Source: Canva, Free Pik, and Unsplash
If you are into fitness content on YouTube you must have noticed some of the YouTube shorts and long form flying around about these bodybuilders who do not have access to a gym or "protein" and are getting jacked from Africa.
The question on everybody's mind is? Are They Natural? Are they defying laws of science or is this all just clickbait?
In late 2023, I started to see Mr Wad's everywhere on YouTube, especially after many pages like Mirror Mirror and Strength Theory started reposting and editing his content, because of how impressive his physique was.
Mr Wad is over 6ft tall and has well-striated muscles, he was noted in one video to also own a poultry business (lol, no protein) along side being a fitness model. Also, he is defying laws of gym bro dynamics as he also has the ability to run. Homie stays below 10% fat all year long.
There are videos surfacing of him going to the gym but what difference does it make if he built his muscle with gym weight or block weights...matter is neither created nor destroyed, right? The fact of the matter is that most people who go to the gym consistently don't get results like that.
Some have attributed his physique to Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs) but Wad says he is natural. Wad took the path of Exercise Scientist Mikel Israetel and said even if he uses PEDs what difference does it make? He still has to put in a lot of work at the gym.
Instead of going to a lab and drawing a blood sample so that a doctor (like me) can lie about how his lipid profile is normal, the guy took another route.
He says that even if He's on PED he would still need to put in the effort but that's the point, you are trying to encourage the majority of people to work out with an unrealistic goal (to look like you)...that's the problem.
Mikel Isreatel says also says no matter how hard you work out you can't look exactly like another person...Please let's stop fixating on the wrong things here, people want to know if they can look better and some bodies look more aesthetically pleasing than others, if not for attraction then for the effort it takes to attain that body.
My problem with Mr Wad's content is that he paints a broad brush on all Africans saying we are a genetic specimen like him.
Some studies have shown that the more aesthetic you are the better your performance. What happens when unrealistic aesthetic and performance standards are put out?
This is the exact opposite of what we see with the fat positivity folk.
Fat positivity says health aesthetics are unattainable...forget about it...The gym bro community says peak aesthetics is normal and there is no excuse for not attaining it.
Hello everyone, I'm Dr Lovet from Informed Decision where we help you get in shape and stay in shape. In this video, I want to examine the rise of African Fitness Influencers who brag about "African Genetics" and if their physique is accessible to everyone in Africa. Finally, I want to Talk a little about steroid use in Africa and ask a question that we should be bothered about.
All Africans Can Be Super Jacked
Image by rawpixel.com on Freepik
When I was trying to earn a living from just Hive and Graphic Design, I had more time to spend in the gym. I had more time to beat my PRs and go more reps and more sets. Some days I would spend 2 hours. I could sleep more and hang out with my friends more...those were good times.
Now that I have been practising as a doctor, 2 hours is a lot of time for me. It is 25% of my free time on some days. I also moved to a new area where the gym is far away. I spend an hour on the road going to the gym.
I try my best to workout every day but I recognise now while working as a doctor it has become harder.
This is not me complaining I have a goal of focusing on my program and I was at a point when it was easier to do and now it's harder to do. There are things I can do to fix that instead of whining about the problem and I intend to try them out.
I am trying to do what Mr. Wad has done, which is build a small local gym around me.
Mr Wad shows the story of an African bodybuilder who is able to work out for the body he has sometimes he is a keke driver, other times he is a farmer etc...but there is hardly any keke driver, farmers or people in general in a local setting working out to be jacked. I have never seen a jacked keke driver in my life.
I know someone who says he can have a physique like Mr Wad's naturally and he is a super gym bro, I don't doubt it, but to have what a person has you have to do what the person does and we only see a portion of what he does on the internet...it takes less than 3 minutes to inject an IM medication into your arm.
Mr Wad downplayed PED to only the physical advantage it can give you1 when he regurgitated Mikel Isreatel's words.
But to Isreatel the Exercise scientist's point, you should not be comparing yourself to anyone much less anyone on the internet...work to get better and let go of the rest.
To Mr Wad's credit, I haven't seen anywhere where he says that we should compare ourselves to him...but he keeps on saying that his look is all due to his African genetics. It takes a lot of work to activate a body like this even if it's all due to genetics. While doing my tech work I was better able to, now I do 24/48 hours of work sometimes.
I have to work out at work some days... it's become harder...can I still do it? I believe so...Can I do it the way I used to...NO! Cause times have changed. Doesn't also mean that I will fall flat on my face and give up...it just means these are different times for me.
That's why there are different looks in Africa because not all Africans are living the same life, and All these>>> are African Genetics.
Image by wayhomestudio on Freepik and Image by nensuria on Freepik
Take a look at these Cis White Male Fire Fighters with African Genetics Apparently.
There are Zebras in Africa
Photo by Jason Zhao on Unsplash
James Smith says that if you hear the sound of hoofs odds are, you are hearing the sound of a horse and if you look outside your window you are more likely to see a horse than a zebra.
Because Zebras are harder to find in living areas, especially in the UK. But what do have to say when there are quite literally more zebras in Africa?
The African physique appears to be the best for bodybuilding there are more coloured people in American Sports like basketball, Baseball, American Football, and Track and Field even in America where blacks are a minority.2 3
Indeed, there are social and cultural factors that play a role in all this but some people prefer to just look at genetics.
To those people, I say "Take a look at these Cis White Male Fire Fighters with African Genetics Apparently".
There is nothing wrong with being a zebra we all love to see it that's why bodybuilding especially natural bodybuilding has people in attendance every year. But there is everything wrong with telling everyone in Africa that we are all zebras. Which kyn nonsense be that?
Some people might not have gym equipment, ideas or finances to work around getting the physique they want. Some people also don't know what it takes to get the physique they want.
Lastly, there are people in Africa wey all this physique no concern 1 day.
Instead of painting this broad brush of "African Genetics" we should try the all-encompassing brush of doing better. We all can improve the situation we are in.
Steroid Use in Africa
Photo by Sam Moghadam Khamseh on Unsplash
Some people may or may not know this but, accessing steroids is not as hard as you think in Africa. Even though it is not legal in many countries...There are well-documented incidences of steroid use in competitions.All you need to do is Google search and Dainabol pops up 4.
In competitions, people have to mask the use of steroids with diuretics like furosemide. We see young teenagers using steroids given to them by their coaches to get an edge in competitions.
A quick search of steroid use in Mr Wad's country of origin and we can already see that Ghana is currently dealing with a problem of steroid use among adolescents.
It doesn't take much for someone who used to be skinny like Mr Wad to blow up, get modelling contracts and start lying to the public while coming from a country currently dealing with a steroid problem.
This is not me saying that Mr Wad uses steroids, how could I? When he works out in the rain.
We still need to address the fact that steroids are not a net positive for society5. There is relationship between widespread steroid use and diseases5. There is a relationship between steroid use and body dysmorphia6.
Some of these effects are being seen in Western countries where models who use steroids are seen as the standard.
If a person like Mr Wad whose transformation is solely due to genetics and it put as the standard for African male physique, how do you think this would play out in Africa?
Mr Wad just wants to show us what African Genetics is capable of attaining. But for a small fee on you can pay for his workout
The question I have is like thus: if someone like Mr Wad who made his transformation solely through genetics is put out as the standard for the African physique, how would this play out in Africa?
So, Get out there do your thing and don't let anybody stop you, even if the person trying to stop you is you. Subscribe and Like for More!!
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