium Picolinate
Benefits Of Chromium Picolinate: If you want to build muscle and lose fat, will a chromium supplement help? Here's a cool look at the facts
athletes drug testing in sport
Athletes Drug Testing In Sport: What do you do when running breathes meaning into every moment of your life - and you're suddenly told that you can't run anymore?
Zinc deficiency: the risk for athletes
Achilles heel, tendons, achilles tendinitis therapy and surgery
Achilles tendinitis interrupts many training programmes and ruins many plans for PBs. It is also the most common injury in athletes over the age of 40, and - unfortunately - it's a problem which doesn't go away very quickly: Traditional treatments for Achilles tendinitis (ie, rest, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, orthotics, cortisone injections, icing, ultrasound, and conventional physical therapy) are not very successful, and about 25 per cent of athletes who suffer from chronic Achilles-tendinitis problems end up undergoing surgery.
Eleutherococcus Senticosus: Can adaptogens help athletes reduce their risk of infections and overtraining?
Creatine now shown to boost performance in trained sprinters
Ergogenic aid, but with a price to be paid
Clenbuterol side effects: Rats! Clenbuterol may reduce, not enhance, performance, and stiffen heart muscles to boot
athletes' lungs | training | asthma | lung diseases
How training takes its toll on athletes' lungs
Bodybuilders: myths about nutrition
Bodybuilders: Myths About Nutrition: How do bodybuilders keep going on this diet of myths and contradictions?
Sports Supplements: Here's a survey of what the nutrition experts take
Creatine side effects: Supplementation with creatine is safe - but it works best for men
High-altitude Eating: Follow this eating plan to stop high altitude getting you down.
Beta blockers side effects and exercise
Beta Blockers Side Effects And Exercise: Many people with heart disease or high blood pressure (hypertension) are on long-term B-blocker therapy.
creatine | endurance athletes | weight gain
Creatine and endurance athletes - The correct dose of creatine can help endurance athletes - without making them gain weight
Tyrosine: Can Tyrosine boost exercise performance?
Endurox | sport nutrition supplement
Endurox: Don't be taken in too soon by the claims of this latest " magic potion"
Calories and resistance training
Calories and resistance training: Bulk up on calories
Ergogenic Aids: Nasal Strips
Endurance Performance: Conventional training for distance events is dead: now you need to work on your anaerobic power
Vanadyl Sulfate: Body builders swear by it, but is this stuff really any use to athletes?
Rub on skin creams for injuries: real relief or just quackery?
Steroids boost injury risk from strength training
How do creatine and phosphate actually work?
Alcohol And Sport: What effects does alcohol have on sports performance?
Coffee to go: how caffeine may shave seconds off your time
Marijuana shown to be a gateway to steroid use in Norwegian teens
St john's wort | endurance
Is St John's Wort a good mood-lifter for depressed endurance athletes?
Aerobic exercise beats drugs for depression
Endorphins: Weight trainers miss out on the "runner's high"
glucosamine chondroitin sulphate
Glucosamine Chondroitin Sulphate: This substance looks beneficial for osteoathritis, but will it do anything for an athlete's stiff joints?
Androstenedione effects - do andro supplements really work?
Arginine: In the gym, bodybuilders push heavy pieces of iron around in order to bulk up their muscles, but at their dinner tables they do strange things.. In an attempt to become leaner, they reduce their caloric intakes as they train for important competitions, even though decreased eating can lead to losses of muscle mass.
Female cyclists | health | nutrition
Female cyclists health and nutrition: A guide to the proper care and feeding of female cyclists.
Women suffer most muscle damage after strenuous exercise
Genetics and Performance: Now science is getting to the long and the short of how genes influence performance
Echinacea: Can the 'prairie doctor' give your immune system a boost?
swimming stroke technique training
Swimming Stroke Technique Training: Here's an overview of the basics of technique for all strokes (plus a bit extra) and specific training needs
Creatine works for competitive squash players...
