“…Do I have a problem? I guess so. I sometimes wonder what the point of my life is. I work so hard at my body, but underneath I still hate the way I look” (Mosley, 2009, p. 6) include just a few of the disturbing, sad, and unfortunate thoughts that go through some bodybuilders minds. Within the bodybuilding world, there is a lot of bad ethics and a lot of the content from the media cultivate these types of feelings. In an industry that already causes body dissatisfaction, it creates additional issues for people. So many variables contribute to the body dissatisfaction that this bodybuilder, and many other people, experience. Unnatural bodybuilders within bodybuilding media promote unreal expectations of what people can achieve. These same people will sell programs that don’t work for natural people, and further promote these unobtainable outcomes. Constant advertisements of enhanced athletes make men and young men have body dissatisfaction. They take advantage of this by having people and brands within the industry to promote supplements as what helped them achieve their goal. In reality, all they are doing is lining their pockets. All of these troubles of people being misled are constructed through a huge media outlet. The impact of bodybuilding media and bad ethics within it cause people to be misled, get taken advantage of for their money, live unhealthy lifestyles, and experience body dysmorphia and body dissatisfaction
First, it is important to understand that bodybuilding, as defined by Merriam-Webster.com is simply “the activity of doing exercises (such as lifting weights) to make the muscles of your body larger and stronger.” Bodybuilding media itself is nested within the main forms of media that exists today, such as the internet, websites, social media platforms, magazines, books, videos and films. Bodybuilding media can be identified within these media forms by a few distinguishing features. The main goal of’ bodybuilding’ is to build a muscular, proportional, lean physique so the main feature of content is orientated towards muscular development. The media is aimed toward providing ways to help people achieve this. Key features of this media typically include muscular fitness models/celebrities, promotion of products, equipment, and supplements. It also includes things such as programs that aid others in their fitness and articles on weightlifting/nutrition geared towards hypertrophy. It also can be more entertainment orientated like a film production (e.g. “Pumping Iron” - one of the most famous bodybuilding films) or something as simple as YouTube videos and vlogs that cover lifestyles of popular figures.
It is seen all through bodybuilding media, that bodybuilders are using their unnatural physiques to sell and flaunt their programs and coaching. They lead others on to believing that they can get similar results from their coaching, and even imply that they know good coaching strategies. An example of people using their physiques through several forms of media is Bradley Martyn. Through the use of an FFMI (Fat Free Mass Index) calculator, which is a formula constructed to determine the natural limits of bodybuilders, it is easily seen that he has an FFMI of 29.4, which is beyond the natural limit. “The normalized FFMI values of athletes who had not used steroids extended up to a well-defined limit of 25.0” (Kouri, Pope, Katz, & Oliva, 1995). Martyn is seen all over YouTube with over 1 million subscribers, all over Instagram with over 2.2 million followers, and over 100k followers on twitter. Constantly you can see pictures of his physique, his training, and his lifestyle and the problem is that he is constructing a thought in some people’s minds that they might be able to obtain what he has if they could just know what he’s doing. Bradley Martyn advertises an insane transformation for $300 online coaching. He advertises his picture of him as a skinny teenager and then how he is now with a 265-pound frame of muscle. He leads people on to believe what he got was achievable since he neglects to address the drug and steroid issue. The problem with all of this is there needs to be more people exposing truth and informing people on what is obtainable because some people actually get fooled into buying their programs and supplements.
Another classic example of a well-known bodybuilding media figure that sells high volume “body split” programs for ridiculous prices is Simeon Panda. Body split programming means you train a body part once a week and high volume refers to high number of sets and reps, typically not focused around strength improvement (which is crucial for natural lifters). His programs that he has written are not optimal for natural athletes looking to build muscle and strength and this is shown through much research. The type of program he created only works well for people on drugs as we know that muscle protein synthesis only last 24-48 hours in natural lifters, which means you need to be training a muscle/group 2-3 times per week, not once (Tipton & Wolfe, 1991). Simeon also claims several times on YouTube and Instagram to be natural. Therefore, he is selling ineffective programs and marketing himself as natural to others to take advantage of others and make more money. These two popular figures, Bradley and Simeon, are just a beginning of the problem within the bodybuilding media that cause people to be misled and have body dissatisfaction.
