Around the world, influencers these days attract many people who have thick muscles and tremendous strength. If we look at only Hollywood actors, most of them are stars who maintain beautiful physiques by doing a significant amount of exercise and a thorough diet. Their images shown in the media have led many people to the gym. In addition, the number of young people who exercise and often express themselves through SNS is increasing.
It is pretty positive from the perspective of society as a whole that the scale of the fitness industry grows while meeting people’s needs for health. However, as always, there is contrast behind the bright side. For example, people who exercise as a hobby, that is, most people who work out and exercise simultaneously, cannot get as much exercise and rest as they want. In other words, it takes a lot of time and effort to get the body we want.
There have always been people who want a shortcut in any field. For example, bodybuilders have chosen “anabolic steroids” and “male hormones” as a usual way to build large muscles quickly. Their large, brittle muscles have formed a fanatic base, and they choose “anabolic steroids” without realizing the dangers of gaining muscle through steroids and growth hormones.
This implicit darkness is causing new social problems in Asia, where the fitness industry is currently active. However, the more severe problem is that users perceive the risk low and produce more users due to the enormous effect of being distributed through illegal channels.
A brief look at the case of the United States, the home of fitness, we can immediately understand the severity of the problem. As of 2004, 1,084,000 Americans (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2017) said that they had already used anabolic steroids. The more severe problem is that the age group that uses drugs raises their hands in the media-friendly teenage culture.
In addition, as the fitness culture spreads in Asia, the problem is not just a problem in countries where fitness culture has pre-existed, such as the United States and Europe. This is because, to eradicate this drug publicly abused by the general public, laws in Asian countries, which are many latecomers in fitness, have to be amended.
Unlike other sports, weight training is an exercise to develop strength and muscle, which is the basis of many exercises. It has been widely used to improve athletic performance, even for ordinary people who play baseball, soccer, football, and hockey. In addition, there are teenagers in the growth phase or older people who have started weight training for healthy movement.
Pleasures come together to form a culture. Pleasure is converted into great value when people at the top of the culture have a good influence. For the fitness culture, which has the basic meaning of health, to be recognized by the public, the good influence of those who keep the peak is more important than ever.
Reference list
lee (2021). [건강]근육 키우려 스테로이드 섭취 “회복 불능의 고환 손상·정자 생산 장애 유발“. [online] 글로벌경제신문. Available at: https://www.getnews.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=519606 [Accessed 1 Dec. 2021].
National Institute on Drug Abuse (2017). Anabolic Steroids. [online] Drugabuse.gov. Available at: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/anabolic-steroids.
www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov. (n.d.). Steroid Abuse in Today’s Society. [online] Available at: https://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubs/brochures/steroids/professionals/?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=ko&_x_tr_hl=ko&_x_tr_pto=sc [Accessed 1 Dec. 2021].
