Dying for a Six Pack Reggie Yates' Extreme UK

'Being a British guy in 2015 is not easy.

'21st century pressures are changing...'

No way...

'..the way we live...'

Women are seen as superior to men.

'..the way we love...'

If you are a Muslim, you cannot be gay.

It's as simple as that.

'..even the way we look.'

-That's silicone?

-Yeah.

-This is mental.

'In this series, I'm travelling to the extreme edge...

MAN GRUNTS '..of modern British masculinity.'

They basically said the only way you can stay is

if you agree to be exorcised to get the demons out of you.

'The UK's gyms are bulging.

'And British men have never been bigger...'

Oh, Jesus, man.

'..buffer...'

Doesn't even look real.

The gym is my life, effectively.

'..or more bothered about body image.'

There's not enough cuts.

I'm just not pleased with it.

That's crazy.

'So why so are many young British guys battling with their bodies?'

You want six pack, right?

Yep.

I want to find out what happens

when self-improvement spirals into self-destruction

for a generation in search of the ultimate six-pack.

Your testosterone's up there anyway.

And you're adding steroids.

I ended up going to jail for 12 months for fighting.

What's your body going to be like at 30?

I'd be lucky to get there.

If you know that, then what are you doing?!

Jacked, ripped, shredded, cut.

Call it what you like.

Right now, muscles are huge.

The thing that seems consistent in

these pictures is that there are a lot

of people on the planet who spend a lot of time working out.

This kind of body once belonged to professional athletes.

But these pecs and six packs are all down to the hard

graft of thousands of ordinary guys.

There's a lot of normal sort of average Joes in here

in gyms that look just like the one that I'm in right now,

working their arse off to achieve some sort of result.

Hench has gone high street

and Instagram is inundated

with solid pecs and six-packs.

It's normal now to work out. It's normal now to share your results.

I've just clicked on this guy's pictures here

and there is a photo here of him on a building site with a hammer

and no shirt on.

He's got an incredible physique and he's clearly

putting a lot of work in, because if it's not pictures of his six-pack,

it's pictures of his diet and he, erm...

Yeah, he's really, really put the work in.

So what does it really take to get a body like that?

I'm off to find out.

Welcome to Swansea, South Wales.

And meet Kyle.

-Hello, mate. Kyle?

-Reggie.

-Nice to meet you.

-Pleasure. How are you?

-Yep, I'm all right. Yeah, very good.

-Quite smart.

-Mate, I don't know what I'm wearing.

Are you dressed literally for the gym to run straight in now?

I'm always prepped for the gym, always prepped for gym.

Why's that? I mean, is it something

-that you don't get to do on a regular basis?

-I go every day.

-Every single day?

-Every single day.

Kyle's pictures don't lie. He is a builder.

But he's found a way to make the most of every minute at work.

I find the hardest jobs on site so I can train in work as well.

If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?

-24.

-And how long has this whole obsession with fitness been

a part of your life? If you don't mind me calling it an obsession.

It is. It's an obsession.

Erm, I've been in the gym about four years.

I've been obsessed about 18 months.

So why this level of obsession?

I've been single for 18 months. Simple as that.

So the minute she left, you started pumping?

'I've brought my gym kit too,

'but it turns out Kyle has a little something extra.'

Is there like five different pairs of shorts in there?

Erm, no, one pair of shorts.

And that.

-And some clingfilm?

-Clingfilm.

-So have you got in your mind already a routine that you are going to work through today?

-Yes, I have.

Where does that clingfilm come into play?

You'll see. You'll see.

This has suddenly got really ominous. Oh, so there he is.

Look at that!

No way.

So you are going to work out with that on?

Underneath my T-shirt, yeah. I lose the excess water.

And I just sweat it out.

Do you not feel like a flipping Christmas turkey?

It feels tight, yeah, it feels tight. It feels uncomfortable.

Right.

Kyle's said I can follow the workout he does

when he wants his muscles to look most defined.

I'm not expecting this to be easy.

Three or four miles, I'd be happy.

-Three or four miles.

-Yeah.

But he's trying to sweat out excess water, risking dehydration

and even heatstroke.

It's wet, it's soaking.

Abs mixed in as well with no break.

Wow.

OK?

Slow it down.

-Slower.

-Yeah?

Jeez, you got a proper focus going, man.

I mean, I don't want to talk to you to mess with your stuff

but I've never seen you look

so serious in the little bit of time that I've been...

The only time that I am serious is when I'm training.

Most days I'm laid-back and mellow.

In here, it's about training, and that's it.

Please don't take this the wrong way.

I look at you and I think you're done.

Like, I would dream to have a body like yours right now,

but I don't think I would want to push it any further than it is

if I got to this point.

I've got to keep pushing.

Jump in.

Keep moving.

You going to start shouting at me in a minute?

It's warm-up, so it's OK now.

-This is the warm-up?

-Yeah.

So if this is the warm-up, what are we going to be doing

when we're really going for it?

Faster. Faster and more reps.

Why would we need to go even harder?

Why would we need to go faster than this?

To sweat more, lose more water, more ripped.

So far, so looks-obsessed.

'But for someone who's posting shirtless photos online,

'you'd think Kyle would be prouder of the results of all his work.'

Come on, mate. Look, it's completely flat. What is wrong with that?

