On Steroids

 If you’re an athletic person on TikTok and Youtube, then you’ve no doubt seen some content around gym routines and workouts narrated by bafflingly muscular people. They record short-form workout clips, “day in the life” vlogs, and physique updates with regularity. You might look at them and think, “how the heck does someone look like that?” You might then open up the comments, where countless people are asking the influencer for their routine. Well, I’ve got the answer! I know how they look like that! Are you ready?

It’s steroids.

So many influencers have started taking steroids in the last ten years. You might have heard of Sam Sulek, the Tren Twins, and Togi, each known for extremely developed physiques and an admirable training load. They get millions of views, with thousands of fans praising them for their insane physiques every day. Some of your favorite influencers may claim “natural”, saying they’d never use steroids. You might believe them. They’re often lying. Anyone else remember Liver King? I do. What a fiasco. At least the guy was honest. What a mess, though. 11 THOUSAND dollars a month on growth hormone.

Steroids are illegal. Admitting to taking them not only lowers your credibility with your audience, it’s admitting to a crime. There’s a clear taboo around steroids; those who take them want to pretend that their results are due to hard work alone, as well as having a vested interest in not getting arrested. This is reasonable.

I’m in a class for my MPH right now, and we were tasked with creating a small qualitative study based on social media trends. As such, as the resident gym kid at college somewhat against my will (I stopped bringing it up with anyone for years. How did y’all know I’m such a nerd about this?) I’ve set out to answer the question:

How do online gym influencers’ portrayals of performance-enhancing drug use and extreme body ideals shape audience perceptions of their own bodies and masculinity?

I examined the comment sections from four YouTube fitness influencers—Jeff Nippard, the Tren Twins, Sam Sulek, and Jeff Seid—to explore how discourse surrounding anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) in online gym influencer channels. I collected 26 comments across all four channels, selected for their proportion of likes and relation to the narratives surrounding mental health and AAS use. Obviously, I read countless comments about influencer’s physiques. Some received accusations about AAS use, but stances varied greatly across channels; Nippard’s channel is very anti-AAS, as we all know, while creators like the Tren Twins used humor to deflect criticism (as well as literally including “tren” in their channel name). Jeff Seid’s audience is still stuck in the past, refusing to admit that he was on cycle for his Gymshark tenure, and we all know how heavy Sam Sulek breathes. His audience is honestly really concerned about his health, begging him to slow down his AAS use. Yet, these same comment sections are filled with people praising Sam’s physique, despite clear physiological signs of steroid abuse (severe acne, heavy breathing, grainy skin texture, unrealistic levels of leanness despite poor diet practice). Here’s the truth: we all discourage the use of steroids, yet admire when it produces exceptional bodies.

I was surprised to see how many people brought up personal stories in their comments, though. I got perfectly packaged micro-narratives of social media use and personal practice in each comment section. Some people brought up aging and injury as they approached older ages; others questioned the limits of the human body, and just how far these influencers are willing to go to get views. Shockingly, I read a bunch of comments about narratives of loss and health crisis due to AAS use. A couple people got really vulnerable, sharing how friends and family died due to steroid abuse. Steroids were mentioned a lot more often than I expected, too, with the perspective varying based on the channel. Nippard’s audience is very anti-steroid in a scientific and health-conscious sense (can you tell he’s my favorite creator as well?), while others were more interested in harm reduction and excusing steroid use based on individual freedom. Some people defended Seid with the argument “even if he did, is it our business? Why should we care?”. In fact, it’s comments like that that prompted me to look into this topic. While you might not be willing to look further than personal choice, it’s clear that social media operates as a feedback loop for AAS normalization. Viewers see a guy with a crazy physique, they try for years to look like him, only to succumb to insecurity and online pressure and hop on gear, like all those that came before them. It’s a tale as old as time, and we need to call it what it is.

So, why is this important? Why would I sit down and take time out of my schedule to look at these influencers’ accounts and read their comment sections (which are known to be toxic, accusation-filled and scientifically unfounded)? The simple and unfortunate answer is that the range of influence of these accounts is too great to ignore.

As online gym culture expands, influencers flood their fans with highly unrealistic body ideals while promising quick results, often through the use of steroids and PEDs. The recent scandal with Jeff Nippard unknowingly claiming natty for Hussein is a great example of this. Jeff truly believed that Hussein wouldn’t lie about his steroid status, only for the guy to go behind Jeff’s back and come clean about drug use. He made Jeff look like a fool, straight up. This incident is concerning to me not just in the undercutting of a truly science-based influencer who has everyone’s best interests at heart, but because Jeff himself couldn’t tell a natty from a fake natty. Truly, the number of young athletes and gym goers that are pinning nowadays is alarming. I’m getting serious alarm bells in my head about the consequences of this trend. Unfortunately, I’m going to get very serious for a moment here, in case anyone here is considering getting on a cycle.

