High school wrestling and Androsol

Somehow the original question to this got lost,
but this is my reply to the high school wrestler who had to diet year-around “to stay
in his weight class” and wondered if Androsol would be a good idea.

I think this is trying to address the wrong
issue, even besides the issue of using androgens at the age of 14. You should not
be dieting year-round to stay in some weight
class, PERIOD!

My recommendation is your dad should call the
coach and ask him, “What is your priority,
having your kids develop the best they can,
be the best they can be over the long term,
or getting the best results for yourself this year? I’m asking this because you’re having my son diet year round and I don’t believe that’s best for a growing young man.”

If your coach says, “I want my team to win now and this is what your son has to do to be on my team,” then the problem is you have a BAD COACH. At your age, the focus of the coach should be YOUR long term benefit from his training, not as much what he gets for the team today, if there’s a conflict between the two.

And your dad should ask, “How is my son’s wrestling career going to be damaged if he, for now, is a little light in the next higher weight class, instead of being big for the smaller weight class he’s in now? Sure, he may be at a little bit of a disadvantage in the matches but won’t that make him focus that much more on his skills?”

You should not be dieting to stay down in some weight class that you’d naturally be growing out of. And also you should not be using Androsol to try to compensate for the low T levels probably produced by your chronic dieting. Instead, the root problem, the dieting, should be fixed.

I know I sound like an asshole here but I feel
strongly about this issue. Hope everything works out!

also, although legal, andro is a “banned” substance in highschool athletics (or at least in florida). although they don’t do any checks or anything you might want to consider whether it is against your ethics to do this. i am in highschool and compete in weighlifting and have so for the last four years. i don’t have a problem with andro and am not saying that i agree that it should be banned, i just think it sucks for the people that dont take it out of respect for the rules because they don’t have the same advantage as the people that do take it have (and i’m not just talking about andro here). just something to think about, it’s your decision though. good luck to you either way. - Nic

Bill Roberts is right. If you are dieting year round for wrestling at 14, you will burn out and/or probably develop health/psychological problems. I’ve seen it happen. Most 14 year olds lack the knowledge to lose weight sensibly anyway. When you add this to the lack of energy for schoolwork and other routine tasks you are looking at borderline anorexia. I’m not a namby-pamby opposed to a kid going without breakfast on weigh-in day, or sweating off a few pounds. This is one of the main reason a lot of kids get turned off to a great sport.

Damn Straight Bill, that’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard. Eat Boy!

hey im the 215 state champ from michigan and my freshman year i was 145 pounds. Coaches wanted me to cut weight and i said fuck dat bullshit! haha so I sucked for 2 years… now im the best because I gained a ton of muscle and i fit perfectly in my weight class because I grew to my potential… i just started my cycle of androsol… im 17… my dad is pissed but i just wanted to experiment… its not like its steroids… it cant hurt… oh well get your ass on the massive eating diet and gain some fucking weight youll do fine!

Not that I had anything like the success in wrestling Spencer has, but I absolutely agree with his experience… it probably is BENEFICIAL to spend time being small in the next higher weight class. Sure, you may suck during those interims. But, the challenge of having to compete against guys who for the moment have some physical advantage over you gets you prepared for those times later when you’re evenly matched, but the other guy has a little better leverage, or you’re both at your ideal weight but that sumbitch is just stronger. There are always going to be times when the other guy is, at least at the moment, in a stronger position, and spending half your time wrestling guys a bit stronger than you, because you’re going up in weight class, is no bad thing at all. In my opinion anyway.

Props to you, Bill. I can recall the same “Bad Coach” Mentatility (BCM) when I rassled in jr. high & high school. BTW, most of the BCM comes in the form of ignorance, as you are well aware. Due to the fact that we were constantly “dieting down”, even the girls in the cafeteria were eating more than we were! Talk about retarded! Running lap after lap, eating around 800-1000 cal/day, constantly starving…it’s no wonder I was such a loser! LOL! Anyway, your dead on! - Gohan

I knew a guy in college, good friend and great wrestler in HS. He chronically dieted, ran, etc. He was 5’7" 1/2. His younger sister was 6’0", younger brother was 6’3". Maybe a coincidence, but unless you want stunted growth, stop dieting.