It may be flat but it's not good enough.

It's too much water here. You know, I'm not...

Too much water where?

See? It's not showing enough here. I'm just not pleased with it.

-There is nothing wrong with trying to better yourself.

-No.

But I am just trying to understand what it is that you are seeing

different to what I am seeing.

It's not enough... There's not enough cut.

What do you mean by enough cut?

When you get a six-pack, right? There's two, four...

These are not showing enough.

Number six.

Do you think that I see something completely different to you

-when you look at your body?

-Yeah.

-What is that?

I see a shit body.

You can see it being in good shape.

So if you feel shit about your body, does that mean that

when you look in the mirror you're unhappy with what you see?

-Yeah.

-Really, even now?

-Mm.

As we leave, Kyle tells me he's starving.

He's earned a decent lunch.

What's this, exactly?

Like, smoke beef. Dried smoke beef.

But this is not it.

This is just lean meat.

140 calories per bag.

Do you count calories on a daily basis?

Not count as such, but watch what I eat.

Food-wise, every day I eat about five or six meals a day,

but they're all low-calorie foods.

Diet is obviously very important when it comes to looking after your body,

but you are micro-managing every calorie.

I'm watching, yeah.

It's not a healthy obsession, is it?

So you know that.

I am totally aware of it.

If you are aware, why isn't it changing?

Can't. I like looking good.

But I know I'll never be perfect.

OK, full disclosure.

I'm not about to live on tiny pieces of dried-up beef,

but I can understand some of what Kyle's saying.

Two weeks ago, I stepped up my own gym routine in a big way.

I'm in the gym and the reason that I'm here is

because my mate has told me that I'm getting a little bit fat now.

And I think he is too,

so we've put ourselves on this six-week challenge. We're challenging

ourselves to lose some weight, to feel better about our bodies.

The aim is to eat as clean as possible and train as much as possible,

which is why I'm here sweating like a pig

because I am determined to get to the end of this challenge

and look in the mirror and be happy with what I see.

I'm noticing younger and younger guys are going to the gym now

and that was never the case when I was younger.

You know, when I was in school, you didn't care about that.

It was just about who had the right trainers.

It wasn't about who had the biggest biceps.

Sports stars, fashion lines, men's mags...

It seems every 21st century male image has a perfect six-pack.

Looks like the shoot's already in full swing.

I've come to Leeds, where online clothes company Reem

are holding a casting call for new models.

But they're not just looking for professionals...

Boss Simon wants what he calls "ordinary guys" off the street.

Really, what we're trying to do is trying to find the next

sort of cut guy.

If it comes across in that image that he is a little bit ripped,

then it makes the clothes look a lot better.

Good, and again, and again, good.

Two weeks into my own body blitz, this lot don't look that

ordinary to me, but only two out of 14 guys here are actually models.

And it seems muscles make money when it comes to selling clothes.

Flat on, flat on. These are full length, OK?

So keep the movement going. Fantastic.

He could appeal to like a mass market of guys, you know?

Who are everyday guys, gym-goers.

So, are everyday guys and gym-goers the same thing now?

I think for our customer.

Change the feet. You've got it. Look up.

This guy, looking at him in this picture,

he looks like a fairly normal, average guy, but seeing him

face-to-face you can see that he's got massive pecs,

he goes to the gym, he's got big arms.

So would you say that this sort of model is

what your consumers are aspiring towards?

This sort of body shape?

Yes, athletic.

Certainly that athletic, that shredded look.

You know, so nothing too big, but shredded and defined

so they're going to have, like, a six pack or

they're going to aim towards a six pack.

There's a few guys I'm quite excited to see.

-Luke I quite like.

-The guy in the army green?

Yeah, the guy in the army green. He's a bit of a lad's lad.

So that's the way he comes across to me.

I think he's got a good image, I think, yeah.

When he's not peeling off his vest, Luke works as a barber.

Luke, is that your most ripped or

are you more ripped than that sometimes?

Are you on a downer or an up at the minute?

To be honest, you've caught me off-guard.

I've been on holiday for two weeks. No training, been eating pizza.

What did you have for breakfast today as well?

Erm, oats and a protein shake.

Just flex your muscles maybe for me, yeah.

You see this sort of...

When you get that sort of definition,

if the garment is fitted around that,

that's generally just giving a great image.

-That's what you are looking for?

-That is what the guy wants.

All right, stop flexing now. He's giving it all of that!

One look at Luke, and it's pretty obvious he's a gym user,

but it looks like he's been working a lot harder than me.

For years!

How much weight would you say you've put on

since you've started training?

Um, like, three stone of lean muscle.

Wow, that's a lot.

Yeah. I was, like, nine stone before.

Jeez! Do you have any pictures of your old self?

-Oh, Jesus, man.

-That's about three years of training.

Wow.

To this year now.

I just wanted to be more muscular.

I haven't been to a fashion shoot

where muscles have been so important.

Personal trainer Ross has some of the biggest and glossiest of all.

No way!

It doesn't even look real.

Yeah, but that's, like, four years of work.

You did that in four years?

Yeah, that is Monday to Friday gym sessions,

four, five times a week. It is like a full-time job.

The gym is my life, effectively.

So, what was your motivation to start, then?

