7 Ways the Gym Attributes to Body Dysmorphia

We all go to the gym for multiple reasons. The ultimate goal for us all is to take this pleasure to feel comfortable with our bodies and to achieve our version of the ideal body. But for a lot of young adults from 18-25, this fascination with the ideal body leads down a path of body dysmorphia. From there many look towards PED’s or performance enhancing drugs to propel themselves into the realm of the perfect body. For many this seems the only option as social media floods the screen with athletes with deep cuts and shredded physique that all the girls want. Yet genetics stunts a lot of gym “rats” from attaining that dream body. The only solution is to turn to PED’s and hope that those drugs can turn the tide and make them feel comfortable in their own skin.

1. GYM PRODUCED BODY DYSMORPHIA.

Going on four years from when I started going to the gym, I still do not feel comfortable with my body and hate to take my shirt off. I don't really like looking in the mirror because I don’t see my perfect body yet. Like my many friends who also lift and seem to be in incredible shape, more than myself, they still don’t like how they look despite receiving positive feedback from guys and girls alike. Like many of us who use the gym to shape our physiques, we unconsciously develop a form of body dysmorphia over the years. I'm nervous at occasions where taking the shirt off is normal or expected and I want to hide. Always comparing myself to friends and social media influencers who have a god-like body. Being called names, breakups, and insecurity lead us down the path to body dysmorphia and it’s a hard hole to climb out of.

2. SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS

With the influence of social media giants, many people including young adults are fascinated with seeing their heroes, idols or those they see in high regard post about their lives and their success. Like me, many avid gym goers follow top bodybuilding competitors in the world. We see daily their ripped and muscular physiques and the attention it brings from others. Top that off with almost every big name workout wear or gym clothesline advertising their products with nothing but ripped, toned and muscular models that represent the small number of gym enthusiasts that have that type of body. Yet I am guilty of buying those clothes because an influencer I follow promotes it thinking that maybe I’ll look good in that shirt or pair of shorts one day like this guy. Many may not know it but social media plays a big role on how people compare themselves to others and how this comparison can lead to body dysmorphia and down the route to PED usage.

3. MENTAL HEALTH IMPORTANCE

Body dysmorphia comes with mental health. If you’re thinking that you aren’t good enough then over time that becomes your reality. Grinding out hard in the gym every day, eating right and getting enough sleep and yet it seems to never show on your figure. I feel like this when I open a social media app and look at the bodybuilders with ripped physiques and I compare myself to them. I then realize that I am a far ways off from ever looking like them and I tell myself that I’m not working hard enough. I need to do better and I have back and shoulder problems from this mindset. My mind kept telling me to lift more while my body was pleading with me to stop. This is the mental side of it all.

4. IT'S ALL IN THE GENES

Some say genetics plays a role in how big and ripped one can get. They’re correct to an extent. Personally my genetics grant me fast metabolism so it’s hard to gain weight. For close friends of mine who are Asian, they naturally have big calves and another friend who is Hispanic has big, striated shoulders that stand out from his body. Genetics can limit people from their dream body. That doesn’t mean they can’t look amazing but sometimes certain aspects of body composition are out of reach, which can lead people towards PED’s to gain more muscle. I personally have struggled whether to use PED’s or not and it came down to not wanting to tank my hormone levels for the sake of muscle.

5. YOUNG ADULTS HAVE THE MOST PRESSURE

As we reach young adulthood, we start to really look at ourselves differently. As young adults do, they want to stand out and make a name for themselves. Looking good and going to the gym does just that. I know for myself being relatively small in weight made me feel insecure around bigger guys in the gym and around town. Especially around my friend who is 6 foot and ripped. I always compare myself to him and others around my age and I feel like I’m an outlier. That I need to get bigger or lift heavier to prove I can match others. I feel that I’ve used this mentality in the gym and that my injuries are a result of this “pressure” to look a certain way.

6. PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUGS ARE MIRACLES

Steroids and SARMs (selective androgen receptor modulators) are the products from the gods themselves for humans to take to come close to the heavenly figures. These two drugs come in a variety of names and forms and are readily available online. When the feeling of inferiority was in play I heavily considered taking SARMs to look leaner and bigger with less time involved to achieve those goals. I battled my consciousness whether to purchase and use or stay natural. I more than once had the arrow over “complete order” on SARM selling websites. The only thing that stopped me was the fact that my hormones would fall far below what a healthy male my age should be at.

7. HOLLYWOOD PLAYS A HUGE ROLE

Ever wonder how a celebrity got huge in a matter of weeks for an upcoming role? Well, for the most part their secret isn’t their celebrity trainer or diet model but steroids! Yes, even those actors you put in such high regard probably have used some form of erogenous hormones or drugs. I listen to a renowned PED expert on Youtube who has a massive following and has done extensive research on PED’s throughout his years. His channel is called moreplatesmoredates (MPMD) and he helps explains how celebrities influence young adult minds into thinking that they can achieve the same results with hard work in the gym. Actors and Hollywood need to take better caution as not to influence young impressionable minds the wrong way in health related subjects.

Conclusion

All these factors that you the reader have read above are reasons why young adults fall as easy prey into the world of body dysmorphia and PED usage. How in the world of the gym and those who follow the world of bodybuilding can become overly pressured to look a certain way and lift heavy weights. From this listicle, I learned that taking a research question and expanding it to its most important details is harder than it looks. Finally, my research question; How many young adult gym goers between 18-25 develop body dysmorphia that could eventually lead into PED usage or thoughts of using?

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