By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: Are anabolic steroids getting more popular in china?
Anybody who works out recreationally is easily aware of the fact that the human body has predefined natural limits, determined by individual genetics of course. You may know a guy who's built like a lumberjack, and another who can't build any muscle no matter how much he eats and how hard he works. However, a guy on the " juice" ( unnatural) can easily surpass the lumberjack who is natural, providing he's on the juice. It's easy to separate out the guys who use from the ones who don't, but are just gifted. In china, it's even easier: most chinese guys are more akin to being hardgainers( people who don't add muscle easily). They generally don't have the mesomorphic type of body with broad shoulders and broad hips.
Anyway, the fitness industry is up and kicking here, and if you are on weibo there are a few bloggers who are making fame out of it. One is called holly sexy girl. And there is a male user who posts his own pictures - they are of super jacked , roided up guys who form a clique. They're offering personal training services as if simply eating and exercising alone can put those thick slabs I muscle on. I've seen a guy or two in the gym who are similar too. Are steroid getting popular here? I wonder if the government is educated on them? In Sweden, the police stop you in the street if you look suspect. Just wondering if anybody notice it, and where this is gonna head to.
9 years 13 weeks ago in Health & Safety - China
None of the jacked up Chinese guys I've seen in China look natural. Definitely some steroids involved there.
Sorry for the subject verb agreement issues , I typed this from my cell phone again! I thought this could be a slightly interesting topic to discuss. Especially since it mixes with the masculine type culture that is often impressed upon males in china. It's not a coincidence that Captain America and Superman are more popular here than their originating country!
None of the jacked up Chinese guys I've seen in China look natural. Definitely some steroids involved there.
Steroids have been around in Chinese sports for a long time, and I've heard guys at the gyms are into them but I've never seen it.
They do sell creatine in a lot of gyms though, which will get you results similar to steroids.
jetfire9000:
I'm interested in the first half if your comment because I think that has possibly major implications if this gym trend picks up in china without scientific knowledge and regulation following in suit. But as for the second part, nah, creatine and anabolic steroids are nothing alike! Creatine is just another kind of supplement that the fitness industry makes money off of. Athletes or Bodybuilders use it to increase their strength and performance, but it honesty doesn't do much. It's not illegal, not dangerous to the body, and its effects are just "meh" which cap out very quickly, yet the stuff has a bit of a price that when compared with everything else, makes you prefer not even using it. It definitely doesn't take the body beyond its sustainable limits, doesn't have side effects so long as you drink water, and you don't get huge from it because it isn't manipulating your endocrine system.
expatlife26:
I used to use creatine back when I was in my early 20s. I read a lot about it, I guess the consensus on how it works is that makes your muscles retain more fluid as you work out.
So they do get bigger, like if you're at a certain level of fitness and you start taking creatine you'll see in a month or so you're muscles will be bigger than they were. It's just not necessarily a lot more actual muscle tissue it's mostly just cosmetic. Though some sources did say the swelling does cause more of those microtears that encourage growth so you would get stronger. But marginally.
Or everything I just said could all be 100% BS cause it's next to impossible to find good info on supplements. But that was what I learned when i tried in earnest to learn what I could a few years back.
On the other hand steroids cause real significant new muscle growth. I knew guys back home that juiced. It's not...that bad for you if you cycle it correctly. Most of the side effects people get are from using it nonstop or taking hormones. Definitely not good for you though.
I wouldn't be surprised, taking into account the lack of regulation on diet pills and illegal medication.
Nowadays the pressure to look a certain way extends to men almost as much as women.
It's sad, really.
Muscular Chinese guys look funny for sure, it's just not in their genes, why faking it with steroids or worse with creatine? I can't get as skinny as they can and won't use pills or surgery to fake it.
Why do people specify " anabolic" steroids??? Are you afraid we wont understand the question without you being overly specific?? Is there another kind of steroids we would confuse this with?
Do you also practice " Chinese" Kung Fu???
jetfire9000:
As for why people do it - because it's a word in the dictionary, unlike "Chinese Kungfu." Not sure where you got that one from - Kungfu needs no specific description because it is inherently understood to be Chinese. Furthermore it doesn't have a wide enough following to deserve specification unlike football versus American football, America versus the Americas ( Latin Americans care about this) ect. In other words, not all steroids are anabolic steroids, not all football is American football, and what I call America isn't what a Latin American would call America.
Now," Why I used it"
I used it in the title once, and chose to use simple layman terms throughout the content - Because titles actually do need to be specific, in order to be good like a title should be. After that, you can use all of the simplification you want in the body. ( ironically I did this, so there's not much reason to be alarmed.) This is all pretty automatic and doesn't require thought for most people. Think back to your English101 class in high school that discussed paper writing and you'll get the idea- it works with forums as well. If that explanation isn't suitable, you can always consider calling the language police on me?
hi2u:
@mike: Like jetfire said, if the title is not specific enough, some people like Samsara will flip out and start a semantic debate with you over whether the title is accurate enough. But then there are people like you who just don't want the title so descriptive. You just can't win!
hi2u:
yes, a different kind of semantic debate, not the kind I was talking about.
Chinese might have slightly smaller frames than other people, but we in the west are also on the 'juice' a little, when we eat meat that has been given growth hormones. Look at Chinese who were born in USA and Europe, they've got curves and features quite unlike most Mainlanders.
And yes, steroid use has been quite common in the olympics. I have no doubt the government has an advanced program to jack up their top athletes and flush out all traces of drug abuse before the Games start. When flags and national prestige is involved, China cheats. There must be some extra screening that prevents them doing the same for FIFA or NBA cups. Perhaps it's a team dynamic: if 1 olympian is on drugs, he'll keep it secret. if a whole sports team is complicit with the government, every player will be running to the tabloids to blow the whistle first, then rush to the U.S. embassy to claim asylum! Cheat & betray first, ask questions later, hehe.
jetfire9000:
I still haven't actually seen chinese girls in the US with curves or boobs or junk in the trunk though.... :D
coineineagh:
If everybody looked the same, we'd get tired of looking at eachother...
jetfire9000:
Looking the same isn't the same thing as lacking certain features.
I have started going to the gym here. Usually I just see the super fit running guy or the fat guys who don't do much but feel tough because they are larger than average... and not in a good way.
