An image of a man's muscled torso — Definitely not my abs, and not what I see looking in the mirror!

The Pressure to Look “Perfect”: Body Image, Steroids, and the Male Mirror

There is a moment most men know far too well. You step out of the shower, wipe a bit of steam from the mirror, and there it is. The quick scan. The subtle tightening of your stomach. The instinctive posture correction, shoulders back, chest up, gut pulled in for just a heartbeat. Sometimes it lasts only a second. Sometimes you linger there far longer than you care to admit, wondering how you ended up feeling this uncomfortable in your own skin.

Men do not talk about this stuff. At least, not in the way that women do and not with the same cultural permission. We joke about dad bods, tease each other about farmer’s tans, and make self-deprecating comments about “needing to get back into the gym”, but underneath it all, the reality is quietly heavy. Many men feel deeply uncomfortable in their bodies, yet we have almost no language for expressing that discomfort. What we do have instead are expectations, comparisons, and a constant stream of images showing us what we are supposed to look like. Or at least what the world tells us we should look like if we want to be strong, attractive, desirable, successful or even taken seriously.

I wish I could tell you I was immune to this myself. I am a coach with nearly two decades of experience in training and nutrition. I have coached hundreds of clients, written about mindset and behaviour change, talked for years about consistency and progress over perfection. Yet I still find myself avoiding taking my shirt off at the beach, feeling my stomach in bed and thinking how much easier life would be if it were flat all the time, or comparing myself to the shirtless, jacked guys running around Abbotsford in the summer while I stay covered up no matter how hot it gets.

I see similar struggles in the men I coach and in the men I care about. For some, it is the frustration of no longer looking like they did at twenty. For others, it is the pressure of social media, the endless loop of influencers with impossible physiques, perfectly staged lighting, and a camera roll full of carefully curated angles. For the younger guys especially, the comparison game can be brutal. TikTok and Instagram are filled with physiques built with substances those same influencers swear they would never touch. It is a distorted mirror that leaves ordinary men feeling as though their best effort could never be enough.

Movember often focuses on mental health, prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and suicide prevention. These are critical issues that affect far too many men. Yet tucked underneath them, feeding them in ways we rarely acknowledge, is the hidden weight of body image pressure. The way we see ourselves and the way we feel in our bodies affects far more than our reflection. It colours our mood, confidence, relationships, sense of masculinity, and overall mental health. And because men rarely speak about it, the isolation grows even deeper.

This article is part of a bigger month of conversations about men’s health. Today, for Hard Work Wednesday, we are stepping right into the centre of something uncomfortable but necessary: how the pursuit of the perfect male body has warped our expectations, fuelled dangerous shortcuts, and pushed some men toward behaviours that chip away at both their physical and emotional health. We are going to talk honestly about steroids and testosterone therapy, the male mirror, the real consequences of chasing unrealistic aesthetics, and the healthier alternative of training for capability, function, and confidence rather than chasing an illusion.

It is a heavy topic. It is also one I believe we desperately need to bring into the light.

Where the Pressure Comes From and Why It Hits So Hard

There is no single source of male body image pressure. It is a web of influences that have grown tighter with time. Decades ago, men mostly compared themselves to athletes, movie stars, and the occasional underwear model on a billboard. Today, the comparison never stops. It lives on your phone, follows you at the gym, appears in every algorithm-driven feed, and blends into the identities of influencers who insist their physiques are the result of “hard work” and “clean eating” when that is rarely the full story.

Hollywood has always presented unrealistic ideals, but the scale is different now. Look at the transformation expectation placed on male actors. Every major action film features leading men with physiques that have been carved, dehydrated, enhanced, and prepped with teams of specialists. Most of these actors are open about the fact that their body for the role is their full-time job. They have personal chefs, trainers, nutritionists, massage therapists, and recovery staff. Their days revolve around being ready for the camera. Their results are not normal, not sustainable, and not achievable without an immense support network. Yet their images become the baseline for what “in shape” is supposed to look like.