Mainly it was just because I wanted to be better in myself

and I looked up to the Men's Health, the six-pack,

what everyone at the time calls the perfect physique.

It's obvious these guys are working hard,

and I guess it's no surprise the media is playing a big part

in encouraging them.

All these television shows, like your Geordie Shores

or your MTV kind of shows, they're going out, having a good time,

looking good, they're getting all the attention,

and I think that is a big part of it, really -

lads seeing that and want a little piece of it.

You see changes in your body from the gym

and you're getting a little bit more attention

and you just want more and more of it.

I think that is the reason, and then it kind of becomes a lifestyle

and a habit, and you are just set for life.

Thanks so much for coming. It means a lot to us and the team.

'Simon has boiled down 14 wannabe models to four.'

Ashley, as a good contender, as one of our four, Ashley, OK, so...

Luke Gator, thank you.

Jamie, and then finally, we've got Ben as well for the four.

I don't remember the last time I felt this fat! I am...

I don't remember the last time I spent this much time

around a group of guys with no shirt on as well.

It just seems that now, because in mainstream culture, you know,

you've got someone like Cristiano Ronaldo,

who looks like he's been chiselled out of marble,

you've got someone like David Beckham

and things like social media,

we all have in our lives on a day-to-day sort of basis,

there is no way of escaping these messages that are being thrown at us.

For this generation of late teens and twentysomethings,

just how built you are and how masculine you are is so important.

But sometimes exercise just isn't enough.

Some young men are going even further for perfect abs.

Like Turkey.

It's an increasingly popular destination for young Brits

in pursuit of the perfect body shape.

I've come to a private hospital to meet Lee.

-Where are you from?

-I'm from Leeds.

Leeds? And what are you getting done here?

I'm getting abdominal etching.

What on earth does that mean?

It creates a more defined six-pack,

so they suck the fat out from in between your grooves

in the six-pack, and they can add fat on to it,

depending on what type of six-pack you'd like to have.

So, basically, you are having like a surgical, permanent six-pack?

-Yes.

-How often do you actually go to the gym?

Six to seven times a week.

-Six to seven times a week?

-Yes.

Now, this might sound a little weird and I'm not blowing smoke here

but you actually look like you are in absolutely fine physical shape.

Why are you doing this?

Because I'd like it more defined.

And I'd like to be able to put more size on as well.

I honestly feel, being brought up in the '80s with the wrestling,

you know, with the wrestling figures,

you always picture a man with muscles and six-pack,

and that's the way that my image were always brought up,

so that is my perception of an ideal man.

When you were, I don't know, when you first started at the gym

and you first started working out, did you ever think you'd end up here?

No. No, I really didn't.

Lee's after something even six days a week at the gym can't give him.

So he's spending £3,500 to get action-figure abs.

It's his first ever major operation.

How are you feeling at this stage? You feeling nervous yet?

I am, yeah, very nervous.

You don't look it at all.

Well, I try to keep it in, really,

but, no, it's... Yeah.

I don't know, I'm really struggling to understand

why you are going to put yourself through this. You're in good shape.

Well, thank you, for a start,

but, no, I don't see that. Like I said...

What do you see?

I see that there are certain areas that need developing.

What are those areas?

Definitely my stomach.

And my arms need to be bigger.

-Hi there.

-How are you?

-I'm good, thank you.

We will take you to the operation room in 30 minutes.

-OK.

-OK?

-No worries.

The operation Lee's having is still rare,

but this hospital has seen seven British guys in the last six months.

Funny thing is,

you need to be in good shape to have it in the first place.

Patients won't normally be considered

if they have more than 2cm of fat.

-So, you want deep lines?

-Deep lines.

-Six-pack, right?

-Yep.

Here, here.

This is only one part.

-OK? And you want some defining, here.

-Yes, yes.

-Right?

What little fat Lee does have will be melted using ultrasound,

and then strategically sucked out to accentuate his muscles.

With a procedure like this, then, just how risky is it?

I think the main risk is asymmetry.

We will have some swellings,

some bruisings for nearly one month, I think, maximum.

He will need a corset, we will put a corset on him

for two months after the operation.

Two months of wearing a corset?

Yes, but he can take it off.

-He can wear his shirt on it.

-Yeah.

-It's not a big thing.

After that, we can, I think, only have some skin retractions

that we don't want, or small asymmetries that we don't like.

If he have any problem we will talk with him again also.

Lee's gone down now and I'm still trying to work out

whether he has got the right idea or I have.

HE LAUGHS

He doesn't need to do another sit-up again, ever - imagine that.

Choosing to have an operation of this scale? I don't know.

MACHINES BEEP

Lee will be under general anaesthetic for two-and-a-half hours.

SLICING

What's happening now, Doctor?

This is the second stage - extraction of the fat.

WHOOSHING

Argh!

Jeez, that is his actual fat...

coming out of him right now.

And the craziest thing about this

is that I can already start to see the difference.

I can see where some of the fat has been moved from.

You can see that his abs are popping a little bit more,

he looks like he has been at the gym for a few more months...even now.

So, are you completely finished now, is this done?

-Yes. We've just finished.

-Brilliant.

You can already see that it's a lot flatter

and there is a lot less fat on the sides here

and the definition really is showing.

