Excellent post mate, couldn't agree more. Marketing is mostly at fault, but the media too .. they throw pictures of either ripped or buff guys all over the place, a kid gets it into his head that he HAS to look like that to be 'in', to have fun.. when most of the time, the models are genetically gifted far beyond the reach of mere mortals.
This "I have to get ripped to get laid" attitude, which is slathered all over this forum in big ladlefuls is just more idiocy. Fifteen years ago, when we didn't have posters of Brad Pitt or whoever plays Ally McBeal (since girls are just as guilty, trying to starve themselves in an attempt to look like that anorexic bint) all over the TV, cinema, internet, etc, people didn't behave like this.
The sports supplements industries have boomed because of this, marketing taking advantage of peoples' physical insecurities and as a result the supplement industry in the US is a huge economic component. As a result, every guy and his dog is using whey, glutamine, amino acids, BCAAs, creatine and all that, using them all incorrectly and wasting both their own and their parents' money.
Hell, some guy in a thread here posted that whey is giving him the 'best pumps eva' - which is absolute twaddle but watch other kids ask him what brand he got and how much does he use.
But even before we start on the supplements (and god forbid, the drugs), consider that hardly anyone has any basic nutritional knowledge, which if they had, they'd be making a helluva lot better gains than they are now just because they're eating properly for a change.
Spending your money on creatine and the like is all well and good if you're serious-minded about working out, but it has no place in your intake if your basic diet is ****.
Another thing these kids forget is that they're 15, 16, 17, they haven't stopped GROWING UP yet. Their bodies haven't reached a stage of development where they'll be receptive to stuff like creatine and progressively heavier lifting to grow some serious muscle.
I'm not against anyone working out, it's a healthy and enjoyable hobby/sport but like you say Manuva, 90% of the people on here SHOULD have other priorities, like enjoying themselves and developing healthily (and getting a good education), and learning AS MUCH AS THEY CAN as concerns how the body works and nutrition.
I regret posting a lot of the stuff that I did here, it's obvious most of these guys a) don't listen and b) won't listen, and will continue taking every supplement under the sun and eating veg once a week.
Then again, you've got to remember these aren't serious sports forums, these are the DJ forums where getting women is the goal.. which itself, is a screwed up goal. The right woman will come along, regardless of whether you've got 20" guns or not, and THAT'S when you'll realise that all this stuff is so stupid and unnecessary ..
