What is Doping? Lance Armstrong's Secrets!

Lance Armstrong confesses to doping. But what methods did he use and why weren't doctors ever able to detect it? Anthony Carboni breaks down the sophisticated techniques Lance and his team used and what this means for the future of the sport.

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[Seeker]

Someone brought that up earlier- it's not about it being 'illegal, ' it's just banned in competitive sports. Also, extra testosterone isn't just a quick boost before a race, it also becomes part of the regular workout routine of the athlete and allows them to get gains in muscle growth that wouldn't be possible without it. Extra muscle = long-term competitive edge. -Anthony

[LynneSkysong]

It doesn't sound like Lance did anything illegal here, at the time he did it. He worked as hard as he could and took advantage of every advantage he could, and he was a better athlete because of it. And he's not the only one doing it, he's was just one of the best.

Also, maybe this is wrong, but I heard he lost his metals because he finally got tired of fighting the legal battles for them.

[Seeker]

Hey, Zack! Re: 1) I think your contradiction issue in that case is more with policy than me. "Use" and "abuse" are defined by the sport and the UCI. 2) There actually is an increase in hemoglobin and hematocrit levels when someone blood dopes, which is why the UCI imposes a 15-day suspension on any male cyclist with a hemoglobin concentration above 17 grams per deciliter- unless they can prove their levels are consistently that high. -Anthony

[acarboni]

It's not so much that it's illegal as that it's banned from professional sports. He's not going to jail for any of this, but he's barred from competition.

It's also why he lost those medals- the legal battles had mostly to do with him fighting the accusations.

[ustech]

Doesn't matter all your mention side effects, facts shows that ONE he still alive and TWO 7 gold medals

[prostrongmanzack]

On a side note, very nice to correspond with you Anthony. Not trying to attack you, just putting my 2 cents in.

[LynneSkysong]

If you live at a higher elevation or somehow sleep/live in a lower oxygen environment, your body will naturally produce more hemoglobin to process the shorter supply of oxygen. It's why some athletes will train in places like La Paz. Then when you're back at sea level, you're a powerhouse compared to before.

[Seeker]

Didn't take it as a personal attack at all, but I did want you to know about my findings. I don't want anyone to think I'm not doing my due diligence on a story. :) -Anthony

[silverghosthunter]

can you move your hands anymore? I think we need more hand movement!

[prostrongmanzack]

SOOOO many things to say about this but I will keep it short.
1. "He was abusing HGH and testosterone"..."He was taking so little the it was hard to test for" You contradicted yourself, there needs to be a designation between use and aburse.
2. When you dope there is not an "increase in hemoglobin" as hemoglobin is the "stuff" inside blood that attaches to oxygen, more accuratly since he had injected extra blood he had a higher quantity of red blood cells to move oxygen in his body.

[acarboni]

Thanks for the rec, I'll check it out!

[The-last-son]

I think people forget that Lance had testicular cancer which means he doped the hgh to get his T-levels to normal so he could bike like he could before that happened. Do I agree with it. No I do not but at least he didn't try to go overboard with it. He probably just wanted to be normal again. I don't no if he had to have his testicles removed or not but it probably affected his overall athletic ability and endurance.

[acarboni]

It's crazy- when you read the report, he went at it like he went at a training program. He approached it the same way. Maybe it just fit in with his idea of training and bettering himself- shaving those seconds off his time by any means he had to.

[prostrongmanzack]

1) I didn't catch the connotation switch. I had interpreted you as saying he was using outlandish amounts and then saying it was so low that they could not test it. 2) A hematocrit is a red blood cell percentage, I am unfamiliar with the testing methods for hemoglobin (if they actually rupture the RBCs and collect the physical hemoglobin, or if they deduce the hemoglobin by a predetermined amount per volume of RBC). I just didn't feel the phase "increase in hemoglobin" was an accurate phrase.

[basmca]

seems to me that alle these tour the france runners, and other massive endurance races like that, cant be done at those speeds without using all these things.
they should just make 2 different races, one untested and one tested.

[ChocolateBijin]

I think we should have giving him a pass on the testosterone. The man had one of his testicles removed!

[Ayrton-h]

thanks for the info! im starting next week

[pedrofmbs]

Rad shirt @Anthony, literally! :D

Btw, really never intended to watch DNews (sorry :(), but you got me hooked with this one - you're one of "those" guys (like the TRS guys), I see your shows and it's like I'm listening to a buddy of mine.

Following you since Bytejacker! And now apparently, DNews! ;)

[chachi_luna]

So often giving blood should induce fresh red blood cell counts? Will that alone speed up recovery? Since recovery will allow an athlete to preform at a higher level?

[acarboni]

Well... 1) Yeah, he's still alive but it remains to be seen what's going to happen to his health because of this and 2) Those medals were taken away and his name's been removed from all the records. That's a huge disgrace for him personally and it also means that down the line people won't remember those medals, they'll only remember the scandal.