What do people take for the shredded aesthetic Instagram look Vs the typical bodybuilding look? I’ve always been curious how people pull that off.
Thanks, guys!
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Probably Winstol or another ‘dry’ steroid to dry themselves out and get vascularity.
I think a quite frequently used but less talked about tool that people also use is anything that has a diuretic effect, and/or a stool softening effect. Sort of gross but I have found that for whatever reason my pre-workout and inteaworkout mix pretty much eviscerates my bowels on a daily basis, that will contribute to a leaner, ripped look too.
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By the shredded aesthetic look, I assume you mean a fitness model kind of physique. Muscular, super lean, but not overly massive.
I’ll give you my opinion on the drugs part, but first I want to talk about the other factors that contribute to that look too. Maybe even more so than the drug selection.
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The amount of muscle mass. When it all boils down to it. The shredded aesthetic physique you mention and a competition bodybuilding physique have roughly the same amount of fat (the competitive bodybuilder might even have less when in competition shape). The main difference in look is thus not due to leanness but to the amount of muscle carried.
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Body structure plays a big role. You can have the same amount of muscle and fat as an aesthetic shredded physique and not look nearly as aesthetic. Having a tiny waist and hips, broad shoulders, long limbs, shorter torso, good muscle attachment will look at lot more aesthetic than someone with a thicker waist/hips, a longer torso, shorter limbs and narrower shoulders at the same level of muscularity. The later will still look good when lean and muscular but will not be as aesthetic as the former structure. I am personally of the later structure (sadly). So even when I’m in photoshoot shape and look good, I don’t have that super aesthetic body.
Look at pics of myself compared to more aesthetic physiques.
To …
I have pretty much the same overall muscle mass and body fat level. But they look a lot more aesthetic because:
… they have a smaller waist/hips to shoulder ratio
… they have longer limbs relative to their torso length
… they have better muscle shape which also leads (in some cases) to more muscle separation despite similar fat levels and fuller looking muscle bellies
… They have better development in the “showy” muscles (biceps and pecs)
You can have two guys with the same body composition that will look completely different. Sadly, a lot of that is genetic. Ironically, the most aesthetic physiques on drugs tend to be the skinnier, smaller-framed ectomorphs.
- As far as drugs are concerned, the biggest difference will be the dosages. YES, specific steroids will have specific impacts on “the look”. But it starts with dosages. As I mentioned, the biggest difference between the aesthetic physique and the big bodybuilding physique is the overall amount of muscle carried. And more drugs = more size (on an individual basis… some people might gain more muscle than someone using bigger doses. But if an individual uses more drugs and does everything else the same, he builds more muscle).
It’s not unusual for a bodybuilder to take 3-5g of anabolics per week (on top of other things like GH) but someone with the smaller aesthetic look can often get that look with something like 400-800mg/week.
Now, steroids all increase muscle growth (protein synthesis). But they each have their own secondary “benefits” that can give completely different end results.
For example…
Masteron will lower water retention because it lowers estrogen, so it makes you look harder if you are lean.
Trenbolone can have the same effect because it is a potent potentiator of the sensitivity of the beta-adrenergic receptors. Basically you become a lot more responsive to your own adrenaline. Which, from a look perspective, will increase muscle tone (making the muscles look harder) and it also has a mild diuretic effect. BTW, the effect on adrenaline receptors is what makes people more aggressive when using tren and also why it increases blood pressure so much.
Equipoise can also lower estrogen (but not to the extent of masteron) which can help reduce water retention. It also increases vascularity, although it does it through a dangerous mechanism: making the blood thicker.
Halotestin is what increases hardness the most (you have to be lean enough to see it) because it is even more potent than tren at increasing your response to adrenaline and it also lowers cortisol. Cortisol is a big factor in water retention.
Anavar can speed up fat loss and it also makes the muscles fuller by increasing creatine and glucose uptake and storage in the muscles more so than other steroids.
Winstrol can lower progesterone, which can also decrease water retention and tends to give the muscles a harder but flatter look.
