The fitness industry is growing rapidly. More and more people idealize a muscular physique, and we increasingly see them participating in fitness and bodybuilding competitions. Every day, dozens of new fitness models, bloggers, and vloggers appear online. Yet, the media still seems to focus solely on the use of steroids.
‘Dutch Rich Piana’
Fitness, in general, undergoes continuous significant changes, both in execution and experience, as well as culturally. More and more people seem to be seriously working on their bodies and consider training as an essential part of it.
The high number of downloads of our Fitsociety App is just one indicator of this.
Other signs include the significant online attention for fitness and bodybuilding. Yet, mainstream media still seems to largely miss or ignore this development.
When a ‘fitchannel‘ is launched, the main feature turns out to be a skater (how?).
If they need a nutritionist, they invite a soap opera actress.
When there is occasional attention for serious strength training, it focuses solely on the use of anabolic steroids.
Last month, Radio 1 called me. ‘Great,’ I thought. Attention for my work as a fitness photographer or for Fitsociety. However, the reason turned out to be, once again, an article about steroids that I wrote years ago.
Apparently, it’s a popular article since I’ve been approached about it before. A few months earlier, for an interview with Quote Psychology. This morning, the Editie NL editorial team contacted me via my photography site.
“Cool,” I thought again, “attention for my photos.”
Unfortunately, it turned out to be about steroids and the articles I’ve written on them; with a request for an interview for tonight’s broadcast.
“Always about steroids,” I thought in my best Autodrop voice.
I didn’t agree to the request. I consider myself a natural, after all, not an expert on steroids, despite the articles I’ve written. So, I referred them to people who, in my opinion, know more about it.
People who literally wrote the book on steroids. However, they were mainly looking for experts who could talk about the level of usage, how often it occurs, personal experiences (which I lack), and potential problems.
The standard questions, then.
However, it doesn’t matter who I suggested. The best expert cannot possibly provide a comprehensive view of the complexity surrounding steroid use in a short program with a few sentences.
Moreover, Dutch TV makers naturally encounter the usual problem that few users are willing to talk about it, and individual experiences can vary greatly.
Ironically, the people you’d really like to talk to are often not in a position where they can or want to speak openly about it. So, you can quickly get a distorted view by letting a random user talk about their experiences, let alone about the experiences of others.
Actually, what we need is a Dutch Rich Piana. Someone who is completely open about steroid use from the user’s side and whom you’d gladly put forward for such requests. Currently, the sound often comes only from official authorities whose task is to combat steroid use, making it difficult to get a balanced view.
Fitness is…
For those who use things like anabolic steroids, growth hormone, and insulin, this is just one aspect of fitness. I sometimes compare it to a speed limiter on a car. You can remove it, but you still need to step on the gas pedal harder to go faster. Trying to explain this to people who think being ‘ripped’ has to do with humor is like explaining quantum theory to cavemen.
For many, fitness is entirely separate from the use of steroids, as it is for yours truly, among others. The last time I saw attention for “the fitness world” without steroids being the topic (or a celebrity coincidentally discovering the gym and immediately deciding to write a book), was when Tavi Castro joined Umberto Tan. Perhaps not the best example, but at least steroids weren’t the topic. It was the FIBO and the success of Body Engineers.
Just one of the success stories that fitness and bodybuilding have produced.
Fitness is much more than the doping some think they need to achieve their goals.
Fitness is:
- Seeing a shy boy turn into a confident man
- Someone who, out of shame for overweight, used to wear long clothes on the hottest day of the year at the beach but now proudly displays their body. On stage, in the spotlight in a packed theater with cheering family and friends.
- People with eating disorders discovering a healthier ideal and corresponding diet
- Not complaining about your body, but setting goals, taking personal responsibility, and learning to persevere
- Women who are no longer allergic to muscle mass
- Men who are no longer allergic to women with washboard abs
- Gaining insight into your body and nutritional needs
- Walking slower past a mirror instead of faster
- Fitness models with millions of followers on social media and sponsorship contracts that were previously reserved only for professional athletes
- Fantastic
Feel free to add to this list.