And then there is Henry Cavill. I remember seeing a screenshot floating around social media a while back, a light-hearted post from a woman who wrote something like, “Guys, we do not expect you to look like fitness models. Just a bit of muscle, a little chest hair, you know, normal stuff.” Sounds reasonable until you see the picture she had included. It was Cavill as Superman, shirtless, carved like a marble statue, in peak lighting and peak condition. If that is “just normal”, what hope does the average man have?

Note: No disrespect to Henry Cavill meant here, and no implication that “he is the problem”! He is one of my favourite actors, and everything I have seen from interviews and behind-the-scenes footage makes him seem like a genuinely kind, grounded and very cool human being. THAT is what we should aspire to emulate, not his physique on screen.

None of this would matter quite as much if these images stayed in the realm of fantasy, but today they bleed directly into everyday life. Influencers show off shredded physiques after taking forty photos to find the one with the perfect shadows. Young men growing up with these images internalise them before they even understand what goes into creating them. Middle-aged men compare themselves to the fitness influencers in their feeds and begin to feel as though health, strength, and capability only count if they also look a certain way. The bar keeps rising. The gap between reality and expectation widens. Self-worth gets tied to appearance, and appearance gets tied to metrics that most men cannot reach naturally.

Meanwhile, the hyper-masculinity corner of the internet pours gasoline on the fire. You know the accounts. The ones preaching dominance, superiority, and high-status male identity. They push an image of masculinity defined by size, leanness, aggression, and control. They send the message that anything less is weakness. It is all aesthetics and attitude, no substance or health. And for a generation of younger men who feel lost, these messages can be dangerous. They tap into insecurities and promise validation through extreme physical transformation.

There is also a quieter, more insidious form of pressure that comes from within. The internal comparison. The version of yourself you thought you would be by now. The memory of your younger self. The longing to fit an image you may have never actually embodied in the first place. For many men, this internal comparison is the hardest one to escape. It is not based on reality, but on an imagined standard that feels personal and therefore even harder to challenge.

For me, the comparison to my younger self never really hit, because I was never “that guy” in my twenties. I was not shredded, not jacked, not particularly lean. But the comparisons to other men around me and the pressure of being a coach who arguably “should” look the part have been battles I know well. It feels strange to admit, but it is the truth. And that truth itself is part of the work we need to do as men.

Because once we see the pressure clearly, we can finally begin to understand why so many men go looking for shortcuts.

A perfectly lit and shadowed picture of someone deadlifting

The Enhanced Physique That No One Talks About

Let us be honest here. Many of the physiques creating all this pressure are not natural. They are not built through clean eating, discipline, and magical genetics alone. They are built with anabolic steroids, growth hormone, fat-burning drugs, and entire stacks of substances most men have no idea exist. Yet these same influencers often look straight into the camera and say they are “natty” or “just dialled in”. This dishonesty makes men feel like failures for not being able to achieve the same results on their own.

I am not here to shame anyone who has used steroids. My goal is not to vilify individuals but to expose the environment that distorts reality for those who have never touched them. Steroids are far more common than most people think. They have been in bodybuilding for decades, but their use has spread far beyond that world. Studies show that anabolic steroid use among young men has risen significantly in the last twenty years. In some countries, men aged twenty to twenty-four have tripled their use since the early 2000s. In the United States, between four and twelve percent of teenage boys report having used anabolic steroids at some point. These are not niche numbers. These are trends.

One of the most concerning findings from recent research is the strong correlation between young men who use legal performance supplements and later steroid use. Essentially, when teenage boys get caught in the world of supplements, powders, and “maxing out” every possible angle of enhancement, they are more likely to slide into steroid use as adults. The focus moves from health to appearance, and once that shift happens, the threshold for risk becomes easier to cross.