Primobolan will increase “dry” muscle growth and also tend to increase intracellular water retention, making the muscles look fuller.
These are the typical steroids that are good at creating a hard looking physique. Now, some of them are a lot harsher than others (halotestin, trenbolone for example) and since the aesthetic types (especially those who earn a living with their look) stay “on” pretty much all the time, they typically avoid those harsher products.
Primo, anavar, masteron, winstrol (not always all at the same time) with a low test base is what is typically used as far as anabolics are concerned.
Something like 150mg of test/week, 50mg of masteron/day and 20mg/anavar per day would be quite common. Or something like 150-200mg of test/week and 400-600mg of primo/week.
They likely use low dose GH (2-4iu/day) which boost fat loss and make the muscles look fuller even when dieting down by increasing intra-muscular water retention.
Some will also use fat loss drugs like T3 (or T4) and clenbuterol to lose more fat.
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I lurk a lot in this section, really great to see you post here, particularly interesting around the comment you made about Test being the higher risk (at higher dose) substance, what’s interesting is that th commonly recommended beginner cycle is usually somewhere around 500mg p/w of test solo.
I know that all steroids come with risk, but the more I read I think the more we are discovering risks on the longer basis, from my limited knowledge, 19-nors can cause cardiac re modeling and neurological issues, all orals hit liver and lipids and some hit the kidneys, I read the other day that bold/eq can hit kidneys as well (might be from BP via increased haematocrit?), masteron - not particularly good for its anabolic effects hard on the lipids and hard on the hairline, primo hairline and lipids,l again but a reasonable anabolic.
I know T can raise blood pressure and that has a plethora of negative effects but if that’s well managed/tolerated it seems ok on lipids? (This isn’t me disagreeing just wondering).
I’d love to know your thoughts on the risks/rewards of the mainstay substances (although appreciate that’s a massive topic and you may not have time/inclination to post about it!).
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Without question you were carrying more muscle at approximately the same bodyfat %. Arm size is the biggest giveaway.
It appears the biggest difference is/was genetics in waist/shoulder ratio.
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Absolutely, and limb length. All the more aesthetic physiques have a long limbs to torso ratio. I’m built like a block. And on top of having a block-like structure (I’m all torso with t-rex arms and stompy legs… good for benching and squatting, bad for looking aesthetic) my abs and obliques are super thick from years of focusing on heavy lifting and doing lots of abs/obliques work (when I was lifting for strength, because of my long torso, I had to make my abs super strong to support the poor lever).
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You and me both, except my Bench is shit too! 
CT’s post is great. I wouldn’t ignore lighting, angles, photoshop and filters when comparing how you look in the mirror to how someone on IG looks for a photo shoot. They didn’t just wake up looking the most aesthetic, they take the pictures in a specific way to make that stand out.
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Olympic lifting dream levers 
Ok here are some random thoughts in response to your points and question.
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Testosterone is a safe hormone at low doses. 200-250mg is pretty much something that you could stay on for life with no direct issues. The problem with test is that side effects exponentially increase along with the dose. And the risk-to-benefit ratio of high dose testosterone is higher than for other steroids at similar doses (except the harsher things like trenbolone, methyltrienolone, halotestin and DHB).
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At low doses testosterone will not pose an increased risk of cardiovascular issues, mostly because of the conversion to estrogen which is cardio-protective and helps with lipid profile (which is why suppressing estrogen is a bad idea, unless it reaches super high levels).
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The main potential issues with low-dose testosterone can easily be controlled by cleaning up your diet and doing some cardio (blood pressure).
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With long-term use it is to be noted that 200-250mg of testosterone could lead to prostate enlargement issues, mostly in guys over 40. P-Well is a VERY good product to help with that. Some people will use a 5-alpha reductase inhibiter to reduce the conversion to DHT, but these drugs are literally worse than the problem, at least if you are physique minded. For example finasteride will make you look softer, fatter and watery, kill your libido and make you depressed (talking from experience).