I was sort of in there watching them work on his abs

and I was touching mine, checking my body fat

and I don't know if it made more paranoid about

what I've got to shift,

but it definitely made me think about what I'm doing.

I do know that he's going to wake up and be very bloody happy.

If not, he's a hard man to please,

because that was incredible, what they did in there.

But it turns out that Lee's just a beginner in the surgery stakes.

Back in London, I'm about to meet a man who's an expert.

KNOCK AT DOOR

-There he is, finally. Rodrigo.

-Hey, hello there.

-Hi.

-Good to finally meet you.

Yeah! Make yourself comfortable, please. Come in.

32-year-old Rodrigo is a flight attendant

who's always dreamed of living a glamorous life.

35 cosmetic procedures later, he says he's finally achieved his goal.

You nearly done in there, Rodrigo?

'And he's agreed to talk to me about them while he waits for a massage.'

Look at you!

That is like the world's most-flamboyant robe

I think I have ever seen.

There's a hood as well.

I can't avoid this, this is incredibly impressive.

Well, this is all plastic surgery.

Do you know how hard I'm working to achieve that right now?!

Do you know the amount of sit-ups I'm doing?

-Let's compare.

-No, I don't want to compare!

This is just the most depressing thing in the world.

And your chest looks pretty impressive. Now, please tell me...

I'm going to get...

You've done something to your chest. What have you done to your chest?

Well, I have silicone implants. Look.

-Is that silicone?!

-Yeah.

-Oh, my goodness.

-Yeah, but I have to get them done again.

I am absolutely bamboozled by what you have achieved through surgery,

because that is the body that so many guys are fighting to achieve

and what you have done is, you've basically found a loophole.

You've found a way to achieve it without the work.

Yeah, I reinvented myself through plastic surgery.

Can you talk me through what you have actually had done?

I have fillers in my biceps.

-Fillers?

-Fillers.

-They are like... They are like silicone fillers, yeah.

-OK.

Yeah, fillers in my biceps, triceps and shoulders,

and I also have silicone implants in my chest,

lipo in my back, in my waist, obviously my abs.

How much would you say you've spent on all the work that you've done?

210K.

£210,000?

That's correct.

On surgery alone?

Yes, on surgery alone.

People, they like an image.

People like what is beautiful.

Some people are born blessed with natural beauty.

I wasn't. I wasn't born this way.

I made myself this way in order to be accepted by society.

Cosmetic surgery has risks, like any medical procedure,

and Rodrigo himself suffered a serious infection

after having fillers injected into his arms.

But he's still adamant it's been right for him.

-Is that you?

-It is me.

I don't see anything wrong with this guy.

What is it about this guy that you wanted to change?

This guy is just crossing his arms like that

because he is covering his boobs.

In all my photos, if I was wearing a T-shirt,

-I would always be covering myself.

-What do you think

when you see a picture of yourself looking like this?

I feel sorry.

I feel sorry for myself.

I feel sorry for myself that I wasn't blessed with natural beauty

and then I had to go through everything that I did -

all the pain, time and money -

in order to reinvent myself to become a happy person.

Because I wasn't happy at all

and then I just couldn't accept myself in that way.

Looking at these images, I can really see just how much of a journey

that you've been on in creating this new version of yourself.

I'm satisfied, I'm happy.

I love myself. I'm everything that I have always wanted to be in my life.

Rodrigo has his way of changing his body.

I'm four weeks into mine.

And I'm not going to lie - it's been tough.

My routine has changed, my diet has changed

and the fact that I am here on a regular basis is a bit weird.

But at least I am doing it for the right reasons. I think!

I have to really watch myself when it comes to

what it is that I am doing and how I am feeling with the gym

and with my results,

because I have an addictive personality.

I am the sort of person that, if I love something and if I get into it,

I will use and re-use and overuse it until it's dead.

All of us who train hard are pushing for something,

but it's a fine line between controlling the results

and the results controlling us.

When I met Kyle, he admitted he's striving for perfection.

But what does that look like?

Back in Wales, I've joined him at a second gym

to try to find out what WILL satisfy him.

We'll go for... We'll go sevens.

Go for sevens. Grab one each cos my hands are full.

Yeah, I've got that for you.

And we'll crack on.

The punishing regime is the same,

at least at first glance.

The clingfilm's back... but there's more.

Now he's going to lift weights in 82-degree heat.

You're about to do another workout but in the sauna.

Yes, it'll be my third session of today.

And these are going in there with you?

I will train with them and do push-ups in there as well.

Mate.

I just want the perfect body.

Or close enough to perfect as I can get.

-But... Please don't take this the wrong way...

-No.

-..this isn't fitness.

-No.

This is something else.

This is punishing your body.

This is pushing your body.

It's putting my body in places where it shouldn't be.

A body wasn't built for this, a body wasn't built for this...to do that.

It's not built for it.

What you are doing is so...

-It's dangerous.

-It's so dangerous.

-It is.

Surely you've got to understand that you can't keep doing this.

-How old are you, 26?

-24.

-24?

-Hmm.

I mean, what is your body going to be like at 30?

I'll be lucky to get there.

That's it, really.

Kyle was already risking heatstroke,

and now he's ramping up the degrees.

This is crazy.

