What grinds my gears!

You know what really grinds my gears?

Assumption! Assumption that all those who train and gain MUST be on steroids!

I myself have only once had the hint dropped by a concerned fellow gym user, but atlas he was put back in place as I proclaimed very emphatically, I’m not on the gear and never will be.

Some choose that path, and hopefully they are aware of the risks that they are taking before jumping on that wagon. Some young men choose that path with little more than the body image pressure of popular culture to drive them. WHAT?! Did you just say BODY IMAGE and YOUNG MEN in the same sentence? Yep sure did and it only take a muscle magazine cover to see why young men are just as susceptible to body image problems as women, and it could be JUST as devastating for their health.

The thing that got me really thinking was a statement that I read on Facebook aimed at festival goers. One of the jibes it made was that you weren’t allowed in to the festival without being a muscle bound roid junkie. Now I don’t frequent these types of events, but I am aware of Zyzz and the Aesthetics crew and the fact that there are a minority group that are trying to make the “upper body ripped” look a part of the music festival scene. Now I guess the problem with this is that youth being so naive COULD try and achieve their body image. Chances are, this would take more time to achieve naturally and might not fit in with the next festival date. STEP IN, Steroids!

Then of course you have the BIG boys of the body building game. So even if you are not interested in bopping around in a field listening to your favorite music, you might be into working hard at the gym and listing to your favorite music. Then you have the likes of Arnold, Branch and Ronnie to aspire to instead of Chest Brah, Zyzz and Turtle. BUT again these inspirational builders are riddled with the tell tale signs of steroid use to get to the physique that they have attained.

So is everyone doing steroids? According to Today Tonight they are, in fact according to Today Tonight if you are taking a protein supplement, you ARE most likely also on steroids. WOW! Powerful assumption there guys.

What can we do about it? Nothing! Yep that’s right, absolutely nothing! On the larger scale of things at least, but on the smaller scale education is the cure. Just like smoking, you won’t be able to stop 100% of people from doing it. Show them studies of the health problems and they still won’t believe it can happen to them. Stop putting beasts with naturally unattainable figures on the magazines, nope because that would make Flex magazine look like Men’s health magazine. So again, education is the key here.

In closing, don’t assume that everyone who is building muscle or spending time at the gym is using steroids, and those who are striving for a body image goal, don’t assume that all of your hero’s are not or have not used steroids to get where they are. Your best bet is to work on building a better YOU and be proud of what you can become with hard work, sweat and staying natural.