Author Spotlight
Greyson Imm
*names changed to protect identity
Sophomore Charlie Cooper* couldn’t watch more than three videos on Instagram without seeing another fitness influencer with a perfect, toned physique, huge biceps and six-pack abs flexing in the mirror.
But he knew that getting a physique like that wasn’t possible for him naturally. It was obvious that a majority of these influencers were on steroids.
Despite working out for two hours a day, seven days a week for a few years, he wasn’t seeing much progress. And he definitely wasn’t anywhere near any of the fitness influencers he’d see on Instagram or TikTok. His regimen of protein powder and supplements wasn’t working as he’d hoped, so he began researching Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators, or the steroid-like drug better known as SARMs. He was fascinated by the near-instant gains that fitness influencers promised from them.
A few months later, he went on a research chemical website and bought enough pills for his first cycle.
“All over the internet, pretty much everybody that’s posting [fitness] content is on steroids,” Cooper said. “So when that becomes the standard, to have a physique that’s only achievable by taking steroids, that’s the draw of them.”
Social media has begun influencing steroid use for teens like Cooper in the past few years. As social media fuels body image concerns among youth, steroid use has shifted from athletes to bodybuilders and weightlifters. However, use of steroids and steroid-like drugs pose a threat to young people who may not understand the health consequences associated with them, like aggression, artery damage, hormone suppression and even strokes or heart attacks.
Cooper also says social media has shifted gym culture further away from healthy fitness and more towards rampant muscle growth and being able to lift the most weight — especially for young people.
“I’m under no impression that it was a smart, safe decision, but with my research that I’ve done, I know the risks and I’m willing to take those risks,” Cooper said. “I’m willing to take the damage.”
Athletic trainer Dakota Orlando has seen far more students in recent years using steroids and for weightlifting rather than sports.
“The bad part of social media and gym culture is the ‘Look at me! Look at me!’ comparing part of it, where you’ll watch these videos and think, ‘I don’t look like that’ and it starts a negative thought spiral,” Orlando said.
The Center to Stop Digital Hate reports that TikTok videos with hashtags promoting SLDs were viewed by U.S. users up to 587 million times in the last three years, including up to 420 million views from U.S. users aged under 24. Creators such as the Tren Twins, Sam Sulek and ShizzyLifts center much of their content around steroids, something Cooper notes leads to external pressure and normalizes steroid use in the lifting community.
Many popular videos tagged #teenbodybuilding downplay the risks of SLDs to teens and actively encourage teens to start taking steroids. However very few — if any — of the posts mentioned the life-altering negative effects.
Despite steroids being classified as illicit substances and SARMs only being legally sold as research chemicals not intended for consumption, websites like chemyo.com and researchem.store only require users enter their “age” with no real verification. A recent study by the University of Lincoln found that e-commerce has driven the unauthorized sale of steroids, so it’s even easier to get them now than in the past. In an Instagram poll of 176 East community members, 11 reported using steroids.
Social media also exploits body image issues that are usually at the root of teen steroid use, according to Cooper. He says that a lot of this social media pressure forces young men to take extreme measures to build the “dream physique” presented by online influencers.
“You’re looking at people that are taking steroids and you’re like, ‘Well, how can I compete with that?’” Cooper said. “Or you’re looking at people bigger and stronger than you think ‘Well, I want to be better. I want to reach my potential and speed this process up.’”
Senior Finan Marien-McManus said that a lot of the pressure that Cooper describes originates from fitness influencers claiming to be “natural” while taking steroids — creating an unrealistic expectation for teen boys to be more muscular than they should be. As someone who frequently goes to the gym, Marien-McManus is often surrounded by discussions of steroids with friends and on social media despite not taking them himself.
“[Steroids] have become a very hot topic with a lot of fitness influencers [getting] exposed that they actually were taking performance enhancing drugs and so that’s one of the biggest issues with it,” Marien-McManus said. “It’s definitely prevalent on social media, and there’s been some creators who have gotten a really large following based around this use.”
Despite how they’re portrayed on social media as an instant muscle growth solution, sports medicine doctor and East alum Dr. Jay Roberson makes it clear that these substances are harmful to the normal development of teens and production of hormones.
Steroid and SLD use most commonly result in testosterone suppression, something Cooper monitors closely by noting any symptoms of lethargy, lack of libido and sleeplessness. In his preparation, he spent six months researching every possible side effect and method of SARM use. He looked in scientific journals for exactly how long his cycles of taking them should be and on Reddit for anecdotal effects that he should monitor.
“A decision I had to make early on was that I’m going to have to be on testosterone replacement for essentially the rest of my life,” Cooper said. “And that was a decision I was willing to make.”
Cooper says he’s managed to limit the negative side effects associated with SARMs as much as possible by meticulously altering cycle lengths and decreasing and increasing dosage by mere milligrams.
However, he acknowledges that the vast majority of those who take SLDs and steroids do not research as much as him.
Marien-McManus warns against taking such substances, as many are unregulated, especially in the wake of the death of popular fitness influencer Jo Lindner in 2023. Lindner, a prominent fitness content creator known on TikTok and Instagram as @joesthetics, died at age 30 from an aneurysm. Marien-McManus draws a similarity between Lindner and popular YouTuber Aziz Sergeyevich Shavershian — a.k.a. Zyzz — who died at age 22 after using steroids.
“The most important thing that anybody could take away from reading this article is that it’s not worth it,” Marien-McManus said. “There are risks involved with it, especially because they’re banned substances. So, if you go online and buy these kinds of drugs, you don’t really know what’s in them so it’s just really, really dangerous.”
Orlando encourages student-athletes to reach out for help if they’re taking steroids for any reason. She has helped several students who have come to her in the past make safer decisions. Especially since high school sports don’t test for steroid usage, according to Orlando, having the initiative to go to her or a doctor is necessary in staying safe.
Staying informed on safe use, risks and reliable supply can save lives, she says. If she knows everything that an athlete is taking, she can make sure that emergency services are aware to administer proper treatment and medication in the event of a medical emergency.
“Really pay attention to what you’re using, because you want to make sure that you’re not putting anything into your body that could cause more harm,” Orlando said.
Both Roberson and Cooper urge anyone taking steroids or SLD to be careful. Roberson encourages current or potential users to consult a doctor and examine their lifestyle habits if they’re truly searching for performance enhancement.
“If they’re using [steroids] for performance enhancement, then I think they really do need to ask themselves ‘Have I done those other things like nutrition, hydration, sleep and training?’ because that’s going to be more important and effective than any steroid use for actual performance gains,” Roberson said. “If you’re not sleeping well and eating right, it doesn’t matter how many steroids you do, you’re not going to improve how you feel and how you work without doing those other things first.”
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