Will the nonsteroidal pain medicines help you recover from a workout? Lots of athletes and weight lifters take ibuprofen, an over-the-counter medication, and other nonsteroidals to ease pain in their joints and muscles. A study from the University of Florida (Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, May 2006) shows that nonsteroidal drugs inhibit exercise-induced muscle growth and strength. Athletes train by taking a hard workout and damaging their muscles. They feel sore on the next day and exercise at reduced intensity until their muscles are healed. When they feel no soreness, they take a hard workout again. When muscles heal from the stress of a hard workout, they are larger and stronger. Damaged muscles release a healing prostaglandin called Cox-2, that causes muscle growth and increased strength. Ibuprofen blocks Cox-2 and therefore will delay or inhibit muscle growth. Pain medicines may make you feel better, but at the cost of interfering with the strength gains you are working to achieve.

Are there any drugs to make you stronger that are not banned by sports authorities such as the Olympic committee? Yes, but the risks are unknown and may be great. Some athletes take estrogen blockers and human chorionic gonadotropin (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 91, 2006). Estrogen blockers such as Tamoxifen, Arimedex, Aromasin, and Femara are used to treat women with, or at high risk, for breast cancer. Evidently lowering the female hormone, estrogen, may act the same way as raising the male hormone, testosterone, to help athletes recover faster from hard workouts. Human chorionic gonadotropins are hormones that are produced in very large amounts by a woman's body when she is pregnant. These hormones appear to promote cells growth, which includes muscle tissue. Both male and female athletes can experience strength gains from these hormones or anti-hormones. Since nobody really knows all the side effects that occur when healthy athletes take them, the athletes may be risking their lives.

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Dr. Gabe Mirkin has been a radio talk show host for 25 years and practicing physician for more than 40 years; he is board certified in four specialties, including sports medicine. Read or listen to hundreds of his fitness and health reports -- and the FREE Good Food Book -- at http://www.DrMirkin.com