Participation Over Winning – For me, success has always been about participation, not just winning a trophy. The real victory lies in simply showing up and engaging in sports. With so few people involved in physical activity, just being there and competing is already a win. This attitude kept me from feeling the need to take steroids, even in environments like bodybuilding, where the temptation is strong. Others may make bigger, faster gains, but my goal was simply to keep improving my shape week by week, not to outperform everyone else.
Advantages Do Not Beat Genetics – While taking steroids undoubtedly boosts performance, I never felt the advantage was as significant as people think. You might gain an edge initially, but then you’re competing against others who are also on steroids. At that point, it still comes down to genetics, who trains harder or smarter etc. PED’s might raise your level, but the competition is ultimately still the same, it is just at a higher level. So, raising my performance artificially never seemed necessary.
Benefits Were Not Worth It – The overall benefits of taking them didn’t really seem to be enough to justify the risk. The performance improvements wouldn’t have significantly increased my income because I wasn’t close to being a professional athlete.
While being big and muscular can help grow a following on social media I wasn’t even posting consistently, so why take steroids before getting the basics right? For my personal training business my clients are attracted to me for my expertise and the shape I maintain naturally. I didn’t need to be bigger or ‘better’ through steroids to impress them. In fact, going through the natural process gave me more valuable lessons to pass on to my clients.
Potential Negatives & Consequences – The downsides were certainly something to consider. A lot of social media stars who are on steroids end up with serious health issues. I’ve seen many competitors, seemingly in their prime, suffer from hospital stays, illness, and even death. This risk was enough to make me wary.
Another fear was the potential for rapid aging. Steroids can cause hair loss and facial aging, making you look significantly older. This is irreversible, and you won’t know if it affects you until a bit too late.
What is often not spoken about is that taking steroids often means relying on medication for life. If you start at 30, you might have to be on meds for decades. I didn’t want to commit my body to that. Especially as I haven’t taken any medication in my adult life.
Finally, steroids can alter your personality while you’re on them, and there can be lingering effects even after you stop. I am a content and happy person; the risk of a personality shifts just to gain more muscle wasn’t worth it for me.
What Does This Means For You?
While you may not be tempted to take steroids, you may be surprised just how many people have, or are tempted to take them. Especially young men. The fact I never took them despite the environments I have been in is something I am proud of.
Ultimately, my decision to avoid steroids came down to weighing up the benefits against the risks. I’m not against people who choose to use them, but for me, the potential downsides far outweighed the advantages. Unless there are undeniable health benefits in the future, I don’t plan to take steroids. Participating in sports, staying healthy, and maintaining my happiness are far more important to me than any muscle gains could ever be.
Photo – Screenshot of my Tik Tok video on this subject
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