The following reprinted article is the first in a series written for our news partners at The Pilot News looking at the subject of weight training supplements — and the prohibition of those supplements on school property being considered by Plymouth schools.
PLYMOUTH — The drive to be bigger, faster and stronger has led to many different methods toward that goal for professional athletes always searching for an edge. With added pressure to perform being exerted at an even younger age, that same drive has trickled down to the prep school level, leading young athletes to search for the latest “thing” to achieve those ends.
The horror stories amongst older athletes in both professional and non-professional ranks using dubious methods such as steroids, HGH and various prescription drugs are widespread. Chemistry offered a “short cut” to those who chose to take it and led to numerous scandals, ruined careers and health and the banning of “performance enhancing drugs” (PEDs) by most college and professional sports organizations.
Most athletes have always considered the natural way, the only way. Exercise, good nutrition and healthy lifestyle habits have always offered a path to bigger, faster and stronger for those with the discipline to make it. However with the almost universal banning of PEDs, chemistry once again found ways to enhance the “natural way” with “supplements” that take natural substances found in a healthy diet and enhance them. Totally legal, supplements have become a billion dollar industry with products sold literally everywhere from specialty stores to your local big box outlet.
For young athletes the allure of a “natural way” to maximize their workouts and make themselves bigger, faster and stronger seems too good to be true. With more study being devoted to the enormous range of products available to absolutely anyone, in some cases it is too good to be true.
Parents wishing to stay abreast of what their young athletes are putting into their bodies need an advanced degree in biochemistry. Testosterone boosters, branched-chain amino acids, hydroxy methybutyrate, creatine, beta-alanine, along with a dizzying array of companies, product names and variations are literally impossible to keep track of. These – once again – are products available over the counter almost everywhere. Maybe even more concerning to Plymouth school officials is the fact that those products can also easily be shared by any of those using them, without any parental knowledge.
“We really believe that parents and kids together, along with their doctors if they want, should be making the decision on what goes in their bodies,” said Plymouth Athletic Director Roy Benge. “We don’t have any interest in being the ‘Supplement Police.’ But what concerned us the most was that kids can share these products with anybody, anytime without anybody – including parents – having any idea what they’ve taken. Like anything else, if they are misused or used by the wrong person there can be an adverse reaction. It has happened.”
“If you have a doctor’s prescription that you need to take daily at school, you have to go to the nurse’s office to take it,” said Benge. “I’m not really sure we wanted our gym to be a dispensary for whatever the kids are taking.”
The concern of local school officials, athletic trainers and doctors was caused by the fact that many of the products available on the market have not undergone what would be considered a normal amount of scrutiny. There are many examples of products sold that were once believed to be harmless having far from harmless long-term side affects.
The concern led Dr. Tod Stillson, the Plymouth Community School Corporation athletics physician, to address the school board on behalf of those trainers and doctors seeking consideration of a “no performance enhancing products” ban on school grounds.
The concern of Stillson and the others was the vast array of products, the widespread use, and obvious safety concerns for the athletes as well as the liability issue for the school corporation.
According to a story by Carol Anders in the June 8 edition of the Pilot News, Stillson told the board that the Dietary Supplement and Health Education Act limited the Food and Drug Administration’s ability to regulate the products. Stillson said that 18.6 percent of U.S. supplements contain anabolic steroids and many are contaminated with lead, pesticides and arsenic.
Of particular concern to Stillson are “energy drinks.” He told the board that the amount of caffeine is staggering, saying a normal cup of coffee has 100 milligrams of caffeine while a popular five-hour energy drink has 242 milligrams. Reportedly, some athletes will consume multiple bottles of the supplement before workouts or games.
“We cannot, nor do we intend to try to control products the student athletes consume outside of school property,” Stillson said in the article, but did suggest a blanket policy concerning use on school property, adding “We strongly encourage healthy fluids, good nutrition and a high protein diet as part of training both in season and out.”
In part two of this series, we will talk to local Athletic Trainers and Doctors about their concerns with specific types of products. In subsequent articles, we will talk with area Administrators and Coaches for their views, and talk with local weight trainers and body builders regarding their experiences with supplements.
