Supplements: What can Teens Take? 13-18

[Grace T.]

We know a lot of athletes and none of their parents would give them HGH, even though it would have helped their children grow taller and have a better chance of playing high level baseball or basketball.

What type of people are you hanging out with these days that makes you think this is normal? You might want to look for a new circle of friends.

Top 20 high school football players. Like Carlsbad points out it’s hard to get a read on how many are doing it and then there’s a judgment call over when it is justified (was Messi justified?). But my best guess is 1/4-1/3. But then I’m seeing a lot of other nonsense like the tuition thing.

My screed though wasn’t about the type of people I hang out with. It’s about the contradictions in the American sports scene (private joker would call it the duality of man with the peace pin and killer sign on his helmet). American are all about sports being a meritocracy. It’s why Rudy is so beloved. But it inherently isn’t. So there’s a contradiction. And if you push that contradiction far enough the illusion falls apart like it did with baseball.

 

[watfly]

I don't believe parents or players. I've known too many that swear up and down that they don't do "steroids" or whatever (hgh) only to find out later that this is/was not the case.

Nobody is going to openly admit to taking PEDs

So the big question is then why? Why are parents risking the health of their children? Is it to improve their chances for a scholarship? Or is it just for the prestige of being a star athlete (ignoring the fact that it also requires skill which can't be injected)? There are so many ways to get a scholarship or pay for college...I don't get it. Is it just a symptom of a shortcut society?

Increasing my son's size would be a huge benefit for his athletic future. He's always the lightest kid at the college camps. But there is no way in hell I would have him take PED's. Just keeping my fingers crossed he can put on weight the next two years of HS.

 

[Carlsbad7]

So the big question is then why? Why are parents risking the health of their children? Is it to improve their chances for a scholarship? Or is it just for the prestige of being a star athlete (ignoring the fact that it also requires skill which can't be injected)? There are so many ways to get a scholarship or pay for college...I don't get it. Is it just a symptom of a shortcut society?

Increasing my son's size would be a huge benefit for his athletic future. He's always the lightest kid at the college camps. But there is no way in hell I would have him take PED's. Just keeping my fingers crossed he can put on weight the next two years of HS.

Very few directly admit to taking PEDs for wins. I did some research into HGH dealers aka Doctors aka HRT (hormone replacement therapy). Nobody advertises to make your kid better at sports. However they do advertise, greater target height (want to be taller or the same size as others), fuller skin and less weight gain (vanity), and ability to heal faster from injury (trying to sound like a legitimate medical use). For people that are crazy about competition any combination of whats listed can be used to justify the use of PEDs and this is what they'll tell others if cornered about it. In reality they're just lieing to themselves because the real reason they're taking PEDs is to be a star athlete and win against others.

 

[watfly]

Very few directly admit to taking PEDs for wins. I did some research into HGH dealers aka Doctors aka HRT (hormone replacement therapy). Nobody advertises to make your kid better at sports. However they do advertise, greater target height (want to be taller or the same size as others), fuller skin and less weight gain (vanity), and ability to heal faster from injury (trying to sound like a legitimate medical use). For people that are crazy about competition any combination of whats listed can be used to justify the use of PEDs and this is what they'll tell others if cornered about it. In reality they're just lieing to themselves because the real reason they're taking PEDs is to be a star athlete and win against others.

What's interesting is HGH doesn't do much for teenagers. Most kids in high school have already gone through puberty and their growth plates have already fused so HGH will do nothing to increase height. It does have some ancillary benefits (for teens) like you mention, which would seem hard to justify, although I couldn't justify it under circumstances unless my kid had a serious growth hormone deficiency.

I'm with Sockma on this one. I just don't travel in any circles where I would have any clue that the use of HGH and steroids is rampant. I must live a sheltered existence.

 

[Grace T.]

So the big question is then why? Why are parents risking the health of their children? Is it to improve their chances for a scholarship? Or is it just for the prestige of being a star athlete (ignoring the fact that it also requires skill which can't be injected)? There are so many ways to get a scholarship or pay for college...I don't get it. Is it just a symptom of a shortcut society?

Increasing my son's size would be a huge benefit for his athletic future. He's always the lightest kid at the college camps. But there is no way in hell I would have him take PED's. Just keeping my fingers crossed he can put on weight the next two years of HS.

My 6’6” inch nephew just walked into the big football camp of the summer with over 2670 kids present in just his age group (based on his size and school alone he got pulled aside for a 1 on 1 with a state school the moment he goes onto the field no footage and nothing on the field seen). It’s the world of the elites (his mom is a U.S. volleyball player natural 6 4).

 

[Grace T.]

Very few directly admit to taking PEDs for wins. I did some research into HGH dealers aka Doctors aka HRT (hormone replacement therapy). Nobody advertises to make your kid better at sports. However they do advertise, greater target height (want to be taller or the same size as others), fuller skin and less weight gain (vanity), and ability to heal faster from injury (trying to sound like a legitimate medical use). For people that are crazy about competition any combination of whats listed can be used to justify the use of PEDs and this is what they'll tell others if cornered about it. In reality they're just lieing to themselves because the real reason they're taking PEDs is to be a star athlete and win against others.