Use of AAS is increasingly prevalent among young people, with ~3% of adolescents reporting steroid use in 2022 not only for team sport performance, but personal and aesthetic reasons (Schneider et al., 2022). I don’t think I’m the first person to tell you that it poses significant health risks, with hormone dysfunction paling in comparison to anabolic steroid-induced cardiomyopathy (Magnolini et al., 2025; Baggish et al., 2017). Forget tanking your natural test levels, folks; your heart will literally grow too large to function properly. We see it time and time again with the untimely deaths of your favorite competitors. You might think “hey, bigger heart=stronger”, right? Not quite. When the heart grows too large, it takes too much energy to run, and thicker atrial walls means less capable blood transport. This is serious business.

AAS have been used for decades among professional bodybuilders, but the starting age for these drugs is getting younger and younger. If you’re anything like me (a nerd), you’ve watched the interviews with anonymous teens admitting to taking trenbolone, deca, and other heavy-duty drugs before they’re out of high school! This digital gym culture is a major proponent of steroid use– I know it, and I know you know it. A study conducted in 2021 shows that social media use is correlated with decreased body satisfaction and pharmaceutical intervention. Specifically, this study was an increase in SARMS (Hilkens et al., 2021); hey, remind me again who uses SARMS? Right, it’s gym goers, specifically those in a younger age demographic. It’s been marketed to us as a “safe” steroid that gives equal or near-equal results, but we all know that any drug reliably enhancing a biological process above what is natural cannot come without side effects.

These physiques are biologically impossible to create with normal blood hormone panels. This is why smarter bodybuilders get their blood taken regularly; it’s not to maintain perfect health, it’s to make sure their liver isn’t dying, that their heart isn’t breaking apart, and their kidneys aren’t failing. See, the physiological consequences of AAS use are severe and well-documented. A heart study on bodybuilders showed increased rates of heart attack, increased heart mass, and reduced left ventricular heart systolic function (Baggish et al., 2017). And remember those autopsies I mentioned before? They showed significantly higher rates of cardiac abnormalities and excessive cardiac hypertrophy, with many of their deaths cited with heart dysfunction as a primary cause (Escalante et al., 2022).

Social media exists separate from these best practices and scientific understandings, and few studies analyze how influencers frame steroid use— whether through aesthetic appeal, denial, humor, or honesty and harm reduction. Additionally, while body dysmorphia is well described clinically, it remains separate to discussions about digital gym culture and mental health toll on lay media consumers. 

And sure, it’s really cool to be aesthetic and get praise for “hard work and determination”. I get it, I really do. However, this stuff has real consequences on your brain as well. Another study in 2024 showed significant associations between steroid use and disordered eating (Zaiser et al., 2024). These results demonstrate the phenomenon of “muscle dysmorphia”, where people think they’re less muscular than they are. Jeff and JesseJamesWest have both done small-scale community surveys on steroids and self-esteem, and the results were clear; everybody’s insecure about their bodies, despite spending significant time in the gym every day.

There’s a reason why people say the gym is addicting, that they’re addicted to progress. It’s an emotional dependency on physical signs of self-improvement. When you don’t meet your physique goals on the time scale you imagined, you automatically associate it with a failure of the self. “I didn’t get shredded because I didn’t lock in on my diet, I didn’t get big because I just wasn’t working hard enough, my genetics aren’t good enough to look good”, rinse and repeat. This is why the narrative of “discipline” and admiration is dangerous. For everyone who doesn’t meet those standards, the only options are self hatred or drug use. Often, it’s both.

The curated physiques we see online seem perfect on the outside, but they’re separated from the contexts of real-life cost. This community has so much opportunity to be a force for good in people’s lives, but it can also ruin your self-esteem. What you see online is edited, curated, and probably drug-enhanced. Be careful, take care of yourself and your body. It’s the only one you’ve got.

Ethical notes: Both the accounts and viewer comments I analyzed are fully public and do not have any copyrighted content. It is important to note that my perspective is one opposing steroids and exogenous hormones. Further, coding public YouTube comments posed challenges of bias. “Most liked” comments highlight popular opinions by design. Ethical reflexivity requires anonymizing identifiers and contextualizing responses respectfully, especially when private health experiences or trauma (e.g., loss from steroid-related deaths) are included.

