Medications and Athletes: How Common Drugs Affect Performance and Health

Bro, just don’t touch the pills. It’s not worth it.

One cannot help but observe the profound anthropological implications of this phenomenon: the modern male’s ontological crisis manifesting as a biochemical quest for corporeal perfection. The gym, once a temple of discipline, has become a pharmacological altar where the sacred is replaced by the synthetic. The body, no longer a vessel of spirit, is now a machine to be optimized - a tragic inversion of Nietzschean will to power into a hollow algorithm of mass and strength.

What is truly alarming is not the pharmacology itself, but the normalization of self-alteration as a cultural imperative. The rise of SARMs and ‘bio-identical’ hormone therapy reflects a society that has outsourced its identity to chemistry. We no longer strive to become; we simply inject to be.

The heart doesn’t hypertrophy from effort - it hypertrophies from deception. And the mind? It follows suit. The psychological dependency isn’t on the drug - it’s on the illusion of control. The user believes they are the architect of their transformation, when in truth, they are the substrate of corporate marketing and social insecurity.

Let us not confuse enhancement with evolution. Enhancement is a shortcut. Evolution is a covenant with time. And time, unlike a steroid cycle, does not offer refunds.

When the heart fails at 32, it doesn’t scream. It just stops. And by then, the voice deepening, the testicular atrophy, the emotional numbness - they’ve already become the new normal. We don’t mourn the loss of health. We mourn the loss of the self we thought we were becoming.

There is no glory in chemistry. Only the quiet, slow suicide of a soul that forgot how to be human without a pill.

Frankly, the entire discourse is regressive. You’re framing pharmacological intervention as some kind of moral failing, yet you ignore the neoliberal biopolitical machinery that commodifies bodily capital. The gym isn’t a temple - it’s a capitalist apparatus of self-surveillance. The real villain isn’t the SARMs vendor - it’s the Instagram influencer-industrial complex that equates worth with hypertrophy.

And let’s not pretend this is uniquely American. In India, we see the same pathology - middle-class men buying ‘testosterone boosters’ from shady vendors because their corporate jobs are soul-crushing and their masculinity is under erasure. The drugs are symptoms, not causes.

Also, your ‘89% of supplements are contaminated’ statistic is misleading. The FDA doesn’t regulate supplements. That’s the point. The problem isn’t users being dumb - it’s regulatory failure. Blame the FDA, not the guy trying to feel less emasculated.

I read this and cried. Not because I’m dramatic - but because I’ve seen it. My brother took steroids for 3 years. He gained 30 pounds of muscle. He also lost his voice, his sex drive, and his joy. He’d sit on the couch for hours, staring at nothing, saying ‘I just want to feel like me again.’

He didn’t even lift anymore. He just took the pills to stay big. And when he quit? He couldn’t get out of bed for six months. His doctor said his testosterone was so low, it was like his body forgot how to make it.

I begged him to stop. He said he was scared to look in the mirror and see the skinny guy he used to be. That’s the trap. It’s not about strength. It’s about identity. And when your identity is built on a chemical lie… you don’t know who you are without it.

To anyone reading this: if you’re doing this to feel worthy - please, stop. You’re already enough. Your body isn’t broken. You just got told you were.

I lost my brother to this. Not physically. But emotionally. And I don’t want anyone else to lose theirs.

As someone who grew up in two cultures - American gym culture and Indian family expectations - I see this every day. In the U.S., it’s ‘gains or die.’ In India, it’s ‘you’re too thin, when are you getting married?’ Both pressures push people toward shortcuts.

I used to think SARMs were ‘safer.’ Then I met a guy at the gym who took them for 6 months. He started bleeding from his gums. Turned out his liver was fried. He didn’t even know.

But here’s the thing: the solution isn’t just ‘don’t do it.’ It’s creating better alternatives. Accessible coaches. Affordable nutrition. Mental health support for body image issues. We need to fix the system, not just shame the people in it.

I now train women who’ve been told they’re ‘too soft.’ They lift weights not to look like a man - but to feel powerful. That’s the real win. Not the weight on the bar. The confidence in the mirror.

lol u think people dont know this? ofc they do. they just dont care. i’ve seen dudes with 600lb squats and needles in their ass. they say ‘i’ll deal with it when i’m 40.’ guess what? 40 comes faster than you think. and then u got a heart that sounds like a broken washing machine.

also the ‘i cycle’ bs? bro you’re not cycling. you’re just waiting for the next hit. it’s not a cycle. it’s a addiction with a spreadsheet.

and the ‘testosterone booster’ crap? most of it’s just caffeine and zinc. but the ones that work? they got stanozolol in them. labeled ‘for research only.’ yeah right. like i’m researching how to turn my balls into raisins.

also the doc thing? yeah 7 outta 10 docs can’t spot it. why? because the guy walks in looking like the avenger and says ‘i’m just tired.’ so the doc says ‘maybe sleep more.’ dumbasses.

we need to stop pretending this is a health issue. it’s a cultural disease. and the cure? stop idolizing guys who look like they were built by a 3d printer.

Oh wow, another ‘your body is sacred’ sermon from the moralistic gym bros who think lifting 200lbs makes them prophets.

Let me guess - you also think eating kale is a spiritual act and that ‘natural’ is some kind of holy grail? Newsflash: humans have been doping since ancient Greece. Pheidippides ran the marathon on ergot fungus. That’s right - the first marathon runner was on LSD.

And now we’re shocked that people want to be stronger? That’s not a moral failure - it’s biology. We evolved to optimize. To push limits. To cheat death with every calorie, every rep, every pill.

Yes, some people get hurt. So do people who skydive. So do people who eat sugar. So do people who drive. Should we ban all of it? Or maybe - just maybe - we should stop treating adults like children who need to be saved from themselves?

The real tragedy? You’re not saving anyone. You’re just making people feel guilty for wanting to be better. And that’s the real poison.

I want to say thank you for writing this with such care. As a woman who trains in a male-dominated space, I’ve seen so many guys push themselves into the ground trying to ‘prove’ something - to their friends, to their exes, to their own reflection.

I’ve had men tell me they’re on SARMs because ‘they can’t get bigger naturally.’ I told them: ‘You don’t need to be bigger. You need to be stronger. And that takes time.’

One guy cried after I said that. He said he’d been taking pills for 2 years and didn’t even know he was doing it for validation, not fitness.

Let’s stop glorifying the ‘fast gains’ and start celebrating the slow, quiet wins: showing up when you’re tired. Eating when you don’t feel like it. Resting when your body begs you. That’s real strength.

If you’re reading this and you’re using something you shouldn’t - you’re not weak. You’re just lost. And you’re not alone. There are people who can help. Reach out.

bro i used to do all this… 8 weeks on, 8 off… stackin’ everything… thought i was a beast 😎💪
then one day i couldn’t even pick up my niece… and i cried in the bathroom
now i just lift light, eat real food, sleep 8 hrs… and i feel like me again 🥲
the pills didn’t make me strong… they made me scared
you don’t need to be a monster to be proud of yourself

you guys are overthinking this. if you're dumb enough to buy 'testosterone booster' off amazon, you deserve what you get. no one held a gun to your head. stop crying when your balls shrink. you chose this. now deal with it. and if you're too weak to quit? then you're not ready to be a man anyway. just go back to your protein shakes and your instagram fantasy life.