Rahul Sabharwal in Hindustani Times reports on steroid use in Bollywood.
They are Bollywood’s Greek Gods, with a seeming advantage even the Gods never had — steroids.
What’s the advantage? Lean bodies and rippling muscles that they might never have without the use of steroids.
A renowned fitness trainer, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed, “A male star, known for his macho physique, approached me before he made it big and asked if he should take steroids to bulk up. I told him the pros and cons. I saw him after a month; he was a completely different person. Now that I see him in ads, I can bet my life that he’s on steroids.
Well, now, an anonymous report about an anonymous actor. So we take that for what it is worth.
But it does make a point. Take a look at the actors in modern films, whether in Bollywood, Mumbai, India or in Hollywood, California, USA. What do you see?
More often the stars have fabulous physiques, ultra slim and rippling with muscle.
Could it just be improved training techniques and nutrition?
You don’t get big by training hard — you have hundreds of guys training in the gym… why don’t they get such bodies and only a handful of actors do?
There’s a point there. Why all the fabulous bodies? Training and nutrition are important, of course.
But there have always been people who exercised hard and ate nutritious food. It wasn’t until the last few years that the ultra-athletic look became the norm in movies.
So how about an opinion from someone that knows the field well, as both a body builder and an actor?
Model-actor and former Mr India Aryan Vaid says, “I know of ‘trainers’ of mega stars who don’t know a thing about fitness. All they know is which steroids are legal so they can pump them into their clients.
Most of the knowledge they have is off the Internet. But, they do good business because they have big names as their clients…
I’ve seen actors and models take injections to bulk up even before photo shoots… they don’t realise what it’s doing to their body.”
And there’s the problem. The legal implications are debatable. But the health risks of steroids are not.
Anabolic steroids — the kind of steroids used to build muscle and achieve ultra-low levels of body fat — carry very clear health risks.
What are the risks? The National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the U.S. National Institute of Health, states that anabolic steroids, “can cause a host of severe, long-lasting, and in some cases, irreversible negative health consequences. Anabolic steroids can lead to early heart attacks, strokes, liver tumors, kidney failure, and serious psychiatric problems.”
Is it worth the risk? Actors in the highly competitive world of acting, with lucrative careers at stake, will have to answer that question for themselves.
But for someone that wants to live a long, healthy life the answer is clear. The risks of anabolic steroids do not justify the benefits.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/trendspotting/How-did-they-get-these-fab-bodies/Article1-565415.aspx