Knowing that Kyle is aware of what he is doing to himself,

and knowing that he knows that he could potentially kill himself

with this kind of behaviour,

I mean, I chuckle because it is so bloody ridiculous.

Why would you knowingly do this to yourself?

I don't know. You sort of hear "body dysmorphia" thrown around so much

when it comes to young girls and it comes to young women

desperately wanting to be the perfect figure,

but, I mean, what's to say that he doesn't have that?

He's an addict for the results

and he's addicted to being better.

What's the difference between that

and being addicted to something like a class A drug?

Because you know it's bad for you but you keep doing it.

And this kid could kill himself.

If he keeps going this way, by 30, is he still going to be alive?

Why do you keep doing it?

Pressure, I suppose.

From who?

Just general, like, "He has abs."

Just general pressure off of friends or just acquaintances from work.

Why does their opinion of you matter so much?

Because I was really shy before.

So now I've got this body and these abs and this shape,

I seem to have more people around me, type of thing.

But before, like 15, 16, I didn't have many friends,

but now I've got all these friends

cos I'm obsessed with the gym, I do fitness.

I don't know. It's hard to explain.

Incredibly, after everything Kyle's put his body through,

tonight he's working a second job.

He's told me to head for a bar in town,

but apparently, Kyle's not pulling pints tonight.

The one, the only, Mr Cowboy.

WHOOPING AND CHEERING

Yeah.

When he's not on a building site,

women pay Kyle to take off his clothes.

So of course his body matters.

MUSIC PLAYS

While Kyle's busy, I want another view

on whether this look is really worth all the trouble.

-What is it about the boys that you want to see tonight?

-Muscles!

Are you looking for guys that have that kind of chiselled body?

Is that what you are after? Or do you not care?

I don't know, it's a bit shallow,

but it does make you more attracted to someone if they work out.

To achieve the bodies that these guys have got,

the reality is that they are probably having to go to the gym

five, six, maybe seven times a week.

-That's fine!

-So you'd be all right with that?

I wouldn't be able to go out with someone who doesn't go to the gym.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-Have you ever dated anyone who looks like one of the strippers?

-No.

What do you mean, he was high maintenance?

Sounds like they're less sold on the lifestyle,

but it's high-fives all round for the six-pack...

Ladies, can we give our cowboy one massive yee-hah?

..and Kyle's been getting some very positive feedback too.

So could this be what it's all for?

How much tonight is actually about the crowd?

Why don't you care what they think? They are screaming for you.

That girl was licking your chest.

What kind of attention do you get from these lot?

All right, well, keep going, mate. You're nearly on.

So weird to think that he's taking his clothes off for women,

but he ain't even thinking about them.

His body is something that he is working on continuously,

he is thinking about continuously,

and if he gets a pat on the back from a girl, doesn't matter.

If he gets a pat on the back from a bodybuilder,

then he has achieved something.

It's been ten days since I met Lee in Istanbul for his operation.

I'm fascinated to see the results,

but I also want to find out

how his body obsession has impacted on his life.

-Hello, Lee.

-Hello, Reggie. How are you?

How are you, mate? I'm good, I'm good.

How are you, more importantly?

I'm good. I'm a little sore but I am getting better.

-Can you show me your new six-pack?

-I can do, yes.

Go on, then.

Look at that. I can already see it, mate.

Whoa.

-Can you see that?

-Yeah, I can.

My stomach is starting to settle in, into shape.

Yeah. Are you happy with the results?

I'm happy, yes. I mean, obviously, they are going to get

progressively better but, yeah, I am happy with what I see so far.

I can only imagine the pain post-operation.

What's it been like living with that?

For the first couple of days, I was bed-bound.

It was very difficult getting in and out of bed.

Since then, I've managed to go to the gym once.

-I've had a little bit of...

-You've already been to the gym?

Yes. Yes, I've been on a cross-trainer.

Are you allowed to go to the gym this close after surgery?

They've not to say not to, they said keep it within reason.

You've had an operation, it's all right to take a week off.

Surely you can see that?

I suppose so, but I've always got something in the back of my mind,

saying, you know, I need to go to the gym, I haven't been, you know.

Again, it's obviously in my mind.

Do you think that the amount of time that you've spent working out

has affected your relationships?

-It affected my past relationship, yes.

-In what way?

We ended up splitting up.

I've got two children to her,

and we ended up splitting up due to my commitment to the gym.

It's my solace, really, is the gym, you know? Some people turn to drink.

-I go to the gym, that's my free time, really.

-Hmm.

I mean the things that you've mentioned,

you know, drink and drugs, they have massive addictive qualities.

Do you think that the gym can be as addictive

and, potentially, as dangerous?

Maybe not as dangerous

but I think most certainly as addictive, yes.

If you didn't have the body that you have now,

how would you feel about yourself?

I wouldn't have the confidence.

I'd probably be a lot shyer.

I wouldn't be as happy that I am.

I do feel that I would be a different person.

Yeah. All right, Lee. Lovely talking to you, man.

Thank you so much, take care, all right. Bye-bye.

Wow.

I think I've taken for granted just how much body image

is an issue for young men now,

because things were eternally different ten years ago

when I was a teenager or in my early 20s, you know?

How long is it before every third kid is doing what Lee's doing?

For not that much money, you can have perfect abs for life.

