Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • Chapter 15 - Bodybuilding Saved My Life

  • from Section 3 - Exploring the Motivations Behind Exercise Addiction
  • Edited by Ornella Corazza, University of Hertfordshire and University of Trento, Italy, Artemisa Rocha Dores, Polytechnic Institute of Porto and University of Porto, Portugal
  • Book:
    The Body in the Mind
    Published online:
    30 March 2023
    Print publication:
    06 April 2023, pp 193-198

  • Summary

    This chapter is a personal account of the immense pressure on bodybuilders to succumb to the ‘gym lifestyle’ and to take steroids. The author was able to resist this pressure and become a ‘natural bodybuilder’, although navigating the path between wanting to excel and being frightened about the consequences, while also experiencing a mental health disorder, was challenging. The choice that she made meant that her transformation took longer than that of some of her competitors who were using steroids. During this time she witnessed many people succumb to that lifestyle, including a significant number of women who were dabbling with steroids without awareness or understanding of their long-lasting effects on the body and mind. She asks whether it is worth taking such risks, only to be judged and criticized, deemed by the judges not to be good enough, or in some cases even to be disqualified from shows.