Can you please help me with a couple of questions regarding my body?
What is your opinion on the use of steroids? I would like to try it to complement my workout at the gym. Where do I buy them? How much should I take?
Should men trim their underarm hair or not? I notice in some ads, men have bare underarms, if not almost thin hair. Is that an acceptable practice?
MUSCLES
Sounds like someone is looking to do a body makeover, huh? Want to pump up big and shed some hair so you look like the guys in the muscle magazines? That’s all well and good, but there are right and wrong ways of going about it. Guess which is the wrong way?
My opinion on steroids: They’re OK if you’ve torn a muscle and a doctor prescribes it to you to help repair it. However, if you’re talking about using them in order to "cheat" and make yourself bigger, then I personally am against them. Do you really need them? If you’re working hard enough then you should be able to reach a very decent size without injecting chemicals into your body. Not only is it a quick fix, but it can also be quite dangerous and I’m not just talking about the side effects.
By taking steroids, you can often push your body beyond its own limits. This may sound like a great thing, but it’s quite the opposite. You often hear me talking about lifting heavy weights and pushing yourself hard in the gym. That’s a good thing to do as long as you know your limits. If you’re working out naturally (without chemicals that make your body whinny like a horse), then your body will tell you when you’ve reached that limit. Muscle fatigue, aches and all-over tiredness are your body’s defense system against injury.
However if someone is "on the juice," then they don’t feel the aches and pain as much, and because they have the extra power to lift heavier weights for longer periods of time, they push their body beyond its own limits. The human body is pretty resilient and can take a lot of beating, but only up to a point. If pushed too much, that’s when you start getting torn muscles, popped shoulders, strained tendons, among other things. Even if you don’t feel that much pain during the workout, you’ll sure as heck feel it when you stop using the steroids.
If that isn’t enough to discourage you, then how about some of the common side effects? One of the most well-known is the effect it has on one’s moods and personality. Some people find that they become a lot more irritable and short-tempered when they take steroids, or maybe even violent. I’m not saying everyone is like that, but do you really want to take that risk?
Speaking of risks, there is also a well-known concern regarding, umm, performance in the bedroom. It’s been known to make some men sterile as well as giving them difficulty in, how do I say this, standing to attention? Like I said, it may not be true for everyone, but is that the kind of chance you want to take? What’s the use of having this big buff body that attracts the girl of your dreams if you’re hopeless once you get her home? Now if that doesn’t deter you from using steroids then I don’t know what will!
Now onto the dilemma of your hairy pits. As you well know, everyone past the age of puberty grows hair in certain places. Since this is a rated PG newspaper, I’ll refrain from mentioning hairstyles for the other areas and concentrate on the armpits. As you’ve mentioned, you sometimes see ads of guys with no underarm hair. No, they’re not genetically blessed with balding underarms; they just shave it, period. It’s common for bodybuilders to shave so that everything looks cleaner and there is no mess of curls distracting the judges from looking at the cuts of the body. They are going for the sleek, well-oiled look with nothing on display but the muscles. Fair enough. I know cyclists and swimmers who shave their legs so as not to have too much air or water drag, so I guess shaving your underarms for your sport is acceptable, too.
How about the people in ads who are not bodybuilders? Well, that is entirely up to the advertisers as they’re the ones who decide what a model looks like in an ad. Nine times out of 10, if a guy doesn’t have any hair under his arms in an ad, it’s because the ad agency has requested that he shave especially for that particular shoot (and if his manager is any good, the agency will have had to pay extra for that little privilege!).
So should you do it? Well, it’s entirely your choice, but I personally wouldn’t. Unless you’re a serious competition bodybuilder or swimmer, I think it looks a bit feminine to shave under there. Trim maybe, but don’t be ashamed of having a little bit of growth there to remind the girls that you have, in fact, passed puberty.
So stay off the ‘roids and keep the hair. All natural is the way to go!
MARC
HI MARC,
I have a question about my boyfriend and his best friend. Here’s the situation: My boyfriend and his best friend have the same birthday. One day, he tells me that his best friend is inviting him to celebrate their birthday together. I was so confused because I don’t know what answer to give him since I also want to be with him on his very special day that only comes once a year. What should I do? Should I allow him or not?
JAED
Are you sure you’ve understood his question correctly? When he says that he wants to celebrate it with his friend, does that mean that it’s only going to be the two of them? No one else? (How romantic! Are you sure he’s straight?) Highly unlikely. There’s a good chance that he intends to join forces and have a group birthday party. If this is the case, then you would of course be invited, wouldn’t you? Don’t automatically assume that he wants to avoid you on his birthday (if that was the case, then you probably wouldn’t be together in the first place!).
I’m pretty sure that’s what he meant, but just in case, I suppose we should explore the other option, that he wants to hang out with his friend instead of you. Remember, this is pretty unlikely. Now the only real reason I can think of is that he doesn’t see his friend as much as he used to and maybe their celebrating birthdays together is some old tradition or way of catching up. You, being his girlfriend, probably see him almost every day. This would, of course, mean that he rarely sees his friend any more which could make his best friend a bit "tampo." To make up for it, spending a mutual birthday together for old time’s sake may be what they need.
You may ask why you can’t come along as well, as you want to spend time with your boyfriend on his birthday. The only problem is that maybe he acts a bit different around his old friend and wants to feel relaxed so they can chat like they used to without him having to watch his words around you. I’m not saying that he isn’t himself with you as well, just that "guy talk" is something they are usually a bit embarrassed to express around their girlfriends.
Find out if he really just wants to spend it with his friend, or rather as a group party with you included. If it’s the latter, then no problem! It was just a misunderstanding on your part. However, if he would prefer to just hang out with his best friend, then maybe you can just see him in the morning before he goes off with his friend, or meet up with him later after dinner. Remember, this is his special day, so he should spend it the way he wants to. If he’d asked to hang out with his friend instead of you on your birthday, then you would be completely within your rights to sulk or raise a stink. Maybe just remind him that he has to make up for it when your birthday comes around.
MARC