Dhea Danger | Dhea Benefits | Dhea
Dhea Danger And Dhea Benefits: Is DHEA really, as some suggest, the fountain of youth in a bottle?
Sport By Sport Diet Guide: Whatever your sport, nutrition should be an integral part of your training and competition strategy. Although the emphasis will vary according to the activity you're involved in, there is a consensus among sports scientists on guidelines that athletes should be aiming for.
Nutrition: The latest wisdom on supplements: look, listen and think - before you eat (or drink)
Dangers Of Chromium Picolinate
Dangers Of Chromium Picolinate: If you want to build muscle and lose fat, will a chromium supplement help? Here's a cool look at the facts
Adaptogens: What exactly are " adaptogens" and can they really help your performances.
Salbutamol does not boost endurance
Sports Supplements: Experts determine what's really in bee pollen - but does the stuff actually work?
Overtraining: Can adaptogens help athletes reduce their risk of infections and overtraining?
Pyruvate supplements get the thumbs down
Creatine Accumulation: Factors modifying creatine accumulation in human skeletal muscle
Ginseng: Another scientific study gives the thumbs down.
Anyone for Crocodile Haemoglobin?
Creatine: Much of the research work on creatine supplementation has focused on short-term exercise, since creatine is linked to the phosphocreatine energy pathway. A paper by workers at West Sussex Institute examined the effect of oral creatine supplementation in longer-term exercise, this time on the bike.
Sports nutritional supplements survey
Sports Nutritional Supplements Survey: what the nutrition experts take
Chromium picolinateclaims: just how ergogenic is this trace element - and how much is too much?
alpha lipoic acid | acetyl L-carnitine
Alpha lipoic acid and acetyl L-carnitine: could alpha lipoic acid and acetyl L-carnitine combine to form the Elixir of Life?
Steroid side effects: steroid side effects may persist after withdrawal
conjugated linoleic acid | cla
Conjugated linoleic acid: is conjugated linoleic acid really a magic route to fat loss and a healthy old age?
Ibuprofen | delayed onset muscle soreness
Ibuprofen muscle soreness: Does Ibuprofen reduce the painful effects of delayed-onset muscle soreness?
vitamin C | delayed-onset muscle soreness
Vitamin C: post-exercise Vitamin C does not aid recoveryf rom delayed-onset muscle soreness
zinc | athletes | immune systems
Zinc supplements and athletes' immune systems
adenosine triphosphate | phosphocreatine
Adenosine triphosphate is often called the universal energy donor, but a better label would be the body's 'primary energy currency'
pseudoephedrine | phenylpropanolamine | ephedrines decongestants
Pseudoephedrine and phenylpropanolamine: ephedrine decongestants are not ergogenic
Questions
How can I strenghten any part of me without using weights. Like at home stuff.
There's a lack of answers on these forums. Could the community please get involved...
I was wondering, with the increase in body weight after creatine use does this not impact on sprint speed.
can an athlete give performance without doping?
I am a lecturer in physical education in India and giving coaching in athletics .
History- i have blown out my disc's at L5/S1 & L4/L5 when lifting a cable drum at work. A few months after I was in a pretty bad car accident which has stirred every thing up.
I have a coach that I don't like (can't stand) to be around, how can learn to tolerate him?
What do I have to do to persue a career in sports nutrition?
I am currently doing a National Diploma of Sport and Exercise Science and was wondering if any knew what paths I would have to take to pursue a career in sports nutrition or as a nutritionist.
Does creatine have any long or short-term sideaffects for rugby?
I'm considering if I should take creatine as i play a lot of rugby and was wondering if it had any side affects. So if anyone could help i will be highly grateful
How do I make lower stomach fat into abs?
I can define and shape my upper abs but anything I do doesn't define or shape my lower abs. What can I do?
How can I improve my dolphin kick for swimming?
I want to make my under water dolphin kick better, what do I do?
How can I improve my breathing for swimming?
I'm joining swimming and it gets hard for me to breathe during flip turns. What exercises should I try?
