Is It Even Fitness Without the Work?

There was a brief mention of PEDs today, and the growing desire to have results for the camera, for attention, without necessarily wanting to put in the work.

The topic came up because I joked about someone’s drink being “magic juice.”

It’s something I see regularly: brightly coloured liquids in water bottles, often almost luminescent, borderline radioactive-looking. I’ll usually tease the person about what’s really in their bottle. That must be the secret, right? The strength, the gains, the muscles, clearly it’s the drink. Just a playful way of taking the spotlight off their hard work and blaming it on whatever strange concoction they’re sipping.

When I said this to a guy, joking about a fellow gym-goer’s drink, him and his “magic juice” I said, he laughed and then launched into a quick rant about how everyone today is using PEDs, all for the camera, all for attention.

That shifted the conversation.

I mentioned how peptides now seem to be the “new thing,” almost replacing traditional PEDs in certain circles. So many influencers and social media personalities are showcasing their physiques while aggressively promoting peptides, while some are even openly sharing their usage and dosages. It’s like it’s the new PED’s, just marketed with less stigma and better branding. Promoted as not bad for you like the traditional PED’s.

Truthfully, I haven’t done proper research into them yet.

I probably should.

Given how common they’re becoming, it would be worth exploring what they are, what they do, and what the risks might be. Maybe I’ll dive deeper and write something more informed about them. Because on the surface, I’m not convinced it’s as wholesome as it’s often presented, and you can just get them from some guy, though I don’t yet know enough to speak definitively.

Before I spiral into a discussion about these “new and improved” injectables, I’ll get back to my anecdote. The rant and conversation I was having at the gym brought me back to telling him my core principle:

The journey is such an important part of fitness.

I went so far as to say that in fact fitness is really mostly about the work. Yes, results matter. Of course they do. But it’s the work we put in that truly impacts us. It’s what builds us. What shapes us. What develops us.

You’ve got to put in the work. Without the work, fitness becomes… well, nothing.

And without the work, is it even fitness or just flex?