One of the main goals in the bodybuilding industry, which is over promoted in bodybuilding media, is selling supplements. If someone has ever opened up a bodybuilding or fitness magazine, of course, you will see several ripped guys and lean girls. But really you will notice there is an advertisement for a different supplement on nearly every page. Not only is there always new workout routines to follow in every month’s addition to get you to subscribe (making you think you need to follow these programs every month), you will see the workout programs based around selling products as well. All you have to do is open to any page of Flex magazine, Muscle & Fitness, Men’s Fitness, or even take a stroll through some of the most popular bodybuilding and fitness websites like Bodybuilding.com. One example of many, is an article from Bodybuilding.com that about doubling your bench press, but really is a way to push more product. First of all, the article is promoting an unrealistic expectation of doubling your bench as it suggests you already have a 220-pound bench. Getting to 440 pounds on bench press is something only elite lifters can do, and takes years of training. The kicker here though is that the article is written by someone who is a certified personal trainer by NASM. This is supposed to show credibility, but, the article is sponsored by EAS MyoPlex, a protein supplement company. Of course, one of their main topics in the article is using supplements to get to your goal and between every paragraph is a picture of a jacked, male model drinking their product. Their product and this article are not going to really help anyone double their bench. Elite programming is what is necessary, bare minimum. Once again, this is another facet of bodybuilding media that is supposed to supply useful information to people, but is really just taking advantage of people. Lazar Angelov is another popular figure in bodybuilding media who is/was part of the company named Shredz. Just like many other sponsored athletes, their goal is to promote a product to through several forms of media to push their supplement and make money. One unethical way he promoted his product line was when he had his knee injuries. He used it as a marketing ploy: “I'm always using Shredz Supplements Alpha Male Stack to prevent muscle breakdown while I can't lift weights” (Facebook.com/LazarAngelovFitness). He claims that these supplements Shredz sells are what will help him maintain his muscle when he can’t lift weights, but in reality, if you are natural you can’t retain all your muscle like he did, unless, you are on high amounts of drugs. This is just another example of bad ethics and taking advantage of people within bodybuilding media. This also goes along with all the claims he and the company make to their products about making their “gains”. “Imagine how much muscle you can gain when you lift and weights and take their supplements… this guy is not lifting and keeping all his muscle” are thoughts that might go through uninformed people’s minds. It’s not so much the fact they are trying to sell a product, it’s the fact they are over hyping a product’s effectiveness and using their media presence to mislead people. It also not to be said that the supplements don't work, there is much research that suggests some of the supplements do work, but the effects are small, especially relative to what they claim. The problem is in the bodybuilding media. They are using it as a way to basically scam the consumer for the most money possible and give false expectations through their advertising techniques.
The impacts of such things taking place within the bodybuilding media include people being misled, money and time being wasted, people taking advantage of others, unhealthy lifestyles, and body dysmorphia and dissatisfaction. Bodybuilding media has greatly affected the perceptions of many men’s and young adult’s bodies and expectations. A study done by Leit, Gray, and Pope in 2002 showed the effects of media images like such on men’s attitudes toward body appearance. “The students exposed to the muscular images showed a significantly greater discrepancy between their own perceived muscularity and the level of muscularity that they ideally wanted to have” (Leit, Gray & Pope, 2002). Findings were based off just showing media images in a brief presentation. The effects can only be amplified if young men are constantly seeing these types of images on their social media from Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and even popular sites like Bodybuilding.com and T-nation. All of these forms of media from social media, to websites, to videos have great effects on the extent of some individual’s choices to pursue what others have. Whether or not people realize they need steroids to look like some bodybuilders or popular social media figures, young teens are at risk to make unhealthy choices like Andrej Gajdos. After taking steroids to reach a physique like The Rock, his thoracic aorta ruptured. He had enlarged organs, which is caused from steroid abuse. There are many other examples like this where teens have severe health effects because they feel the need to reach status and looks of huge bodybuilders. They never feel comfortable with who they are (Unilad.co.uk, 2015).