Dataset Details

Jeff Nippard: “Steroids are Awesome” (7.1M views, 1 year ago)

1. Anti-AAS, Admiration: “There is absolutely no way I would ever do steroids after watching this video. Thanks Jeff, this is true honesty and education.” (1.3k likes)

2. Anti-AAS, Health Discussion: “So benefits of steroids: - get bigger muscles The downsides: - acne - small balls that stop producing your own testosterone - baldness - abscess risk - anxiety, random rage, constant high libido - man-boobs - higher risk for heart failure - lower IQ, older Brain - when taken at a young age you might stop growing in height and mentally. Is this worth it?” (6.3k likes)

3. Anti-AAS, Health Discussion: “A friend from school 'got on the gear' when he was 19/20.... got properly massive, but he also got fat with it. He trimmed down in his early 30's but the damage was already done and his heart gave out at age 38. RIP Tim McCoy.” (569 likes)

4. Health Discussion, Personal Narrative: “He nailed it perfectly about the connective tissue not keeping up with muscle strength. People become obsessed with bigger muscles without any regard to tendons. I am 77 now and have been lifting for 63 years, only for health and fitness, not size. I am noticing now that my tendons are wearing out. Muscles can't be any stronger then your tendons will allow. If you ever had a tendon injury, then you know what I mean.” (61 likes)

5. Insecurity, Admiration:“You gotta give props to Jeff because even though he’s been struggling with feeling like he’s at his natural limit and smaller than other fitness influencers, he’s doubling down and working his ass off to really push his body to its limit. Inspirational stuff man” (910 likes)

Jeff Nippard: “Addressing the Controversy” (1.8M views, 2 months ago)

1. AAS Controversy, Opposition: “Jeff, it isn't this complicated. One of the guys you said are natural don't even know how to train, but he got nearly as big as Larry wheels in 3 years? Absolutely absurd.” (2.8k likes)

2. AAS Controversy, Opposition: “Somehow the 1 in a billions are always found in america and not in countries where steroids arent that easily available.” (1.3k likes)

3. AAS Controversy:“I can’t understand why Jeff wants to die on this hill. Don’t touch natty or not debates with a ten foot pile” (867 likes)

Tren Twins: “MOGGING AT PLANET FITNESS” (4.9M views, 1 year ago)

1. Aggression, Admiration: “Bro, mogging at Planet Fitness increases my fckng testosterone as always, my boys. You guys are so impredictable, fr. Love you guys, W vid as always❤”  (67 likes, creator-liked)

2. Aggression, Personal Narrative:“Judgement free zone? I’m like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I’m judging everybody.💯🔥”(445 likes)

3. Admiration, Aggression: “thought u guys were just gonna be assholes but u seem like really cool fkn people to hang out with. would love to be able to hit a lift with you guys one day LOL” (62 likes)

1. Pro-AAS: “The name doesn’t give a good look lol. Appreciate that comment bro. Hopefully it happens🤜🏼” (55 likes, by creator)

4. Admiration: “Imagine working out at a random planet fitness and christren comes up and asks you if you're using a plate. Goals” (11k likes, creator-liked)

Sam Sulek: “Fall Cut Day 25 - Arms and Grocery Trip 230.2 Lbs” (4.5M views, 2 years ago)

1. Health Discussion, Admiration: “Dude is too humble for this generation. Please stay healthy Sam” (1.8k likes)

2. Insecurity, Admiration: “Almost 8 months into my body transofrmation, i've been doing cardio every day for the past 8 months and going to the gym 3 times a week for the past 5 months. My starting weight was 441lbs, this morning weight was 317lbs. Now if i don't do cardio or go to the gym i feel like shit, the gym has changed my life.” (1.5k likes)

3. Admiration: “It’s insane how this guy is an engineering student, influencer, and bodybuilder. His time management skills and drive are amazing” (2.5k likes)

4. Admiration: “this is some real old school bodybuilding content. No fluff, no gymshark, no fakeness. Good Job Sam, we appreciate you!” (7.5k comments)

5. Pro-AAS, Plausible Deniability: "that [use of AAS] should be pretty obvious. If anybody hasn't gotten to that conclusion on their own from watching these videos, then… yeesh” (quote from Sam Sulek)

SHORTS: “Sam Sulek is out of breath all the time on his Back Day training Lats” (1 year ago, 456 likes)

