Look at this picture:
This is the “evolution” of the GI Joe action figure from the sixties to the latest iteration. From an average Joe, to a well toned Joe, passing trough the bodybuilder Joe and ending in the extreme Joe.
This was all good if it was a all about the toy, the problem is that the toy is a reflection of the society. And is not only the toy, but also in movies, advertising, sport and general media. There you go, the collective cultural brainwashing of a dis-formed body image as a society imposed goal.
I say dis-formed because (for the 99,99% of us mortals) it’s either unachievable, or achievable trough unhealthy options, long term unsustainable, and just non functional bulky body. In the information age, is rather sad to see most of young guys at the gym training hard for bulk and mass, not for health or functional gains.
Now you mix this set of mind, with the fast pace “I want it now”, there is no time to loose, Internet age, modern world. A time that hard work, wait for results, seed, feed and wait to grow are all old-school. And is the perfect formula for substance abuse. First things first, protein supplements in form of powders, bars, gels. This is a $11.5 billion (USA data only) industry in 2012 and could well deserve a post on its own… then you figure out that the big guy holding the can is using other stuff: steroids, human growth hormone, insulin, etc…
Come on, why not do it? Most of the cool guys at Fast and Furious do it, Rocky did it, Conan did it and was California governor, and even a couple of the big guys at the gym do it. And they look somehow alike GI Joe extreme, and it’s cool, and big is better, and they get the anorexic girls, and they are popular, and, and, and…
At the information age, smart and well educated persons are willing to risk their health in the name of this cultural imposed body image model. In my opinion (well, this is my blog) is just time to break this non-sense, to start an awareness campaign, kind of the anti anorectic girl campaign in the 90s. To promote an healthy and achievable body image and stop this collective brainwash backed up by the supplements industry.
Personally i choose life. I’m more and more into crossfit exercises, functional lifts with compound movements, own body weight exercises, catabolic anabolic balance, deep breathing and relaxing. Will trade, anytime, anywhere the superficial muscle grow for long term balanced core strength.