Male Body Image
...rk out. This is where men start to develop exercise addictions and body obsession problems. It’s gotten to the point where out of 8 million Americans being treated for eating disorders, one million are men (1). Another study shows that men make up about 10 percent of anorexics and about 20 percent of bulimics and that nearly half of binge eaters are men (5). These statistics are very surprising to most people. Usually when you think of eating disorders you think of teenage girls and not 20-year-old guys. The truth is that eating disorders among men have been documented in medical journals as far back as 1649 (5). Exercise addictions also occur along with eating disorders. This kind of exercise is generally very different than women’s exercise. Their goals are completely different where a man usually wants to gain muscle mass as well as losing body fat. With women their goal is typically to just lose body fat. Some men can become so addicted to working out that it becomes their life. It starts taking priority over more important things like their job or their social lives. This can lead to problems such as obsessive-compulsive disorder with working out. When someone develops this disorder they are totally consumed with their strict workout regimen sometimes working out up to seven days a week. If they skip a workout for some reason they will get very anxious and worried. They think that they will somehow lose muscle because of just that one missed workout. Obsessive workout routines can sometimes lead to more serious disorders such as bigorexia or muscle dysmorphia. This is a condition where one thinks his muscles are small when in reality they are very large. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of men suffer from it (1). When men develop this disorder they become very ashamed of their bodies because they think they are horribly skinny. They will never take their shirts off in public and will sometimes wear large coats to cover their bodies. This disorder is very hard to understand for most people because when you look at men that suffer from bigorexia they are usually very large and muscular. Although bigorexia is somewhat rare, it is still something someone should be on the lookout for. Another result of body image problems for men is the use of different bodybuilding supplements and illegal drugs along with their workouts. In a quest to sculpt the perfect male physique many men aren’t satisfied with just working out in the gym. They want to gain muscle and lose body fat as fast as they can. Fortunately for them there are many products that can help them accomplish this. Some of them are safe, but some are potentially life threatening. Safe supplements include protein shakes and carbohydrate shakes. The not so safe supplements include creatine and various fat burning products. These are shown to be dangerous if not taken correctly. The most dangerous drugs include testosterone pills, androstene, and of course the most dangerous drug which is steroids. It is estimated that 3 million American men have used steroids in the last 15 years (2). It has also been shown tha...