All you have to do is fly to Turkey and have a little operation.

And that's it.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it,

but I don't know how much I'd encourage that

when it comes to my 14-year-old little brother and his mates.

But when it comes to artificial intervention,

there's a darker phenomenon on our streets.

Steroids, most commonly anabolic steroids -

a synthetic form of testosterone

taken to increase stamina and build muscles.

They're legal for personal use,

whether they're injected or taken as tablets,

but experts warn they're a ticking time bomb.

-'Hello?'

-Hello, yeah, it's Reggie.

-'Hi.'

I've come to Turning Point in London.

They're a charity offering a clean, safe needle-exchange,

mainly for heroin and crack users.

But three years ago, they added a drop-in for steroid users too.

-Hi, Reggie. Hi, I'm Roy.

-Hi, I'm Reggie, nice to meet you.

So, you run this place?

I do. Yeah, I run Smart Muscle here on a Wednesday night.

'And team leader Roy Jones has seen a change in who walks in.'

What sort of people are coming through the door here?

It used to be guys in their late 30s,

people who had been bodybuilding for a number of years,

but now it's guys about 22, 23.

What's more concerning is,

I get people coming here who haven't actually been to the gym at all

and they are wanting to take the drugs

to get the body without actually putting in the work.

'It's estimated there could now be more than half a million

'steroid users in the UK,

'but most of the ones Roy sees don't understand the basics.'

I would say, probably, about 10% of them know how to inject

and get it completely correct.

There are errors they are making and sometimes

guys think that by injecting into their chest or their arms, etc,

that those areas are going to grow bigger

because they are doing it locally.

So that's the size of it, basically.

So, for intramuscular injection,

they are wanting it to go about two-thirds of the length

into the muscle.

So, you can see, you need to do that in the right place, otherwise...

Oh, that's so grim.

And it needs to be done like a dart, to get it to go in deep.

Jeez! Let's have a look. That's massive.

That's horrible.

The thing is, though, what happens is,

then you end up on a hormonal rollercoaster.

Your testicles will shrink

because you are not producing testosterone any more,

because you've got such high levels of synthetic testosterone

in your body, your brain says, "Whoa! Too much!", shuts them down.

And sometimes, if you get the wrong combination of steroids,

your sex drive is completely gone.

And also, steroids can make your blood thicker

and affect your cholesterol levels,

so long term, it can have an affect on your cardiovascular...

or, you know, your heart, basically.

It's become part of male grooming,

almost acceptable for them to be injecting these drugs

because they are enhancing themselves, basically.

If it's in aid of getting you to be buff, then it's more acceptable.

This is news to me.

Until now, I thought only competitive bodybuilders used steroids.

And it looks like this gym in Huddersfield

could have had issues in the past.

Have a look at that, this sign's in the toilet as well.

"Zero tolerance policy. Anyone found using needles on our premises..."

But I can't help wondering what the old-school guys

think of the steroid craze.

(Look at his arms.)

MAN GASPS

HE PANTS

HE SNORTS AND GROANS

HE SNORTS

HE HISSES

HE GROANS

HE PANTS

'Meet Dave Crosland, aka "The Freak".'

You done, mate? I was about to do that with one arm(!)

-Hello, fella. You all right?

-Not bad.

You're bleeding on your head.

Ah, don't worry about it.

-What's caused that, then?

-Blood pressure.

-Are you serious?

-Yeah.

So what, you've pushed so hard that you got...?

I've given myself a brain haemorrhage before now.

How long have you been doing this for?

I started when I was 19.

-And how old are you now, if you don't mind me asking?

-44 next month.

And have you ever stopped?

Yeah, I took 12 years off.

Why?

I tore my left pectoral clean off.

-Tore it off?

-Yeah.

-You tore your whole pec off.

Yeah, that side's torn out, that's why there's a big hole there.

'As a champion bodybuilder, Dave has used steroids many times,

'but now he's also a counsellor, teaching about their safety.'

I'm not pro-use, I'm not against use. I am pro-education.

They aren't the demon that they're made out to be.

But that doesn't mean that they are safe, either.

Why do you think that it's so widespread, then?

-What is it that is making it so popular?

-Social media.

Males have never had to deal with image issues.

It's always been a women's problem.

We've never had to worry about whether our make-up was right

or our hair was right.

All of a sudden, social media comes along

and people aren't getting a true representation,

because there's Photoshop and there are all these filters.

It's like, "Everyone else looks good and I look crap."

Males have got pressure about body image and we don't know how to cope with it.

They're searching for an identity

and they look for that through body image.

So, "I want to be male,

"I want to be more male, which means I have to have muscles."

Yeah. And that is affecting men as young as what?

I think you really start to see

people looking and considering at 15 or 16.

-That young?

-Yeah.

Cos I'm a little bit younger than you,

and that definitely wasn't the case when I was at school.

No, and it wasn't the case when I was at school.

But that's what I am seeing now.

I'm finding it hard to understand steroid use.

But up until now, I haven't met someone who is currently using.

Whoa-ah!

Drive! Come on!

MAN GASPS

HE PANTS

-This is Craig.

-All right. How's it going?

All right. Dave was telling me a bit about your sort of history.

-I started training at nine years old.

-Training at nine?

-Yeah, nine.

