HORRIFIC Use of PEDs in Children

Doping and Steroid Use is widespread in sports. But in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting, there seems to be a deeper hole to dive into, with abuse of athletes spanning back into childhood.

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[zacktelander]

PLEASE READ I MADE AN ERROR: 1:45 Rica DID go on to have children, Marcel (35 years old) and Natasha (35 years old). I apologize for the mistake.

[bobhuskins]

As someone who has competed in powerlifting for 5+ years and is now making the transition to weightlifting, I never thought about it this way. I was completely desensitized from being around adults who juice and never even considered the forced use upon children.

[SB-thuc]

Children taking PEDs is abuse, pure and simple, and the relevant parties who are complicit in such actions have questions to answer. It's just so wrong that youngsters are having their bodies potentially wrecked in the pursuit of something which they can't consent to.

Well done on a great video.

[keithland]

Even not in competition you can see teenagers on PEDs all over tik tok these days. I think this new wave of fitness influencers who are transparent about their PED use may have accidentally glorified it to a fraction of young people

[boydmccollum]

One of the big issues is outside of competitive weightlifting. It's on Social Media - IG, TikTok, etc - where you see a plethora of young kids (boys and girls) that are likely doping for clout. "Here's 15 year old so and so deadlifting 600lbs a bw of 150lbs, and he's only been lifting weights for less than a year..." I remember a Greg Doucette video where he mentioned parents asking him for PED advice for their young teen children to get a leg up. He refuses them, but you know those parents aren't isolated cases.

[freakied]

I remember watching 3:52 as a kid and thinking how awesome of a life that kid must have. Then to hear the rest of the story as an adult, and now a father, is tragic.

[EbiLMunkeY]

This is exactly my thoughts when I hear people saying anti-doping should be removed and athletes should be allowed to take what they like. In a world where athletes are untested for PEDs, the bar will be raised for how much you have to take, and the age you have to start will be lowered.
People think it will lead to more research and safer and more effective PEDs will be created, but winning will always take priority over athlete health. Especially in developing countries the consequences could be catastrophic.

[kumabearnope]

"I JUST WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED" a phrase that signals the downfall of a society. Its saying " let the abuse happen, im being amused by it" i dont care what evil is perpetrated, as long as im being entertained

[TOracle]

I knew a highschool kid who absolutely had to be on something. We had strong football players and then that guy. He looked 25 at 18, maxing out the bench press and pounding out 5 reps in 8 seconds.

[chrism]

The serious detriment to the mental health of kids when messing with their hormones during puberty isn't talked about enough here. I felt out of place with normal hormone imbalances, imagine them.

[averagelifter]

Imagine disabling and stunting your child. They will be reliant on something just to be normal. This is such a niche topic and the attention won't be enough to punish the parents. Bad parents can also ruin a child any many other ways. Hard to pinpoint and bring to justice sadly. Edit: This about taking testosterone TRT, steroids, and other performance enhancing drugs. No child who lifts will look like this.

[IchOdaNich]

I honestly think Kids should not compete on a national/international or (semi-)professional level. period.
Not just because it incentivises drug use but because that is a stress I do not want kids to have. Also Kids standing in the spotlight at a young age has never turned out great.

[Chrisisplays]

Another Banger Episode of "Catching a PEDator with Zack Telander".

[grimbelfix]

In the past i've been in the camp of "let them take everything they want, let's see what the limits of the human body really are", but over time i've realized that that wouldn't be as fun of an idea as it sounded to me at that time. Before i've never thought about the percentage of athletes who we would never see on the world stage, but who would get pumped up with all PEDs under the sun from a young age nonetheless and that's simply horrifying.

[milliedragon]

In general something is wrong, with how we use children in competitive sports. Children should be doing sports for fun. They shouldn't be any professional sports they are too young.
This should consider child labor. Children should learning skills, minimizing injuries, and sports should for play only.
These children train for sports long hours, they sacrifice sometimes just being kids. I just see doping when it comes to children as side effect of a bigger problem.
There children that need surgery bc of sports injuries. Kids push themselves and sometimes don't when they stop. And doesn't help that adults are encouraging them to ignore their bodies.
Their being push to go on special diets. It's sad to me that kids can't just be kids. Let them grow up and growing up means allowing them to be children first. I know a lot of people won't agree and some might. I know that people will defend this practice that it's good for kids but how?

[barath]

Zack, Rina did have kids later on, just not right away. She has 2 today.
Not saying it was okay or downplaying her damage, but she did have kids.

[donnahuang]

You didn't say hello to lady and gentlemen. I was all ready!

[lizardteeth]

I thought you were going to cover the weird group of kids on tiktok taking SARMS but this is cool too. Good video :)

[bjarkebuch]

I rarely comment on anything, but you're such a freakin' exceptional content creator, Zack - on most things you do, not just weightlifting. Good job.

[andrewkurtz]

I legitimately believe in legalization of steroids for the public and competition. However, children should always be off limits!! Any parent or coach caught giving steroids to anyone under 18 should be imprisoned.