tropo said:
Sure the gear will make you bigger, but increase your quality of life? I doubt that. It's still possible to build a healthy, strong, muscular body naturally, you know.
If a person's quality of life is linked to their muscle size then there's some serious psychological problems which need to be addressed.
If you really seek quality of life, keep up a swimming program, or some other low impact activity into old age...you'll be much healthier for it. No juicing required!
I think you are missing the point of what Eddie was saying.
There is more to taking steroids than the obvious muscle hypertrophy, there is an effect on the brain, not receptors, but the most conversion of test to DHT occurs here (if I remember my endocrinology correctly).
Lower levels of test are linked to depression.
There may be serious psychological problems from NOT having enough testosterone, and there are young men showing up on this board almost daily who have never taken any steroids, get some blood work done and find out they have low levels of test.
As far are your recommendations for exercise for the older population, I have been reading numerous studies in things like the British Medical Journal and the New England Journal of Medicine that recommend resistance training (that's weights) to prevent the sarcopenia (muscle wasting) that occurs with age.
Less muscle, greater tendency to fall, greater chance of pathological fractures, less insulin sensitivity, greater risk of type II diabetes.
Lifting weights, more muscle, better bone density, greater mobility.