I know people who play sports on false papers (the online boards used to be full of shady dealers popping up advertising them), people paying tuition for their receivers, schools buying players cars, schools giving parents coaching salaries, baseball players who have doped and run their elbows into the ground with 2 surgeries by 18. Nothing surprises me anymore.

 

[watfly]

I know people who play sports on false papers (the online boards used to be full of shady dealers popping up advertising them), people paying tuition for their receivers, schools buying players cars, schools giving parents coaching salaries, baseball players who have doped and run their elbows into the ground with 2 surgeries by 18. Nothing surprises me anymore.

What I see as most prevalent is holding back a kid in junior high. One of the top teams in SD County had a 17 yo freshman as their starting quarterback.

 

[socalkdg]

What I see as most prevalent is holding back a kid in junior high. One of the top teams in SD County had a 17 yo freshman as their starting quarterback.

Honestly I thought about that as my daughter was one of the youngest in High School and as a Freshman in College.

 

[Grace T.]

What I see as most prevalent is holding back a kid in junior high. One of the top teams in SD County had a 17 yo freshman as their starting quarterback.

That’s rookie level entry stuff. Childs play. You ain’t on the fast highway until you go to some divey immigration lawyer deep in the San Fernando valley over an abortion clinic and pay for false Mexican birth certificates or pick up that fully stocked Porsche for your sons receiver with the custom paint job, designer rims and fully paid lease. . Mary Jane gummies v the crack v the heroin pipe.

 

[watfly]

Honestly I thought about that as my daughter was one of the youngest in High School and as a Freshman in College.

We did it in kinder. We didn't want our kids going to college at 17, or be they last to get their driver license. We thought it would be best if they were the oldest in class rather than the youngest. So mostly for social reasons, but we assumed they would be growth challenged. They were near the cutoff anyway.

BTW its not called holding them back. Its called "giving them the gift of time".

 

[Grace T.]

What's interesting is HGH doesn't do much for teenagers. Most kids in high school have already gone through puberty and their growth plates have already fused so HGH will do nothing to increase height. It does have some ancillary benefits (for teens) like you mention, which would seem hard to justify, although I couldn't justify it under circumstances unless my kid had a serious growth hormone deficiency.

I'm with Sockma on this one. I just don't travel in any circles where I would have any clue that the use of HGH and steroids is rampant. I must live a sheltered existence.

Hgh has some performance enhancing properties (also some deaging and skin revitalization properties which is why it’s popular with Hollywood stars in their 40s and 50s). But the performance enhancing properties are minimal. To the extent used in late teens as performance enhancing it’s mostly girl athletes (such as track swimming maybe soccer) who are afraid to take testosterone because of the long term fertility and body change issues. The boys post 16 that go to extremes are on testosterone, their growth pretty much done.

Another story. Sunday soccer league has no college scouts and no pro careers on the line. My son had trouble registering for his sunday league because they clamped down on false papers five or so years ago because of the large cheating problem. No produce a birth certificate pic on your phone with your friendly club registrar. You have to go to this insurance office next to a kfc in San Fernando with a photo doc (such as passport or national id card), birth certificate (with the apostile if non U.S.), and a school id with photo. My son’s school had stopped giving out school ids (everything is digitized on the phone). They made him go back and bring his year book the next day.

 

[Grace T.]

Hgh has some performance enhancing properties (also some deaging and skin revitalization properties which is why it’s popular with Hollywood stars in their 40s and 50s). But the performance enhancing properties are minimal. To the extent used in late teens as performance enhancing it’s mostly girl athletes (such as track swimming maybe soccer) who are afraid to take testosterone because of the long term fertility and body change issues. The boys post 16 that go to extremes are on testosterone, their growth pretty much done.

Another story. Sunday soccer league has no college scouts and no pro careers on the line. My son had trouble registering for his sunday league because they clamped down on false papers five or so years ago because of the large cheating problem. No produce a birth certificate pic on your phone with your friendly club registrar. You have to go to this insurance office next to a kfc in San Fernando with a photo doc (such as passport or national id card), birth certificate (with the apostile if non U.S.), and a school id with photo. My son’s school had stopped giving out school ids (everything is digitized on the phone). They made him go back and bring his year book the next day.

Oh sorry nother story have to share. India is the largest country in the world by population. But besides cricket India performs historically poorly in sports and has won staggeringly few gold medals relative to the expected based on its population. The reasons for this have been hotly debated. The assumption has been because India is poor but it performs poorly even relative to other poor nations which are smaller and they have enough people that even their small middle class in the size of some European nations. Other arguments include the academic focus of south Asians, the heat or genetics. Was reading a study this afternoon: most likely culprit? Tumeric and other spices in the Indian diet have heavily anti androgenic properties that affect both men and women.