Be the best you, not anyone else.

This is a post against the unrealistically high expectations that the fitness industry has set as a standard, which is demotivating the younger generations and making more and more lifters dissatisfied with their results, despite them making great progress year after year of hard training.

While ster0ids have been out for a long time, people are now more incentivized than ever to ‘hop on’ and create a career for themselves out of it. And it works, as everyone can see on social media. Especially when you claim “you don’t”.

It works because it tricks newer lifters who look up to their idols into believing their lies, but for those who’ve been in this industry for a while, it’s very easy to spot what’s going on.

Unfortunately, the results of this occurrence is a growing sense of inadequacy among athletes who begin to undervalue their own achievements, comparing themselves to standards that are not just unrealistic, but unattainable without chemical aid, which not only affects their mental health—leading to issues like body dysmorphia—but also undermines the true spirit of fitness, which is about personal growth, health, and well-being.

This is exactly what creates the imaginary “need” for constantly changing training routines, switching up diets, and ultimately look into faster ways to gain faster and better results (PED use).

The reality is, assuming you are already following a progressive training plan, that you don’t need “new exercises you weren’t doing”, you don’t need to learn the “ultimate hypertrophy trick”.

What you need to do is you need to stop comparing yourself to other people, and accept the fact that REALISTIC progress takes time. A LOT of time. If somebody is telling you otherwise then (1) they have no clue what they’re talking about or (2) they’re lying to your face.

I get it, it feels like if it’s not “impressive” –by today’s standards– then you shouldn’t be proud of your hard work. But that’s not the reality of how this works in this (or any) field.

Keep working and be proud of your own progress. One small step at a time!