The rise of social media has only amplified this. Photoshopped images, manipulated lighting, curated snapshots, and unrealistic physiques create an illusion of what male bodies can and should look like. The problem is that these images are everywhere. Young men scroll through hundreds of photos a day of people who look impossibly lean and muscular. They are told this is achievable through “hard work” and “no excuses”. They are being lied to, and the lie erodes self-esteem slowly but consistently.

Steroids, of course, are not benign. Long-term use can cause serious damage to the heart, liver, endocrine system, and psychological health. It can impair fertility, alter cholesterol levels, drive hypertension, and trigger mood disorders. Men often chase these physiques without understanding the long-term cost. The pursuit becomes addictive. The mirror becomes a trap. And the end result is often unhappiness, no matter how good the body looks on the outside.

Steroids are only one side of this conversation though. The other is testosterone therapy, a topic often mentioned in the same breath.

Steroids, TRT, and the Line Between Treatment and Temptation

Testosterone Replacement Therapy is a legitimate medical treatment for men with clinically diagnosed low testosterone. When done under the guidance of a qualified physician and based on proper testing, TRT can significantly improve quality of life. Energy levels rise. Mood stabilises. Strength improves. Libido returns. For men with true clinical deficiency, TRT is not a shortcut. It is healthcare.

The problem is that TRT has become trendy. It is no longer talked about as medical support but as optimisation. It is marketed as a lifestyle upgrade rather than a treatment for a clinical condition. Men in their twenties are walking into clinics asking for testosterone because they feel tired after a long week of work. Men in their thirties are getting on TRT because they do not look like the influencers they follow. Men in their forties are encouraged to pursue it simply because they want to “feel like a man again”, without first investigating their sleep, nutrition, training, stress, or bloodwork.

There is a difference between medical TRT and recreational testosterone use, but that distinction is fading in public perception. When men feel pressure to keep up with enhanced physiques but do not want to admit they are chasing aesthetics, TRT becomes a socially acceptable workaround. It is easier to tell yourself “I am treating low T” than to say “I want to look like the guys I see on Instagram”. The risk is that men pursue TRT not because they need it, but because they feel inadequate.

We will go deeper into TRT in Friday’s Fit Foodie Friday article on testosterone, aging, and the truth about low T. For today, the important thing is to recognise how body image pressure pushes men toward medical and recreational substances they might never have considered otherwise. It is not a failure of discipline. It is a symptom of distorted expectations.

The Link Between Steroids, Disordered Eating, and Male Mental Health

One of the uncomfortable truths about male body image pressure is that it often overlaps with disordered eating and compulsive behaviours. Men are far less likely to seek help for eating disorders, partly because they do not recognise the signs. Many assume eating disorders look like dramatic weight loss, food avoidance, or obsessive calorie restriction, and that these are “female issues”. That is a myth.

Men experience disordered eating differently, and the patterns are often rooted in the drive for muscularity rather than thinness. Steroid users, especially those who use drugs primarily for appearance, show significantly higher rates of compulsive exercise, rigid dieting, binge-restrict cycles, and appearance-based anxiety. They also have higher rates of depression, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive behaviours. The research is clear. There is a psychological profile that reflects deep body dissatisfaction and elevated risk of self-harm in these populations, even when the outside world sees them as strong, fit and confident.

Young men who start with protein powders and “bulking supplements” sometimes evolve into restrictive dieting patterns. They may obsess over macronutrients, fear foods that do not fit their plan, or punish themselves through exercise when they feel they have eaten “too much”. Many adopt cycles of binge eating followed by crash dieting, attempting to maintain an impossibly low body fat percentage year-round. These patterns look very similar to traditional eating disorders, but in men they are often masked as “discipline” or “dedication”, or covered up as “cheat days”.

