Triggering (Substances): Iiiit's rant time!

[Rivière]

So yesterday whilst scrolling Instagram, someone I follow came first place in a bikini competition (where females do bodybuilding and show off their physique). She advertised her coach on her profile page. For no particular reason other than taking my eyes off work for a moment, I clicked. Then I saw the most unbelievable thing ever.

A PT who used to work at my gym was on here. This coach was personally training the personal trainer from my gym. And this old PT at my gym wasn't just any PT. He was a massive bodybuilder and the highest earning PT in the entire gym. He earned £1,500 a week. Needless to say, he was a pretty popular guy and had zillions of clients, hence his income.

At first I was just shocked that he was receiving personal training himself. I was sat there for a few moments just amazed at the fact this huge successful guy decided to hire his own PT. Then I decided to click on his profile, and it turned out he'd actually announced it on his page. I then decided to read the post... to which something more shocking was revealed. He admitted on his page that he'd been using performance-enhancing drugs (I won't go into details what these are). Basically, he'd been doping the whole time until lockdown stopped him in his tracks.

I didn't even know what to say. I think the latter was the biggest shock of all. The guy was training for a half ironman marathon and was doping. Doping in sports is a bannable offence. I honestly have no idea why he chose to do it, knowing he could be kicked from competition.

Putting that aside, to me he's now just one big hypocrite. There he is telling clients they need to do X or Y thing to get in shape; or how to do X thing so they can look like him... when really it wouldn't have mattered how much effort they put in because he was using PEDs.

I told a friend about it last night and she said she honestly wasn't surprised. The gym he goes to is apparently filled with people who use PEDs, and even though he's 25, he honestly looks far, far older. Apparently this is a side-effect of PEDs. Obviously I only know the basics of PEDs because I've never used them, nor intend to.

We went back and forth discussing him. I already had a low opinion of him because of his bad personal training style (...because who the hell gets their client to do deadlifts when it's their first ever time in a gym..?). Plus she told me that a guy came into the gym once asking for help with a programme, and when the assistant manager saw it, she was in shock. He literally told the guy to just do 5x5 (sets x reps) of every single exercise - he [the PT] put no effort into the client's training programme at all. I wasn't surprised really given some of the content this PT was sharing, bragging about his clients when really he's so unsafe to PT with.

I just can't believe this guy. What a hypocrite. And to admit it on his business social media page too. Not good.

[Everglow.]

I can understand why you had a low opinion of him, and especially why now it's even lower. When someone is offering a service like this, and essentially using himself as an advert, it's very wrong to use performance enhancing drugs. Not to mention, people are paying him a LOT of money for his programs without the knowledge that even he needed extra help to maintain his level of fitness.

I hope that by announcing this on his page it's a step towards a more healthy way of training for him though. It makes me wonder what his reasoning was for starting to use these drugs in the first place. Perhaps there was pressure coming from people or something. It's sad that he felt he had to turn to them if that is the case. I hope that now he's being honest, it'll help him become a healthier person in himself.

I'm glad that you intend to stay away from these things. Honest PTs would always be a better option in my opinion, especially if the effort he's putting into his work doesn't match up with the pay out at the end.

[Arabesque- golfing girl.]

Hello Sarah,

I hope writing this helps you out some because whenever we are going through something it is good to write out how we are feeling, this helps us get some of the hurt out of us that we have been keeping inside of us. I am so sorry that you are having a hard time with all of this, hope that you will be okay soon. When other people are doing things like this it is always good to try to stay away so that they do not bring you into this and you are not getting upset about everything. I know that you always like to help others and you do a lovely job, try to find something to help you get your mind off of this for a while so that you are not thinking about it, for example try going for a walk around your house or reading a book for a while or drawing or painting or putting on a funny movie or TV show or something else that you enjoy doing and try this for a while. I wish you the best with this and hope that you will be okay soon. Sending you hugs to help you to feel better soon.

[Rivière]

Thank you both for your comments. I appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Everglow.

It makes me wonder what his reasoning was for starting to use these drugs in the first place. Perhaps there was pressure coming from people or something. It's sad that he felt he had to turn to them if that is the case. I hope that now he's being honest, it'll help him become a healthier person in himself.

That's something I wonder too. I've considered the mental health aspect. He was training for a half ironman marathon and wanted to get in the best shape he could. The PEDs probably helped him get into a better shape faster than had he not taken them. Then lockdown occurred and gyms and swimming pools kept opening and closing. His mental health probably started deteriorating and may have been why he hired a PT to help keep him accountable.

[Dawn.]

Just wow. Lol. I don't understand why people admit to something like that on social media. It will come to bite him in the future.