If anyone asks me to list out the top three things a fitness influencer does these days, I would say:

1. Fake natty claims

2. Sells stupid supplements

3. Makes you believe in unicorns

Point number one, I believe, is the most disastrous of the three. That is because these influencers, who have massive followings and impact on the behaviour of teenagers, need to tell them the truth.

© Instagram

These influencers portray impressive physiques and strength standards on their social media channels. When their young and gullible audience, who follow them, ask how can they attain the same, they get the same old repetitive overused shit in response:

1. Consistency

2. Hard work

3. These magic supplements

And no, it is none of the three in 99 per cent of the cases. In that 99 per cent of the cases, it is anabolic steroids or performance-enhancing drugs. When the smarter audiences call these so-called idols out for it, they outright ignore the voices and keep selling their stuff to their followers.

Very recently, a similar thing happened with a young 18-year-old fitness influencer called Ryan Casey.

Right now my diet consists of like 2 chocolate muffins a day lmao. Not super concerned about my diet right now but when I get back into training I'll start eating more. I want to get shredded again. - - - - - #instafit #motivation #zyzz #aesthetics #fitness #shredded #calvinklein #fit #muscle #gym #GymShark #bodybuilding #jeffseid #flex #ripped #teenbodybuilding #bodybuilder #jenselterchallenge #Alphalete #lifestyle #mensphysique #physique #instafit #gainz #gains #fitfam #cardio #lifting #workout

A post shared by Ryan Casey (@rc_aesthetics) on Dec 10, 2018 at 12:35pm PST

If you do not know Ryan Casey, he was one of the youngest guys to have been sponsored by Gym Shark. He is just 18-years-old and runs a popular YouTube Channel and has a massive Instagram following. He also runs a digital media agency and has been very successful in doing so.

In recent times, Ryan had been accused of using anabolic drugs, as people saw his social media posts where he has shown massive improvement in his physique and strength.  Instead of flatly ignoring it, as most of these social media stars do, he actually came out and did a video on his YouTube channel where he admitted to the usage of SARMs.

You can watch the video here

SARMs are not anabolic steroids but they are PEDs aka performance-enhancing drugs and are banned substances under the laws of the anti-doping agencies and sports. 

By speaking out, I believe Ryan has done a massive service to the fitness industry. I think other fitness influencers should also come out and say the untold truth. Most importantly because young impressionable minds are getting into body image and strength issues due to the constant comparison and fake benchmarks being set out. 

The other side of the story, though, is that there is a strong reason for these influencers to lie to you. Because speaking the truth will cost them dearly!

The companies that sponsor these athletes know that they are on the gear and they know that they are enhanced. The sponsors are okay with this fact till the time it helps them push more sales.

But...

When the athletes speak out the truth, they cannot have that, as it damages the reputation of the company and can impact the sales.  A pretty solid double standard there!

Author bio:

Pratik Thakkar is the co-founder and director of GetSetGo Fitness, an online fitness company. He is regarded as someone who will make it easy for you to understand the process by putting things in the right context and providing science-based recommendations for natural bodybuilding. You can reach out to him at pratik@getsetgo.fitness and follow him on Instagram and Facebook.