The shame around this is enormous. Men are taught to be in control, and losing control around food or body image feels like failure. This shame can intensify the pressure, deepen the dissatisfaction, and push men closer toward drugs like steroids in attempts to regain control. The irony is that the pursuit of the “perfect” body, which begins as a desire for confidence, often leads to the opposite. It chips away at self-esteem and can worsen mental health significantly.

This is where the conversation around the male mirror becomes essential. Because the truth is that the mirror often lies. And when men cannot see through that lie, they suffer in silence.

The Cost of Chasing “Perfect”

Chasing a perfect physique can be intoxicating at first. The excitement of progress. The pump. The compliments from friends when you start to look a bit leaner or add a bit of muscle. For a while, it feels like everything is working. Then the plateau hits. The progress slows. Life gets busy. Stress increases. Sleep suffers. You fall off the diet. The body responds. The fatigue sets in. The mirror becomes harsher. Doubt creeps in.

For many men, this is where the emotional toll begins.

The perfection mindset is brittle. It cannot tolerate setbacks. It interprets any lapse as failure. It creates an unrealistic standard that few men could ever meet, and even fewer could sustain. When the body does not respond the way the mind expects, the result is frustration, shame, and sometimes depression.

The endless pursuit of aesthetics often leads to:

• Overtraining that drains energy and increases injury risk

• Restrictive diets that harm metabolism and mental health

• Punishing exercise to “make up” for food choices

• Constant comparison and diminished self-worth

• Obsessive attention to scale weight or body fat percentage

• A distorted sense of identity tied to appearance instead of capability

The irony is that the more men chase the ideal, the further away they feel from it. The body becomes an enemy. The gym becomes a battleground. Food becomes a negotiation or a punishment. The pursuit becomes unsustainable and joyless.

The truth is that men need a healthier relationship with the pursuit of physical improvement. Not a complete rejection of aesthetics, but a shift away from extremes. Because chasing perfection is not sustainable, and it is not necessary. There is a better way.

Coach JP on the A-Frame Cargo Net at the 2024 Spartan Race Kelowna Ultra — This is the kind of image of me I hate to see and show - visibly struggling, gut distended…but I’m still moving forward! This was halfway through my 2024 Spartan Race Kelowna Ultra

Where This Shows Up in My Own Life

This struggle is not theoretical for me. It shows up in my own life in ways that are uncomfortable to acknowledge, but important to name honestly.

I was not completely unathletic growing up. I played soccer through elementary school and junior high, and in high school I did fairly well in track, especially sprints and long jump. I was active enough and reasonably fit for my age. But I was also almost always one of the smallest kids in my grade, thanks to the unpredictable genetics cocktail that comes with being half Asian. No one ever looked at me and thought “athlete”. I did not carry myself that way. And although I was never overweight, I also never developed the kind of physical confidence that some boys seemed to find naturally.

When I started training seriously in my mid-thirties, it came after years of burnout, career stress, and a stretch of depression that knocked the wind out of me. Training helped. It grounded me. It gave me structure, consistency and something solid to hold onto. It reminded me that I could rebuild myself one step at a time, and it led me to my true calling as a trainer and coach. But it also brought a new kind of pressure I did not expect.

As I grew into my career as a coach, an unspoken expectation followed me. The idea that I should look a certain way to be credible. That as someone who teaches consistency, discipline and healthy habits, I should always look like the living proof. Even when I knew that this expectation was neither fair nor grounded in reality, it still crept in. The internal critic did not care about logic. It whispered that I should be leaner, more muscular, more camera-ready. It told me I should resemble the shirtless guys running around Abbotsford in July. It told me that if I did not look the part, people would judge me, even if they never actually would.

The truth is, this pressure shows up every time I am at the beach. Every time I am in a setting where other men are shirtless. Every time I am around guys who look more traditionally athletic or leaner than I am. It is not occasional. It is not sporadic. It is consistent, predictable, and still something I need to navigate with intentionality and self-awareness.