How to increase my performance by using amphitamines?
i"am 30 years old and my weigh 60kg and i have Championship after 5 month help my to increase my performance please?
sorry i added you as i found a intresting post about clenbuterol!
Who or what are elite athletes ??
I am interested in strength and conditioning and may get accredited while at university.
Lack of questions on this page...
Why is nobody asking any more questions ?? Nobody knows everything, so get on here and learn from others. Okay I will start the ball rolling...
Toxic benzene in drinks/gels/bars !!??
Hey, remember read the labels in all what you eat and drink: Ascorbic acid + Benzoate = benzene (toxic).
How can I improve my punching speed for boxing?
I have a powerful righthand but my left arm is by comparison very slow and weak, so I need training to make it faster.There is enough strength in my right arm to plant a knock-out blow.So I just need
I am a 17 year old wanna-be triathlete, wanting to train to my best potential. I was wondering if energy drinks,such as redbull, help performance? or
How long have you been taking clen and what side affects did/does it have for you?
What alternatives are there to NSAIDs .
I am a 48 year old 1st Dan Black Belt, I tested in May of 06, I am continuing on to work toward my 2nd degree. I want to continue and perserve my joints in the process.
What do you think of the Peak Performance Premium area? (!)
As the main provider of information in this area, I'd like to find out what you think about the videos and the articles in particular.
How do u get more a more ripped look, without 'bulking' too much ?
I normally train in functional principles but would like someone to give me a couple of answers for a change :) i am about average bodyfat and would love to get 'cut' for the summer.
When should Creatine be taken, before or after training?
I am a 38yr old athelte who is starting to take creatine to improve my training and performance, as I have read that Creatine should be used as a suppliment for older athletes.
As a teenager would they affect your hormones?
How do you tell if you have shin splints. I have a pain in my left leg above my ankle, but I don't know what it is.
I have been a 71yr old active softball/tennis player for over ten yrs who was recently(2 yrs) prescribed 10 mg simvastatin.
What are the best supplements for distance running?
i have a big 10mile fell race in 3.5 weeks and am training hard and improving all the time but am looking for that extra edge over my opponents, target time of sub 1hr 20, time last year, 1hr 30.
If i Drink Skimmed milk every day for a month and not drink anything else or eat anything else cept from veg and fruit.. will that be a healthy lifestyle?
What do you think of Juice Plus?
Juice Plus is a natural supplement with mega doses of antioxidants.
What are the benefits of boxing as a sports to college students?
I want to know the psychological benefits a college student can get from boxing as a sport. People tend to associate boxing with violence thus it is not offered as a P.E.
On going pain coming from the back of the knee ,its even starting to hurt when i walk. If i kneel down on both knees and then lean bk i get a sharp pain at what seems the back of my right knee.
I can no longer access this, can i have the website address and access to this. I paid for the service at the time but due to computer errors i was not able to gain all info.
Im looking for a good protien supplement, with no side effects!!
Im in good shape, 10%bf and musculer. Want to step up my gains and size as i train hard 6 days per week. Ive been taking supplements, a lot of them are very questionable!
Is clenbuterol dangerous if taken only for 4 weeks
I am trying to reduce fat , i like good food and a good glass of wine , i am not trying to get a six pack i just want to look how i feel and that is good because i know i am dedicated to train and i
Do you have a question for our community?
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Blogs
Pressure plays a huge role for any sportsman when competing but those who make it to a professional level have the added stress of expectation brought around by the media, coaches and spectators wh
UCI Need Stick To Their Drug Testing Rules
I’m starting to wonder by the end of this drug retesting saga if there will be any professional cyclists<
Olympic Chiefs Adopt Drug Retest Policy
Only days after the cycling world was rocked by the news that the 2008 Tour de France had been riddled with dru
Cycling Drug Storm Not Letting Up!
