Steroids and the average joe

Jacqueline Stenson MSNBC contributor

Much media attention is now focused on the use of anabolic steroids by athletes seeking to boost performance and gain an edge in their game. But experts say the abuse of these drugs is far greater by average joes at the gym who just want to look more buff.

"There are way more people using them who aren't professional athletes than are," says Robert Kersey, a professor of kinesiology and health science and director of the athletic training education program at California State University, Fullerton.

"They're doing it for look more than function," Kersey says.

Just as women have long strived to look like the beauties in the fashion magazines, more men are now focused on achieving an "ideal" body type that they see in male underwear models or stars on the big screen, experts say. To bulk up, some men are willing to go to extreme lengths, supplementing long hours of strength training at the gym with steroids, often referred to as "the juice." Some women also use steroids recreationally but the problem is far greater in men.

Never big enough
Some men have a condition called muscle dysmorphic disorder, in which they view themselves as puny even though they aren't, notes Cedric Bryant, chief exercise physiologist at the American Council on Exercise.

The condition has been dubbed "bigorexia," because it's essentially the opposite of anorexia, in which women see themselves as fat even when they are starving themselves. In addition to steroid use and excessive training, men with bigorexia may also opt for pectoral, calf or buttock implants to appear more muscular.

Because of the increased attention on the male form, many experts believe the steroid problem among recreational users is growing, though there are no hard statistics to prove it. In the past, however, those who abused steroids were primarily competitive athletes and body-builders, but now users include young men who just want "to achieve a certain look," says Bryant.

In a 1993 survey of 185 members of health clubs in the southwestern United States, Kersey found that 15 percent of respondents said they had used anabolic steroids and 60 percent knew others who had. Of those who used steroids, most said they took the drugs "to get bigger," according to the survey results, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Kersey says steroid use today is likely more common than 15 percent in some clubs. "In the more hard-core strength-oriented gyms, it's probably at least that," he says.

Brian Grasso, director of athlete development at the Sports Academy Northwest, a training facility in Chicago, says the problem is widespread.

"I've known so many guys, especially, who take steroids recreationally," he says. "I can tell you there are a lot of guys out there in the United States who are taking steroids aesthetically."

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