Almost everyone you've ever seen in an advertisement trying to sell you a legal bodybuilding supplement was on steroids. With its ubiquity, Instagram is making these unrealistic expectations even more mainstream. Just as the beauty standard for women is unrealistic, men practically have to use steroids for anyone to believe they go to the gym. These unrealistic expectations lead to unhappiness and body dysphoria. Compare Eugen Sandow, or anyone else who singularly focused on gaining muscle mass prior to the discovery/invention of anabolic/androgenic steroids, to random gym bros in your IG feed.
Yup, and the sad bit is that it takes years of lifting and researching to realize this fact. Your typical beginner doesn't have a clue and just gets discouraged.
I have been lifting hard and consistently for about twelve years. I'm pretty strong and I have plenty of muscle, but to most people I just look "fit". That's fine and all, but these people grossly underestimate what it takes to get "big".
I once had an Uber driver party with us after a night out. The guy was thin, but told me he had begun lifting and wanted to get big I asked him what his goals were and he told me "a bit bigger than you". Later that night he was in my garage and saw that I regularly train with a 250lb sandbag (not huge I know, but I'm 185lbs and I throw it on my shoulder for reps.) He was shocked because he thought I was just a casual. He understood at that point that his expectations needed to be tempered.
>men practically have to use steroids for anyone to believe they go to the gym.
Agree with most of what you're saying here, but I disagree with the phrasing "believe you go to the gym."
I believe there's a noticeable difference between men and women who lift even a little bit, and people who don't at all. I don't think you have to look shredded to have a noticeably improved aesthetic (in the majority Western concept of physical attractiveness).
When my partner started doing a dead simple lifting plan 1 hour 2 days a week, she was getting comments from friends and co-workers she hadn't mentioned she was lifting to within a month. Basically, I don't want people to be demotivated by hulk like steroid users - you can look good naturally, and there's lots of other reasons to lift anyway (dopamine hit, posture, higher strength, etc).
An example I’ve used a few times — go watch female MMA matches. Hell, go with straw weight, where the competitors are tiny. Every time they twist and bend you can just see the sort of folds that will convince women they’re too fat.
Compare the bodies of body builders (who are trying to bulk up as much as they possibly can) with those of athletes who actually need to _use_ the muscles — anything from gymnasts to team sports players to strong man competitions. Look at people who achieve insane feats like Alex Honnold. Those are not gym bunny bodies, because they simply can’t afford to have useless bulk
Climbers in general have a really lanky build. They are basically carrying their bodyweight up long walls so being bulky is definitely a disadvantage. That's not to say that some climbers aren't extremely muscular. But, for example, Adam Ondra is probably one of the strongest climbers ever and he doesn't look absurdly muscular.