In research by Arbour and Ginis in 2006, they studied the effect media exposure has on someone’s muscle and body satisfaction. Typically for this type of theory, it is thought that what we consume on media is what we manifest as being the ideal, especially when it comes to our self-body image. In this study, they looked at several other studies and found that consuming media of hypermuscular physiques would create body/muscle dissatisfaction in young men. They took it a step further though and hypothesized that some men would be more affected by muscular images than others and that those who already reported more body dissatisfaction would report even more after exposure to this type of media. In the study, they had 74 males recruited who were in good shape. The subjects attended nutrition and exercises seminars and the individuals were then either assigned to a group where they viewed either muscular or hypermusclar condition media. This is where they would differ the media presented in the seminars. Afterwards, they found that those who viewed media of muscular physiques after the seminar had increased body dissatisfaction (based off of previous baselines), especially men who already felt uncomfortable and had muscularity concerns. This shows that when young men view bodybuilding images, they feel more dissatisfied with their bodies. A lot of people who happen to view this media, already happen to feel sub-par, and they expose themselves more and more in this type of media to “learn”. It becomes a continual cycle of more dissatisfaction.
Bodybuilding Media creates diet and eating problems which are established on their road to reach their ideal body image, which is purported by media. These diets and eating problems parallel the way people have viewed anorexia and body image disorders from young women and skinny models. In a first-person account of someone with muscle dysmorphia, the compulsion can be created and/or made worse by bodybuilding media. They create a compulsion to count every calorie, have every workout perfect, and change their life entirely for this one goal because of a body image disorder created by the bodybuilding media feeding false information and trying to sell people on things. This is what someone who has developed eating disorder sounds like: “I read about this carb-cycling diet in Flex magazine, which some of the top pros use to help them shred body fat. It does involve controlling every single gram of carbohydrate that you take in each day, which is frankly almost impossible, but I try to follow it as best I can… I prepare all my food in advance so I can be sure I’m getting clean calories… It is really hard to keep this kind of diet up and maintain any kind of normal life, but I persevere because that’s what it takes to build the kind of body I want…” (Mosley, 2009). He even went on to describe how he took steroids because he feels everyone else is using them. He negates the health advice of professionals and admits to being depressed and even suicidal a few weeks after coming off his cycle of steroids. He doesn’t want to quit because he is trying to achieve what the body building media has inherently taught him is the right way to look. The terrible thing about this is he will never feel satisfied with how he looks because this is a disorder. He also admitted to never eating out at restaurants or going to a friend’s place for dinner because it would mess up his diet. This is no way to live. This has all even become a problem for women as bodybuilding is increasing popularity for them, too. In a study published on social media effects on young women’s body image it found that “the interactive format and content features of social media, such as the strong peer presence and exchange of a multitude of visual images, suggest that social media, working via negative social comparisons, transportation, and peer normative processes, can significantly influence body image concerns” (Perloff, 2014). The same way men have been effected by bodybuilding media, so can women. There is a growing popularity for bodybuilding subcategories for woman such as Figure and Bikini competitions. The media within these niches also can create negative social comparisons on how one should look, what they should be doing, and how they should be eating. It leads to chronic under eating and is part of the big picture problem within bodybuilding media – promoting unhealthy lifestyles.
There are many issues within the bodybuilding media that many people are consuming. Issues include unnatural bodybuilders using their physiques to take advantage of others, push supplements and products that waste people’s money through this media. Also, the impacts of bodybuilding media cause body dysmorphia, dissatisfaction, and can create unhealthy lifestyles and habits. It’s important that everyone be more aware of the schemes inside bodybuilding media by the fitness industry. More research should be done scientifically debunking popular fitness and bodybuilding celebrities’ scams, ineffective programs, expensive supplements, and the value of their advice. More research should also be done further investigating the impacts of the bodybuilding and fitness media like the case study on body dysmorphia. Just like in most industries, media plays a huge role in their marketing, revenue, and unethical decisions are constantly being made. Many times, little attentiveness is taken into account for the well-being of the consumer, and the bodybuilding media within the fitness industry is another aspect that should be cracked down on.
References
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Perloff, R. M. (2014). Social media effects on young women’s body image concerns: Theoretical perspectives and an agenda for research. Sex Roles, 71(11-12), 363-377.
Teenage Bodybuilder With Dreams Of Being Like 'The Rock' Died After His Heart 'Burst' (2015, September 23). Retrieved February 10, 2017, from http://www.unilad.co.uk/articles/teenage-bodybuilder-with-dreams-of-being-like-the-rock-died-after-his-heart-burst/
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