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Bodybuilders’ Accounts of Synthol Use: The Construction of Lay Expertise

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Chemically Modified Bodies

Abstract

Synthol is an injectable oil used by bodybuilders to make muscles appear bigger. Widely available on the Internet, it is reported to carry a wide range of health risks and side effects such as localized skin problems, nerve damage and oil filled cysts, as well as muscle damage and the development of scar tissue. Given the tension between health risk and quick muscle enlargement, how lay users explain and justify their synthol intake becomes an important question. Drawing on discourse analysis, we focus on how lay expertise is worked up by users in the absence of available specialist knowledge by invoking medical and pharmaceutical discourses as legitimation, providing novices with support, gaining trust through positive personal narratives and thus gaining credibility as experts. Results have clear implications for health promotion interventions with bodybuilders.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Lay expertise may also be referred to as “broscience” (see http://broscience.co.uk/category/news/).

  2. 2.

    IFBB: International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness, IFBB, the governing body of the sport of bodybuilding and fitness, was founded by brothers Joe and Ben Weider in 1946 in Montreal, Canada. IFBB headquarters are located in Madrid, Spain (http://www.ifbb.com/).

  3. 3.

    A substance intended to enhance physical performance, stamina, or recovery.

  4. 4.

    An American pharmaceutical company.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Associate Academic, University of Derby, Department of Psychology, Kedleston Road, Derby, DE22 1GB, UK

    Matthew Hall

  2. Department of Psychology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Bonsall Street 53, M15 6GX, Manchester, UK

    Sarah Grogan

  3. School of Social, Psychological and Communication Sciences, Leeds Beckett University, Calverly Building [Rm 919], City Campus, LS1 9HE, Leeds, UK

    Brendan Gough

Authors
  1. Matthew Hall
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  2. Sarah Grogan
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  3. Brendan Gough
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Derby, Derby, United Kingdom

    Matthew Hall

  2. Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, United Kingdom

    Sarah Grogan

  3. Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, United Kingdom

    Brendan Gough

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Hall, M., Grogan, S., Gough, B. (2016). Bodybuilders’ Accounts of Synthol Use: The Construction of Lay Expertise. In: Hall, M., Grogan, S., Gough, B. (eds) Chemically Modified Bodies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53535-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53535-1_8

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-53534-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-53535-1

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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