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There is also the possibility of low-dose testosterone to eventually lead to an increase in hematocrit levels, which you should keep an eye on. Giving blood once every 2-3 months would take care of that issue.
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Every class of product (testosterone derivatives, 19-nors, DHTs) have their own set of problems and benefits. There isn’t a perfectly safe drug. But I’d say that primobolan is the “less dangerous” steroid. It does have a negative effect on lipid profile, all DHTs do, but it’s milder than most DHTs (stanozolol and DHB being the worse). Anavar is pretty safe too, but prolonged use could eventually lead to kidney issues and it might impact the lipid profile and cause digestive system issues (like more orals).
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Equipoise can increase blood pressure via two mechanisms. The first one is indeed the increase in hematocrit/making the blood thicker. The second is by increasing anxiety through a depletion of GABA. Anxiety is nothing more than your neurons firing too fast and you feel like you lose control of your brain. GABA is an inhibitory neurotransmitter; it slows the neurons down. So if you deplete GABA, it’s harder to calm the nervous system down. An amped up nervous system (even more if you reach an anxious level of activation) leads to an increase in blood pressure.
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The thing is that people differ when it comes to both their response to the drug and the likelihood and severity of the side effects. Some have a higher level of 5-alpha reductase, which makes them more prone to converting testosterone and it’s derivative to DHTs. Some have a higher level of aromataze, making them convert more of the testosterone/derivative into estrogen. Some are more genetically prone to high blood pressure (which will also make them more at risk of kidney damage), some have a poor lipid profile already (either genetically or because of nutrition). So it’s actually hard to say that XYZ substance is the safest for everyone.
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As someone who has done numerous photoshoots, I can attest to that. I’ve often done photoshoots that lasted 4-6 hours non-stop, shooting hundreds of pictures, only to have 3-5 look really good.
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From my many years of observation and judging bodybuilding contests, IMO, the biggest curse a long torso has is that most everyone I knew appears to have high lats.
As far as aesthetics goes @Christian_Thibaudeau did the absolute best thing in getting very pronounced abdominal development. There is a lot of torso that needs to show muscle separation. Long torso and weak abs shows too much body with no muscular separation.
Of course the very best aesthetics require long, full muscle bellies, everywhere.
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For the clean & jerk.
The snatch favours longer limb lifters. That’s why a guy like Ilyia Ilyin in his prime had a monster clean & jerk, often 20kg+ over 2nd place but he would just hang with the guys on the snatch.
Ribakou was the opposite. He had the snatch world record (I think that it was 187.5kg in the old 85kg class) and his clean & jerk was barely higher than his snatch (192.5kg if memory serves me well).
Well, mine is shit now too because of elbow and shoulder issues.
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That is absolutely true. Dexter Jackson being the best example.
That’s even more true when the general population’s opinion is concerned. If you have something that everybody wants that stands out, you automatically look great in their mind.
Abs are valued and are seen as the thing that tells you that someone is in shape (especially for the gen pop). The first impression is set by your abs, even if the other aesthetic aspects are off.
I had heard it said that the abdominals is the picture and the surrounding muscles of all the body are the picture frame.
Thanks Christian, a really interesting write up, there’s no free rides in pushing beyond the natural, fascinating to see the underlying causes/physiology we’re complex creatures.
Always interesting hearing about the guys staying on high levels year round, I have no concerns about longevity (dropping dead of a heart attack sounds like my ideal way to go, having seen a lot of cancer and dementia deaths recently), but the risk/reward of staying on those high doses for years just seems and the even some of the short term side effects seems mad to me, I suppose they get so wrapped up with being big that it becomes their identity I guess.
One other thing that I believe is that the biggest bodybuilders are those who can handle the large doses with less side effects… kinda like some people use lots of recreational drugs, smoke and drink and live to be longer than some who live a healthy life.
The biggest problem is when someone who is a lot more prone to these side effects, copy the doses of the big guys, thinking that they too will have few problems.
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That’s a pretty good way of illustrating it!
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