With all the constant press coverage it seems like the cycling world is experiencing more cases of drug abuse than Hollywood’s
The Australian Olympic committee have today confirmed that they will be freezing the urine samples they took from their competitors at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in orde
Ricky Hatton No Show For Press Conference
The build up to the fight between Britain’s Ricky Hatton and the US’s Paulie Malignaggi took a bizarre turn on Saturday as the British fighter was forced to miss a press conference due
Drug Cheat Blonska Banned For Life
Ukrainian heptathlete Lyudmila Blonska has finally been handed a lifetime ban after testing positive for an anabolic s
I just haven’t had the time to write like before so I wanted to create a solid article which tackles a wide range of issues.
Knowledge, Quality and Web 2.0 in Sport & Exercise Science
One of the things that comes up in conversations about iStadia is the lack of quality control, or the lack of quality control as perceived by sport scientists that have been indoctrinated into the epi
Hi there to the user who posted a question for me...I accidentally deleted your post! Sorry!
As many of you will know track and field is my main sport of choice for participation.
usually the only supplements i use for total body health are "electrolyte stamina"for my salt intake/and fo ti tieng to restore my internal organs to top health.
5 Ways to Increase Testosterone Naturally
Every personal trainer should seek to educate themselves on ways to improve the hormonal profiles of their personal training clients.
Have shoulder pains? You came to the right place.
“The 7 Deadly Sins of Lifting” this is another installment from A. Jay of a series of motivational articles.
Drug testing what's out there a physiotherapists view point
Testing Athletes for Drug Use Why do some “athletes” try to enhance their performances on the track and field by taking drugs?
Here is the first and not the last instalment of Nick Mitchell’s long awaited All Strength Q&A.
Are you making these mistakes as an Athlete?
Don’t get me wrong nobody’s perfect, especially me, many of these ideas came from my “Stupidity”, a rollercoaster of discovery, injuries and re-injury, does that sound about right?
The Big Lie Caffeine has been introduced to the sports world as an enhancer of performance. Even by many top coaches. The Truth is:
Sports Medicine Foot and Ankle Rehabilitation
This article was a long time coming. After writing and then scraping and re-writing it is a good way to describe this.
The Insider’s Secrets to a Flat Stomach
Hey regular blog readers myself and Nick sat down and and had a conversation, long story short this article was born.
When to turn to a clinical sport psychologist?
As a sport psychologist, there is always the possibility of encountering an athlete that does not simply need help with performance, but may need clinical help, for example relating to eating behaviou
Rotational Carbohydrates "RO-CHO" ?
Rotational Carbohydrates "RO-CHO" Article by Steve Blades. It is all about carbohydrate rotation for ultimate performance.
Another great read by Steve Blades aka "Marmite". If you are not making gains in the gym or the track this will change everything completely.
You are a Beginner, READ THIS!
A great,long article about everything on general bodybuilding ,training, nutrition and supplementation as a beginner.
A great new update to hit Rawgrip.com, a great article for all of the new found health freaks this year.
Squat Rx Video Creator Interview
If you are a serious lifter you must have heard of the “Squat Rx” video series all over the net. The Videos are available on YouTube.
How Focused Are You at the Gym?
Sean discusses The Top 10 Reasons why you are slacking in the Gym and How to prevent this. He exposes some great Tips how to make your training sessions more productive for better end results.
Finally an article created for all you serious weight shifters. C Pikey discuses the truth about A massive Bench Press and gives some tips How To Improve your Weak Bench.
Glycemic Index in Athletes and Weight management
An article about the glycemic index of carbohydrates pertains directly to athletes and their performance.
A new article by Michael Nystrom discussing the protein intake amounts in athletes. Athlete Protein intake article
It's a very exciting day for us today, because we've had our first major relaunch in 7 years.
When we set up the new PP Online site, one of our biggest aims was to create a place where anyone with a passion for sport could share their opinions and experiences.
According to Amy Shipley writing for the Washington Post, Marion Jones will admit to using the infamous THG steriod in the lead up to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.
Pre-Season Soccer Speed Training
Justin Gatlin
Steroids are banned, dangerous drugs. DON’T TAKE THEM.