-So, what age did you start using?

-19.

-Right.

-At that time, I was in the Army,

so, at that age, your testosterone is up there anyway,

and you train to be a soldier, train to be a killer,

and you're adding steroids, you know,

making your testosterone go through the roof.

So, sometimes, you can get into situations

where you wouldn't normally react in a certain way,

-where now you'll blow your top.

-So, what were you doing?

I ended up going to jail for 12 months for fighting. Yeah.

So what's different now?

And why are you still using? Why do you think it a good idea to use

-after everything you've been through?

-It's addictive, it really is.

Once you feel like Superman,

you don't want to go back to being average Joe, do you?

'Given how dangerous steroids sound,

'it's hard to believe how easy it is to actually get hold of them.'

Steroids...

Pages and pages of them.

Go back up. Click the first thing, let's have a look at that.

-So...

-12 quid!

£12.50 for a box of three 1ml ampules.

That's cheaper than protein powder at a high-street shop.

They're not overly expensive.

They really aren't.

Jeez.

The truth is, I've never really entertained anything

that is deemed as being potentially dangerous in that way, you know?

I don't smoke, I don't drink.

When all my friends started taking drugs

in our late teens and early 20s, I never really did

and, to me, steroids were never really something that

I ever really gave a second thought to because I wasn't in the gym,

number one, and number two, it was this big, weird, scary unknown entity

that only existed within the realms of really serious bodybuilders.

That taboo would have been smashed for me if I was a teenager now,

in this day and age, because the information is there.

And the pressure to use them is all around.

It's a different time now,

and if you want to do something like steroids and you are only 19,

you can do it all from the comfort of your own smartphone.

But while steroids are legal to possess for personal use,

it's against the law to sell or supply them.

So it's hard to understand how there can be

so many sites online selling 'roids.

We've made contact with an underground lab

operating in the West Midlands and producing illegal steroids

for the growing UK market.

And they've agreed to meet.

So what's the sitch with the fixer? Is he here?

We've got to wait for a phone call from a few people, yeah.

-He's waiting and then he's going to phone us.

-OK.

I think, whenever you meet people who are operating outside of the law

and are essentially paying their bills by doing something illegal,

you have to ask yourself the question just how much

do they care about what it is that they are producing,

and how much they care about the people that are using their product?

That's him now. Hello?

It's Reggie, yeah. How you doing?

Hello, mate.

OK. So, you are just outside the hotel now.

Right, bye.

You all right? Nice to meet you. How's it going?

It's OK, it's OK.

-We're just going to take you to the next stage now.

-OK, mate.

No-one knows how many underground labs are operating in the UK.

But three have been shut down this year alone.

-Reg.

-Hello, mate.

-This is the second stage.

-Just going to make a quick call.

-OK.

-Would you say that you're paranoid?

-They are.

Is that down to rival cooks? I mean, what's the reason for that?

It's the law.

If caught, these self-styled chemists could get up to 14 years.

I'm not sure what I was expecting after all that secrecy,

but it wasn't this.

'A suburban double garage...'

Yeah, thanks. Hello, how are you doing?

Reggie. Nice to meet you.

'..and a job lot of plastic sheets.'

Is that an apron?

Boom. Reg. All right? Nice to meet you.

I was expecting something a little bit bigger.

Right.

This lock-up's a long way from the sterile conditions

you'd expect in a licensed pharmaceutical lab.

But the guys have agreed I can watch them prepare a batch tonight

that their customers could be injecting tomorrow.

I'm no chemist, but even to me this looks like child's play.

Is that literally it?

But these guys are making serious money.

How much is this actually worth?

How big is your customer base?

That's a lot of money.

That's a lot of people using, as well.

You're selling this through Facebook?

When it comes to something like injectables,

it's really easy to mess up, particularly if you don't know

what you are doing, and there are a lot of side effects.

Just how responsible do you feel

when it comes to people using what you produce?

Once it leaves your door, there is no way of knowing what happens.

If it does get cut, if it does get changed of tweaked or

something happens to it, or it's sold to someone who is vulnerable,

you are essentially part of the process.

Even if you are not hoping to hurt anyone, you are part of it.

So there's no responsibility on your shoulders, then?

'When it comes to responsibility, their moral point of view,

'I don't think I particularly agree with.'

They justify it by saying that, you know,

"so long as the person taking it understands

"that they're responsible, I'm not responsible."

And I think that is quite a naive way to look at it,

because, at the end of the day, you are part of the chain.

And if you're part of the chain, you're part of the problem.

For one family, that chain linked to tragic consequences.

-Hello.

-Hello, Sarah?

-Hi, how are you doing?

-Reggie, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, come on in. Would you like a drink?

-Yes, please. Can I get a brew on?

-Yep.

-Have I come in the middle of dinner?

-You have.

-Yeah?

-You have.

How many are you cooking for tonight?

I'm not cooking, it's my daughter, she's cooking.

Oh, really? So how many kids do you actually have?

Including Oliver, three.

Ollie Cooney began working out at 16.

And his mum Sarah watched the changes in her son.

Oh, yeah, cheers, thank you.

He used to come home from gym.

He used to walk through the door and first thing he would say is,

"Mum, take me T-shirt off for me."

Because he were that big, he couldn't take it off.