And then there were the injuries. The broken ankle in 2016. The neurological issues in 2023. Each setback disrupted my training, shook my confidence, and made my relationship with my body even more complicated. When I could not train, I worried that my body would change. When it did change, I worried people would notice. And when I caught myself worrying, I felt ashamed that I cared so much.

This entire thing is still a work in progress for me. I have days when I feel grounded and confident, and days when the mirror feels like an adversary. That is the honest truth. What helps is reconnecting with the deeper purpose of training. What helps is rooting my identity in capability, not aesthetics. What helps is remembering that I am not alone in this, and neither are the men reading this.

If you recognise yourself in any of this, you might also find it helpful to read The Cost of Silence: Why Every Man Needs a Brotherhood, where I talk more about why carrying this kind of struggle alone so often makes it heavier.

Training for Capability Instead of Perfection

I want to make something clear. Wanting to look better is not wrong. Wanting to feel good in your clothes, confident at the beach, or proud of the body you see in the mirror is completely valid. Aesthetics are not the enemy. The problem is when the pursuit of aesthetics becomes the only goal, the defining goal, or the goal that overrides health, function, enjoyment, and mental wellbeing.

There is a healthier alternative. It starts with shifting the purpose of training.

Training for capability is a long-term path. It focuses on:

Strength
Mobility
Stability
Endurance
Confidence
Energy
Health markers
Quality of life

It is not about looking like a superhero, but about moving through the world with confidence and ease. It is about being strong enough to lift things without hesitation, run or hike without pain, climb stairs without getting winded, and participate fully in the physical demands of life. It is about feeling grounded in your body instead of fighting against it.

Capability-focused training tends to encourage healthier habits. You fuel your body to support performance. You prioritise sleep because it improves recovery. You take rest days because they enhance strength. You focus on progression rather than perfection. You enjoy the journey because the benefits extend far beyond appearance.

And here is the funny part. When you train for capability, your body often changes anyway. You build muscle more consistently. You lose fat more sustainably. You become more athletic and energetic. Aesthetics become a by-product rather than the driving force. And because the pursuit is healthier, the results tend to stick around.

This does not mean abandoning goals around appearance. It means grounding them in something more meaningful. When men shift their focus from trying to look like someone else to trying to become the strongest, most capable version of themselves, everything changes. The mirror stops being a judgement. The gym becomes a place of growth rather than punishment. The training feels empowering instead of exhausting.

In the end, aesthetics matter less than how you feel in your body and what you can do with it. Capability lasts. Perfection does not.

And if you want a deeper look at how training can become a foundation for emotional resilience, confidence, and connection, my article Strong Enough to Talk: How Training Builds More Than Muscle pairs beautifully with this shift in focus.

What Strong Really Feels Like

Strength is not a mirror thing. It is an experience thing.

True strength feels grounded. It feels steady. It feels like you can trust your body to show up for you. It makes everyday life easier. It makes you more resilient physically and emotionally. It makes you more confident socially. It improves your posture and your mood. It changes the way you move, the way you breathe, and the way you interact with the world.

Consistent training builds identity. Not the identity based on aesthetics, but the identity based on capability. When you train consistently, you become someone who can handle hard things. You become someone who does not shy away from effort. You become someone who shows up even when it is inconvenient. That spills into every other part of your life.

I have seen training anchor men through grief, stress, job loss, divorce, depression and self-doubt. It gives structure when life feels chaotic. It offers a form of expression when talking feels impossible. It helps regulate emotion. It creates a sense of accomplishment. It improves sleep, mood and energy. It can be the catalyst for a complete turnaround in mental health.

The mirror can tell you how you look, but training tells you who you are.

And that is what so many men need. A way to feel capable again. A way to reconnect with their own bodies. A way to build confidence that does not depend on being shredded, perfect, or enhanced. A way to feel strong for all the right reasons.

A Reality Check and a Note on Safety

Before we wrap this up, I urge you to seek real, qualified advice or support when considering these topics.