1. Opposition, Health Discussion: “Literally a symptom of congestive heart failure. Get this guy some help” (32 likes likes)

2. Health Discussion, Opposition: “lmfao cause he's 20 years old and put on a hundred pounds of muscles in two years. Not gonna be long before you can count this kid among boston lloyd and dallas mcarver” (9 likes)

Jeff Seid: “How Ya Doin” (13 years ago)

1. Pro-AAS, Admiration: “there are too many haters. I don t understand why people telling him on steroid…. i think they just envy. He is true legend in my opinion. That aesthetic……. respect him. i don't care that he is on roid or not.” (66 likes)

2. Admiration, Personal narrative:“I watched this 8 years ago and now I have a physique comparable to Jeff’s. Thank you for the motivation.” (96 likes)

3. Insecurity, Admiration, Pro-AAS: “Man, I am 29 and still not on his 18 year old level. I see a lot of people are hating because hes not natty but the way I see it, he's sacrificing his health to reach his goals. I don't take aesthetics as serious as he does so I stay natty. But my looks don't pay the bills. Jeff's do. Props to Jeff Seid. Admirable. Imo” (330 likes)

4. Insecurity, Admiration: “16:05 passing bystander holding mcdonald's glances at jeff and rethinks his life” (93 likes)

Jeff Seid: “Return of the King” (1 year ago, 182,000 views)

1. AAS Controversy, Pro-AAS: “You definitely see he was on gear in 2016. great natty form today, but a lot less muscle and fullness roids give you” (111 likes)

2. AAS Controversy:“Dude he has lost so much size since his IFBB pro days. He might be "natty" now, but no way you lose that amount of muscle and size in 8 years unless he took something before.” (8 likes)

Works Cited

That 11k stat: From the Liver King's mouth to your plate: Inside the controversial influencer's world

Jeff Seid. Jeff Seid: How Ya Doin. YouTube. Published August 28, 2012. Accessed October 2, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD6IjBUDFhc

Jeff Seid. Return of the King. YouTube. Published May 27, 2024. Accessed October 2, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbd8z19AZes

Jeff Nippard. Steroids Are Awesome. YouTube. Published June 17, 2024. Accessed October 2, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmClPGvdWTI

Jeff Nippard. Addressing the Controversy. YouTube. Published August 7, 2025. Accessed October 2, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvtZs_nTqr0&t=506s

The Tren Twins. MOGGING AT PLANET FITNESS. YouTube. Published October 11, 2023. Accessed October 2, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfBLjM8-_CY

‌Fall Cut Day 25 - Arms and Grocery Trip 230.2 Lbs. www.youtube.com. Published September 23, 2023. Accessed October 2, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXqutzd3zxg

Sam Sulek is out of breath all the time on his Back Day training Lats. www.youtube.com. Accessed October 9, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/faYiLiAch_0

Hilkens L, Cruyff M, Woertman L, Benjamins J, Evers C. Social media, body image and resistance training: creating the perfect “me” with dietary supplements, anabolic steroids and SARM’s. Sports Med Open. 2021;7(1):81. doi:10.1186/s40798-021-00371-1

Zaiser C, Laskowski NM, Müller R, Abdulla K, Sabel L, Ballero Reque C, Brandt G, Paslakis G. The relationship between anabolic androgenic steroid use and body image, eating behavior, and physical activity by gender: a systematic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2024;163:105772. doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105772

Hoseini R, Hoseini Z. Exploring the prevalence of anabolic steroid use among men and women resistance training practitioners after the COVID-19 pandemic. BMC Public Health. 2024;24(1):798. doi:10.1186/s12889-024-18292-5

Scarth M, Havnes IA, Jørstad ML, et al. Psychological traits associated with anabolic androgenic steroid use and dependence: an exploratory cross-sectional study among female athletes. BMC Womens Health. 2025;25:214. doi:10.1186/s12905-025-03711-5

Magnolini R, Bottoni SL, Hammer H, Capraro J, Bruggmann P, Senn O. Harm reduction measures in a recreational gym user with anabolic androgenic steroid dependence: a case report in the context of current best clinical practice. Harm Reduct J. 2025;22(1):144. doi:10.1186/s12954-025-01294-w

Escalante G, Darrow D, Ambati VNP, Gwartney DL, Collins R. Dead bodybuilders speaking from the heart: an analysis of autopsy reports of bodybuilders that died prematurely. J Funct Morphol Kinesiol. 2022;7(4):105. doi:10.3390/jfmk7040105f