It saddens me to think that in 10-15 years, many of these influencers might look terrible and suffer from cardiac issues. Aside from the few like Austin, who have degrees in other fields, I doubt many will be truly successful.
That's why I've noticed some are quitting the enhancements because they’re losing sight of their long-term goals and becoming less attractive. Hopefully, Austin doesn't fall into this trap and takes care of himself.
But what's going to make him wake up? He’s surrounded by people who aren’t exactly scientists or engineers. From what I see on Instagram, his life revolves around the gym, food, steroids, and his girlfriend (who's also a model seeking clout in LA, especially in Hollywood and Beverly Hills). Austin isn’t completely lost in the bodybuilding mentality yet, but his story is worrying. He left a $300K computer engineering job for no clear reason, making it unlikely he’ll find a moment of enlightenment to reconsider his life choices and revive his former career. On the surface, his story seems inspirational to young followers—he worked hard for his degree and then followed his passion to become a gym trainer and Instagram famous. However, he didn’t account for the fact that being famous but penniless is worse than just being penniless. The competition in the Instagram bodybuilding influencer world is cutthroat. Every week, newer, younger, more attractive guys emerge, grabbing sponsors and leaving the “older” influencers behind. This career path is treacherous, with extremely low chances of making it big and even lower than those aspiring actors jumping from audition to audition in LA. Most young actors are talented, educated, beautiful, and charismatic, whereas Instagram fame often requires zero talent, just a steady flow of supplements and steroids, and good genetics. The competition pool isn’t even comparable.
Anabolic steroids, pre-workout energy drinks, post-workout recovery powders, and energy-packed pills all come with unknown risks. The FDA has no oversight on millions of supplement brands, so who knows what's in them? Users just have to trust that the labels are truthful, which they often aren’t. I won't even go into the more serious performance-enhancing injections obtained from the grey market.
There are no long-term studies on how these substances affect the brain and body in the next 5 or 10 years. It’s similar to antidepressants, which undergo rigorous clinical trials and FDA guidelines. Even with this oversight, some antidepressants have serious long-term side effects on the brain. So, go figure...