Natty or Not: The Steroid Epidemic
A look into the prevalent use of steroids by bodybuilders and how it is affecting them and the general populace
When was the last time you opened your reels/stories and felt sorry for yourself after watching all those “hot” and “fit” influencers flaunt their bodies? When was the last time you saw these fitfluencers and thought of ways you could get their body? Did you watch that interview of a Marvel superhero who said he got his six-pack body by training hard everyday and eating veggies? Did you then think if you could replicate that you could also look like Captain America? But no matter how much we train or eat ‘healthy’ we are never going to get the body like them. You know why?
…because all of them are juiced!!! No, not the fruit juice kind, the anabolic steroids kind!!!
Fitfluencers use the gullibility of their audience (predominantly young adults) to propagate their image and peddle their products (eg: supplements, protein powders, merchandise, etc). What happens is that young adults are enamoured by these fake fitness models and end up using steroids to build their body. Research has shown that more people in the 18-34 age group are turning to steroids (source) and this is alarming.
A downside of using steroids for building your body is that once you start taking them you cannot stop. Your body stops producing the hormones naturally (eg: testosterone) and you will have to continually increase the dosage of steroids.
Also, to counteract all these negative effects your “hero” is also taking multiple other medications. Yes, his/her/their body has become a cesspool of chemicals. All this affects their bodily functions and there have been cases of people losing their lives due to cardiac arrest, a common symptom of extended steroid use (source).
Watch Noel Deyzel, Jeff Nippard and Renaissance Periodization (Dr. Mike Israetel) on Youtube to know more about anabolic steroids.
What do we say if your fitness trainer or your friend tries to coerce you into taking the oosi (injection in tamil; slang for using steroids)? NO!!!
So, get your expectations straight. Eat, sleep and workout well. Build your body the right way.
You may want to watch this video by Tharun Kumar (a tamil fitness influencer) debunking the six-packs of your favourite heroes.
Rohith’s Corner:
I decided to visit Temp in Nungambakkam (Chennai) recently to see what the hype was about. Lesson learnt: don’t go where influencers frequent. The peanut butter shake was alright and the Nashville burger wasn’t out of the world like the reels say. Should’ve stayed home and eaten the sambar rice, Rohith!
