Mr Muscle has a problem

Maitreya K, 20, spends as much time honing his musical skills as he does chiselling his body. The Pune-based musician who goes by the moniker Max Kate, says having a muscular body is like "personality development." He spends roughly 16 hours a week doing a mix of heavy weight training, push-ups, pull-ups, legs and cardio. "I feel that if I am improving my physique, I am improving in personality and characteristics too." While fitness experts are all for the young focusing on building strength, they are wary of the growing trend where young, male gym-goers are finding mental personality gratification in muscle strength. When this borders on obsession, it gets a name - muscle body dysmorphia disorder or bigorexia.

Jay Patil is a the final year student of BSc IT, and admits to getting hooked to muscle building in 2019. His reason for continuing: I feel more confident

Experts say that the condition is exhibited mostly by men and characterised by excessive weight lifting, a preoccupation with not feeling muscular enough and strict adherence to eating foods that lower weight and fat, and build muscle. This tends to overlap with an obsession with the physical appearance, This tends to overlap with an obsession with the physical appearance, coupled with frequent checking of the self in the mirror, or not at all. Bigorexia is also known as reverse anorexia.

Sunil Kudva, who runs the personal training centre Elite Fitness in Gamdevi with his wife Madhuri Kudva, says, "We have been members of the fitness industry for more than 30 years and it's only in the last six years or so that we have seen this preoccupation become common among men." Jay Patil, who is a the final year student of BSc IT, admits he got preoccupied with muscle building in 2019. His reason for continuing: I feel more confident. This confidence, they say, comes from noticing a change in the way others perceive them. "My body is the reason people talk to me; they want to know how I achieved this," says Patil.

Maitreya K, 20, is happy with his transformation, but says he is nowhere near done and wishes to push himself to get more muscular. He compares achieving a muscle goal to the high of winning something

According to a study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, roughly eight per cent of young men aged 16 to 22 years in the US are overtly concerned with muscular strength building and use potentially harmful supplements and steroids to achieve a desired physique. "The biggest trouble with men wanting to be really big is that they lack ability, they just look big. Ability refers to whether you are faster, stronger, are able to do more stuff," explains Kudva. Patil recalls that he was a skinny teenager, which is when he started going to the gym. "When you are skinny, you know you are disadvantaged as far as your appearance goes. I was suffering from an acute lack of confidence; I never felt great," he says. Gaining confidence then became synonymous with working out and building muscle, a sort of quantifiable and tangible meter gauge to earn self-worth.

"Dysmorphia refers to the feeling of insecurity with your physical self," says Mumbai-based psychologist Purvi Shah, who is also the founder of mental health and life skills counselling outfit, iPurviShah. "Body dysmorphia patients lack security, self-worth, and are anxious. It is a perceived flaw. There is no real physical problem, there is a perception that there is one."

Purvi Shah

Maitreya spends one-and-a-half hours at the gym. "I gym every day. It [the gym] is like a temple where I head to pray to each and every part of my body because it's this body that is giving me so much. It's as if I am in conversation with my body and figuring whether every part the anatomy is as it should be, and the right size."

This question often has no answer. A person with body dysmorphia will want more. "Yes, I'd like to grow more and I will keep going on because my goal hasn't been achieved," says Patil. Shah agrees that satisfaction is hard to come by. And this stems from complete disassociation with the physical self. Maitreya adds, "It's almost as if I have won something. My mind is always ticking towards a new goal, I need a bigger chest to look good; there are calculations with regard to the size of your abdomen, arms [that I must achieve]."

Behind the facade of bigger and muscularly perfect, is an inherent weakness - lack of strength. Kudva has observed that most of them can barely move their shoulders and legs with agility, and tend to move like robots. "They think they can lift impossibly heavy weights in the gym, but they mainly do exercises for show muscles. Try telling them to shift something like a sofa or fridge, and they won't manage. Their range of movement is limited because they have built useless muscle," he says.

Maitreya, who is a performer, thinks it's doubly important for someone who is looking to build a following, to look good. And physical transformation has only led to more support for him. After he started seeing the results of gymming, his brother and mother followed. He calls it a chain of people working out. "I need to look good to build my brand. Transformation brings along exciting things. Earlier, it was all gloomy."

According to Shah, the reasons behind the condition could vary from depression to anxiety, even a troubled childhood. "They could've faced bullying or their emotional needs may not have been met. They are holding back some trauma and our culture doesn't allow easy expression of weakness. To turn attention away from the mental and emotional self, they focus on the physical self. They are usually wary of being judged. What they need is to feel empowered and motivated," she says.

That most of India looks at Bollywood for its role models, complicates matters. Kudva suggests that parents instead discuss the virtues of being like India's sportsmen and women, the true epitome of fitness.

What can parents do

Sunil and Madhuri Kudva

Sunil and Madhuri Kudva, who have a 16-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter, say that parents should do their best to make their children feel secure, and have teenagers understand that they are much more than their physical self. It's not about how the body looks but what they can do with it that matters. They suggest that parents act as role models, be physically active and discuss body image with their children. They can point them to athletes and disciplined sports stars instead of fawning over Bollywood actors.