If you are considering steroids or testosterone therapy, speak to a qualified medical professional. Not an influencer. Not a guy on a forum. Not a buddy who “knows a guy”. Proper bloodwork, proper medical supervision, and proper diagnostics are essential.

If you are experiencing disordered eating patterns, compulsive exercise, obsession with body fat percentage, or symptoms of muscle dysmorphia, please seek support. Talk to your doctor, or get a referral to speak to a counsellor. You are not weak for asking for help. You are not less of a man for struggling. Eating disorders in men are far more common than people realise, and early intervention matters.

Strength training, nutrition, rest, and honest support carry far more power for long-term health than any shortcut ever will, and you do not need to walk that road alone.

The Man in the Mirror Deserves Better

As we close this article, I want to return to that moment in front of the mirror. The one where your stomach tightens, your shoulders shift, and the self-criticism rushes in before you can stop it. That moment is not a judgement. It is a crossroads.

You can keep chasing an image that was never honest in the first place, comparing yourself to men who are enhanced, photographed, filtered or professionally prepared for a single moment in time. You can keep chasing perfection until it exhausts you and convinces you that you are not enough.

Or you can choose a different path. A path toward capability, strength, confidence, and health. A path that does not demand perfection, but rewards consistency. A path that respects the realities of your life and honours the body you have right now.

The pressure to look perfect is not going away. But you do not have to carry it alone, and you do not have to let it define you. You can write a different story. You can build a body that serves you instead of a body you serve. You can look in the mirror and see progress instead of perfection.

This Movember, as we talk about men’s mental health, suicide prevention, and the weight many men carry, let us include the conversation about body image. Because how you feel about your body is part of your mental health. And you deserve a healthier, kinder, more capable relationship with the man in the mirror.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the top 10 most-searched FAQ questions on men, body image, unrealistic physiques, steroids, TRT, and the pressure to look perfect:

What is the difference between TRT and steroid use?

Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT) is a medical treatment given to men with low testosterone who are diagnosed with hypogonadism by a doctor. Its goal is to restore testosterone to healthy, normal levels under medical supervision. Anabolic steroid use, on the other hand, typically involves taking much higher doses of testosterone or similar substances to rapidly increase muscle mass and performance for non-medical reasons. These high, unsupervised doses carry significant risks and are illegal in most situations. While TRT aims to treat a hormone deficiency, steroid cycles revolve around bodybuilding and image enhancement, almost always exceeding safe physiological limits and leading to greater chances of side effects.

Are the physiques I see on social media natural or enhanced?

Most extremely muscular and ultra-lean physiques showcased on social media—especially those that look dramatically different from most people in the gym—are likely enhanced by steroids or other performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). While some rare individuals are genetically predisposed to gain muscle easily, and some can get quite lean through discipline, the majority of “stage-ready” bodies with huge muscles and striated abs are not achievable naturally, especially year-round. Social media often features edited, posed, and filtered images that create an illusion of perfection, making it nearly impossible and unhealthy to compare yourself directly to these standards.

Why do I feel so insecure about my body compared to others?

Feeling insecure about your body is a common response to the enormous pressure men face from social media, movies, and advertising, all of which tend to glorify a certain muscular or lean physique. Algorithms often amplify images of bodies that are unrealistic or even dangerous to pursue, leading to frequent self-comparison and dissatisfaction. This pressure can give rise to low self-esteem, anxiety, or even disordered eating and steroid use in some men. Recognizing that these feelings are driven by external messages and not personal failure is an important first step toward feeling better about yourself.

Can steroid use cause mental health problems?

Yes, using anabolic steroids can contribute to a range of mental health problems. Some common effects include mood swings, irritability, aggression, depression, and anxiety. These can appear during a steroid cycle or after stopping use, when natural hormone levels crash. Long-term or heavy steroid use can increase the risk of developing more serious conditions, including substance use disorders and dependence on these drugs for self-image or performance.

