About Androstenedione (Andro) And Baseball Pitching

By Steven Ellis, former Chicago Cubs pitching pro

If you've ever considered taking androstenedione (andro) to increase pitching velocity or gain lean muscle mass, there are a few things you should know: 1) it's banned by the NCAA and MLB, and 2) taking andro will trigger a "positive" steroid test.

In this article, I stick to the facts about androstenedione and baseball pitching. My hope is that instead of taking andro, you will consider a better, safer alternative for increasing pitching velocity fast — The TUFFCUFF Strength and Conditioning Manual for Baseball Pitchers. In baseball, getting to the next level requires work, not supplements.

Androstenedione (also known as 4-androstenedione) is a 19-carbon steroid hormone that is a precurser to testosterone. It was made famous by Mark McGwire, who admitted to using it during his career.

But a study performed by Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association concluded that andro, administered at the recommended levels on nutritional supplement labels, did not increase testosterone levels at all. Only when the levels of andro were raised to amounts far exceeding the recommended levels was there any negligible rise in overall testosterone levels in the body. But here's the problem: Andro has been shown to trigger “positive” steroid tests.

In 1994, Congress passed the Dietary Supplement Health Education Act. Under that piece of legislation, nutritional supplement manufacturers can essentially make any outrageous claim they like providing they don't claim to prevent, diagnose, treat or cure any illness or disease.

They don't do the latter, but they grossly exaggerate and oft times outright lie about what their particular supplement does -- and there's no watchdog. There's no one out there to monitor and place supplements under stringent chemical analysis.

However, from some of the tests performed by Major League Baseball some supplements can increase testosterone levels and do act in a similar manner to anabolic androgenic steroids. Therefore, baseball pitchers, baseball hitters, and baseball players should be cautious before taking any nutritional supplements because serious side effects may, and often do, exist.

Many factors go into whether a baseball player should take nutritional supplements. Some of these include the nature of the particular substance purporting to bestow the claimed effect (“what it is”), its concentration (“how much of it is in the product”), its dosage, both suggested and actual (“how much does it say I should take, and how much do I actually take”), and its purity (“how refined is it”).

Other factors include what effect the nutritional supplement may have if an individual baseball player is taking other supplements or prescribed medications, the time of day when the supplement is taken, etc.

Baseball players: when deciding whether to take a nutritional supplement, should not depend on the experience of another individual or baseball athlete with the substance. The athlete should ask a physician or trainer knowledgeable in these areas to provide information about the products before he takes anything.

For more information about andro, please visit:

* www.dea.gov
* www.usantidoping.org
* www.steroidabuse.org
* www.wada-ama.org
* www.nsca-lift.org/Education/NPEDP/anasteriod.shtml
* www.pitchingworkouts.com

Source: STEROIDS AND NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS, Major League Baseball Players Association in Conjunction with Major League Baseball. June 2001. Pages 1-11.