Here is the problem I have with this and won't hold back how I feel about this kind of article......I teach in one of my classes that most people get into fitness and wellness out of concerns about body image. Thus, they are kind of depressed about they way they look to begin with. So changing this body image effects their self-esteem.
Exercise will provide more positive social feedback and recognition from peer groups, and this will subsequently lead to improvement in an individual's self-image.
It is likely that discussion of recreational or exercise involvement may provide a useful point of entry for facilitating dialogue among adolescents about concerns relating to body image and self-esteem. In terms of psychotherapeutic applications, physical activity has many additional rewards...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
You don't have to be an athlete to use steroids to increase your muscle mass thus increasing your self-esteem. This idea that most steroid users are middle school and high school students if wrong. We wasted millions here in Texas testing middle school and high school students involved in athletes and only a meniscal amount ever tested positive. Thus, the testing was dropped. Truth, steroids on the street are very expensive. Most pay $100 for a 10cc vial of testosterone. Kids don't have that kind of money for the most part and steroid dealers are very hard to even find. Especially one that will even consider to sell to a kid. In my 21 years coaching high school and middle school kids I never saw 1 kid I suspected was on steroids. They never even asked me questions about it. In the gyms I go to I may only see 1-2 guys there that are juicing. Most of the old guys are not even on TRT. When I coached and ran high school only powerlifting meets we had no one that was using steroids. We even tested. Despite all the adds on the internet its very hard to find steroids' on the streets. There is much more profit to be made selling cocaine, meth etc. That is easy to find. High school and middle school kids have weed problems, not steroid.
Steroids are not a gateway drug. I know very few guys use use steroids for athletic purposes that don't go on and start using heroin, meth, or cocaine, not even weed or alcohol. Talk about myths.
If steroids use means we are all going to die prematurely, every single one of us needs to start making funerial arrangements. How much research is out there that show it may increase our lifespan.
I think the ideal male body type that is being marketed is the "dad bod" in skinny jeans with a beard and some silly glasses. Take a look at commercials for anything. You have to wonder if these are really men. Go to a pro bodybuilding show and see the droves of extremely hot women hanging out. Despite what is being marketed a lot of men want to look masculine. Why? Because their chance to get a date increases dramatically. I don't know 1 single muscular steroid user that doesn't have his pick of the females. Despite what the media tells us women are attracted to a guy with muscles. I know some deny it but I have seen all of my life they are just kidding themselves......"oh, can I touch your arm?" In my life time I never had to ask for a date and I have been very muscular most all of my life. Plus, I worked in bars for a long time and saw which guys walked out with the hottest women every night. It was the dad bods in skinny jeans that we had to cut off and tell them it is time to go home.
This body image disorder is something made up to attack the masculinity. This has been going on since they stopped tried to stop the game of smear in middle school. They want guy to think there is something bad wrong with you for wanting to look your best. Oh, it not natural. They why did God make males so they could be muscular? There is nothing wrong with trying to improve your image. Nothing wrong with improving your self-esteem. What I fond wrong with steroid use is many seem to thing that is the answer to getting big so more is better. No, it still all about hard work and dedication. Most now days have a problem with that and want everything now, with no work or dedication put in to earn it.
My wife and I have been dealing with this kind of criticism most of our adult lives. When we went to the beach our son when he was little though the others there were sick and wanted to give them food. They just don't look like us. All he had ever seen is powerlfters and bodybuilders in his life. We go out to eat and everyone stares and some make rude comments. At some point in our lives we got where we enjoyed being different. So make what ever comment you like. It doesn't take much in life to look like everyone else. We are both very conscience of how we look and how we take care of our bodies. That is not a disorder. How many couples go outside of the marriage to have sex only because their partner gave up how they look? My wife and I were attracted to each other because of how we look. My wife wanted a man that was stronger than her and could protect her. She didn't want a weak man that she would have to protect. She always says YOU TARZEN, ME JANE. If you give a crap about your relationship you keep doing what you were doing to get your partner. Letting you self turn into a fat mushy slob is the best way to end a marriage.
Body image disorders are a serious public health? But we have no problem praising fat slobs like Lizzo. Being obese and sedentary is a serious health issue.
Here is a good study:
- n a study, women reported that their short-term sexual partners were more muscular than their other partners.
- Researchers have found that a man’s physical formidability is a better predictor than his attractiveness for how many partners he has had.
- While bigger muscles might not be highly attractive to women, they’re certainly intimidating to male sexual competitors.
1. Muscularity is sexy.
“women were more willing to have short-term relations with muscular men without the requirement that they demonstrate characteristics particularly desired in long-term mates (trustworthiness, emotional closeness, etc.), possibly because these men possessed physical indicators of genetic fitness.”
Maybe muscular men simply feel better about themselves. This higher-self esteem could explain their higher sexual success.
2. Women like muscles; men are intimidated by them.
Evolutionary psychologists have argued that throughout human history, dominance has been more important than attractiveness for men’s mating success. Male competition has given rise to male traits like strong muscles, deep voices, and facial hair. Men evolved these traits not so much because women find them sexy, but more because other men find them intimidating.
3. Muscles are indicators of health and fitness.
4. Muscles attract attention.
Researchers have found that, with all else equal, people spend more time looking at individuals who look more formidable (strong, able to impose physical costs). The researchers suggest, "formidability may begin to influence the course of social interactions almost as soon as they have begun.”
5. Strength correlates with health.
In a
study on cardiovascular (heart) disease, researchers collected data from 1,104 male firefighters over the course of 10 years. They found that men who were able to do 40 push-ups or more had a 96 percent reduced risk of heart disease compared with men who could do less than 10 push-ups.
Now is there really any mystery why many guys in most cultures want to look stronger and will resort to the use of anabolic steroids to look more muscular? Now what in the heck to guys go after in a woman..... symmetrical face, full breasts, full lips, and a low waist–
hip ratio. Exactly why 99% of the women in gyms are doing nothing but hip flexor exercises daily, trying to build up the size of the butt. Then save money to get a boob job and lip augmentation. Low waist to hip ratio is a genetic sign of fertility.
magazine.brighamandwomens.org
