Everyone loves a shortcut. Anything that can help us shave time, money, and resources to allow us to get a job done more quickly is often a welcome thing indeed. Unfortunately, shortcuts don't always work out like we had planned in life and one of these areas is in improving our bodies through bodybuilding.

Many people want to improve their physique by gaining muscle and losing fat through the activity of bodybuilding which can be extremely effective at accomplishing both of these tasks. For some, the results they achieve simply don't come fast enough and they resort to taking steroids to speed up the process.

Steroids work on a cellular level to help greatly increase the size and often the strength of the muscles in your body. They have proven to be effective at this task through many years of clinical and personal research. While steroids can help you achieve your size and strength goals through bodybuilding, they carry with them some severely negative side effects that make using them a horrible decision for anyone.

First of all, because men are often involved in bodybuilding more than women, they are also more likely to be afflicted with the side effects of using these horrible drugs. One of the first and most profound side effects that can occur in men is that of infertility. Men can experience a huge diminished number of healthy sperm which may lead them to complete infertility over time. In addition, using steroids can actually cause man to start developing feminine features including large breasts and increased female hormones throughout the body. These side effects can truly scar some users for life.

Interestingly enough, steroid use reacts similarly in women by causing them to develop masculine features. They can experience increased production of testosterone which can lead to abnormal hair growth all over their bodies and a deepening of their voice as they begin to adopt more and more manly traits. Even more disturbing than these physical side effects for men and women are the internal ones that can be caused by taking steroids.

One of the more disturbing and harmful effects of steroid use is that of developing heart disease. Studies indicate that long-term steroid use has been directly related to heart disease and often of eventual heart attacks. The list of bodybuilders who has been stricken with some form of heart ailment is long and indeed growing. Aside from heart disease, some studies are showing possible evidence that steroid use can be linked with an increased risk of certain types of cancers as well.

So while steroids can be effective at achieving the goal of building muscle, they carry with them a huge price. The negatives of steroid use clearly outweigh the positives and it is important that you pay close attention to what the side effects are before you decide to do something that could ruin your life such as using steroids. The purpose of bodybuilding is to create a stronger and more visually pleasing body. Lying stiff in a coffin is probably not the result you are looking for, but is exactly the result you may get if you decide to use steroids.