News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Tracing doping use by amateur athletes from wastewater by loeg on Friday April 06, 2018 @05:38PM (#16777677)
It's a weight loss drug. I've done a rough categorization of the full list here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16777656

As far as why it counts as "doping" — it is probably used by body builders to drop body fat to competition levels. Anecdotally, without chemical help you are hungry all the time at 4-8 %bf.

Also, the common wisdom among runners is that body fat is dead weight and losing it makes you faster and reduces load on your joints. So it may help there too. Cyclists probably see less benefit, but less fat may help acceleration and hill climb ability.

Re:Tracing doping use by amateur athletes from wastewater by nradov on Friday April 06, 2018 @09:47PM (#16778966)
Yes this article confirms that professional cyclists in the Tour de France are under 6% and hungry all the time. But they have to be careful not to go too low or they run the risk of getting sick and dropping out of the race.

https://www.outsideonline.com/2099881/how-skinny-are-top-tou...

Re:Tracing doping use by amateur athletes from wastewater by loeg on Friday April 06, 2018 @10:08PM (#16779021)
Yeah. In running there is some belief that it may be safer and healthier to train at less extreme %bf in the off season, and only drop to extremely low %bf shortly before and during the race season.
Re:Tracing doping use by amateur athletes from wastewater by refurb on Friday April 06, 2018 @07:15PM (#16778313)
For those sports where there are weight classes, losing 5-10 pounds rapidly can move you from a weight class we're your average to a weight class where you dominate.