General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsMuscular Body Image Lures Boys Into Gym, and Obsession
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/19/health/teenage-boys-worried-about-body-image-take-risks.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0It is not just girls these days who are consumed by an unattainable body image.
Take David Abusheikh. At age 15, he started lifting weights for two hours a day, six days a week. Now that he is a senior at Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn, he has been adding protein bars and shakes to his diet to put on muscle without gaining fat.
I didnt used to be into supplements, said Mr. Abusheikh, 18, who plans on a career in engineering, but I wanted something that would help me get bigger a little faster.
Pediatricians are starting to sound alarm bells about boys who take unhealthy measures to try to achieve Charles Atlas bodies that only genetics can truly confer. Whether it is long hours in the gym, allowances blown on expensive supplements or even risky experiments with illegal steroids, the price American boys are willing to pay for the perfect body appears to be on the rise.
brokechris
(192 posts)he lifted way too much and apparently did some things improperly and now has problems with the disks in his back which is very painful.
Lifting weights is great--but people should at least learn from someone who knows what they are doing and helps them with proper form.
Javaman
(62,394 posts)I had a friend who was killed in high school while lifting weights.
he was working the bench alone. A big no-no if you know anything about lifting weights. His lifting buddy couldn't make it that night, so my friend had no spotter.
He was pressing over 300 pounds. Hands slipped, the rest was a tragedy.
There is nothing wrong with working out and lifting weights, but it must be done correctly and smart.
Frankly, I don't understand how people in general have missed the whole "body image" problem that boys have as well. It's been going on as long as it as been with girls.
I was 6'2" and weight a total of 140 pounds as a senior in high school. Saying I was a bean pole is putting it mildly. I had a really low opinion of my physique.
I know what it's like.
FarCenter
(19,429 posts)Exercise is good; obsessions are bad.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Lots of beanpole types are more fit than plenty of the superhero looking guys.