He'd go, "Mummy!" He's standing going, "Mummy!"

So I'd go take his shirt off and chuck it in his face.

And then he'd ring me before he came home from gym,

"Get me chicken on, Mum."

So everything were ready when he came home, so...

So were the family a massive part of his nutrition

-as well as training, then?

-Oh, gosh, yeah. It was, yeah.

-And it pretty much took over his life.

-Yeah, it did.

By 18, Ollie was using the gym six days a week.

To increase his bulk, he also decided to take steroids.

Was he open with you about taking steroids?

Very open. He was so honest with me, it was unbelievable.

And what was your initial reaction

when he told you that he'd started taking?

I was mortified. I were absolutely mortified.

We didn't talk for two weeks.

So where did it come from? Why was it on his radar?

Erm... I honestly think that Oliver had an issue with his height,

cos he were only small. He was smaller than me, and I'm 5'4".

Everybody used to call him Little Ol.

And he didn't want to be Little Ol.

What he lacked in size, in height, he made out in width,

and I think he did it for him,

he did it for extra confidence for himself.

You tend to just put that to the back of your head.

He's going to the gym, he's lifting weights, he's not...

He's not going out every weekend getting drunk - that's how I saw it.

It was just going to the gym and trying to keep fit.

I didn't see it as a problem until he had his first heart attack.

It's OK.

Ollie was at the gym when he started having chest pains.

He later collapsed.

Incredibly, just a month later, he was working out again.

On doctor's advice, Ollie had stopped taking steroids.

But the damage to his heart was done.

Three months later, he had a series of strokes.

To walk on the ward and look at your own son

and his face is all slanted down the left side, and he couldn't talk.

He had to go to the toilet in a wheelchair,

he had to be helped with nurses.

He couldn't eat his food, it had to be chopped up.

He had 12 weeks of intensive physiotherapy

to learn him how to walk.

Did he recover from that? From the stroke, did he get better?

-Fully.

-Did he get back to full health?

-Fully.

With that being the case,

how long was it before he went back to the gym?

He went back, he wanted to go back, I think it was about ten days after.

-Ten days?!

-Yeah.

In September 2013, Ollie suffered a second major heart attack, and died.

He was just 20.

It was definitely the steroids. It's on his death certificate.

-What does it actually say?

-Misuse of Class C drugs.

Did you ever think that your boy would ever be connected

to anything that's classed as a drug?

No. I didn't expect to get a death certificate, to be honest with you.

I feel mad. I feel angry. The fact that what he's done.

What he's done to himself. But he's not just done it to himself,

he's done it to us, but I don't think he actually meant to do this.

I really don't think he meant to do this at all.

There's one person on my mind.

There he is. How you doing?

Kyle and I haven't talked about steroids.

But his obsession to look good is nagging at me.

-Now, I don't want to scare you or anything...

-Yeah?

..but I spent some time with a lady called Sarah

-whose son Ollie died off the back of steroid use.

-Mm-hm.

And his obsessive sort of diet,

his obsessive working out isn't that dissimilar to yours.

So, have you ever used steroids? Really, honestly?

Yep, yep. Inject my shoulders, my legs and my bum.

-And are you still doing it?

-No. No.

-Have you tried the tablets?

-Yeah.

Are you doing tablets now?

Mmm. To strip the fat. Strip the water.

So what kind of tablets are they?

Clenbuterol.

They're for people who have chest pains and for their asthma,

-and they're for animals, as well.

-Animals?

-For cows and horses, yeah.

Have you taken any today? Have you got any in that bag?

-I have, yeah.

-You have!

-There they are.

REGGIE GROANS Kyle...

What kind of side effects do you get

off the back of using something like this?

Insane cramping, where my whole leg cramps up.

My hip goes and I'm like this. I can't move for about ten minutes.

-Do you know how much I want to throw these away right now?

-Mm. Mm.

After this chat, are you going to keep using these?

-I think, after this experience, no, I'm not.

-Why?

Getting a different perspective from different people.

That's what's made me think more about it.

More about this, the effect it's doing to me.

Cos my mother's preached to me for a while,

I've had friends and family preaching at me.

Having an outsider speak to me about it, it does give me a bit more...

"Well, maybe I shouldn't do these things," type of thing, you know?

You've kept saying the entire time that I've been with you

that you want perfection. And you want your body to be better.

But I want to last till I'm 30, as well.

-I want to see my 30th.

-I'm so glad you have said that.

OK, so, it's six years, but it's not long.

It's not long.

-Listen, look after yourself. Best of luck.

-Thank you.

And I'm not going to post these back.

All yours, bin them. Take care, Reggie.

The problem that I'm seeing with what's going on now

is that there are more and more people that are searching

and pushing for this body image, this idea of perfection,

and I just really hope that that changes.

And that the reason that these young guys are eating clean and getting fit

is not because of something they've seen in a magazine.

I've come to the end of my own journey.

But while the six weeks may be over, after everything I've seen and heard,

I reckon the greatest challenge could be keeping control of all of this.

You know I was in the gym with Kyle,

and Kyle took his shirt off

and he told me to take mine off and I didn't want to,

because I was really self-conscious about how I looked in that moment,

and it's only when I think about it now that I realise how affected I am,

just like everyone else, by body image

and by what other people think about us.