THE PRESSURE TO BULK UP

Nowadays, men are bombarded by images of muscular men and feel the pressure to get as ripped, buff and jacked as possible!

UK consumer spending on gyms increased by 44% between 2014 and 2015 according to Cardlytics. One in seven now have a gym membership. In a market research survey conducted by Mintel found that spending on sports nutrition products such as protein shakes, energy gels increased by 27% between 2015 and 2016. And one in eight consume such products on a regular basis.

Despite the current obesity epidemic in the UK, you would think that this obsession with getting ripped would be a good thing. Unfortunately its not, the obsession has little or nothing to do with health. Probably a lot to do with narcissism.

How did it get to this? Popular culture definitely had a part to play in this. The album cover to 50 Cent's 2003 Get Rich or Die Trying features 50 Cent topless, greased up, turbo muscled eye candy. And not to mention the norm of having an abs filled Instagram profile. Let's not forget films and how they've changed over the years. In the 1990s, Hugh Grant, Leo DiCaprio and Josh Harnett were the male heartthrobs. Now its Ryan Gosling, Zac Efron and Chris Hemsworth. Why are they the male heartthrobs nowadays, well just look at them when they're topless.

And how can we forget how social media has contributed to this, and thus increasing anxiety around male body image. And what this anxiety looks like is comparing how you look topless to other males. It is important to note that whatever celebrities had on show via social media or otherwise may not be an accurate depictions of their lives. On Instagram, guys would take at least 40 photos of themselves which appear to show them at their most ripped.

People may dismiss guys posting in positions that make them look ripped as vain, but deep down these guys have issues around self worth and they honestly believe that the solution to dealing with their problems around self worth is seeing how many people can like their photos on social media. This is part of a negative cycle where guys post unrealistic photos of themselves and thus other males feel the pressure to as unrealistic and so on.

According to CALM (the Campaign Against Living Miserably) 1 in 3 men said above break-ups, unemployment, sexuality that their physical appearance was deeply concerning them. One truth that the fitness industry rarely gets across is that getting ripped is a tiring pursuit that is never-ending. Not to mention some of the 'fitness' products which are marketed out-there. But when you look closely into products, you'll find that its nothing but over exaggerated claims that can't be backed up, deceit, consumers being taken advantage of, sweeteners, processed sugars (the same of sort sugars and sweeteners that you'd come across in the fast food industry.

The Truth about Movie Muscle

THE ROCK
Ninety minutes a day in the gym, six days a week for his role in Hercules. The Rock is cooking seven meals a day, 1kg of which is protein-packed cod.

CHRIS HEMSWORTH
Up to two hours a day in the gym for Thor 2. Five meals a day including three chicken breasts for lunch, three salmon fillets and two boiled eggs for dinner, and turkey brunch.

CHRIS PRATT
Hits the gym for three to four hours a day, six days a week for Guardians Of The Galaxy. In addition to eating 4,000 calories a day, Chris drank so much water he was peeing all day long.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL
Six hours a day in the gym for five months. On top of a diet of eggs, chicken, fish, steamed veg. He ate a lot of Chipotle. That and sushi pretty much did it for him.