Is it safe to use “mild” steroids or PEDs if I’m not competing?

There is no safe way to use anabolic steroids or PEDs without medical supervision. The doses and substances commonly used to increase muscle mass for appearance’s sake (even in so-called “mild” amounts) can lead to serious health risks including heart and liver damage, infertility, hormonal imbalances, and psychological effects. The idea that a smaller cycle is “safe” is a misconception; any non-medical PED use exposes you to dangers that far outweigh any aesthetic benefits.

How can I improve my physique without steroids or PEDs?

Focusing on progressive resistance training, balanced nutrition, and adequate rest is the healthiest and most effective way to improve your physique. Setting realistic goals, tracking your progress, and prioritizing long-term health will produce results you can sustain without risking your wellbeing. Consulting with a certified trainer, sports dietitian, or doctor for individualized guidance can help. Remember, every journey is unique, progress takes time, and comparing yourself to others (especially online) is rarely helpful.

What are the warning signs of body dysmorphia in men?

Key warning signs include becoming preoccupied with minor or imagined flaws in your appearance, spending excessive time examining your body in mirrors, comparing yourself constantly to others, and avoiding social situations or activities because of body-related concerns. Some men develop unhealthy routines (e.g., compulsive exercising, extreme dieting, or uncontrolled supplement/steroid use) trying to “fix” what they perceive as flaws. When these behaviors interfere with daily life or cause distress, it may be time to seek help from a mental health professional.

Is it normal for men to worry about their body image?

Yes, many men, regardless of age or fitness level, experience concerns about their body image at times. Social standards for male bodies have become more demanding in recent decades, and it’s normal to have periods of insecurity. However, if these concerns start affecting relationships, self-esteem, or lead to harmful behaviors, it’s important to reach out for support. A supportive friend, coach, or counselor can help you sort out healthy ways to cope.

How does social media affect male body image?

Social media exposes men to a non-stop stream of idealized bodies that are typically filtered, enhanced, or outright unattainable for most. Regular comparison to these images increases dissatisfaction, pressure to change, and unsafe behaviors (like overtraining or PED use). Setting boundaries around social media use, following pages that promote realism and self-acceptance, and remembering that most posts are highlights, not reality, can help protect your self-esteem.

What are the risks of using TRT without a medical need?

Taking testosterone when you don’t have a diagnosed medical need can cause serious harm. This can include shutting down your natural testosterone production (which can take months or years to recover), shrinking your testicles, infertility, increased risk of blood clots, heart disease, and mood disturbances. Without proper diagnosis, monitoring, and oversight, you may also miss an underlying health problem causing your symptoms. Legitimate TRT should only be started and continued under the guidance of a qualified healthcare provider, after proper testing and evaluation.

Movember Matters

As I write this, it’s Movember, a month dedicated to men’s health, physical and mental. I’ve committed to the Move for Mental Health challenge, aiming for at least 300 km this month (hopefully a LOT more!) to raise awareness and funds for men’s health initiatives.

As of this morning, I’ve logged 273 km, but only raised $1,035 of my $2,500 goal. If you’d like to support the cause, you can do so here:

You can support my Movember campaign and help fund research and programmes that support men’s mental health, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer:

Donate via Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/donate/4327774960878267/

Or through my Movember MoSpace:

https://movember.com/m/15369756?mc=1

Any amount you can donate is good - $25, $50…whatever works for you. Also, today (November 19), Pringles is going to donate $25 for every donation of $50 or more. Your support means the world, and every contribution makes a difference.

Training Is Only Half the Story

If you are ready to bring your nutrition in line with your goals, join our Free 30-Day Fat Loss Blueprint. It is a daily email series that walks you through the same core nutrition and mindset principles from The Balanced Burn, giving you clear, practical guidance you can start using right away.

👉 Sign up for free here: www.btgfitness.com/30-day-fat-loss-blueprint