Everything Everywhere Daily: Performance Enhancing Drugs and Substances

Host: Gary Arndt
Release Date: January 22, 2025

Overview

In this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily, host Gary Arndt delves into one of the most contentious issues in modern sports: the use of Performance Enhancing Drugs and Substances (PEDs). Arndt explores the history, mechanisms, impact, and ongoing challenges associated with PEDs, providing listeners with a comprehensive understanding of how these substances have shaped the athletic landscape.

1. Introduction to PEDs in Sports

Gary Arndt opens the discussion by highlighting the pervasive nature of PEDs across virtually every sport. He poses critical questions: "What exactly are PEDs and how do they give athletes an advantage? Do they really work? And if they do, just how big of an advantage do they give?" (00:00).

2. Historical Use of Performance Enhancers

Arndt traces the origins of PED usage back over 2,700 years to the ancient Olympics in Greece, where athletes consumed substances like hallucinogenic mushrooms, herbal tonics, wine potions, and even raw animal testicles to boost strength and endurance. He notes that Roman gladiators also used stimulants and herbal mixtures to fight fatigue and increase aggression, though these often had limited effectiveness, relying largely on the placebo effect.

3. The Evolution of PEDs: From Ancient Practices to Modern Steroids

With the reintroduction of the Olympics in the 19th century, athletes began to seek performance edges through stimulants such as caffeine, alcohol, strychnine, and cocaine. Arndt references a dramatic example from his past episode on the 1904 Olympic marathon, where winner Thomas Hicks was administered strychnine and brandy during the race (02:30).

The breakthrough came in 1935 when German biochemist Adolf Boutenant isolated testosterone, leading to the development of synthetic anabolic androgenic steroids. Arndt explains, "Anabolic steroids can lead to an increase of 4-7 kg or 9-15 lb of lean muscle mass in just 10 to 12 weeks when combined with proper training and diet" (14:45).

4. PEDs During the Cold War Era

The Cold War intensified the PED arms race, with the Soviet Union pioneering state-sponsored doping to dominate international competitions. East Germany's State Plan 1425 is highlighted as a covert operation where thousands of athletes were administered anabolic steroids without consent, resulting in unprecedented Olympic success (09:15). Arndt underscores the unethical nature of these programs, which persisted until the fall of the Berlin Wall exposed their extent.

5. High-Profile PED Cases

Arndt reviews several landmark PED scandals that have rocked the sporting world:

• Ben Johnson (1988 Olympics): Lost his 100-meter gold medal after testing positive for stanazolo (10:20).
• Lance Armstrong (1999-2005 Tour de France): Stripped of seven titles due to blood doping and steroid use (12:40).
• Russian State-Sponsored Doping (2016 Olympics): Led to a nationwide ban from Olympic participation (15:30).

These cases illustrate the widespread and systemic nature of PED use, transcending individual athletes to involve entire nations.

6. Types of PEDs and Their Mechanisms

Arndt categorizes PEDs into several types, explaining their specific functions:

• Anabolic Steroids: Enhance muscle mass and strength by increasing protein synthesis and red blood cell production.
• Blood Doping (EPO): Boosts oxygen-carrying capacity of blood, improving endurance.
• Human Growth Hormone (HGH): Promotes growth and cell regeneration but is harder to detect in drug tests.
• Stimulants (Amphetamines): Increase alertness and reduce fatigue, used in both traditional and emerging sports like esports (13:50).

7. Effectiveness of PEDs

Addressing a common misconception, Arndt explains that PEDs like anabolic steroids require a corresponding training regimen to be effective. "If an average person took steroids and then did nothing and just sat on a couch, it would do very little for you" (11:05). However, for elite athletes, even marginal gains can be decisive, such as a 4% increase in bat speed significantly impacting home run totals in baseball.

8. Health Risks Associated with PED Use

Arndt does not shy away from discussing the severe health consequences of PEDs:

• Anabolic Steroids: Liver damage, heart disease, high blood pressure, infertility, and psychological effects like aggression and depression.
• EPO and Blood Doping: Increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, and blood clots due to blood thickening.
• Stimulants: Insomnia, anxiety, high blood pressure, and addiction.
• Diuretics: Dehydration and kidney failure.

9. The Ongoing Battle Against PEDs

Despite stringent regulations and the establishment of the World Anti-Doping Agency in 1999, PED use persists. Arndt discusses the cat-and-mouse game between dopers and authorities, highlighting ongoing state-sponsored programs and the emergence of PED use in non-traditional areas like esports.

10. The Future of PEDs in Sports

Arndt concludes by acknowledging that as long as the incentives in competitive sports remain high, the pursuit of enhanced performance through PEDs will continue. He emphasizes the relentless efforts of biochemists to both develop new performance enhancers and devise methods to detect them, ensuring that the debate surrounding PEDs remains dynamic and unresolved.

Notable Quotes

• "If an average person took steroids and then did nothing and just sat on a couch, it would do very little for you." – Gary Arndt (11:05)
• "Steroids themselves are not necessarily bad. They're completely natural. And all of us have some steroids in our body." – Gary Arndt (07:30)
• "When the difference between winning and losing is just a tenth of a second, that would be more than enough." – Gary Arndt (15:10)

Conclusion

This episode provides a thorough exploration of performance enhancing drugs, offering historical context, examining their impact on various sports, and discussing the ethical and health implications. Gary Arndt effectively balances detailed information with engaging storytelling, making complex topics accessible to intellectually curious listeners.

Credits

Executive Producer: Charles Daniel
Associate Producers: Benji Long and Cameron Keever