ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how the scholarly interest in drug use in gyms rose from studies of competitive bodybuilding to studies of larger segments of the gym population. The challenge of establishing reliable figures for the frequency of anabolic steroid use and describing the typical users is then addressed. The chapter discusses the associated cultural, psychological and evolutionary explanations for anabolic steroid use. It deals with a discussion of some of the significant political campaigns to regulate and counter drug use in gyms. While the traditional method found a prevalence rate of approximately 0.4 per cent of drug users in the gym population under study the randomized response technique method found a much higher rate – 8.2 per cent – of users of the same drugs. Most studies find that drug use in gyms is motivated by an ambition of attaining what is perceived to be an ideal body – whether this is a stronger, bigger, more muscular or leaner body.
