Teens tear limbs at the gym

Modern-day weightlifting has been around since about the 19th century, with an introduction at the Athens Olympic Games in 1896 in track and field. However, lifting wasn’t recognized as its own event until 1914. 

Now, many teens are striving for the perfect build through a practice known as “gymmaxxing,” which is the practice of upgrading one’s physique and attempting to look bigger, stronger and more “aesthetic” by frequenting the gym. Through its spread on social media, many teens try to look more like popular influencers such as Sam Sulek, a bodybuilder who has been lifting for many years and openly admits he has taken steroids, or Alex Eubank, another popular bodybuilder who is shockingly lean, almost to an unhealthy point, and Eubank himself acknowledges the danger of maintaining a physique like his.

“Gymmaxxing” consists of many different aspects, one of which is ego lifting. Ego lifting is when someone lifts to their maximum capabilities too often to show off their strength, hence the “ego.” Typically, people will ego lift on the bench press, leg press or while doing bicep curls. While ego lifting can boost teens’ confidence every time they max out on a movement, it can become toxic when teens push past the point of their physical limitations and injure themselves. For example, some videos on TikTok show teens pushing too much weight on a leg press, which causes their knee to hyperextend and their ligaments, such as their ACL or PCL, to tear. 

Dieting is another large aspect of the gymmaxxing trend. One of the more extreme diets is the carnivore diet, which consists of eating only animal products. Joe Rogan popularized the diet in 2020 when he ate only two meals a day of solely meat to lose weight and treat his autoimmune disorder, vitiligo. Since then, it has gone viral on TikTok, with the hashtag #carnivorediet garnering over 1.3 billion views. 

While millions of people have cited weight loss and improved energy as benefits, there are many potential consequences of consuming only meat. For one, the carnivore diet increases one’s risk for heart disease. Although dietary fat has received much unfair criticism throughout the years, eating saturated fat raises LDL (“bad” cholesterol) in all people, and many studies have found that unhealthy levels of LDL are linked to heart disease.

Supplements are a touchy subject in the gym community. “Gymmaxxing” influencers can sometimes encourage others to consume extreme amounts of creatine, pre-workout, protein powder and sometimes even steroids. “New lifters focus too much on the supplements. They really expect them to boost their growth when in reality, they just need to stay dedicated and have a schedule and do the research,” said junior Deshawn Huggar. 

Steroids are the most sensitive subject when it comes to “gymmaxxing” because they can be harmful when taken without a physician’s direction. Some common steroids are trenbolone acetate, known as tren, and testosterone, known as TRT or test. Some gym-goers are incentivized to take steroids because it takes a significant amount of effort to develop and maintain a quality physique naturally. However, the misuse of steroids can have devastating side effects, including cardiovascular complications, liver disease and reproductive organ damage, according to the Better Health Channel.

Lifting can be a healthy practice for teens when performed safely and with the correct technique, but once teens begin overtraining, starving to lose a couple of pounds, overdoing supplements and looking to the media for what they should look like, it becomes dangerous.